Has Rodgers earned big-money backing?

SO, by now Willian will almost certainly have signed for Tottenham.

At the time of writing, many reports state that he was in London having a medical and that Spurs are due to close a £30 million offer for the Brazilian winger.

It’s always disappointing to miss out on a great player, especially after he’d followed Lucas and Coutinho on Twitter and gotten us all super-excited!

Of course, it is these small things that make transfer sagas so tedious these days and why, regardless of who we do – or don’t – sign, I’ll be glad to see the back of this particular transfer window.

The most disappointing aspect of the short and, probably, bitter-sweet Willian transfer saga is that for a time he actually seemed keen on Liverpool. There were some quotes and altered odds to show that he apparently wanted to move to a club ‘like Liverpool’, so the groundwork was done.

But, as has happened already this summer, Liverpool refused to match the high-end offer and will more than likely be missing out on what you may describe as a marquee signing.

I completely understand that FSG do not want to be burned the same way they were with Carroll and Downing a few years ago. The money squandered on these two was ridiculous and when you consider that Manchester City have spent barely more than half for Sevilla’s Navas and Negredo; two players who are likely to be pivotal in City having a successful season.

I get that they’re concerned about spending a similar amount of money on a single player and I would ordinarily agree, particularly as Willian is hardly known as a world-beater and £30 million (plus £5 million in future fee) is a hell of a lot of money for a club like Liverpool but Brendan Rodgers and the fans didn’t make the mistakes of signing Carroll or Downing, so why should we be made to pay?

Liverpool are in a much better financial position than we were 3, 2 or even 1 year ago, yet it’s beginning to feel like we’re selling before we can buy. We shot out of the blocks once the window opened but it feels a lot like we’ve stagnated since.

If FSG are unwilling to fund the transfer of a player like Willian, then that’s fine. If they’d prefer to spend that money on a several players that will improve the squad, fine – they’ve done that. But we’ve brought in upwards of £20 million in selling Carroll and Downing and we’ve also cleared theirs, Pepe Reina and Jay Spearing’s wages off the bill in recent weeks, so surely the risk is worth the reward and, if he turns out to be a dud, then he can still be sold on at a decent fee.

With the signings Rodgers has made so far, only Oussama Assaidi has really failed to impress and even then I’d argue that he hasn’t been given a fair go, after having looked fairly impressive in several starts and substitute appearances.

The likes of Coutinho and Sturridge, and now new signings such as Aspas and Toure all seem to show that – against my better judgement – Rodgers may know how to pick up a relative bargain. So shouldn’t he be given the opportunity to spend big? Kenny was given the chance to spend big and made incredibly expensive mistakes. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say that between them, he and Comolli have seriously set us back because now FSG are reluctant to properly back the manager.

But Rodgers has proven that he is able to get good value for small amounts and should be given the opportunity to spend bigger. If that comes with the requirement that we have a much better season, then so be it.

I’m sure it’s one he’d accept if it meant adding genuine attacking quality to the side. Not only that, but a signing like this would show the want-away Suarez that we mean real business.

There’s still over a week to go though and things could chance. While Willian will almost certainly be a Tottenham player by the time you’re reading this, there are still plenty of quality players we could bring in and the time between now and September 1st could prove to be more crucial for FSG than anybody.
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