Liverpool targeting the right players?

Are Liverpool targeting the right players this transfer window? We have already made 4 signings this window and I think that these players will add depth and quality to the side but the players who are set to sign don’t really attract my attention.

 Dejan Lovren was solid for the Saints this past season but to me he is about the same level as the defenders we already have. At around 20 million, he’s not cheap. Rumors are going around that Dortmund defender Mats Hummels will make a switch to Manchester united for around the same money. To me he is currently one of the best defenders in the world, not only for his country which he was instrumental in helping win the world cup.

For Dortmund he is equally as monumental, he single handedly kept his team in the Champions league against Real Madrid, keeping the formidable BBC at bay for much of the game in which they narrowly lost out.

I understand the whole debate of bringing in the marquee signing and the opposite of bringing in a few good players instead. I have discussed that at length in the past. Hummels is just one example of the best of both worlds, a world class player for the price of an average to good player. There are others out there.

This brings up another point, the price of players. I understand that the price of players is directly proportional to their performances for club and country as well as what the club think he’s worth. Usually players are grouped into a certain price bracket according to their ability or profile. Ronaldo, Bale and Suarez are classed in the 75-100 million bracket which is the highest of anyone.

Of course you then have Messi who is probably priceless but is rumored to have a buy-out clause of around 200 million. The newest player to maybe get into that elite group is Colombian James Rodriguez; talks are that he will be sold to Real Madrid for around 70 million. Purely based on his performance at the world cup his price sky rocketed.

There was a comparison recently with Toni Kroos and Adam Lallana who were both sold for around the same amount. And even being a Liverpool supporter there is no way that they are worth the same. Not taking anything away from Lallana, he is a great player but not in the league of Kroos who is world class at the moment.

This brings me to my next point; players in England have inflated prices. Why I have no idea, if you had to buy Lallana from a club outside of England he would have gone for around 12-15 million instead of around 20 million. Sunderland are wanting to buy Borini from us for around 14 million. Again from any other club outside of England he would be 7-8 million.

We bought Coutinho for that kind of money and he is class and could turn out to be a world best one day. He certainly has the potential. Liverpool only paid 22 million for Suarez who turned out to be the best striker in the world this past season. So the price of players doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with their ability. Gareth Bale would be an example of price equals performance, he was bought for an astronomical fee and he has proved he was worth it by helping Real Madrid to “La Decima” their tenth European Championship.
The best thing for Liverpool to do is to find players like Hummels that will give you huge amounts of quality while not costing you an arm and a leg, mind the pun.