Smart recruitment within any business can be the make or break of results. Football is no different. Get a transfer wrong, and you could be left £72 million out of pocket with a 0-0 draw at Leeds United looking a good result. Get it right, however, and your name could be on the all-important silverware come the end of the season with the money falling under the category of well spent. In the case of Liverpool, this theory has more than been proven, and Diogo Jota is the latest example of the Reds’ genius in the transfer market over the years which has helped transform them from misery to mentality monsters.
Jota Following Liverpool Trend
Goal Machine Jota Could Be Signing of the Season
The Portuguese international follows a growing line of players to step out of the mediocracy of one club and into the Anfield spotlight to star. Sadio Mane did it, Mohamed Salah, too. Now, Jota, with nine goals in 14 appearances, is replicating the trend of Jurgen Klopp signings to perfection.
That classic trend, of course, is one that has so crucially paid dividends for Liverpool in the market. While others have failed in recruitment, opting for obvious choices who have ultimately gone onto fail, Klopp and co have always delved deeper to find the ideal candidate and not just the obvious star those around Europe are linked with.
Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe is a perfect example of this. In 2019, ask any Liverpool fan for a wishlist of signings and the winger would have been sitting pretty at the top having just enjoyed a season of goals galore in Ligue 1. And, in fairness to those with the winger on their wishlist, he was performing to extraordinary levels. It looked as though wherever he ended up, he would thrive.
Ultimately, it was Arsenal who secured Pepe; it was the Gunners who paid the hefty fee, and have been paying the price ever since. The winger has failed miserably at the Emirates with more headbutts than meaningful moments this season.
It is clear Liverpool dodged a bullet by avoiding Pepe despite the cries from fans for the summer signing. Its almost as if Jurgen Klopp could see into the future or, more realistically, the winger simply didn’t fit the bill when put through the all-important and most probable extensive Liverpool scouting system.
Pepe was the obvious choice that summer. But, again, so crucially, Liverpool remained patient before executing their transfer genius once more this summer by signing Jota for half the fee Arsenal signed the flopped winger for.
The case of Timo Werner is very similar. And, yes, he has been resoundingly brilliant for Chelsea so far, but Liverpool, again, waited. The German, whether it be because of the price asked or other reasons, did not walk through the Anfield doors.
Now, arguably, Liverpool, again because of their patience, have a better player in Jota; or, at the very least, a player that fits the bill better at Anfield.
Only Going to Get Better
With four goals from four Premier League games at Anfield, Jota already has a record to his name, and will only continue to surpass previously held honours. At 23, the forward is primed and ready for further improvement- following in the footsteps of the likes of Sadio Mane to reach that elite level.
Should he continue to progress, he’ll simply fall under the category of players to become world-class under the guidance of Klopp. Liverpool have very rarely signed a ‘world-class’ player. Instead, they have turned players world-class. In fact, with the exception of Thiago and perhaps Virgil van Dijk, a world-renowned superstar has not been the signing of choice by Klopp and co.
Even after becoming champions of the world, quite literally, Klopp opted to continue his transfer trend instead of flexing the new-look Liverpool muscles. Any player in world football would have jumped at the chance to link up with the Premier League champions in the summer.
Whether it be for financial reasons, or strategic, Liverpool, despite being in the top spot when it comes to dream clubs for players, once again went for the unobvious choice. Instead of Mbappe2020, it was a Wolverhampton Wanderers forward; it was Diogo Jota or, as Liverpool fans like to call him nowadays, Diogoal Jota.
Even 14 games in, it is clear that the Liverpool transfer genius has so crucially struck again under Jurgen Klopp to unexpectedly secure what could go down as the signing of the season.
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