FSG must break Liverpool transfer tradition and go big on Pedri, a bargain even at €100 million

FSG must break Liverpool transfer tradition and go big on Pedri, a bargain even at €100 million

Liverpool Echo Sports·2021-09-13 06:00

On the surface, there is no reason to think that FSG will sanction a transfer move for Pedri. Since Lionel Messi departed, he is arguably Barcelonas biggest asset Liverpool arent known for buying from the biggest clubs at the best of times, least of all when the price tag is 100 million. Thats somewhere in the region of £85 million, which would represent a record fee. End of story? Not necessarily. The line that FSG have always been willing to sanction big transfers for truly transformative players is somewhat flawed. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Fabinho are trotted out as the examples, but all of these can be traced back to the sale of Philippe Coutinho as much as anything else. The model, by and large, is sell-to-buy: there is no point denying that a move for Pedri would be a departure from the established procedure. Naturally, one way around this would be a big-name departure. If, say, Mohamed Salah were to be sold, it would probably generate the kind of money needed to go after Pedri. However, if any of the front three do get moved on, the reinvestment will need to be funnelled into the front line it is already the area of the side which most lacks depth, so a major departure would probably necessitate pursuing an attacker in lieu of the Barcelona midfielder. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles Outside of the front line, there are no obvious assets for FSG to sell. Trent Alexander-Arnold would probably fetch a large fee, but his departure would make no sense whatsoever: he is completely irreplaceable, and Liverpool would be forced to spend any money received pursuing the fools errand of trying to find this elusive replacement. In a reversal from last season, there is now a surplus at centre-back, but the various age profiles at play make it hard to imagine any move raising Pedri-level funds. In the midfield itself, there are simply no blue-chip assets at present, except perhaps Fabinho and as the only defensive midfielder in the squad, he cannot be allowed to leave. As such, any Liverpool move for Pedri would have to be bankrolled at least partially by investment from FSG, rather than sustainably-generated club funds. This would be a rarity. However, John Henry is no fool. He knows that his asset is worth more when the club is successful, or at least competitive. With a looming age profile issue, signing arguably the foremost teenager in world football makes business sense. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles Biting the bullet in this case would also allow FSG to then continue with the existing model for another cycle. One big investment in Pedri will have sorted the midfield for a generation, particularly with Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones already at the club. The defence is also set, with Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez primed to take over from Virgil van Dijk and Joël Matip. While the attack will need updating and refreshing, this should be manageable via the usual sell-to-buy approach. In short, the £85 million essentially becomes £8.5 million per year over ten years, in exchange for the ability to continue running the club self-sufficiently. Even then, this investment may ultimately yield a return, should the club ever choose to cash in on Pedri. It could conceivably be eight years before he hits his prime: Liverpool could plausibly get close to a decade of excellent on-pitch service and then still sell for a profit. Of course, there are footballing risks that come with this, and there are no guarantees as to how the youngsters development will go. However, every signing comes with a degree of risk: for FSG and Liverpool, the bigger risk might well be not going all-in on Pedri. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles
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