With the Premier League title in their kitty after 30 long years, what’s next for the Reds?
Well, it might seem a little premature to discuss this even before Liverpool lifting the silverware, but looking at the frantic pace at which soccer players are changing clubs with each passing year, high-profile players like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané or even Virgil Van Dijk might ply their trade for an even bigger club like Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Even the manager, Jürgen Klopp, has set his Liverpool departure date. He revealed that he plans to see out his contract at Anfield, which runs till 2024, and intends to head back to Germany to live his life after completing his glorious career.
Currently, it would be safe to say that they are the best team in the world. The playing XI is second to none, although the bench strength looks a little pale. For years, Liverpool have been accused for a lack of quality bench strength. But players like Divock Origi, Adam Lallana, and Gini Wijnaldum (who is more of a starter these days…) have aided Liverpool in crunch situations (Hello Barcelona).
If the Merseyside club manage to retain the chunk of the team, they might well be on course to defend their Premier League title or even win the Champions League 2021.
Jurgen Klopp is keen to keep the core of his group but that won’t stop big-money clubs from snatching Liverpool’s very best away from Anfield. Real manager Zinedine Zidane has a strong interest in signing the Senegalese star Sadio Mane in the summer transfer window to form a deadly partnership with Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema.
But with Real’s enforced wage cuts due to the financial implications of the coronavirus pandemic and with a number of new deals to be signed up for key players like Sergio Ramos, it seems less likely that Los Blancos would be able to splash out a huge amount on Mane, who would almost certainly command a fee well in excess of £100million.
This will come as a huge boost for Klopp in his hopes of holding onto the prized possessions of Liverpool; at least the pandemic has been of some use to some one (Probably made up for the title delay….).
There has been a power shift at the top of English football and this power shift side is years ahead of clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal, with Klopp transforming Liverpool to be that club everyone wants to join.
Even though they may lose some players in the coming years, they now have the reputation and funds to attract the best players in the world. To substantiate this claim, rumours are rife that Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly, one of Europe’s highest-rated defenders, could make a move to Anfield to play alongside Virgil Van Dijk to make them the best centre-back pair in the world. They are the new darling side of English football and are now just one title away from equalling 20 domestic triumphs overall, a record held by Manchester United .
The Reds will be the biggest draw in the Premier League for years to come. They have rejuvenated themselves and there is good reason to believe that the club will not stop here and will surely go on to scale greater heights.
