This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has turned out since being signed/sold and using statistical figures and statements from key figures to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.
The summer of 2018 saw a significant trimming of Liverpool’s goalkeeping options, with three netminders leaving the club in the wake of Alisson’s £66.9m arrival from Roma.
Loris Karius joined Besiktas on a two-year loan deal, with memories of his Champions League final nightmare revived by a mistake against Borussia Dortmund in pre-season, while Adam Bogdan went on loan to Hibernian for the season.
While that duo left Anfield temporarily, another goalkeeper said goodbye to Merseyside altogether, with Danny Ward signing for Leicester for £12.5m, as reported by BBC.
The Wales international‘s departure from Liverpool may not have seemed greatly surprising, with just three first-team appearances at Anfield between 2015 and 2018, but the size of the transfer fee might have raised a few eyebrows – the Reds got £4.16m per first-team appearance for Ward.
In his three games for Liverpool, they beat Bournemouth 2-1 and lost 3-1 at Swansea in Premier League games towards the end of the 2015/16 campaign and exited the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 defeat to his future employers Leicester two years ago. Three games, two defeats, six goals conceded and no clean sheets is the synopsis of Ward’s impact at Liverpool.
These Reds fans on Twitter felt that the Anfield club got the better end of the £12.5m deal that saw the goalkeeper move to Leicester:
20% sell on clause in that contract is wonderful business
— Cameron Vela (@_MexiCam) July 20, 2018
Excellent business.
— IKKY_YNWA (@IKKY_YNWA) July 20, 2018
Michael Edwards is a genius!
— Tom Bayliss (@bayliss4) July 20, 2018
Knocks the Alisson fee down to £53m essentially…. amazing business @LFC
— Shermo (@BiggKat02) July 20, 2018
Deal and a half.
— keenan thomas (@keenanthomas4) July 20, 2018
What a piece of business that is for us!
— Paul Taylor (@tay_p) July 20, 2018
As at Liverpool, Ward has struggled to forge his way into the Leicester reckoning, with only five appearances for the Foxes last season (all in domestic cup competitions) and none so far this term. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
He has warmed the bench in all six Premier League games for Leicester this season, having done the same in every single league game in 2018/19 without getting off the bench. [via TransferMarkt.co.uk]
He was also overlooked for the Foxes’ Carabao Cup match against Newcastle last month, with Brendan Rodgers sticking with regular first-choice goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Leicester are in Carabao Cup action again this week away to Luton, which may give Ward the chance for a rare start, but even then it’s hard not to feel that Liverpool have done very well to pocket £12.5m for a player who barely got a look-in at Anfield and has been left largely kicking his heels on the substitutes’ bench since leaving Merseyside.
Liverpool fans, do you think the club pulled off an excellent deal in getting £12.5m for Ward? Have your say by commenting below!
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