FSG, Michael Edwards and the 48 hours that defined Liverpool’s transfer window

It is difficult to pin down exactly where and when Liverpool accepted that a rethink was needed.

But on the field of Leyton Orient’s Breyer Group Stadium last Thursday it might be the most accurate estimate.

With Liverpool preparing for one of the biggest games of the season at Tottenham with a light training session less than five miles from their evening hosts, a key player injury struck again.

This time, it was none other than Fabinho who had been shot down. The Brazilian was photographed sitting on Leyton Orient’s bench as his teammates continued training in London.

Rumors quickly spread on social media that he was a doubt for Thursday’s crucial game.

They were proven right as a muscle problem forced Fabinho to leave the match that night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

After months of admirable criticism against a list of chronic and crippling injuries, the Reds would finally be forced to act.

Later that day, they would see Joel Matip forced to retire midway, as his only senior center-back succumbed to what was ultimately confirmed as a season-ending ankle ligament injury.

Without Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gómez, Fabinho or Matip, the inactivity simply could no longer continue.

Liverpool have long prided themselves on being left behind on the day of the transfer deadline, knowing that their prudence has kept them at arm’s length from the mad races that have come to define the wildest day on the football calendar.

This time, however, they would have to be at the front and center of the chaos if they were to go further this season.

As the month progressed, Klopp’s language about potential earnings had become more forceful and less cryptic.

The Reds boss had continued to lower the curtain while insisting that his and the club’s eyes were fully open to the situation.

But while Klopp was clearly interested in seeing some reinforcements arrive before the 11pm deadline on February 1, he reluctantly accepted that the decision was not in his hands.

“We discuss the situation almost daily and make recommendations,” Klopp said of the transfer talks with the hierarchy earlier this month.

But I can’t spend the money. I do not make these decisions. There are people who are responsible for everything and I cannot make their decisions. “

It was hardly a cross shot for Liverpool owners, but perhaps it was enough to loosen some threads in the bag that will give their coach a fighting chance during the second half of the season.

If Fenway Sports Group felt that Klopp would continue to pursue the Premier League title without Van Dijk and Gomez, they had no illusions about the scale of the task as the Reds headed into the game against Spurs without a win in five and no senior. defenders.

Surely now was the time to act. As it turned out, yes.

What had once been a curious look at the market quickly turned into a frantic hunt.

On Thursday night, sports director Michael Edwards had contacted Preston North End about Ben Davies, who was about to move to Celtic.

The 25-year-old was in the final months of his contract with Deepdale and was ready to strike a deal with the Scottish champions.

That didn’t faze Liverpool, who privately felt the Scots were going to leave him late at the window to put up a paltry sum that would get him north of the border six months earlier.

Preston, knowing they were in danger of losing a player who had been on their books for almost 15 years for nothing, may have had his arm twisted.

Instead, Liverpool offered what it considered to be a more respectful sum for a player of Davies’s quality, despite the waning days of his contract in central Lancashire.

Insiders saw the left-handed central midfielder as similar to Ragnar Klavan, who joined Liverpool from Augsburg as the captain of Estonia in the summer of 2016.

His pace and composure in possession were seen as desirable traits of how Liverpool prefer to defend themselves further up the field and while the move came as a shock to many fans, the Reds moved quickly to tie things up.

On Sunday, news broke that a fee had been agreed.

Liverpool would pay an initial £ 500,000 with the potential of an additional £ 1.1 million based on a specific set of clauses.

Sepp van den Berg would go in the opposite direction to advance his own development in the harsh and uncompromising environment of England’s second division.

But if many were disappointed by the arrival of an old-fashioned PNE championship defender, their excitement levels would rise sharply again Monday morning.

Liverpool sources had revealed that the club was still looking for an additional center-back on the day of the transfer deadline.

A smooth and fast situation meant that those in the know refused to release names, but two were understood to top the short list.

Duje Caleta-Car de Marseille and Schalke star in Ozan Kabak.

Caleta-Car’s partner, as is the case in the modern era, started talking when a social media upload led to a song by The Beatles.

Many took it as more than a subtle hint of an imminent move to Liverpool, as reports in France claimed that a private jet was waiting to fly Caleta-Car to Merseyside on Sunday night.

However, before a deal could be finalized, Marseille would have to look for his replacement and attention quickly turned to the 20-year-old Kabak at Schalke.

Liverpool was linked to Kabak in July and again in October to Anfield sources who privately explained, in no uncertain terms, their bewilderment at the reports at the time.

However, three months later, and having lost Gómez and Matip during the campaign to go alongside Van Dijk, the situation had undergone a significant change.

That’s normal in the changing landscape of soccer transfers.

Liverpool opened talks with Schalke and learned that, like Marseille, they would need to find their own defender if they were to approve a loan deal for the young Turkish international.

A doctor was booked in Gelsenkirchen with Liverpool aware that the Bundesliga deadline of 5pm left them racing against time to conclude the procedure.

A key part of the negotiation process focused on what happened at the end of the loan terms.

Liverpool had been eager to re-enter the market later this year for something more permanent, but the obligation to make Kabak a full-time player at Anfield to the tune of £ 25 to £ 30 million will have hurt those. future plans.

The ideal situation, at least from the Reds’ perspective, was to bring in Kabak, watch him impress, and then make the move permanent in the summer months.

However, committing to a large sum of money up front was something Liverpool were careful to avoid for a 20-year-old defender arriving from abroad, especially at a time when funds continue to be depleted.

Instead, Liverpool was allowed to take Kabak into a kind of test deal before buying.

The option to complete a transfer in June for a fee of £ 18 million is seen as an ideal solution for Liverpool at the moment.

Fundamentally, it gives Klopp the opportunity to execute the rule correctly on Kabak before long-term action is taken in the future.

But the club will hope that such safeguards will not be necessary later this year when Kabak begins his career in Liverpool with two enthusiastic recommendations ringing in Klopp’s ears.

The Reds manager was understood to have received very positive reports about Kabak from his best friend David Wagner, who was managing the Turk as Schalke’s head coach, and from Christian Heidel, who was Klopp’s sporting director in Mainz.

Both Davies and Kabak begin their careers in Liverpool with the champions clutching Manchester City’s tailcoats at the top of the Premier League.

But after a recent midseason incident was put to rest by back-to-back victories in the capital against Spurs and West Ham, the Reds are seeing the situation in a brighter light than they were just days ago.