Around the start of last season’s Premier League campaign, there was a lot of anguish amongst Liverpool fans. The Reds had won the Champions League after beating fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, but had missed out on the league title by a single point to Manchester City. As the team prepared to challenge again, they had only brought in Adrian from West Ham United to serve as goalkeeping backup for Alisson. Not a single senior outfield player was signed, and so fans wondered if the squad would be capable enough to keep in touch with City for a second season running, let alone overtake them and win the club’s first league title in 30 years.
One year on, it is a completely different story. The Reds cantered to the league title, despite the coronavirus shutdown, winning it by 18 points, having been 25 points ahead of City at one point. While they did get knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid, the league was always the Holy Grail, and securing it has confirmed Klopp’s legacy in the pantheon of Anfield legends. What’s more, despite losing out on some big players this summer due to a perceived lack of funds, Liverpool have finally flexed their muscles and brought in some brilliant players, who could ensure that the club continue winning for the next few seasons as well. Looking at Premier League title odds and more on esportbetting.net and other betting providers, we see that Manchester City are considered the title favourites this season. However, these additions could catapult Liverpool back in front of their Manchester rivals.
Liverpool signed Japanese international Takumi Minamino from Red Bull Salzburg in January, and he is now ready to play a larger part in the team, having now fully acclimatized to the Premier League as well as to Klopp’s tactics and style of play. A backup left-back, which was sorely needed since Andy Robertson was the only senior left-back in the squad, has also arrived, with Kostas Tsimikas being picked up from Olympiakos. The big signing, however, has been the capture of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich. The Spanish international is fresh from winning the Champions League with Bayern, and was in search of a new challenge after seven trophy laden years in Bavaria, and so, with just a year left on his contract, Liverpool were able to snap him up for a bargain fee of just £20 million. Thiago will immediately add a touch of class to Liverpool’s midfield, and he already showed in a 45-minute appearance against Chelsea that he can dictate the tempo of play beautifully. Liverpool now have a world-class creator in their midfield, which adds another threat to go with the front three and the full-backs for opposition teams to worry about.
That was not all, though. This deal was swiftly followed by the news that the Reds had signed Portuguese international Diogo Jota from Wolves for a £45 million fee. While that does make him the sixth-highest transfer for the club, at 23 years of age, he offers huge value, and gives Klopp a quality backup option for the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. Jota has been exceptional for Wolves over the last couple of seasons, and his addition means that Klopp can now rotate and rest his players without fears of too much of a drop in quality.
