It was a summer of upheaval at Liverpool.
The scale of their midfield rebuild proved bigger than anyone had anticipated after captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were lured away in pre-season by the riches on offer playing in Saudi Arabia.
With James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Roberto Firmino having already departed at the end of their contracts, Jurgen Klopp lost six senior players with more than 1,600 appearances for the club between them in a single transfer window.
Julian Ward also stepped down as sporting director after just one year in the job, with experienced German executive Jorg Schmadtke taking over on a short-term deal after being tempted out of retirement.
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Liverpool’s drive to fill all those gaps wasn’t seamless. After a club record bid of £111million ($139m) was accepted by Brighton for Moises Caicedo, the Ecuador international turned them down and signed for rival suitors Chelsea instead. Another setback quickly followed when Romeo Lavia of Southampton also opted for Stamford Bridge rather than Anfield.
There was the unwanted distraction of the Saudi Pro League’s persistent pursuit of Mohamed Salah which led to an offer rising to £150million from its champions Al Ittihad being rejected.
Owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) stood firm, Salah stayed put, and on deadline day two weeks ago Ryan Gravenberch became the club’s fourth signing of the window following deals for Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo. The total outlay on that quartet was around £145million with around £52m recouped from sales.
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“Liverpool, reloaded,” is how Klopp has described his much-changed squad and the early signs are certainly promising with 10 points won from a possible 12. Indeed, when the 11-game unbeaten run at the end of last season is factored in, Liverpool’s current run of 15 matches without defeat is by far the longest in the top flight.
Twice they have triumphed in the face of adversity with Mac Allister’s red card in the home opener against Bournemouth (subsequently rescinded) followed by Virgil van Dijk’s dismissal in the dramatic victory at Newcastle the following weekend.
It’s still early days but there’s an energy, dynamism and creativity in the Liverpool midfield which was lacking for most of last season, with Mac Allister and Szoboszlai quickly making their mark.
This is the story of Liverpool’s summer, including a helping hand from a German triathlon legend and the former chief executive of a global advertising agency.
The setting was Hotel Oschberghof in the town of Donaueschingen in the Black Forest region of south-western Germany.
Jurgen Klopp’s players sat listening intently to the special guest who had arrived at their training camp to address them.
Born in Germany but raised in South Africa, Jan Frodeno is one of the greatest triathletes of all time. He took Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 and is a three-time winner of the Ironman World Championship, which comprises a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.
Frodeno had been invited to speak to the squad about his medal-laden career and the devotion required to stay at the top for so long. He talked about pushing your body to its limits and the mental resilience required to keep going when fatigue kicks in.
It backed up the motivational messages from Klopp and his staff during an intensive 10-day camp which involved gruelling triple sessions to create a base for the season ahead.
Klopp likes to look outside of the football bubble for expertise and marginal gains. Before the title-winning season of 2019-20, he turned to German surfer Sebastian Steudtner, who spoke to the players about coping with pressure and worked on breathing techniques with them.
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Frodeno’s input was appreciated by the squad in mid-July, and later in the summer there was another guest speaker brought in with an emphasis on getting the best out of the club’s backroom staff. British businessman Kevin Roberts, who was previously the long-serving CEO of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, now runs marketing and leadership consultancy Red Rose Consulting.
As well as a host of global businesses, he previously worked with England’s cricket team and New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby union side with the stated ambition to “inspire everyone I meet to be the best they can”. Roberts held a workshop at the club’s Kirkby training base attended by Klopp and senior coaching, medical, fitness and operations staff.
The aim was to establish how they can create the best possible environment and ensure everyone feels valued and able to perform to the best of their ability. Those present were encouraged to speak openly.
Klopp always viewed this summer as the start of a fresh chapter in his Anfield reign, which dates back to October 2015, and wanted to ensure the structure was in place behind the scenes for his new-look team to flourish.
Long before the end of a troubled season which culminated in Liverpool losing their Champions League status, they dropped out of the race to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham. They felt they simply couldn’t justify committing so much money to one deal when, at that time, they were in the market for two elite midfielders.
They also had no indication from the England international’s camp that Liverpool were his destination of choice and feared that if the saga dragged on then alternative targets would be snapped up by rivals.
By the time Bellingham went to Real Madrid in mid-June for a fee that could rise to £115million and wages of £400,000 a week, Liverpool had moved to secure Mac Allister, a deal which was Ward’s final act as sporting director before he handed the reins to Jorg Schmadtke.
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A clause in the Argentina international’s contract at Brighton meant he was available for about £35million. Liverpool needed to act fast given the competition for his signature and made Mac Allister their priority, with consensus across the different departments. He was 24, Premier League proven and a World Cup winner.
Mason Mount had been another target and discussions were held with his camp in the second half of last season as he entered the final year of his Chelsea contract. However, the England international’s preference was to join Manchester United, and Liverpool wouldn’t have matched the financial demands anyway as United struck a £60million deal and offered wages of £250,000 per week. Liverpool valued him at £40m.
That turn of events looks like a blessing in disguise given it led to the signing of Szoboszlai. Liverpool had inquired about the Hungary midfielder earlier in the summer but the structure of the deal with RB Leipzig was a problem. His €70million (£60.1m, $75.1m) release clause needed to be triggered by the end of June and the vast majority of the fee would have to be paid up front.
Waiting, to try to negotiate a lower fee or different payment schedule after the clause expired, wasn’t an option as the German Bundesliga club were under no pressure to sell. After much deliberation, FSG sanctioned the outlay. That Szoboszlai scored so highly on director of research Will Spearman’s data model played a part. Schmadtke called his Leipzig counterpart Max Eberl to inform him that the clause was going to be triggered.
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As well as having significantly lower wage demands, Szoboszlai is 21 months younger than 24-year-old Mount and arguably more tactically flexible too, given his ability to play as a No 8, No 10 and out wide in a front three.
“He’s a machine, eh?,” grinned Klopp after Szoboszlai scored his first Liverpool goal in their impressive win over Aston Villa in the final game before this international break. “Tactically smart and absolutely ready for the dirty part of the game. A top performance.”
With Mac Allister and Szoboszlai through the door before the start of pre-season training, Liverpool looked in decent shape. However, the landscape shifted considerably when the Saudis came calling.
Anfield royalty Steven Gerrard’s appointment as Al Ettifaq manager led to an approach for Henderson, who opted to pursue the move following discussions with Klopp over where he stood in the pecking order. An initial fee of £12million was eventually agreed.
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Fabinho also informed Liverpool that he wanted to leave after Al Ittihad — one of four Saudi clubs backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — offered £40million for him.
Klopp hadn’t anticipated losing either of them this summer, and a new holding midfielder hadn’t been pursued. Suddenly, signing a No 6 became a necessity.
Was it wise sanctioning both departures without having a replacement lined up? Internally, it was felt that banking £52million for two high earners past their peaks (Henderson is 33, Fabinho turns 30 next month) was just too good to turn down.
Other Liverpool stars were targeted by the Saudi Pro League, including Thiago and Luis Diaz, but did not have their heads turned (Thiago is expected to leave on a free transfer next summer, which is when his contract expires).
Alisson was also the subject of serious interest from Saudi, but Liverpool’s owners made it clear no offers would be entertained. Their stance was unequivocal – just as it was over Al Ittihad’s pursuit of Salah.
The Brazilian goalkeeper is happy and settled at the club. Before the interest from Saudi, he received a considerable pay rise this summer after a clause was triggered in his existing contract which runs until 2027. He’s understood to be the squad’s third-highest earner behind Salah and Van Dijk.
It proved a smart move, given that Alisson, who has been in outstanding form, felt fully appreciated at a time when eye-watering sums of cash were being offered in an attempt to attract players to the Saudi Pro League.
The club have a policy of incentivising deals so that high performing stars are suitably rewarded and Alisson excelled throughout 2022-23.
Liverpool’s search for a new No 6 proved fraught and drawn out. Three bids were rejected by Southampton for Lavia as the club refused to meet an asking price of over £50million for the Belgian teenager.
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During the tour of Singapore, they briefly turned their attention to Brazilian 22-year-old Andre, but Fluminense informed them he wouldn’t be for sale until January due to their ongoing involvement in the Copa Libertadores (South America’s Champions League equivalent), where they are into the semi-finals.
Then there was the drama of Liverpool agreeing a British record transfer fee of £111million with Brighton for Caicedo. Euphoria at that show of ambition quickly turned to misery when it became clear he wanted to join Chelsea.
Liverpool only tabled a bid after being encouraged by the player’s camp as the west Londoners’ pursuit of him dragged on, and they only had the cash to fund it after the windfall from Saudi for Henderson and Fabinho.
Salt was rubbed into gaping wounds when Liverpool then went back in for Lavia, only to lose out to Chelsea again.
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With Caicedo, it was a calculated gamble that backfired. They knew Chelsea had put in a lot of groundwork dating back to January. But they felt that while he was still on the market, they were right to pursue it — even if that meant running the risk of being left empty-handed.
In the aftermath of an unconvincing draw away to Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season, Liverpool turned to a left-field solution to a glaring problem. Endo was brought in from Germany’s Stuttgart for £16.2million. Even the 30-year-old Japan captain was surprised. Klopp, who described Endo as a “late bloomer”, had to convince FSG that paying a fee for someone of his age and offering a four-year contract made sense.
Liverpool were never going to recruit another specialist holding midfielder after Endo, secure in the knowledge that Mac Allister can operate there, while they also have Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic building up their fitness after long-term injuries. What they were after was another versatile option and they got that with the signing of Gravenberch at the end of the window after Bayern Munich relented and agreed to do business over a 21-year-old player who only joined them last summer.
Three of the four new signings arrived from the Bundesliga, with Schmadtke’s network of contacts in his homeland proving valuable. Effectively an interim appointment, he is under contract until the end of the season. While there have been plenty of changes in the Anfield hierarchy, Liverpool continue to benefit from the expertise of long-serving head of recruitment Dave Fallows and chief scout Barry Hunter, who both keep a low public profile.
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The owners stayed true to their word on Salah. FSG president Mike Gordon insisted the matter was closed when he rejected that verbal bid of £150million. There was no negotiating. It helped that the Egyptian never agitated for a move before the Saudi transfer deadline, which came a week after the Premier League window closed, with his commitment unwavering.
The new centre-back many fans were calling for didn’t arrive, as Liverpool felt the right option wasn’t available at the right price. But Klopp has faith in Jarell Quansah, 20, to step up and provide cover when required. With Joel Matip likely to leave when his contract expires next summer, the defensive ranks will be bolstered in 2024.
Having lost so much experience, there were fears about a leadership void, but the double act of Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have embraced greater responsibility.
It was a bruising summer at times but Liverpool rolled with the punches.
They emerged from it much stronger than they started it, having rebuilt their midfield with younger talent.
Tougher tests lie ahead but Klopp’s “Liverpool, reloaded” have a decent platform to build on.
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(Top photo: Ian MacNicol via Getty Images)
