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.
With Liverpool still boasting a perfect record in the Premier League, they are now the envy of the division. Though for all the points they have accrued so far this season, the real success story is arguably within the scouting of their relentless attacking trio – which has shown no signs of waning after delivering Champions League glory to the Reds last year.
Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah shared 69 goals last season as Jurgen Klopp’s side were pipped to the Premier League title by Manchester City. But after amassing 97 points themselves, it is clear that the formula Klopp has concocted is almost perfect – and their current run of 15 straight league wins suggests so, too.
For each of their three first-choice attackers, timing has played a key role in each of their journeys to becoming vital cogs of the Liverpool machine.
Firmino arrived rather naturally at Liverpool, with Brendan Rodgers seeking a striker following the failure of Mario Balotelli (four goals in 2014/15) to fill the void of Luis Suarez.
Though it was only after Rodgers’ sacking and Klopp’s subsequent introduction did we start to see the £36.9m Brazilian deliver, as each of his 11 goals and assists followed the German’s arrival at Anfield.
With Klopp presumably on the hunt for someone to complement Firmino’s talents, Mane was plucked from Southampton just as he hit top form for the Saints – with back-to-back double-figure returns in front of goal for a Southampton side that had usurped Liverpool during Klopp’s debut season.
Mane delivered a goalscoring personal-best following his £37.1m move, as Liverpool secured a return to the Champions League after a three-year absence.
As for Salah – whether it was good timing, shrewd scouting or sheer luck, it matters not. The Egyptian was the final piece of the puzzle, emphatically justifying his own £37.8m price tag with a record-breaking Golden Boot-worthy season, as his 32 strikes had given the Anfield faithful a new hero.
Fast-forward another 12 months and their Champions League runners-up medals had been exchanged for winners’ ones, while their market values – helped to some degree by an inflation of the footballing market – have a combined total of £315m (according to Transfermarkt).
Indeed, Salah alone is said to have been a £150m target for Real Madrid by the Daily Mirror this summer, while former Reds favourite John Aldridge told the Irish Independent Mane would be worth well over £100m.
So for three exceptional individual talents, Liverpool could certainly claim to have scored a hat-trick of bargain buys, considering the dominance they have helped the club towards in a relatively short period of time.
Liverpool fans, which of these three signings have been most important to your recent success? Join the discussion by commenting below!
