I think we have to take a step back really and acknowledge that whilst we all want a midfielder, that if this was another club then we as fans would list all the midfielders and ask “….how much more do these c*nts want?”.
I dont want to be like Mac Red listing players but we have Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Thiago, Elliott, Keita, Arthur, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jones for our midfield positions. Thats 9 midfielders and at least 6 of them are on £100k a week (Thiago is on £200k a week) and even of the ones that are not, Elliott is pretty much a regular.
The facts are that if you are one of the financial people you should be asking why do we have so many midfielders and why are they so expensive? I would be questioning why we are unable to move so many of these players on.
At the end of the day the midfield is a mess and we have ended up in a shite situation partly through being unlucky and partly through decisions. Thats why I am sanguine about not now signing a midfielder because the whole thing needs knocking down and starting again.
The reality is that we already have 3 x 40mill plus midfielders, and looking at the age range I think Klopp felt that his first team midfield would be Fabinho, Ox and Keita by now given the age range and cost of the players. It’s not that the club haven’t invested in midfield because they have, but the investment in Ox and Keita didn’t work out and that’s the issue. It’s easy for City, Chelsea or Man Utd to recover from bad signings as they can afford to get replacements, but when we do it then it sets us back as we try to recover.
These posts pretty much nail it for me, and I still find it hard to understand how people can't see this.
It was clear that Fabinho, Keita and Ox were Jurgen's long term midfield plan a few years ago, and would've been the perfect combination of control, strength, energy, and directness if things had worked out. But two of those 3 haven't worked out, which has created a huge issue for us for the last 2-3 years. We've also invested over £150m plus wages in Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo in the last 12 months, so the comments about FSG being tight or us not spending are dead in the water. The arguments around the 'Coutinho money' or 'selling to buy' are also wearing thin.
Despite injuries to Diaz and Jota, scoring goals hasn't been our issue - it's been our porous midfield, lack of pressing, lack of protection for the back four, and failing to control the middle of the pitch effectively. But I think it's about time some people accepted that we could've bought midfielders in the last 3 or 4 windows, but have chosen not to for a variety of reasons.
We've been in limbo with Ox/Keita for 2-3 years now - waiting for them to either be injury free and put in consistently high level performances, or leave for another club. But those two scenarios are inter-linked and one affects the other - the more injuries they've picked up and the less game time they get, the less attractive they are to other clubs. The less interest there is from other clubs (especially when it's smaller clubs that want them), then the less likely they'll want to leave - as it'll mean less success, less money, and let's face it - a massive step down from being around elite players and a manager like Jurgen.
It also never ceases to amaze me that some also can't understand the limitations of squad size, or the huge impact of having 2 injury prone players on decent wages that you can't seem to either keep fit or sell - but then say things like 'the club is negligent' or 'FSG are tight arses' - when we've actually successfully built an elite group of goalkeepers, defenders and strikers over the last 5 years.
Our current midfield situation isn't due to lack of funds, or negligence, or John Henry preferring a new yacht to Tchouameni. It's a combination of injuries, bad luck, players not wanting to leave, contracts, key targets not wanting to join, Jurgen's loyalty/faith in players (plus his belief he'll be able to get a tune out of them), plus many players all reaching (or passing) their peak at the same time.
We absolutely need a workhorse, durable, and ball winning/retaining midfielder this window, followed by a box to box elite midfielder in the summer - both in the 22 to 26 age range (although I'll make an exception for a 19 year old).
But if this was all as simple as some make out, then Ox would've been sold 2 years ago (plus probably Keita too), and we wouldn't be relying on an ageing Hendo/Thiago, or an out of form Fabinho, or a 37 year-old Milner, or playing a bunch of kids out of position. Fortunately it looks like the next 2 windows could finally fix this, letting Ox/Keita/Milner move on, whilst bring in at least 2 younger (and hopefully more durable) players.
Its always a balancing act getting an elite goalkeeper, defence, midfield and attack to peak at the same time - which is something we achieved between 2019 and 2022. If it wasn't for City we'd have won 3 titles in that period, so the argument about spending is mostly about 'we didn't spend as much as City' (who can...). During that same period, we've also had a global pandemic, been building a new training ground, a new stand, and been hit with unprecedented injuries, which are all massive mitigating factors for much of what has happened on and off the pitch.
I think given what we've seen over the last 12 months in terms of transfers, we could well see similar activity in midfield in the next 2-3 windows - especially as the pandemic is over, a lot of the main stand is paid off, Kirby is finished, and the ARE almost ready. Things are far, far better than people often make out, and the future is very bright despite our relatively poor start to the season.
