I think it’s fair to say that Brendan Rodgers has atoned for his failure to bring in the right players last summer. The club allowed him to loan out Andy Carroll without giving him the funds necessary to sign a new forward and as a result, Liverpool spent the first 2-3 months of the new season struggling.
Fortunately, they had Luis Suarez leading their line, scoring a lot of goals and creating a lot of havoc. Without him things would have been a lot worse. But they survived until January and brought in Daniel Sturridge to ease the burden on the Uruguayan forward. This is a move that has already paid dividends.
The young British forward seems to be developing a good understanding with Suarez (though perhaps that’s just because Suarez would get on well with pretty much any strike-partner in world football) and has scored a few important goals already.
Then there’s Philippe Coutinho, a talented Brazilian who could help add a little flair to Liverpool’s midfield. He’s still young, but may well blossom into a fantastic player somewhere along the line.
So yes, Liverpool have had a good January. But this should not prevent them from looking to get their existing talent onto some long term deals.
It was pleasing to see Raheem Sterling agree a new deal with a basic salary of around £25k-a-week (which will rise to £35k-a-week if he plays in the first team).
And now, according to the Daily Mirror, Liverpool are attempting to agree new terms with Martin Kelly, their young English defender. The 22-year-old is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury and looks to be playing hardball: he’s asked Liverpool’s top-brass for £45k-a-week.
This is absolute madness. Does he really consider himself more valuable to the club than Sterling? Has he contributed that level of value since becoming a part of the first team?
I think Martin Kelly is a fantastic defensive talent. Yes, he’s far from the finished product, but he has fantastic positional awareness, isn’t afraid to get stuck in and can put in a great tackle. With the likes of Jamie Carragher in the autumn of their career, it’s up to Kelly to step up and become Liverpool’s latest defensive behemoth.
But 45k-a-week is simply too much. I hope that something can be done to keep him at the club – perhaps a Raheem Sterling like deal, that will see him pick up a decent figure should he appear in the first team that week.
After all, it’d be a shame if he were to move on and spend his best years at another club. Let’s hope that Rodgers is on the case.
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