Liverpool's transfer splurge continues. Having already spent more money on a defender than anyone in the history of the game, they are now about to do so on a goalkeeper too. Alisson Becker is on his way from Roma, in a deal worth around £67 million.
This follows eye-catching deals for Monaco midfielder Fabinho and Leipzig's Naby Keita, albeit in a deal agreed a year ago. One signing that has perhaps flown under the radar somewhat has been the arrival of Swiss attacker Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City, for around £13 million.
Shaqiri was only delighted to move to the Champions League from the Championship, admitting upon his unveiling at Liverpool that he wanted to join the club before he ended up at Stoke.
If he had joined Liverpool back then, Shaqiri may have had the pleasure of playing alongside Charlie Adam.
The Scottish midfielder was highly critical of his Stoke teammates after their relegation, saying that some members of the squad had been "getting away with murder". On TalkSPORT today, Adam confirmed that Shaqiri was, in his opinion, among that group.
Was he one of them? Oh, definitely.
When the chips are down you look at your big players, you want your big players to bring magic in one moment in the season, and at times we felt like the so-called big players in the squad never turned up for us and never performed.
Yeah, everybody else could help, but for all the plaudits the so-called bigger players were getting from certain members of the management staff last season – they weren't producing.
On the same platform, erstwhile Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan went further in his criticism of Shaqiri, saying that it was a "curious" signing by Liverpool.
There’s no doubt that quality wise, Shaqiri has a quality.
I thought he was a slob last year for Stoke and Charlie Adam couldn’t, and possibly didn’t want, to say it to that extent.
But I felt he embodied the reasons why Stoke probably got relegated because he did it when he felt like it and not when he didn’t.
It’s a curious, curious signing. Maybe because Oxlade-Chamberlain is out. I don’t see that as a like-for-like but maybe it is.
Jurgen Klopp confirmed last season that Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss all of next season with the knee ligament injury sustained in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Roma.
