Liverpool’s summer business of 2023 has propelled them back into the Premier League title picture.
Having fallen so badly off the pace last season, four smart additions have put them right in the mix once more. Alexis Mac Allister has been superb recently and is reportedly privately seen as an amazing signing by Liverpool.
Ryan Gravenberch meanwhile has struggled from time to time but is still said to be seen as having elite potential by the club. The other two players added to the squad – Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo – have also been praised for settling in well. Endo in particular has been a surprisingly astute signing.
However, not everyone has been happy. Speaking on The Stand podcast this week, pundit Eamon Dunphy has claimed that both the Szoboszlai and Endo signings were mistakes by Jurgen Klopp.
“They found some very good young players John, I mean Elliott who came on and actually put them in front in extra-time, 3-2, superb player and they have found some players,” Dunphy said, referring to Liverpool’s extra-time loss against Manchester United on Sunday.
“I think he’s bought badly with Szoboszlai and Endo,” he added. “Now, Endo only cost £14m and he looks like a guy who cost £14m. Szoboszlai, no way.”
Rating Szoboszlai and Endo signings
This is incredibly harsh from Dunphy. If Liverpool’s signings have been so poor, then how are the team performing so markedly differently from last season’s debacle of a campaign.
The point on Endo is especially baffling. First of all, the Japan captain actually cost Liverpool £16m, as has been well reported. So Dunphy is wrong anyway.
But Endo has at times looked like a player who the Reds could easily have spent three or four times as much on.
When you consider how good he was against Manchester City a couple of weeks ago, Endo could feasibly have cost anything. How many £16m players could boss City’s midfield as Liverpool’s No.3 did?
Dominik Szoboszlai
As for Szoboszlai, well, although the jury has been out on him recently, he’s been a terrific signing overall.
The 23-year-old has gone off the boil as injuries have perhaps caught up with him over the winter. But by and large Szoboszlai has added a great deal to Liverpool.
As the Reds’ top presser in the Premier League this season, he has all the tools to be a perfect player for Klopp. We’ll maybe see the best of Szoboszlai under the incoming manager, but it’s been a good debut term so far.
So, we’re not quite sure what Dunphy was getting at here. Perhaps it was simply reframing the narrative after a disappointing loss for Liverpool in the FA Cup. But whatever point he thought he was making, it’s utterly benign.
