It is almost impossible for a big money transfer to be a success.
The price-tag weighs heavy and players are compared to their peers who moved for a more modest fee. For example, cast your minds back to the summer of 2017.
Romelu Lukaku moved to Manchester United for an initial fee of £75million with a further £15million to be paid on add-ons. During his debut campaign with the Reds Devils, he scored 16 goals in 34 Premier League appearances.
It was a good showing. He finished as the sixth highest goalscorer in the English top-flight, playing his part in United claiming a second-placed finish.
The same summer, Liverpool signed a certain Mohamed Salah. The former Roma winger scored a Premier League record 32 goals and chipped in with 10 assists. Salah finished his debut campaign with the Reds with 42 goal involvements having moved for just £37million.
His fee was half that of Lukaku’s while he doubled the Belgian’s output.
Obviously, it extends beyond their debut seasons. Salah has four Golden Boots to his name and is a two-time Premier League winner whereas Lukaku was sold to Inter after two seasons at Old Trafford.
The point is, even after scoring 27 across all competitions in his first season with Manchester United, the feeling was United had grossly overpaid for the ex-Everton hitman. Up until that point in his career, he’d never scored more goals in a single campaign.
There are more extreme examples, of course.
How was Neymar ever going to justify the £200million fee Paris Saint-Germain paid for him? Likewise, Kylian Mbappe was always going to struggle to make his £165million price tag look at all reasonable.
Joao Felix moved to Atletico Madrid for £113million even though his style was a poor fit for a Diego Simeone team. It was the same story with Antoine Griezmann when he traded Atletico for Barcelona while Philippe Coutinho was destined to fail at the Camp Nou after leaving Liverpool for £105million.
Jack Grealish thrived as a maverick playing for his boyhood team, he was never going to be able to replicate that as a Man City player. The £100million move was destined to disappoint. Now, on loan at Everton, away from the formulaic ways of Pep Guardiola, he’s enjoying life again.
More often than not, these big money deals just don’t make sense. Teams get drawn to the name rather than the actual fit and it’s a recipe for failure.
But there are exceptions to this. And Liverpool do, more often than not, fall into this category.
The Reds broke the world record for a defender in 2018, paying £75million for Virgil van Dijk. Other teams would’ve looked at alternatives after missing out on the player during the summer transfer window. Others definitely would’ve walked away when Southampton asked for £75million.
Liverpool, however, didn’t blink.
They waited for their man. They waited for a player who was, in their eyes, perfect for their system. And they weren’t going to be deterred by an eye-watering fee. At the time, everyone called it an overpayment.
Now into his ninth season with the club, the Liverpool skipper has won everything with the Reds and is widely regarded as the best in the world.
The same conversations were had when the Merseyside club decided to spend £67million on Alisson Becker. Again, this was all about patience.
Roma had initially wanted £80million for the Brazilian shot-stopper. Liverpool bided their time and eventually signed the goalkeeper in mid-July, six weeks after being ‘priced out’ of a move for him.
They held their nerve and got what they felt was a bargain. Again, rivals queried the alleged overpayment. Again, though, Liverpool won. The Brazil international is into his eighth campaign between the sticks at Anfield and he’s been pivotal in the Reds winning everything.
And this brings us, finally, to Alexander Isak.
Liverpool finally have their man.
On the eve of deadline day, the Reds struck an agreement with Newcastle, signing off on a deal worth £125million.
It has been the saga of the summer.
A month ago, the Magpies turned down a bid in excess of £110million for their wantaway forward. Isak doubled down on his stance, refusing to go on the club’s pre-season tour and exiling himself. He’s missed the opening three games of the season too.
The Premier League champions went into the new campaign with a weakened forward line. Federico Chiesa has been coming on to help manage the minutes of Hugo Ekitike with the Reds having just four senior attackers in their squad,
Other teams would’ve moved onto a new target once their initial bid was rejected, not wanting to leave themselves short for the new season. Liverpool, just as they did with Van Dijk and Alisson, didn’t blink.
They were confident that they would, eventually, get their man. The man they believe can fire them to the title. The player they clearly believe was the perfect fit for what they are wanting to do.
If the signings of Alisson and Van Dijk are anything to go by, the Reds have a clear plan for Isak. They believe they have the right environment for him to make the £125million price-tag look like a bargain.
Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes must be certain that Florian Wirtz, Ekitike and Isak are worth the best part of £300million.
The club were vindicated in their decision to spend the best part of £140million on Alisson and Van Dijk.
Expect the same with this new attacking trio.
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