We live in an era when it seems to win the accolades of fans in the transfer market, a manager must pour money into bringing big name signings to his club.
This summer in the Premier League, Spanish World Cup winner David Silva, and Argentine goal machine Sergio Aguero are high profile signings who have turned Manchester City into genuine title contenders.
In the coming transfer window, Robin Van Persie, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres are all tipped to make high profile, big money moves away from their respective clubs.
Despite the opportunity to throw money at proven stars and past glory, Liverpool FC are taking a vastly different approach to the transfer market. Indeed, a pattern is developing where Liverpool sign young players with the potential to be great, rather than proven names who perhaps have already done the best work of their career.
The American owners of Liverpool are heavily influenced by the famed ‘Moneyball’ approach to identifying talent used by the Oakland Athletics baseball team.
The approach is documented in a recent Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt. The ethos of Moneyball is to pay for a players ability to do the job in the future, rather than paying high prices for past performance.
While Dalglish has invested heavily during his time at Liverpool, particularly with the signing of Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing, it is without doubt that all of them have their best days ahead of them.
In January of this year, Liverpool offloaded Fernando Torres for 50 million pounds to Chelsea, the Reds then bought in Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. The combined fee for Suarez and Carroll was less than Liverpool made for the Torres sale, and the pair are both younger than the Spaniard.
It also appears Liverpool did a good job of predicting future performance during this trade. Suarez and Carroll have combined for 11 goals this season, while Torres has scored four and is currently toiling on the Chelsea bench.
This week Dalglish continued his approach to investing in youth when he agreed a deal to sign 16-year old striker Jordon Ibe from Wycombe Wanderers. The Reds boss has also expressed his interest in bringing 19-year old Irish striker Rory Donnelly to Anfield from Ciftonville.
The guidance of Dalglish is also managing to bring out the best in some youngsters who were already at the club when he arrived. Teenage playmaker JonJo Shelvey was sent out to Blackpool on loan to develop, and responded by winning the Npower Football League young player of the award recently. Shelvey has returned to Anfield, and could have a role to play in the near future replacing injured Brazilian midfielder Lucas.
It is a pretty safe bet Liverpool will not be signing any reported world-beaters during the coming transfer window. However, it is also a near certainty that the future is bright at Anfield.
In the coming transfer window, Robin Van Persie, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres are all tipped to make high profile, big money moves away from their respective clubs.
Despite the opportunity to throw money at proven stars and past glory, Liverpool FC are taking a vastly different approach to the transfer market. Indeed, a pattern is developing where Liverpool sign young players with the potential to be great, rather than proven names who perhaps have already done the best work of their career.
The American owners of Liverpool are heavily influenced by the famed ‘Moneyball’ approach to identifying talent used by the Oakland Athletics baseball team.
The approach is documented in a recent Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt. The ethos of Moneyball is to pay for a players ability to do the job in the future, rather than paying high prices for past performance.
While Dalglish has invested heavily during his time at Liverpool, particularly with the signing of Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing, it is without doubt that all of them have their best days ahead of them.
In January of this year, Liverpool offloaded Fernando Torres for 50 million pounds to Chelsea, the Reds then bought in Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. The combined fee for Suarez and Carroll was less than Liverpool made for the Torres sale, and the pair are both younger than the Spaniard.
It also appears Liverpool did a good job of predicting future performance during this trade. Suarez and Carroll have combined for 11 goals this season, while Torres has scored four and is currently toiling on the Chelsea bench.
This week Dalglish continued his approach to investing in youth when he agreed a deal to sign 16-year old striker Jordon Ibe from Wycombe Wanderers. The Reds boss has also expressed his interest in bringing 19-year old Irish striker Rory Donnelly to Anfield from Ciftonville.
The guidance of Dalglish is also managing to bring out the best in some youngsters who were already at the club when he arrived. Teenage playmaker JonJo Shelvey was sent out to Blackpool on loan to develop, and responded by winning the Npower Football League young player of the award recently. Shelvey has returned to Anfield, and could have a role to play in the near future replacing injured Brazilian midfielder Lucas.
It is a pretty safe bet Liverpool will not be signing any reported world-beaters during the coming transfer window. However, it is also a near certainty that the future is bright at Anfield.
