13 Jan 2015

Done Deal #2: LFC confirm 'permanent transfer' for €6m attacker who downed Chelsea

Well, this is a truly one for the books: instead of following the usual tiresome pattern of being ripped-off and/or fleeced in transfer market, Liverpool have somehow managed to flip-the-script and convince Dubai club Al Ahli that alleged winger Oussama Assaidi is worth £4.7m (€6m). Amazing!

Last night, Liverpool released the following statement about Assaidi, whose best moment in English football came in December 2013 whilst on loan at Stoke, when he scored the winning goal against Chelsea:

"Liverpool Football Club can confirm Oussama Assaidi has left on a permanent transfer to join Al Ahli Club.

"The Moroccan winger ended a loan spell with Stoke City early in order to complete the switch to Dubai".


£2.7m profit on a player who made just 12 appearances in two years? That's good business, and for once, the club deserves credit for its performance in the transfer market.

That said, this development doesn't change the fact that Assaidi is just one in a long line of underwhelming transfers. Granted, the Moroccan only cost £2.4m, but all the small transfer mistakes ultimately add up to one huge figure.

Some fans will argue that if the club makes a profit on a player, then he can't be considered a flop, but that ignores a couple of crucial factors:

* Liverpool have wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds on Assaidi's wages. That's money down the pan, which could've been used on another transfer and/or another player's salary.

* Assaidi's presence in the squad arguably stunted the progress of several youngsters. Rodgers could've just promoted an academy winger, and saved the club time and money.

* There's also the loss of utility to consider; if Rodgers had signed the right players, Liverpool would now be benefiting from their impact on the team.

* Instead, the likes of Assaidi, Aspas, Alberto, Ilori et al are all out on loan, and the Reds are receiving zero benefit for the overall cash outlay.

The overall point of transfers is to improve the team, and help the club progress on the field to the point that wining trophies becomes a real possibility. Making a profit on a dud signing is satisfying, but it's ultimately a pyrrhic victory, especially if the club fails to learn from past mistakes.

Author:


34 comments:

  1. How about Balotelli, Aspas and 4.7 million for Higuain? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. We would only have paid so much of his wages due to his loan spells and Stoke paying them as well.as loan fees we got for him offsetting the wages we did pay.
    I have no real problem with the club taking gambles in the market as long as the there is not much loss. We have seen other teams sign players who turned out great for cheap and most don't.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Getting linked with Levezzi again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. He would be my preferred choice

    ReplyDelete
  5. really? what you been smoking?

    ReplyDelete
  6. There you go again, JK...making lemons out of lemonade. ;-)
    I liked the look of Assaidi and wanted him to succeed at Liverpool. I can see why we brought him in: quick, hard-working, great hair. It just wasn't to be. At least he helped us out at Stoke with that winner against Chelsea, and at least the club made a profit. Good luck at Al Ahli.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Will the JK Suarez-Evra book be in paperback, hard copy, and digital?

    ReplyDelete
  8. He Isn't even a striker

    ReplyDelete
  9. and can you please dedicate it to NGCtC?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Not necessarily what we need.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sorry to say this Jamie but I think you need to move with the times. All the big teams are following the Chelsea path which is buying young players, loaning them out with a view of hoping a few will sell for a large profit a couple of years down the line. Look at Chelsea, they currently have 30 players out on loan and I am sure that many of those players were brought with the full knowledge that they will never become squad players let alone first team players.

    This is now the way to get the new FFS rules.

    Personally I hate it as it kills the progression of many young players but there you have it

    ReplyDelete
  12. He's an all action, versatile forward which is what we need in my opinion

    ReplyDelete
  13. the illori kid i think has a ton of potential and i'm strong believer in loaning out defenders if they are not going to get consistent playing time. defense should hardly be interchanged due to communication and understanding in any defense, which we already lack. young defenders should look for loan moves at the highest level they can play, i.e. Wisdom, to gain the much need experience and to work on communication and speed of play.

    alberto i wouldn't name as a flop either, he is very young and looked a decent player when he came on. spanish players are tricky they suffer from really bad home sickness most of the time. family is huge in spain with most direct and extended family leaving together which is hard to walk away from. it also seems like he struggled off the field with decision making and going home for a season was probably a good thing for both club and player. with that said he needs to step up and show that he can handle the change and be me more mature off the field once he returns.

    the others are flops and have used resources, but without CL it is hard to draw in top talent and we had to take more risk in transfer business than other top clubs to try and find a spark. i do think are transfer business has gotten progressively better every transfer window and hopefully that trend will continue.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pot and kettle? .-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. On every sheet.........

    ReplyDelete
  16. Agreed. Sterling is not a striker but we looked better with him up there.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think what you wrote is our biggest problem...
    If Sturridge is always fit we don't need a striker- Higuain, Benzema, Llorente etc. If he isn't(and we know he isn't)fit we do need a striker. But do we buy Higuain kinda striker to replace Daniel or Lavezzi kinda 'attacker' to combine him with Sterling when Daniel out. We need high quality but if we keep Daniel and bring a player that can't play alongside him- we're in trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Who says that Sturr can't play alongside a striker in the higuain mould?

    ReplyDelete
  19. If you ask me, we need a clinical striker. Lavezzi is a winger/high working attacker

    ReplyDelete
  20. Don't complain. We may not have made a fiscal profit on the lad but we've got a wage off the bill.
    In other news, apparently Sterling is close to Rodgers and not a total merc: http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2015/01/13/7916232/sterling-close-to-new-liverpool-deal-after-assurances?CMPID=FBUK_150113_NewSterlingDeal

    Genuinely interested in what you think Jaimie.

    ReplyDelete
  21. If we are keeping Mario a player like Levezzi could be helpful in getting more out of him. Ifffffffffsssssss

    ReplyDelete
  22. I won't ask you then ;p

    ReplyDelete
  23. Don't see enough defensive work between the two. With his injury rate They would be playing half of the season at best, and when only one is playing I see us relying on high pressing which we should.. Maybe they can play together, but I just don't see it...

    ReplyDelete
  24. "The truth is, right now we don't know what will happen. What we do know is that he will play in one of the very best clubs in the world next season, whether that is Manchester United or not.

    We can be lucky Falcao is not hemorrhaging our wage bill ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Maybe it will be available in black and white too?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Gosh that was a near miss, eh? Sad to see the once mighty Falcao fall so far, though. ACL whacks are the pits.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Haha.. I hate posting with my phone... damn auto correct

    ReplyDelete
  28. im fine with that :-) that's why neither you and me are in the transfer comitee. there's serious work going on there - oh wait

    ReplyDelete
  29. Is there a team in world football that is worse at elite player recruitment than Liverpool Football Club? I'm honestly struggling to find a candidate.


    How much of the 7.5 will we recoup on Aspas, or the 11m for Borini?
    $15m for Welsh Xavi? We're just plain amateurish when it comes to transfers.

    ReplyDelete