Alan Shearer says ‘criticism’ of Liverpool over failed summer move would’ve been ‘tough’ to take
Alan Shearer has said that Liverpool shipped ‘criticism’ over their failure to sign Moises Caicedo during the summer transfer window.
On the eve of the Premier League season starting, the Reds had agreed a fee of £111m with Brighton to sign the Ecuador midfielder (BBC Sport), only for him to then opt for a £115m move to Chelsea instead (The Telegraph).
However, while the Blues have only accrued five points from as many top-flight matches so far, leaving them 14th in the table, Jurgen Klopp’s team sit third after four wins and a draw.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport, Shearer said that Liverpool would’ve found it ‘tough’ to take losing out on the 21-year-old when he moved to Stamford Bridge, but feels that they’ll look at how they’ve since recovered from that blow as a real fillip.
The Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer stated: “It probably was a bit of a frustrating transfer window for them because two of their main targets they couldn’t get, with Caicedo going to Chelsea.
“It was a tough one for them to take because they also got a little bit of criticism for the way they went around it. So, to start the way they have done, then I think it’s another positive.”
When Caicedo snubbed Liverpool in favour of Chelsea, it would’ve come as a hammer blow to the Reds, who at the time had only made two signings in the summer transfer window and were about to face Mauricio Pochettino’s team in their Premier League opener.
However, with the two sides having sharply contrasting starts to the season and Klopp subsequently adding two other midfielders in Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, we swiftly moved on from the disappointment of missing out on the Ecuadorian.
The £115m man has started just twice for the Blues since his big-money move last month (Transfermarkt), whereas Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been constants in the LFC midfield, with the latter looking especially impressive.
Those two were signed for less than what Caicedo cost Chelsea, and while it’s still too early in the midfielders’ respective careers at their new clubs to pass any definitive judgements, the initial signs are that Liverpool pulled off the much better business of the two.
Even if any criticism the Reds shipped at the time of the transfer was understandable considering the state of affairs in mid-August, it’s now starting to look like the Ecuadorian’s snub was a blessing in disguise.
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