£111m Liverpool transfer decision will save these three players

Liverpool are set to complete a shock £111m deal for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo from under the nose of Chelsea and the potential deal could be about to save the peaks of three key players.

The trio of Alisson Becker, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are no doubt Liverpool’s most important players and have been their standout performers during the Jurgen Klopp era.

However, they are all 30 years of age, or above, and entering the last of their peak years at the top level. Players like this don’t come around too often and with Liverpool dragging their feet over a deal for a defensive midfielder this summer, it looked like they could have been potentially wasting another season of this trio’s career.

Since Salah joined in 2017, the club has gone trophyless in just three seasons (2017/18, 2020/21 and 22/23) and there is certainly a case that the top players have been let down at times by a lack of ruthless recruitment.

Last season was an obvious example; the club needed to strengthen in midfield after nearly completing a historic quadruple the season prior, but, without an adequate signing, players were stretched too thin and they managed to only qualify for the Europa League as a result.

In 2020/21, there was a defensive crisis, and the club failed to bring in the necessary replacements, which meant midfielders and highly inexperienced players were asked to fill in at centre-back, costing them dearly across the pitch.

This season threatened to be another example where the club were poised to fail in their recruitment. Taking a leaf out of the rival’s books, they’ve breached the £100m+ mark for the first time and it’s for a player who will no doubt become a key player right from the start.

His arrival allows for their two new midfield signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to play more advanced in positions that suit them, and it gives the side more balance as a whole.

Van Dijk and Alisson are more protected - Caicedo made the second most tackles and interceptions in the league last season with 156 - and Salah will be afforded more protection behind him to continue scoring and affecting games in a decisive way.

Ultimately, the signing of Caicedo means Liverpool will be an improved outfit with balance and rejuvenated midfield - that was always the plan - it’s just if they were going to spend over £100m on one player, then you would have expected it to have been Jude Bellingham.

Either way, it means Alisson, Van Dijk and Salah now have a team capable of pushing once again, as they look to make one final move for success at this crucial period of their careers.