Genius Michael Edwards just saved Liverpool £40m
Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards has an excellent reputation in the transfer market, but could he have just saved the club £40m.
You can be sure that the recruitment department, headed up by the savvy and incredibly capable Edwards, will be planning for this summer and beyond.
At Christmas, it’s doubtful whether they’d have thought up a scenario in which Liverpool missed out on the Champions League riches, but you can be sure they’ll have modelled a contingency in case the worst happens on that front.
Liverpool have saved themselves £40 million
A lot of clubs react to a season of underwhelming performances, and 2020/2021 has been the least whelmed I’ve been since Jurgen Klopp joined the club, by spending big in the transfer market.
But Liverpool are a little bit different. They don’t take that approach. There’s a more measured, clinical judgement made to each campaign and to each signing.
Edwards often sows the seeds for one move years before it eventuates, and one decision he took in conjunction with the powers that be was to send Harvey Elliott out on loan to Blackburn.
This could be a move that ends up saving Liverpool £40 million. Liverpool have been heavily linked with a move for Watford star Ismaila Sarr, who would have cost around that fee.
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Sarr plays off the right but can also operate on the other flank, and could have been seen as an eventual replacement for Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane. But thanks to the strength of Elliott’s loan spell with Blackburn, there is no need to make a big move for the Senegal international.
All hail Harvey Elliott
Elliott’s youth coaches have spoken incredibly highly about the former Fulham man’s talent, while his performances for Rovers tell their own story. Despite his callow youth, the forward has performed at a level we hardly see from someone who thinks the Millenium Bug and Y2K were the main protagonists from a children’s book.
He’s only 17, but already has five goals and nine assists. Sarr has eight goals and four assists, but is 22 and has been exposed to a full season of Premier League football and has played top-flight football in France.
With Elliott’s rapid development and the ease at which he’s taken Championship defences apart, there is no need for Liverpool to splash the cash on a man who isn’t demonstrable better. In fact, Sarr’s arrival can only hold Elliott back, and that will be bad for the player and the club.