The theory of probability says that not every purchase in the football market can justify the invested money. Since the middle of the last decade, Liverpool have hit jackpots in the transfer window with Roberto Firmino, Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson. By bringing the aforementioned players to Anfield, the Reds have created a team which brought the club to the English and European summit. Champions League and Premier League trophies arrived in the club’s showcases, but while the new Liverpool was being forged, several guys arrived who are best described by the term “wasted money”.In the first part of the last decade the investments were smaller, and the famous English club made mistakes with reinforcements like Andy Carroll (41,000,000 euros), Lazar Markovic (25,000,000 euros), Stewart Downing (22,800,000 euros)… From in the autumn of 2015, that is, since the era of Jurgen Klopp began, the Reds made two big mistakes, not counting the purchase of Christian Benteke (46,500,000 euros) who came to the club a few months before the German expert will take the helm at Anfield.##NAJAVA_MECA_7006685##The first ‘purchase failure’ is certainly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. In the summer of 2017, he was paid 38,000,000 euros to Arsenal, expectations were high, but the mandate, still a current member of Liverpool, was desecrated by injuries. In the first season, he tore the anterior cruciate ligaments, to this day in less than six seasons 144 appearances, 18 goals, 15 assists and 90 unplayed games as a result of severe health problems.A year later, Liverpool signed Naby Keita, back then the second, now the fourth most expensive signing in the history of the club. Liverpool was dazzled by the performances of the Guinea representative in the Bundesliga, they paid 60,000,000 euros to Leipzig, and Klopp never managed to make a standard first-team player out of Keita.##EDITORS_CHOICE##The well-informed Florian Plettenberg of Germany’s Sky Sport reported during the day that Keita is leaving Liverpool in the summer. There were never any talks about an extension, so as things stand, the central midfielder will serve out another six months of the contract he signed when he arrived at Anfield in 2018, and then say goodbye to the Reds. Keita will have a solid number of suitors in the summer, he is not interested in going to Galatasaray, and returning to the Bundesliga, where he played football throughout his career, seems like a realistic option.Neither was Keita a major factor in Liverpool’s campaign for a sixth European Championship title in 2018/19, nor did he contribute to Liverpool’s Premier League trophy a year later. In that championship season, he spent only 813 minutes on the field. Everything Liverpool have done in the Klopp era could have been done comfortably without him and nobody would have felt his absence. He, like Chamberlain, was crippled by injuries, which caused him to miss 75 potential appearances.❗️News #Keita: The 27 y/o is on verge to leave #LFC as a free agent in summer! Contract extension unlikely at this stage. Many clubs are interested to sign him. But he won’t join Galatasaray. His return to 🇩🇪 is not excluded. Regular starter in the last 4 matches. @SkySportDE 🇬🇳 pic.twitter.com/DdNHN1Hfhk— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) February 6, 2023 In none of the five seasons in the English elite, he did not pass the number of 25 games, and even when he did play, he would come off the bench more often than be part of the starting eleven. All in all, 127 games, 11 goals scored and seven set up, too few for a 60,000,000 euros investment.Certainly, Klopp’s era did not see a more unnecessary and failed purchase than Keita, but the question remains whether the midfielder from Guinea is the biggest transfer disappointment in the Liverpool jersey, considering the ratio of the money invested and the games shown. It seems that his biggest competition is Andy Carroll.
