The evolution has become a revolution but should we be worried?

The transfer window began as most of us expected. The departures of Ox, Keita and Milner were known before the season ended and we were being heavily linked with Mac Allister towards the end of the season and moved swiftly to finalise the deal. The signing of Szoboszlai happened quickly and surprised some of us but we all knew we’d be signing at least one more midfielder, we were just waiting to find out who.

Since then, there have been links to the likes of Lavia and a host of centre back options. Some of us felt we’d sign another two players, others thought we were good to go with the two signings we’d already made, assuming there were no further departures. There were a few tenuous links to Thiago leaving but nothing concrete and when talk began of Hendo to Saudi, I think most of us just rolled our eyes and dismissed it as paper talk. The rumours gained traction however, as more respected journalists started reporting he was seriously considering it and now, if reports are to be believed, it’s when he goes, not if and as if we weren’t blindsided enough by that, no sooner had rumours of a £40 million Saudi bid for Fabinho surfaced, he was being left out our preseason squad to allow him to finalise a deal. At this point, the evolution of our squad which we all agreed was needed, has become a revolution which most of us agree is not!

The midfield is the heartbeat of any team and if the aforementioned duo do follow Milner, Ox and Naby out the door then the heart has been ripped right out our team. A few rare occasions aside, this generally doesn’t spell good news for a team. Not only would we have lost our captain and vice captain – the standard setters in the team in the same window but basically all our experienced midfielders with the exception of Thiago, who’s future is far from certain anyway.

This goes against everything we’ve seen from Klopp up to now. New signings have generally been slowly bedded in over a six month period, allowing them time to get to grips with Klopp’s style of play and the demands of his system. Fabinho himself barely kicked a ball in anger during his first 6 months at the club and this was a player who had been playing first team football for a number of years, had Champions League experience and was a Brazilian international just coming into his peak years. Could we honestly expect the 19 year old Lavia, with one year’s first team experience in a relegated team, to come in and fill Fabinho’s boots? It’s a big ask.

Even the more experienced DM’s we’ve been linked with such as Amrabat. He’s never played Champions league and is coming from Serie A, it would undoubtedly take him a bit of time to get up to speed with the blood and thunder of the PL.

So let’s take a look at who we know for sure will be playing in our midfield next season – Jones, Elliot, Bajcetic, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai. Jones finally looks ready to take the next steps in his career, although we’ve been saying that for two years now. He seems to have put his injury woes behind him though and had a strong finish to the season, followed by an excellent showing for England U21’s, winning the tournament and being named morris dancer of the match in both the semi final and final so hopefully he’ll push on, even if we’re still not sure what his best position is yet. Elliot is undoubtedly a talent but very much a work in progress, the same could be said of Bajcetic and it would be a mistake to put too much pressure on their shoulders. Szoboszlai is another who’s undoubtedly talented but we’ll need to see how he settles into a new club, league and country. Mac Allister at least has some PL experience and has played on the biggest of stages, winning the World Cup last year but he’ll still need time to get used to his new manager and team mates.

In my opinion, it’s worrying times. Too much change too quickly very rarely works and while I can understand that the chance to basically recoup what we initially paid for Fabinho the year he turns 30 is too good to turn down, we are leaving ourselves incredibly short of experience in the middle of the pitch and having to rethink our transfer plans with very little time to do so.

Given everything I’ve mentioned, I think it would be prudent to turn Trent into a full time midfielder rather than the hybrid role, at least at the start of the season until the new lads bed in. We need players in there that know what Klopp wants from his midfielders, rather than our entire midfield learning on the job and it looks like we’ll need to make at least one more midfield signing and in my opinion, a 19 year old isn’t going to cut it, no matter how much potential they may have.

Whatever happens between now and the end of the window, it’s a massive season coming up for us. The need to bounce back and qualify for the CL again after missing out this season is imperative. The CL money is essential for FSG’s business model and with the rise of Newcastle, competition is fiercer than ever.

The winds of change are in the air then and now more than ever, we need to get our signings right. Walk on!!