Irishman’s record in the transfer market has been questionable since taking over at Anfield in the summer of 2012.
While Liverpool head coach Brendan Rodgers is rightly receiving plenty of plaudits at present for the way in which he has guided Liverpool back into a position where they are once again challenging for trophies, the Northern Irishman’s record when it comes to his dealings in the transfer market is not so impressive, as these five buys show …
SEE ALSO: The top 10 best Liverpool goals
Fabio Borini
Bought from Serie A giants AS Roma in the summer of 2012 for a fee of £10.5m, the Italy international was actually Rodgers’s first-ever purchase after taking over from Kenny Dalglish in the Anfield hot seat.
The two men had worked together previously during their time at Swansea City and after an impressive campaign in front of goal in the Italian capital in which Borini netted ten times in his 26 matches in all competitions for the Romans, Rodgers brought the striker in to lead the line alongside Luis Suarez.
However, the Italian has proved to be a disastrous acquisition by Rodgers, with just two goals to his name so far in his Liverpool career, only one of which has come in the Premier League, form which resulted in the player being shipped out to struggling Sunderland on a season-long loan at the beginning of this campaign.
Joe Allen
Another of Rodgers’s early buys after arriving on Merseyside in June 2012, with the new man at the helm going all out to lure the Wales international to Anfield after again having worked closely with the ball-playing midfielder during his time in charge at the Liberty Stadium.
And Rodgers made a great play of being able to pick the player up for a fee of £15m, describing Allen as a “Welsh Xavi”, although a succession of long-term injuries and poor form have subsequently made that remark look bizarre, at best, while Allen himself has still to even find the back of the net in 46 Premier League matches for his new team.
Iago Aspas
Another striker who has flopped horribly since being brought to Anfield by Rodgers last summer from La Liga outfit Celta Vigo in a deal worth £7.7m.
The Reds were delighted to have been able to land the Spaniard at the time, however, despite an encouraging preseason in which the 26-year-0ld appeared to be a bargain buy, when the actual season got under way, Aspas found the going a lot harder, with the attacker having so far managed to net on just the one occasion in his 14 games in all competitions, and not once in the Premier League either.
And as a result, the player now seems set for the Anfield exit door come the end of the campaign.
Tiago Ilori
Signed on transfer deadline day last summer from Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon for an undisclosed fee believed to be somewhere in the region of £7m, the Portugal Under-21 international has still to even make a single appearance for his new team, despite Rodgers heralding the 21-year-old’s arrival last September.
However, instead the central defender was sent out to La Liga minnows Granada on a six-month loan deal in the recent January transfer window in order for the London-born centre back to gain some much-needed game time.
But what the future holds for the Portuguese at Anfield going forward is anyone’s guess.
Mamadou Sakho
Rodgers committed a huge chunk of his summer transfer budget last year in order to lure the France international from the substitutes’ bench at Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain to Anfield for a fee believed to be somewhere between the £15m and £19m mark, despite the fact that the Reds were already well stocked on Merseyside when it came to centre backs in the form or Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Kolo Toure and Tiago Ilori.
And not surprisingly, the Frenchman has therefore featured in just the 13 Premier League fixtures all campaign long, while spending the rest of his time warming the substitutes’ bench.