We have evaluated all 25 players Brendan Rodgers has brought to Anfield.
Another round of fixtures passes, and Liverpool find themselves dropping more points after another disappointing team performance against Manchester United. Liverpool’s poor league form this season is a stark contrast to the team we saw last year who were legitimate title contenders. This has left a lot of fans asking what exactly is the source of Liverpool’s woes.
Some have pointed the finger of blame squarely at manager Brendan Rodgers, particularly his somewhat questionable dealings in the transfer market. Rodgers has amassed an incredible total of £212,380,000 on transfer fees since becoming the Liverpool head coach.
To put this theory to the test, we have broken down every single transfer Rodgers has made during his tenure at Liverpool and have given them a grading based on factors such as value, ability, potential, performance ratings and the overall impact they’ve had on the team.
Fabio Borini – £10,400,000
He’s scored just two goals in 27 appearances for Liverpool. Those aren’t the type of stats you want from a striker, regardless of whether he’s your first choice or not. He proved during his loan spell at Sunderland that he can perform quite well for a mid to low table side, but he seems out of his depth at Anfield.
Grade: D
Joe Allen – £15,000,000
It would be unfair to brand Allen as a failure at Liverpool. He hasn’t really lived up to the hype that surrounded him when he was at Swansea and probably didn’t warrant the relatively high transfer fee. However, his form, while inconsistent, hasn’t been really abysmal, at least compared to some of the other signings made by Rodgers.
Grade: C-
Oussama Assaidi – £3,000,000
Two years on loan at Stoke is hardly a sign that a player has flourished at his new club. No disrespect to Stoke, but it really shows where the Moroccan figures in Rodgers’ plans.
Grade: F
Nuri Sahin – Loan
The Turkish midfielder was so highly rated that there was a brief bidding war for his services in the summer window of 2012. However, it turns out the real winners were the clubs that lost out on his signature. He made just 12 appearances for the Reds before his loan was cut short early. Sahin later hit back at the Liverpool coach saying ‘Thank God I have left Brendan Rodgers’.
Grade: F
Samed Yesil – £1,000,000
Injury has ruined any chance the youngster had of breaking into the first team. Having not featured for the senior team yet, it wouldn’t be fair to grade him.
Grade: N/A
Daniel Sturridge – £12,000,000
By far Rodgers’ greatest transfer at Liverpool. Sturridge was seen as a bit of a gamble when he joined, but it has more than paid off. Thirty six goals in 52 appearances later, he has not only become one of his club’s marquee players, but he has solidified himself as England’s main No 9.
Grade: A+
Philippe Coutinho – £8,500,000
Coutinho has buckets of potential and his technical prowess means he can be the fulcrum of Liverpool’s attacks. He looks to have been an absolute steal for less than £10 million.
Grade: A
João Carlos Teixeira – £830,000
Looks to be a very promising player but we just haven’t seen enough of him to give him a rating.
Grade: N/A
Luis Alberto – £6,800,000
Failed to make any sort of impact on the team since joining from Sevilla. Liverpool might have overpaid for him slightly although there’s still a chance he’ll come good after his loan spell at Malaga.
Grade: D+
Iago Aspas – £7,000,000
Another one of these new wave of Liverpool strikers who refuse to score goals. He’s still on the Reds’ books but he’s spending this season in La Liga with Sevilla. I’m sure a lot of fans will be hoping he doesn’t come back to Anfield next year.
Grade: F
Simon Mignolet – £9,000,000
Signed as the replacement for Pepe Reina, who was a solid number one for the Reds. Mignolet, to put it bluntly, is not. His lack of confidence, poor decision-making skills and his proficiency at leaking goals has seen him become the posterboy of Liverpool’s dismal form this season.
Grade: D-
Kolo Touré – Free
The Ivorian defenders best years may be behind him but you can’t argue with that price tag. He would make a decent third or fourth choice centre-back but that would be dependent on the club having much better defenders ahead of him on the pecking order.
Grade: B
Aly Cissokho – Loan (£850,000)
Injury hampered his short spell at the club but when he when he did regain full fitness, he quickly fell out of favour.
Grade: D
Mamadou Sakho – £15,000,000
At times he’s looked like the real deal, but on other occasions has been very unpredictable and even a liability in defence. The Frenchman’s progress has been hindered by some niggling injuries.
Grade: C+
Tiago Ilori – £7,000,000
Has yet to feature for the senior squad but looks like an exciting prospect. We’ll reserve our judgement until he togs out a couple of times for the Reds.
Grade: N/A
Victor Moses – Loan (£1,500,000)
In hindsight, it was a pointless transfer. He didn’t contribute a whole lot during his spell at Anfield.
Grade: F
Rickie Lambert – £4,500,000
Another forward who can’t find the net regularly. He gets a slightly higher rating due to the fact that he was relatively cheap.
Grade: D+
Adam Lallana – £25,000,000
The former Saints player has looked quite good at times in his first season with the Reds. After missing the start if the season through injury, Lallana bagged a couple of league goals and looks like he could justify his astronomically high transfer fee eventually.
Grade: C+
Emre Can – £9,750,000
He hasn’t played all that much but when he has, he’s shown buckets of potential.
Grade: B
Lazar Markovic – £19,800,000
It’s perhaps too early to write off Markovic completely. Admittedly, his performances so far have been diabolical but Liverpool fans will be hoping praying that this is only because he has yet to settle in a new league.
Grade: D
Dejan Lovren – £20,000,000
Lovren very nearly earned himself a big, fat ‘F’ but just narrowly missed out on receiving a failing grade by virtue of the fact he has the rest of the season to redeem himself. While on the face of it, it does appear that the club have dropped £20 million to make their defence worse, it is his first season at the club and there’s an outside chance he just hasn’t settled yet.
Grade: D-
Divick Origi – £9,800,000
He was immediately loaned back to Lille after being signed so we’ll have to wait a little longer for his Premier League debut.
Grade: N/A
Javier Manquillo – Loan
The young gun has had some encouraging performances during his first stint in the Premier League. He appears to be the archetypal loan signing, but the Reds might be looking to make it a more permanent deal if he continues to show promise.
Grade: C+
Alberto Moreno – £12,000,000
Moreno has been hit or miss since joining Liverpool. At times, he’s looked like a solid full back but he has had some very costly errors. This is to be expected of a 22-year-old playing for the first time in England though.
Grade: C
Mario Balotelli – £16,000,000
Balotelli was a moderately inexpensive gamble, but a gamble nonetheless. He has yet to open his account in the league for the Reds and has been generally disappointing so far. Again, it is extremely early in his Liverpool career, but he would need to improve drastically to avoid being pegged as a flop.
Grade: D
