OPINION
Michael Edwards has been rightly hailed as the man with the midas touch.
Virtually everything the Liverpool recruitment chief has touched has turned to gold since he was appointed the club’s sporting director in November 2016.
The Merseyside giants have not only secured a series of outstanding signings who have transformed the fortunes of the team – from Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson in 2017 to Virgil van Dijk and Alisson the following year – but also got top dollar for those leaving the club.
Remarkably, the club’s actual net spend during Edwards’ spell in charge of recruitment is relatively low, not only due to the £142million Philippe Coutinho sale, but a string of other deals in which fringe players have been sold for major fees.
Dominic Solanke, Danny Ward, Mamadou Sakho, Kevin Stewart, Lucas Leiva, Christian Benteke, Joe Allen, Jordon Ibe and Jerome Sinclair are among those who have left for what have been in some cases barely believable fees.
Even Edwards, it seems makes mistakes.
Liverpool had the chance to get an £11million fee for Alberto Moreno in the summer of 2017, when the Daily Telegraph report they rejected a bid of that sum from Napoli.
It is said the Merseyside giants slapped a £15million price tag on the left-back, a fee that all clubs baulked at after he had spent the 2016-17 campaign understudying James Milner.
Edwards’ asking price was too much and Liverpool are now set to pay the price as Moreno is, according to the Independent, close to agreeing a pre-contract with Lazio ahead of a summer free transfer.
The Spaniard has barely featured since Andy Robertson’s stunning emergence in December 2017, making just two league starts for Liverpool this season.
With Liverpool also swallowing up multi millions in wages to Moreno, rejecting that Napoli offer has proved to be a gamble that has failed.