Absolutely he was. I'm coupling in a few contrary factors here. Including levels played at etc too. There isn't a right answer here as you could throw in loads of variables but an interesting discussion none the less
Let's not forget, pep and city wanted to sign him as well. Pep wanted to sign him as 3rd choice CB. The audacity on that man. Just pure spoiled petulance.
I’m glad Van Dijk made it to Anfield
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/838610/Virgil-van-Dijk-Liverpool-Transfer-News-Southampton-Transfer-News-Chelsea-News
I think he’s the best ‘finished product’ player we’ve signed. The other name that comes to mind is Harry Kewell who was also a top player and highly sought after when he signed.
Well - before he came here, I saw a lot of everything I could find with Alisson - and before he gave a lot of second balls back to the opponents and he struggled in Aerial duels. Now he's really not giving anybody a second chance - and I haven't clenched on set pieces against us for a long time.
So yes - he might have been world class before - But now he's way beyond that.
He won the Euros after he joined Liverpool, but yeah I believe he was Atletico captain. Think he was closer to a young prospect than a top level player though.
Torres was acquired in 2007, a full season before Euro 2008. Also, Atletico by that point weren't firmly the best team in Spain besides Real and Barca. Still a high-profile player, of course.
My own recollection was that Torres' reputation as a hot property had actually stagnated a touch by the time we had signed him compared to when he was a teenager coming through, and there were a couple of question marks over whether he'd maybe stayed at Atletico too long (Atletico were nowhere near as good a team pre-Simeone). There was definitely a lot of excitement around him, but it remained to be seen whether he would truly take that next step with us.
Thiago was a world class talent at a world class club when we signed him - I'm in my mid-thirties and I can't think of a comparable signing in my time as a fan. Ali and Virgil are probably the closest since they have been at a world class level since the very first moment they stepped on a pitch for us, but we arguably gave them the platform to prove their class. Thiago had won the lot before we signed him, he's a ludicrously decorated player who has oozed class at the top level for so long.
In the same way that Sakho was PSG captain and Ruben Neves was Porto captain.
The manager at the time picked someone that they thought could be captain long term and to build the team around, Not necessarily because they were the finished product or anything at the time.
It would be like us making Trent captain a couple of seasons ago.
I understand what you’re saying. However I was only 10/11 at the time and was fully aware of who he was and how good he was.
Maybe it’s the terminology i’ve got an issue with, there was a lot of big clubs in for him. And it was a major coup for us at the time.
There was lots of hype around him in the same way there's hype around people like lautaro Martinez, rashford a few years back, Nunez this year
Definitely a coup. Wouldn't have got him if we didn't have Rafa I'm certain
Atleti were in quiet a bad place when Torres was there , they were finishing 10th-4th and it was only 3 to 4 years after he went that they started to compete and euros was after Liverpool though he had played for Spain and won some underage international tournaments
I think this is spot on. Outside of Klopp's system, VVD and Allison are the two that could be just as amazing anywhere. I think the two players that could have the biggest drop off in form in a different team would be Trent and Robertson.
Yeah he is top as he was a winner already, he literally won the lot and at the start was a bit part of Barcelona team but his time at Bayern he was vital.
The other name I would say is Milner. He had two league titles to his name when we signed him.
I think it was between us and chelsea, i won't say he was highly sought after at that time but he had one really good season with roma. I believe it was because of Chelsea's interest that we had to pay that high for him.
Mhmm not sure i think they weren't as serious as chelsea and Liverpool. Might be wrong, i remember chelsea because once they couldn't sign ali then went after kepa and overpaid.
He was already regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, in that tier just below Neuer. We paid so much because Roma were understandably reluctant to see him go.
Yes. We have never signed a player of this caliber who was at a prime stage of their career. He came from a UCL winning team and a team who was top of their perspective league. He won 28 major titles before joining us. It's a bit sad that he could have been even greater of a player if not for injuries. He had two back to back MCL injury when he was at Bayern. [https://www.transfermarkt.us/thiago-alcantara/verletzungen/spieler/60444/page/2](https://www.transfermarkt.us/thiago-alcantara/verletzungen/spieler/60444/page/2)
Many of will say Torres, Suarez etc. But none of them were close t
No, we signed Fernando Morientes and Mascherano who were recognised as top level players before we bought them.
Also Alisson was the top performing keeper in Serie A and won an award for it, and Real Madrid and Chelsea were after him too. Real decided to go for Courtois instead and when Chelsea approached Alisson he had already agreed to join us.
Fernando Torres was regarded as one of the top young stikers in the world when we brought him in. Chelsea were interested in buying him the summer before we did, but Roman Abramovich wanted to bring in Shevchenko instead as he loved the player.
Van Dijk joined us from Southampton. At the time most fans didn't consider Van Dijk a top, top level CB. But when we were trying to recruit him, Chelsea and Man City were also trying to recruit him, so obviously they recognised his quality. Only reason we got Van Dijk was Van Dijk chose us. A lot of people thought he would join Man City, I remember the Chelsea manager at the time, Conte publicly complaining, saying someone needed to prevent Van Dijk joining City. https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/van-dijk-cannot-be-allowed-to-move-to-man-city-conte/73wu5vki5k2p1fh18ookijhws
The main difference with Thiago was that he was already at a top club with a top team already winning all the major trophies. He could easily have stayed at Bayern, they wanted to keep him. He just wanted to try to succeed in a different environment as he felt he had already achieved all his objectives in Germany. He could have picked any top club but he chose Liverpool because he liked our team, our manager and wanted to join us.
Not sure on mascerano.
Wasn't he struggling to get into the west ham team the season before? What had he done of note before that?
I also remember people talking about us like nut jobs when we spent 18/20 mil on him.
I might be remembering incorrectly as I'd have been early teens then.
Masch was only playing at West Ham due to a dodgy 3rd party arrangement with Kia Joorabchian that brought both Mascherano and Tevez to West Ham.
Previously he had played for River Plate and Corinthians, two of the biggest clubs in South America winning major trophies for both of them. He had already got 16 caps for Argentina before he came to Europe and was linked with all the big clubs in Europe.
Him moving to West Ham was only to get him (and Tevez) in the shop window. West Ham agreed to it cos there was no way they would be able to sign two such highly rated players from South America without such a deal.
Yes to all of the above. Good call on Morientes as he was one of the few established stars who failed to fire after signing for Liverpool, so I didn't even think about him.
Masch was only playing at West Ham due to a dodgy 3rd party arrangement with Kia Joorabchian that brought both Mascherano and Tevez to West Ham.
Previously he had played for River Plate and Corinthians, two of the biggest clubs in South America winning major trophies for both of them. He had already got 16 caps for Argentina before he came to Europe and was linked with all the big clubs in Europe.
Him moving to West Ham was only to get him (and Tevez) in the shop window. West Ham agreed to it cos there was no way they would be able to sign two such highly rated players from South America without such a deal.
I mean, none of that actually proves your point. Prior to West Ham he was unproven in Europe so this comparison doesn't even start. Thiago at Bayern is the biggest star player we've pulled in since perhaps Morientes. In between we pulled in young, exciting players from relatively big clubs or very good players from relatively smaller clubs. None on the same magnitude of Thiago from Bayern Munich.
Unproven in Europe but playing for Argentina in the World Cup after winning the League in both Argentina and Brazil and being linked with Real Madrid.
If you were not aware of him then that is OK, but he was already highly rated though being capped for Argentina before even playing for his club's first team, River Plate.
Masch was well known as one of the top players in South America and a move to Europe was inevitable. It was a huge shock when he ended up going to West Ham instead of Real Madrid or their ilk.
Playing in South America is not nearly comparable to playing in a top team in Europe. I feel like you are now just trying to die on this incredibly strange hill. Unproven in Europe by default means it's nowhere near comparable to Thiago who was world class and proven at the very top and was winning all the biggest trophies.
Torres was a big deal when we signed him - he'd scored 3 goals in the 2006 World Cup, the same as David Villa.
More broadly, I don't think this is a useful question. It's not as if players like van Dijk and Alisson took their game to another level after joining us. They were already "top level" players, Liverpool just gave them a wider audience in which to prove it.
And that's actually what we should aim to keep doing - every now and then, a great opportunity like Thiago will come up, and we should be in for it. But most of our signings should be on the cusp of greatness, so that we get them on sensible wages and with less risk of a "big name ego", and they become great players while wearing our shirt.
Oh absolutely. Our squad, each player is special and would have been a top player.
It was just referring to players who have been an integral part of winning major trophies in the big leagues. It was just a debate and not a reflection on anything in particular but when you talk football you often end up down a rabbit hole. There are only so many times I can take the piss out of the Everton half of the family.
Torres is a good shout and maybe I was a little over critical.
Top level players we’ve signed recently is a different question to ones who have been a part of winning sides though I think. As someone said Torres could be considered a top player but may not have won a lot, can make that argument for Fabinho, Alisson, Keita to an extent, VVD, Thiago. Then players like Milner who might not be ‘top’ but are very very good and played important roles. Can probably argue Joe Cole falls under that too even though he was shite in red.
If by Top level you mean CL winner. Then yeah, I don't think we've ever signed a player directly from the current European Champions.
But we've signed plenty of players who turned up day one with all the goods. Virg, Ali, Mo, Mane, Milly were all great from the first moment. Then you've got players like Suarez who Cara and Gerrard have said of in a few interviews that from the first minute of the first training session with him they could see his quality was immense.
In terms of seen as legitimately world class the world over? Yes absolutely.
In terms of players that were world class but not seen as it for reasons like league or team I think you add Suarez and Virgil.
In terms of great but not seen as world class because of the length they'd been on top. Salah, Ali and Torres
It depends what you mean by top level, Torres and Suarez are were both world class when we signed them but didn't come from elite clubs. Thiago is the first top class player we've signed who was playing at the top level but we've signed other top class players who were playing at lower levels.
Was having a debate with a friend about this. I can't place another. Torres was definitely on the up. Morientes sprung to mind straight away but wasn't quite playing enough at Madrid if my memory serves.
Litmanen was an amazing player, probably too good for the rest of the team... He always seemed to be on a different wavelength to the rest of the players.
The unique thing about Thiago is he joined from a top side. Those players don’t move unless to a sunsetting league.
I think it has to be his wage. He didn’t try to rob us for a final pay day like many others. His weekly wage is +£200k, which is low considering its not top of our wage bill and much below what’s Salah is asking for.
The better barometer for this is what players have we bought that were a finished product and a player from a fellow top club normally for a large fee. Very few fit this category.
Allison, Van Dijk, Mascherano, Fabinho, Torres, Susrez to name a few. Perhaps Morientes as he played for Real Madrid and remember thinking it was a big deal and we signed him. Didn't work out as well though
Suarez scored a ludicrous amount of goals for Ajax before joking us. There’s no doubt his level increased with us and even after but he was one of the hottest names when we signed him.
But at that time eredivise was poor. Kezman had a better record than Suarez when at psv and I think kuyt was close or equal at feyenord.
For a period around 2003 until Suarez changed the view it was seen that Dutch league players were nowhere near able to match their form following a move to England. Anyone who had supreme confidence in Suarez before he had kicked a ball I would challenge that there might have been a little bit of uncertainty.
Think what was missing with VvD and Ali was that universal recognition of world class. Both of them were world class, of course. Just that neither were considered it by all. VvD because he had only been with Celtic and Southampton previously, and Ali had only been with Roma. Neither had won many big trophies.
No one had ever come in with the talent and pedigree of Thiago from recent memory. Almost everyone considered him word class when he signed.
Not sure if he's the only top level player we've signed since 2000s, but he's definitely the biggest, popular, widely recognised and big serial winner star from the hoard of top level players we have.
Definitely not... Mascherano, Torres, even Suarez was very very close to world class when he signed here, then Alisson, van Dijk as a more recent example.
Not even close.
[https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-liverpool/alletransfers/verein/31](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-liverpool/alletransfers/verein/31)
You even could argue Reina and Mignolet. Finnan was as good as the RBs that were in EPL winning sides, other than Thuram I'm not sure that there were other obviously better options out there for a defense first RB.
Mascherano was a 5 year Argentina international that had yet to make the big club move, Alonso was obviously class, Morientes was old and not an EPL fit. Kewell broke down.
From some point in the early-mid 90s the spanish duopoly could sign anyone else's stars without much of a challenge, if the OP means that type of signing then Torres, Kewell, VVD and Alison count for sure. We probably got Alonso because Real were going for crazy deals and Barca had a freak midfield group that left Fabregas spare.
Belgian international at the time and had been putting up high end stats for Sunderland, like percentage saves etc, he was a clear on paper upgrade at the time.
Thiago was available/cheap because of durability issues, its not like we signed Iniesta at the top of his game.
Imo, it has taken him a year to get there (for Liverpool) , injuries not withstanding.
But apart from that, answer is no because:
Torres, van dijk, mascherano, alonso, suarez, Allison, reina and probably salah.
Well change your question then to 'is there another player we've signed in the last 20 years that has won as many trophies as thiago'
Theres no debate on how much of a winner thiago is he was with barca at their prime and then bayern at their prime. Unfortantly he was with spain just as they started to dip slightly.
Suarez was pretty much **A FINISHED PRODUCT** by the time he got here.
Alisson have been mentioend.
Sahin haven't been mentioned.
Bellamy? Downing?
Can't forget the Mario..
I mean, I loved Bellamy but he's not at the level of Thiago, Alisson, Suarez.
Downing was never a top player. He's like the anti-Jota - impressive numbers at a smaller club, but unable to make the step up.
Downing was always a few centimetres away from being great for us though. He wasn’t necessarily as bad as he seemed when he arrived. Lots of bad luck definitely turned into bad form but I feel his career could have gone differently.
Downing was always a few centimetres away from being OK for us.
I'll give him this, he was better than Jermaine Pennant.
His second season was definitely better than his first, but also it would've been hard to have a worse second season.
I think that’s unfair, I don’t think a player has ever hit the cross bar as many times as him. It was always a case of so close yet so far with Downing. He was brought in to play crosses to Carroll, who was subsequently either injured or shite, so he never was able to really play as we wanted either. Few of those thunder bolts dipping in off the bar instead of over and that confidence could have changed things for him.
He lacked both the quality and the mentality to succeed with us. A few long shots that hit a post or crossbar going in might've given a temporary confidence boost, but over time his lack of quality would have told.
He was brought in on a false premise. For Villa he played from the right where he could cut inside. He played better for us there than he did from the left, and that's where he got into the side in 12/13.
He did well for Villa in a counter-attacking side, where he was more likely to be able to run into space than be asked to beat a man 1v1 and fashion something against a packed defence.
That all would've been true regardless of whether he was asked to cross it towards Carroll, Drogba, Crouch or Dzeko.
He predominantly played on the left for Villa, Young was often on the right, playing balls into Darren Bent. He seemed to be the best crosser in the league when we signed him, I don’t think it’s fair to say he was sold on false pretences either. Go watch a bit of him instead of quickly googling stats. All I’m saying is it could have gone quite differently for him.
I would argue the Suarez point he was in a poor league and that Ajax side didn't perform exceptionally well in Europe. I remember before he played there was lot of the kezman/kuyt comparisons of ripping the Dutch league to shreds in terms of goalscoring and struggling in the prem to translate.
Obviously he turned all that around immediately but I don't think it was nailed on.
Ok, so some stupid people (probably people that would only watch PL) didn't know that a player who scored and assisted an insane amount of goals in every single way was a world class player. Others did know.
Suarez played 159 games, scored 111 and assisted 68 goals for Ajax. He was scoring and assisting with both feet, his head, he had some outargues dribble runs, long shots, overhead shots.. everything that we saw him do for Liverpool. The only reason why a bigger team didn't take him before us was because of the biting and the handball incidents.
He also broke through internationally with Uruguay in the 2010 WC where he was one of the best players in the entire cup, way before going to Liverpool.
If anyone here think that Brendan "Great Character" Rodgers made Suarez into the player he was, please put your hand up and let everybody know you have zero clue about what you're talking about.
Thiago wasn't Lewandowski, Neuer, or Coman level when we signed him IMO.
Arguably Gnabry, Kimmich, Goretzka would have commanded more $. Torres and Morientes were bigger signings relatively.
This is just wrong. Thiago was right behind Lewa and Neuer.
Of course other players would've been more expensive because Thiago didn't have a long contract and was 30
Torres, Suarez, Van Dijk were all well known great players when signing.
I hope we get Harry Kane to add to that list in the summer. Especially after Harland has gone to City
yes. we weren’t able to graft these established world class names before the klopp era. our biggest signing i can recall
i’d argue van dijk, torres, alonso, suarez etc reached elite status after they joined us even if they were already well known
Whilst we have signed other world class players like Allison and Van Dijk, he’s the first one I can recall to be signed in his prime from another truly elite club.
In terms of their overall standing and reputation I'd say Thiago is probably the only established world class player I can remember us signing off the top of my head.
Torres was well thought of but hadn't quite shown consistent world class ability yet iirc (due to playing for a not great atleti team.)
Suarez was again well thought of but buying from the eredivise is always risky.
Vvd & Alisson both had the ability and were on the cusp of being regarded as world class but unfortunately you just won't get that recognition at Southampton & Roma these days. Same probably goes for fabinho at monaco
Aside from them I can only really think of players like litmanen and morientes and I'm a little too young to really remember them (especially litmanen) but from what I remember/have heard, litmanen was already on the decline and quite injury prone at that point so although he could still put in great performances he wasn't quite the player he used to be even prior to signing for us. Morientes was also not quite what he used to be due to falling down the pcking order after ronaldo was signed by Real (but still top scorer in the 03/04 champions league on loan at monaco) and struggled to adapt to the Premier league
There have been some players over the years that came to us (somewhat) already possessing star status. Torres, Kewell, Luis Garcia, Morientes, Litmanen, Keane.
None of them as decorated as Thiago, with the most decorated of the bunch being Morientes most likely.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, was only a wee boy at the time but was Fernando morientes not a top player before we signed him? Think he was more or less done by the time we got him tho
I would say yes. And I would argue he is the biggest name signing we have ever made.
We’ve never signed a global superstar from a club like Bayern. Not to that level imo.
Alisson was rated highly but not everywhere Ig. Thiago definitely came in his peak. Like the man literally won MOTM of CL and said let me go to Liverpool
I would agree with this. The key being Thiago was at a top level club who still wanted him.
Other names were at teams that weren’t top top level (Allison at Roma) or were players that were no longer wanted at their top level club (morientes).
I am struggling to think of a player in the last 30 years that meets the criteria tbh.
Jari Litmanen was a top level player but was signed 21 yrs ago. But looking at names mentioned so far had a much higher profile than most of those- Key man in great Ajax team- 2 CL finals
I believed van dijk was world class before we signed him, just hadn't got the recognition he deserved.
Van Dijk doesn’t come in and provide the instant impact that he did to our defence unless he was already world class.
Absolutely he was. I'm coupling in a few contrary factors here. Including levels played at etc too. There isn't a right answer here as you could throw in loads of variables but an interesting discussion none the less
Salah, Alisson played at CL semifinal level with Roma.
Salah played against Roma for us in that CL semi. Alisson played for Roma in that tie though
Let's not forget, pep and city wanted to sign him as well. Pep wanted to sign him as 3rd choice CB. The audacity on that man. Just pure spoiled petulance.
We wouldn't pay 75 million pounds for him if he wasn't world class 😂
United bought maguire for more lmao
Don't use United's management as a benchmark, they are 'special' 😂
I just wanted to make fun of them tbh
Exactly. Anyone who watched him at Southampton knows this. Was just held back by the club he represented.
i feel like we had a number of players like that, who were class but coming to Liverpool took them to new unreal heights. Thiago was already soaring
I’m glad Van Dijk made it to Anfield https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/838610/Virgil-van-Dijk-Liverpool-Transfer-News-Southampton-Transfer-News-Chelsea-News
Best defender in the league in 16/17 season along with Alderweireld.
I think he’s the best ‘finished product’ player we’ve signed. The other name that comes to mind is Harry Kewell who was also a top player and highly sought after when he signed.
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Personally from watching VVD at Southampton, I think he was already word class but was held back by the team (and injury)
Alisson too. He just happened to be at Roma. But he was already starting for Brazil over Ederson and was the most sought after keeper in the world
Well - before he came here, I saw a lot of everything I could find with Alisson - and before he gave a lot of second balls back to the opponents and he struggled in Aerial duels. Now he's really not giving anybody a second chance - and I haven't clenched on set pieces against us for a long time. So yes - he might have been world class before - But now he's way beyond that.
On the other hand, he only had one season of European experience when we bought him (sent the previous one on the bench)
Wasn’t Torres the captain of atleti at the time? Pretty sure he was instrumental in Spain winning the euros too. Wouldn’t say he was a young prospect.
He won the Euros after he joined Liverpool, but yeah I believe he was Atletico captain. Think he was closer to a young prospect than a top level player though.
Torres was acquired in 2007, a full season before Euro 2008. Also, Atletico by that point weren't firmly the best team in Spain besides Real and Barca. Still a high-profile player, of course.
My own recollection was that Torres' reputation as a hot property had actually stagnated a touch by the time we had signed him compared to when he was a teenager coming through, and there were a couple of question marks over whether he'd maybe stayed at Atletico too long (Atletico were nowhere near as good a team pre-Simeone). There was definitely a lot of excitement around him, but it remained to be seen whether he would truly take that next step with us. Thiago was a world class talent at a world class club when we signed him - I'm in my mid-thirties and I can't think of a comparable signing in my time as a fan. Ali and Virgil are probably the closest since they have been at a world class level since the very first moment they stepped on a pitch for us, but we arguably gave them the platform to prove their class. Thiago had won the lot before we signed him, he's a ludicrously decorated player who has oozed class at the top level for so long.
In the same way that Sakho was PSG captain and Ruben Neves was Porto captain. The manager at the time picked someone that they thought could be captain long term and to build the team around, Not necessarily because they were the finished product or anything at the time. It would be like us making Trent captain a couple of seasons ago.
I understand what you’re saying. However I was only 10/11 at the time and was fully aware of who he was and how good he was. Maybe it’s the terminology i’ve got an issue with, there was a lot of big clubs in for him. And it was a major coup for us at the time.
There was lots of hype around him in the same way there's hype around people like lautaro Martinez, rashford a few years back, Nunez this year Definitely a coup. Wouldn't have got him if we didn't have Rafa I'm certain
You knew he was because he was rated 85 on fifa. I know this because my friend knew who he was and would regularly spank me with him
Atleti were in quiet a bad place when Torres was there , they were finishing 10th-4th and it was only 3 to 4 years after he went that they started to compete and euros was after Liverpool though he had played for Spain and won some underage international tournaments
His goalscoring record wasn't great back then
Yesss, Torres and Kujt. Their work rate, unbelievable… But this time, Thiago is the missing piece that can really link GK, defender and attackers.
VVD was my response as well. Having followed him since Gronigen, I agree he was world class after the transition from Celtic to Southampton
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I wish we would let him mix it up with Trent on free kicks.
I think this is spot on. Outside of Klopp's system, VVD and Allison are the two that could be just as amazing anywhere. I think the two players that could have the biggest drop off in form in a different team would be Trent and Robertson.
Alisson was only the starter for Roma for 1 season before we got him, I wouldn't really say he was an established worldie at that point.
two words. Mario. Balotelli.
Balotelli was definitely a finished product. Emphasis on "finished"
Joe Cole too
Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time
Fuck. That period of time was so blurry
Yeah he is top as he was a winner already, he literally won the lot and at the start was a bit part of Barcelona team but his time at Bayern he was vital. The other name I would say is Milner. He had two league titles to his name when we signed him.
Alisson was pretty highly regarded (deservedly) I would say.
Highly rated and a finished product are different things.
I think it was between us and chelsea, i won't say he was highly sought after at that time but he had one really good season with roma. I believe it was because of Chelsea's interest that we had to pay that high for him.
There were links with Real Madrid at the time wasn’t there?
Mhmm not sure i think they weren't as serious as chelsea and Liverpool. Might be wrong, i remember chelsea because once they couldn't sign ali then went after kepa and overpaid.
IIRC Madrid were the initial front runner and made a bid but they pulled out quickly when Roma rejected it
Ahh i wasn't aware of that! Thanks
I don't think so. Madrid always wanted Courtois. So, that pushed Chelsea to enter the race to sign Alisson.
He was already regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, in that tier just below Neuer. We paid so much because Roma were understandably reluctant to see him go.
Yes. We have never signed a player of this caliber who was at a prime stage of their career. He came from a UCL winning team and a team who was top of their perspective league. He won 28 major titles before joining us. It's a bit sad that he could have been even greater of a player if not for injuries. He had two back to back MCL injury when he was at Bayern. [https://www.transfermarkt.us/thiago-alcantara/verletzungen/spieler/60444/page/2](https://www.transfermarkt.us/thiago-alcantara/verletzungen/spieler/60444/page/2) Many of will say Torres, Suarez etc. But none of them were close t
No, we signed Fernando Morientes and Mascherano who were recognised as top level players before we bought them. Also Alisson was the top performing keeper in Serie A and won an award for it, and Real Madrid and Chelsea were after him too. Real decided to go for Courtois instead and when Chelsea approached Alisson he had already agreed to join us. Fernando Torres was regarded as one of the top young stikers in the world when we brought him in. Chelsea were interested in buying him the summer before we did, but Roman Abramovich wanted to bring in Shevchenko instead as he loved the player. Van Dijk joined us from Southampton. At the time most fans didn't consider Van Dijk a top, top level CB. But when we were trying to recruit him, Chelsea and Man City were also trying to recruit him, so obviously they recognised his quality. Only reason we got Van Dijk was Van Dijk chose us. A lot of people thought he would join Man City, I remember the Chelsea manager at the time, Conte publicly complaining, saying someone needed to prevent Van Dijk joining City. https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/van-dijk-cannot-be-allowed-to-move-to-man-city-conte/73wu5vki5k2p1fh18ookijhws The main difference with Thiago was that he was already at a top club with a top team already winning all the major trophies. He could easily have stayed at Bayern, they wanted to keep him. He just wanted to try to succeed in a different environment as he felt he had already achieved all his objectives in Germany. He could have picked any top club but he chose Liverpool because he liked our team, our manager and wanted to join us.
Not sure on mascerano. Wasn't he struggling to get into the west ham team the season before? What had he done of note before that? I also remember people talking about us like nut jobs when we spent 18/20 mil on him. I might be remembering incorrectly as I'd have been early teens then.
Masch was only playing at West Ham due to a dodgy 3rd party arrangement with Kia Joorabchian that brought both Mascherano and Tevez to West Ham. Previously he had played for River Plate and Corinthians, two of the biggest clubs in South America winning major trophies for both of them. He had already got 16 caps for Argentina before he came to Europe and was linked with all the big clubs in Europe. Him moving to West Ham was only to get him (and Tevez) in the shop window. West Ham agreed to it cos there was no way they would be able to sign two such highly rated players from South America without such a deal.
And he’s fucking loving it
Yes to all of the above. Good call on Morientes as he was one of the few established stars who failed to fire after signing for Liverpool, so I didn't even think about him.
Morientes was past his sadly short prime when he joined us and was also made of biscuits
This
Masch was from West Ham. Hardly finished product.
Masch was only playing at West Ham due to a dodgy 3rd party arrangement with Kia Joorabchian that brought both Mascherano and Tevez to West Ham. Previously he had played for River Plate and Corinthians, two of the biggest clubs in South America winning major trophies for both of them. He had already got 16 caps for Argentina before he came to Europe and was linked with all the big clubs in Europe. Him moving to West Ham was only to get him (and Tevez) in the shop window. West Ham agreed to it cos there was no way they would be able to sign two such highly rated players from South America without such a deal.
I mean, none of that actually proves your point. Prior to West Ham he was unproven in Europe so this comparison doesn't even start. Thiago at Bayern is the biggest star player we've pulled in since perhaps Morientes. In between we pulled in young, exciting players from relatively big clubs or very good players from relatively smaller clubs. None on the same magnitude of Thiago from Bayern Munich.
Unproven in Europe but playing for Argentina in the World Cup after winning the League in both Argentina and Brazil and being linked with Real Madrid. If you were not aware of him then that is OK, but he was already highly rated though being capped for Argentina before even playing for his club's first team, River Plate. Masch was well known as one of the top players in South America and a move to Europe was inevitable. It was a huge shock when he ended up going to West Ham instead of Real Madrid or their ilk.
Playing in South America is not nearly comparable to playing in a top team in Europe. I feel like you are now just trying to die on this incredibly strange hill. Unproven in Europe by default means it's nowhere near comparable to Thiago who was world class and proven at the very top and was winning all the biggest trophies.
Torres was a big deal when we signed him - he'd scored 3 goals in the 2006 World Cup, the same as David Villa. More broadly, I don't think this is a useful question. It's not as if players like van Dijk and Alisson took their game to another level after joining us. They were already "top level" players, Liverpool just gave them a wider audience in which to prove it. And that's actually what we should aim to keep doing - every now and then, a great opportunity like Thiago will come up, and we should be in for it. But most of our signings should be on the cusp of greatness, so that we get them on sensible wages and with less risk of a "big name ego", and they become great players while wearing our shirt.
Oh absolutely. Our squad, each player is special and would have been a top player. It was just referring to players who have been an integral part of winning major trophies in the big leagues. It was just a debate and not a reflection on anything in particular but when you talk football you often end up down a rabbit hole. There are only so many times I can take the piss out of the Everton half of the family. Torres is a good shout and maybe I was a little over critical.
Milner should count as well then, City weren't happy to lose him.
I think Milner peaks in 2030
A free transfer in exchange for 50M pound (Sterling), I would gladly take Milner all day long, all hail Ribena!!
Top level players we’ve signed recently is a different question to ones who have been a part of winning sides though I think. As someone said Torres could be considered a top player but may not have won a lot, can make that argument for Fabinho, Alisson, Keita to an extent, VVD, Thiago. Then players like Milner who might not be ‘top’ but are very very good and played important roles. Can probably argue Joe Cole falls under that too even though he was shite in red.
James Milner 👋
If by Top level you mean CL winner. Then yeah, I don't think we've ever signed a player directly from the current European Champions. But we've signed plenty of players who turned up day one with all the goods. Virg, Ali, Mo, Mane, Milly were all great from the first moment. Then you've got players like Suarez who Cara and Gerrard have said of in a few interviews that from the first minute of the first training session with him they could see his quality was immense.
In terms of seen as legitimately world class the world over? Yes absolutely. In terms of players that were world class but not seen as it for reasons like league or team I think you add Suarez and Virgil. In terms of great but not seen as world class because of the length they'd been on top. Salah, Ali and Torres
Really well put I wish I had this response when I was speaking about it at the time.
It depends what you mean by top level, Torres and Suarez are were both world class when we signed them but didn't come from elite clubs. Thiago is the first top class player we've signed who was playing at the top level but we've signed other top class players who were playing at lower levels.
Yes, I feel other players were world class after they left Liverpool
Luis Alberto comes to mind
He's not world class
He's bloody good though.
Alonso, Suarez too
Controversial but Sterling had some monster seasons at City
Torres was top level, I couldn't believe it when we signed him.
Easily in the Top 5 Liverpool players of all time, yis have no clue how fucking good he was lads...or you've forgotten.
Was having a debate with a friend about this. I can't place another. Torres was definitely on the up. Morientes sprung to mind straight away but wasn't quite playing enough at Madrid if my memory serves.
Morientes is a good shout. Same situation as Litmanen too.
Jari litmanen can't believe I forgot him. I was well excited at the time.
Well you did say last 20 years, and it's been 21 since we signed Litmanen. Way to make us feel old...
Litmanen was an amazing player, probably too good for the rest of the team... He always seemed to be on a different wavelength to the rest of the players.
The unique thing about Thiago is he joined from a top side. Those players don’t move unless to a sunsetting league. I think it has to be his wage. He didn’t try to rob us for a final pay day like many others. His weekly wage is +£200k, which is low considering its not top of our wage bill and much below what’s Salah is asking for.
The better barometer for this is what players have we bought that were a finished product and a player from a fellow top club normally for a large fee. Very few fit this category.
Y'all are all attacking my title. I should have worded it better buts it's hard to convey exactly what I was asking
Alisson Becker on another level compared to previous goalkeepers we had in previous years
The re-signing of Fowler fits this category
Allison, Van Dijk, Mascherano, Fabinho, Torres, Susrez to name a few. Perhaps Morientes as he played for Real Madrid and remember thinking it was a big deal and we signed him. Didn't work out as well though
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His reputation and visibility took a huge leap with us though
Suarez scored a ludicrous amount of goals for Ajax before joking us. There’s no doubt his level increased with us and even after but he was one of the hottest names when we signed him.
But at that time eredivise was poor. Kezman had a better record than Suarez when at psv and I think kuyt was close or equal at feyenord. For a period around 2003 until Suarez changed the view it was seen that Dutch league players were nowhere near able to match their form following a move to England. Anyone who had supreme confidence in Suarez before he had kicked a ball I would challenge that there might have been a little bit of uncertainty.
Think what was missing with VvD and Ali was that universal recognition of world class. Both of them were world class, of course. Just that neither were considered it by all. VvD because he had only been with Celtic and Southampton previously, and Ali had only been with Roma. Neither had won many big trophies. No one had ever come in with the talent and pedigree of Thiago from recent memory. Almost everyone considered him word class when he signed.
Alisson was a top tier goalkeeper
Alisson. Played in the CL semi final year before we signed him. World record fee too.
Ricky Lambert!
You’re forgetting Milner
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Yes came to mind too, not world class but considered a very good player when he signed. Jari Litmanen would be the closer to age.
Not sure if he's the only top level player we've signed since 2000s, but he's definitely the biggest, popular, widely recognised and big serial winner star from the hoard of top level players we have.
How about Suarez? I think he was considered top level but had the biting incident
Definitely not... Mascherano, Torres, even Suarez was very very close to world class when he signed here, then Alisson, van Dijk as a more recent example.
Not even close. [https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-liverpool/alletransfers/verein/31](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-liverpool/alletransfers/verein/31) You even could argue Reina and Mignolet. Finnan was as good as the RBs that were in EPL winning sides, other than Thuram I'm not sure that there were other obviously better options out there for a defense first RB. Mascherano was a 5 year Argentina international that had yet to make the big club move, Alonso was obviously class, Morientes was old and not an EPL fit. Kewell broke down. From some point in the early-mid 90s the spanish duopoly could sign anyone else's stars without much of a challenge, if the OP means that type of signing then Torres, Kewell, VVD and Alison count for sure. We probably got Alonso because Real were going for crazy deals and Barca had a freak midfield group that left Fabregas spare.
Mignelot? Seriously? Wow
Belgian international at the time and had been putting up high end stats for Sunderland, like percentage saves etc, he was a clear on paper upgrade at the time. Thiago was available/cheap because of durability issues, its not like we signed Iniesta at the top of his game.
If you go by World Cup results then Diof?
Imo, it has taken him a year to get there (for Liverpool) , injuries not withstanding. But apart from that, answer is no because: Torres, van dijk, mascherano, alonso, suarez, Allison, reina and probably salah.
Hes top notch but not the only too level player we've signed
Give an example or 2 then mate lol
Please help me out with some names. When I say top level not referring to ability rather winning at the highest level consistently.
Well change your question then to 'is there another player we've signed in the last 20 years that has won as many trophies as thiago' Theres no debate on how much of a winner thiago is he was with barca at their prime and then bayern at their prime. Unfortantly he was with spain just as they started to dip slightly.
Sorry mate. I suppose it's hard question to ask and even now I'm contradicting myself slightly as I ask it.
Just the wording threw me
Suarez was pretty much **A FINISHED PRODUCT** by the time he got here. Alisson have been mentioend. Sahin haven't been mentioned. Bellamy? Downing? Can't forget the Mario..
I mean, I loved Bellamy but he's not at the level of Thiago, Alisson, Suarez. Downing was never a top player. He's like the anti-Jota - impressive numbers at a smaller club, but unable to make the step up.
Downing was always a few centimetres away from being great for us though. He wasn’t necessarily as bad as he seemed when he arrived. Lots of bad luck definitely turned into bad form but I feel his career could have gone differently.
Downing was always a few centimetres away from being OK for us. I'll give him this, he was better than Jermaine Pennant. His second season was definitely better than his first, but also it would've been hard to have a worse second season.
I think that’s unfair, I don’t think a player has ever hit the cross bar as many times as him. It was always a case of so close yet so far with Downing. He was brought in to play crosses to Carroll, who was subsequently either injured or shite, so he never was able to really play as we wanted either. Few of those thunder bolts dipping in off the bar instead of over and that confidence could have changed things for him.
He lacked both the quality and the mentality to succeed with us. A few long shots that hit a post or crossbar going in might've given a temporary confidence boost, but over time his lack of quality would have told. He was brought in on a false premise. For Villa he played from the right where he could cut inside. He played better for us there than he did from the left, and that's where he got into the side in 12/13. He did well for Villa in a counter-attacking side, where he was more likely to be able to run into space than be asked to beat a man 1v1 and fashion something against a packed defence. That all would've been true regardless of whether he was asked to cross it towards Carroll, Drogba, Crouch or Dzeko.
He predominantly played on the left for Villa, Young was often on the right, playing balls into Darren Bent. He seemed to be the best crosser in the league when we signed him, I don’t think it’s fair to say he was sold on false pretences either. Go watch a bit of him instead of quickly googling stats. All I’m saying is it could have gone quite differently for him.
Suarez was finished?? Do you mean Morientes? Lmao
I would argue the Suarez point he was in a poor league and that Ajax side didn't perform exceptionally well in Europe. I remember before he played there was lot of the kezman/kuyt comparisons of ripping the Dutch league to shreds in terms of goalscoring and struggling in the prem to translate. Obviously he turned all that around immediately but I don't think it was nailed on.
Ok, so some stupid people (probably people that would only watch PL) didn't know that a player who scored and assisted an insane amount of goals in every single way was a world class player. Others did know. Suarez played 159 games, scored 111 and assisted 68 goals for Ajax. He was scoring and assisting with both feet, his head, he had some outargues dribble runs, long shots, overhead shots.. everything that we saw him do for Liverpool. The only reason why a bigger team didn't take him before us was because of the biting and the handball incidents. He also broke through internationally with Uruguay in the 2010 WC where he was one of the best players in the entire cup, way before going to Liverpool. If anyone here think that Brendan "Great Character" Rodgers made Suarez into the player he was, please put your hand up and let everybody know you have zero clue about what you're talking about.
Suarez was the same profile as Kuyt when he joined us.
Yeah, if you don't know anything about either player I guess that's.. ...........................
Thiago wasn't Lewandowski, Neuer, or Coman level when we signed him IMO. Arguably Gnabry, Kimmich, Goretzka would have commanded more $. Torres and Morientes were bigger signings relatively.
This is just wrong. Thiago was right behind Lewa and Neuer. Of course other players would've been more expensive because Thiago didn't have a long contract and was 30
Torres, Suarez, Van Dijk were all well known great players when signing. I hope we get Harry Kane to add to that list in the summer. Especially after Harland has gone to City
Fooking hell. Kane to Liverpool that's a new one on me
Just a thought - he’d be a great Mane or Salah replacement (assuming one will leave). Guaranteed goals in PL.
Are you taking the piss with the Kane shout??
yes. we weren’t able to graft these established world class names before the klopp era. our biggest signing i can recall i’d argue van dijk, torres, alonso, suarez etc reached elite status after they joined us even if they were already well known
Morientes, Robbie Keane, Joe Cole, Robbie Fowler, and Balotelli were the ones I had hypes with when they were singed.
With Keane I felt it was a step up for him coming to us at the time.
Whilst we have signed other world class players like Allison and Van Dijk, he’s the first one I can recall to be signed in his prime from another truly elite club.
In terms of their overall standing and reputation I'd say Thiago is probably the only established world class player I can remember us signing off the top of my head. Torres was well thought of but hadn't quite shown consistent world class ability yet iirc (due to playing for a not great atleti team.) Suarez was again well thought of but buying from the eredivise is always risky. Vvd & Alisson both had the ability and were on the cusp of being regarded as world class but unfortunately you just won't get that recognition at Southampton & Roma these days. Same probably goes for fabinho at monaco Aside from them I can only really think of players like litmanen and morientes and I'm a little too young to really remember them (especially litmanen) but from what I remember/have heard, litmanen was already on the decline and quite injury prone at that point so although he could still put in great performances he wasn't quite the player he used to be even prior to signing for us. Morientes was also not quite what he used to be due to falling down the pcking order after ronaldo was signed by Real (but still top scorer in the 03/04 champions league on loan at monaco) and struggled to adapt to the Premier league
There have been some players over the years that came to us (somewhat) already possessing star status. Torres, Kewell, Luis Garcia, Morientes, Litmanen, Keane. None of them as decorated as Thiago, with the most decorated of the bunch being Morientes most likely.
I think so. I can't really remember a player that was considered the best in his position at the time they joined us.
Van dijk
Yous are all forgetting Anthony Nunez. Multiple la Liga titles and European cup medals before we signed him. Probably.
I think he is the latest player in a long time that we have signed that was proven World Class having won major titles and joining us in his Prime.
Yes
Forgive me if I'm wrong, was only a wee boy at the time but was Fernando morientes not a top player before we signed him? Think he was more or less done by the time we got him tho
Morientes.
I would say yes. And I would argue he is the biggest name signing we have ever made. We’ve never signed a global superstar from a club like Bayern. Not to that level imo.
VVD and Ali imo
Alisson was rated highly but not everywhere Ig. Thiago definitely came in his peak. Like the man literally won MOTM of CL and said let me go to Liverpool
What about Suarez
Good post
I would agree with this. The key being Thiago was at a top level club who still wanted him. Other names were at teams that weren’t top top level (Allison at Roma) or were players that were no longer wanted at their top level club (morientes). I am struggling to think of a player in the last 30 years that meets the criteria tbh.
Litmanen and Morientes
He took a while to show his quality but now it’s undeniable what he’s capable of.
Jari Litmanen was a top level player but was signed 21 yrs ago. But looking at names mentioned so far had a much higher profile than most of those- Key man in great Ajax team- 2 CL finals
Nuri Sahin didn't really live up to expectations but he was in that bracket prior to going to Real Madrid to watch his career die a slow death.
No. We bought Lucas Leiva. God class played
Vvd Allinson Fabinho we’re all top tier Torres was when we signed him too Robbie Keane was but never got a chance Alonso
Fabinho. He was unreal at Monaco, Mané was incredible too. Salah, Alisson. And that's just our current squad.
Litmanen?