Should free agents like this Bulgarian be Liverpool transfer targets?

Okay, so it’s not the sort of signing we would have been dreaming about 12 months ago, but the fact is, Liverpool just aren’t in a luxurious enough position to not consider signing an experienced international winger like Martin Petrov who’s now become available for nothing.

One area in which we struggled last season was our overall squad depth. You only have to look at the Carling Cup (in the last few seasons) for an example of this. Both Arsenal and Man United were able to play their second fiddle players and still beat decent teams with ease. When we tried to utilize our squad players though, we just seemed to get a little overrun by the often inferior opposition at times. To me, this highlighted our lack of genuine talent in some back up areas.

Some fans often complain when the club signs a player on a free transfer, assuming that his low price will be reflective of his lack of ability. What these fans fail to realize is that investing in certain squad players improves the overall value of the team. These are the same fans who would then complain when late on in an important game, the bench isn’t anywhere near as strong as it should be. Who would you rather have on your bench as a last attacking option for a crucial game? An inexperienced reserve team player or an established international who is used to high pressure situations? It’s an easy choice for me really. Don’t get me wrong by the way, I’m all for the younger players getting chances to prove themselves, I just don’t see crucial league and cup games as the best time to test them out unless it’s absolutely necessary.

With the club in the state it’s currently in, we have to firstly take a step back in the transfer target department. Before Rafa was able to buy players like Fernando Torres, he spent every season building the squad by signing good team players (those in the Peter Crouch bracket) and trading up for them when he could afford to. This is what we’ll most likely have to go back to while Hicks and Gillett are still in charge, but I don’t see it as the end of the world.

The ‘anti-freebie’ fans need to have more perspective on bargain buys. Look at Fabio Aurelio for example: whoever acquires him will basically be signing Liverpool’s first choice left back for the last two seasons. Not a bad signing at all, and good luck to him. But the only reason he’s being let go is his injury problems, nothing to do with his quality. The same goes for Martin Petrov, who on his day can torment even the best defenses with his direct attacking play. He would also bring pace and urgency to the Liverpool team, which let’s face it; they could use a lot more of.

The only risks with Petrov would be that he is very injury prone (he only managed 20 appearances altogether last season), and that at 31, he’s heading into the twilight of his career. But I’m hopeful that with the changes made to the fitness regime by our new head of sports medicine and sports science, Dr Peter Brukner, we will be able to keep all injuries to a real minimum next year.

Liverpool could do a lot worse than getting Petrov on a free this summer. Not only would it give us another good option on the left, it also frees up what little cash we have to sign a couple of top bracket players, which would hopefully be a left back and a strike partner for Fernando Torres.

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