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Leny Yoro is off to Man United and many Liverpool fans won’t bad an eyelid. However, there are plenty of others up in arms about this latest transfer.
Because you’re reading this article, you are probably in the loop and know that Man United are signing the 18-year-old defender for £52 million from Lille.
In the offline world, though, most would read the news and shrug; Man United splurging on another youngster, what’s new?
Well, back in June, reliable journalist David Ornstein reported that Liverpool were “actively pursuing” the French centre-half.
Man United were also interested but the player was believed to be waiting for Real Madrid to come calling.
Yoro didn’t get his wish, though, as Los Blancos weren’t willing to pay the asking price, and he is now in Manchester after agreeing a deal with reported wages of £113,000 per week plus bonuses.
Liverpool not spending a large chunk of their transfer budget on this relatively unknown entity, whom 95 percent of the fanbase have never watched play, has frustrated some fans.
It is apparently an example of owners FSG pinching their pennies and displaying a lack of ambition.
The more nuanced take has been to suggest that Liverpool should have been ‘opportunistic’, as sporting director Richard Hughes said they would be, and gone for Yoro.
In truth, though, the stance supporters should probably be taking, if they want to enjoy supporting Liverpool FC, is to simply not care too much about other club’s players – in this instance anyway.
Why we shouldn’t worry about Yoro
The fact is, if Liverpool had wanted Yoro and rated him highly enough, the Frenchman wouldn’t be sitting wearing a Red Devil on his shirt right now.
Yes, Yoro may turn out to be a great player in future, but right now, Liverpool have better.
Admittedly, Arne Slot could be short in defence soon, taking into account Virgil van Dijk‘s contract situation and Ibrahima Konate‘s injuries.
However, for a man not many Reds had heard of until June, there seems to have been a strangely over-the-top reaction to Yoro’s move.
Had Jarell Quansah cost £50 million last summer, there would have been no doubts about his potential to become a great Liverpool player for years to come.
The Reds clearly didn’t see fit to give upwards of £100,000 per week to Yoro, an 18-year-old who has just one season as a regular in Ligue 1 under his belt.
This seems especially reasonable when you consider he would be earning more than Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson, Luis Diaz and even Dominik Szoboszlai when including bonuses.
To pay this much to a player who might not even get much game time would be nonsensical.
Take a break
The overreaction in some quarters to the Yoro saga comes as a simply bizarre notion to many Reds who aren’t stuck in the transfer bubble.
Over the summer, club football takes time off and so should supporters. Being intensely involved in everything the club does isn’t conducive to enjoying football.
I am aware that I write those words with a hint of hypocrisy, given it is my job to discuss every piece of Liverpool news all year round.
However, it is possible to learn of events – Yoro’s transfer, for example – and not treat it as the be-all and end-all; to be able to look at the bigger picture.
Liverpool’s time will come
Of course, we should put pressure on the club to be ambitious and look for players in the transfer market who improve the team.
It would also be ideal for Slot to have new players through the door already and be able to work with them in pre-season, but we don’t live in a perfect world and that hasn’t been possible.
With players away on international duty, the general pattern of transfer business has been pushed back closer to the end of the window for everyone.
Hughes himself has already said: “Naturally, the attention is going to be there. I think after the [transfer] flurry there was in June, it will calm down a little bit now for the month of July.
“And then like always, when August starts and coaches have had more time to work with players, I think then the opinions will be more set at football clubs.
“And you may see a situation in August, like in previous seasons, there’s a little bit of a hurry to get things done and make sure everyone’s squads are in order.
“I don’t think this [summer] will be any different. Who knows what will transpire economically, it’s hard to say and speak for other clubs.
“But I’d say a quiet July and crescendo in August would probably be the way to sum it up.”
If there were a criticism to have of Liverpool, it would be that they seem to be more reactive than proactive with their transfer business this summer.
However, without knowing what is happening behind the scenes, it isn’t worth the energy of getting riled up by this until we have a final outcome, closer to when the window shuts on August 30.
Slot is still getting started
The other reason Liverpool have perhaps been slow to act in this window has been the fact that Slot still needs to meet many of his players.
While he will have a good idea of his plans for the team, without seeing the players in person, it would be unwise to definitively decide their futures.
This, in turn, affects who Liverpool would be looking to sign in the market.
For example, if the new boss takes a liking to Sepp van den Berg, in his eyes it could alleviate some of the need to buy another defender, whether fans like it or not.
And, ultimately this is what things come down to. We can put pressure on the club to act, we can also react emotionally to events, on or off the pitch.
However, pick your battles, see the bigger picture and try not to get too invested in players, like Yoro, who will likely never wear the Liver Bird on their shirts.
If you enjoy the break, you’ll appreciate the football more when it is back for real.
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