Gérard Houllier’s 40 Liverpool signings ranked and rated – who’s the worst?

Didi Hamann // Newcastle United // £8,000,000

Signed after one season with Newcastle, Didi Hamann spent the next seven with Liverpool as he claimed his place in the Reds midfield – although he hated training and was terrible at it.

Houllier thought he was a vital member of the side, and so did Benitez. Hamann ended up playing 30 or more games in all competitions for every campaign he was at Anfield, including a high 53 in 2000-2001.

Did was a tall, solid defensive midfielder who would occasionally pop up with a mad goal. But he didn’t score many, with just 11 in total.

By the age of 32, Hamann felt that he wouldn’t be able to feature for the first team as much as he wanted and arranged to join Bolton on a fee. However, regret soon took over but he couldn’t cancel the deal as everything had already been signed!

Thus, Manchester City were made aware of the deal and arranged to sign him from Bolton before Hamann ever kicked a ball for the Wanderers. Mad.

But yeah, this was an excellent £8 million spent and a fine example of Houllier getting things right.

Rating: 8/10

Sami Hyypia // Willem II // £2,500,000

What can you write about this deal that hasn’t already been written? Sami Hyypia was a genius bit of transfer wheeling and dealing that almost makes up for the rest of the failures under Houllier.

The defender was recruited based on a recommendation from a cameraman and snapped up from a small Dutch club – but the Finn instantly became a key part of the Reds’ defence. In 10 years he played 464 times.

Hyypia was a stand out player for the club throughout his decade with Liverpool – and was only eased out due to his advancing years and the signings of Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel.

Sami won every competition with the Reds, apart from the Premier League, and can safely go down as one of the best defenders to have ever played for the club.

Nearly 500 games later, that £2.5 million looks like amazing value for money.

Rating 10/10