Liverpool will start afresh in the summer and enter a new era.
On Sunday, Jurgen Klopp will say his final goodbyes when Liverpool host Wolves for their final Premier League game of the 2023/24 season.
It’s a dead-rubber game for both sides. Nothing on the line. But it is still expected to be very emotional for those inside Anfield.
But Liverpool can only think so much about their legendary coach because they have bigger fish to fry ahead of next season.
Arne Slot is going to be the club’s new coach and he will be working with Michael Edwards to try and get the club back on track.
The transfer guru will be hoping to recruit better than what has been brought in during these last few years because it hasn’t exactly been successful.
One of those players includes a certain Thiago Alcantara. Signed from Bayern Munich for £25 million in 2020. He too will play his final game on Sunday against Wolves – his contract expires in June.
Tony Cascarino shared that Thiago has been a ‘great servant’ to the club and someone who is ‘an absolute genius technically’, as he told talkSPORT.
But constant injury issues have meant that Liverpool fans haven’t seen the best of him – he has only played five minutes of football this term – and played only 18 league matches last season.
Cascarino compared the 33-year-old to Manchester United’s very own departing player, Raphael Varane and how they have proven to be ‘very expensive’ additions with ‘no return’.
The World Cup winner with France will also depart Manchester United after Sunday’s finale, he too has had his injury issues since joining in 2021 and is a signing that just hasn’t worked out.
Thiago Alcantara to leave Liverpool
“Great servants to the club,” responded Cascarino on Thiago and Matip’s soon-to-be departures.
“You mentioned Thiago, a fabulous footballer and an absolute genius technically. At his best, he was a joy to watch. I loved watching Thiago. Unfortunately, the injuries and he doesn’t quite cover the demands of the game with the intensive endurance that you need to be running, closing down and doing all the graft work. I think it just got a bit beyond him. He’s in his 30s now. But incredibly gifted.
“What I would say is this is becoming a bit of a common theme and I hope we are going to do a piece on Raphael Varane, which I am sure is quite interesting because I have done some numbers on Raphael Varane. But it’s a bit like Thiago, where you buy for £30 million, you are paying a high wage because you took him from Bayern Munich. The cost of him over that 3-4 years can be very expensive and he ends up being given away as a free. It’s quite an expensive thing to do at football clubs. You put wages and the transfer fee in, it can get to £70-80 million for that period quite quickly and there is no return.”
Jurgen Klopp’s final Liverpool game
Not many teams have rocked up to Anfield and won over the years, so it would be a shame for Klopp if his final game were to end in defeat.
Liverpool’s most recent match was a 3-3 draw at Aston Villa. Their attack is still smooth, but the defence is clearly lacking and that’s for Slot to deal with.
READ MORE: JURGEN KLOPP PRAISES LIVERPOOL TALENT, ARNE SLOT IS SURELY EXCITED
But Wolves have the counter-attacking ability to hurt the Reds, so they have to be wary of a big upset here.
But whilst Liverpool fans know that the Wolves game will be Klopp’s , Thiago’s and Joel Matip’s final bow. Will anyone else follow suit?
You just wonder if Saudi Arabia target Mohamed Salah will also leave because his contract runs until 2025 and he either signs a new deal or is sold this summer.
The post 'No return': Tony Cascarino suggests Liverpool have made 'very expensive' Varane-like transfer mistake appeared first on HITC.
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