Fixed. Not every signing must be a Robertson.
P.S. Just remembered another “journeyman” player who did quite well for us: Divock Origi.
Van Dijk, Alisson, Fabinho, Mane, Matip - were all excellent value for money signings. We were able to invest a cool 130 million on Van Dijk and Alisson, based on one of the most significant value multiplier signings of all time - Coutinho. Also, the squad already had Mane, Salah, Gomez, Matip, TAA, Milner, and Robertson - all of whom combined cost less than £ 80 million.
I have limited information about players outside of Liverpool. Is Aina good enough to play for us, that is the core question. If he is, that's great. Here is what you had to say about him
"I have not seen much of Aina and his compilations don’t look particularly impressive, however I do think this is the profile we should pursue for a
@Bradley backup - having an experienced player (preferably with PL experience) who is physically robust and defensively sound would mitigate a lot of concerns over Bradley as our main RB next season. I liked what I saw of Givairo Read, for example, but I don’t think this would be the right situation to go for someone so young and inexperienced - maybe in a couple of years."
That doesn't read like a glowing tribute. I am a teacher, and that reads like a reference letter I write for a C student whom I feel sorry for because he is polite, and I don't want to disappoint him.
The way I evaluate a player's impact is to wait a year or two and then think about whether I would have been comfortable paying 20-30 million extra for that player when we acquired them. Mane, Salah, Gomez, Matip, TAA, Milner, and Robertson - all of them pass that test comfortably. I know TAA came through the academy, but he would have been worth it at 30 million. So does Alexis MacAllister. Tsimikas doesn't. Szobo doesn't, at least not comfortably. We have not made enough of them in recent times. It's not about making cheap signings.
Do you see a future where, in the summer of 2027, you are comfortable stating that Aina's contribution to LFC was worth paying 30 million in the summer of 2025? If the answer is yes, then that's great, advocate for him. But let's not use the "the player must be cheap enough and have the right level of competency (not too much) so that he doesn't impede Bradley's path to the first team" argument. No player is genuinely free. Every player costs.
Divock Origi's profile when we acquired him was nothing like Aina's. I am not going to elaborate on that.
