Paul Merson believes Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri could be the signing of the transfer window after signing the Swiss winger for £13.5 million.
The Sky Sports pundit graded each Premier League club for their transfer activity this summer, with the Reds topping the class with a mark of A+ .
After signing midfielders Naby Keita and Fabinho for a combined total of £96.5 million, according to Sky Sports, the Reds signed Allison from Roma for £67 million, a world record fee for a goalkeeper.
However, Merson believes that the purchase of Shaqiri could be a real bargain for Liverpool this season.
Merson said, as quoted by Sky Sports: “They’ve made unbelievable signings.
“Xherdan Shaqiri could be one of the signings of the window, he could be worth £35m now and the season hasn’t even started.
“He needed a couple of midfielders, a player who can come in if one of the front three get injured and play with guile because that’s their problem – breaking teams down.
“Clubs go there and put 10 behind the ball and you need to break them down and Shaqiri has got that in the locker. Naby Keita runs off the ball so I’m definitely looking forward to watching Liverpool.”
OPINION
It has been a highly successful transfer window for Liverpool but the real examination begins this week with a tricky opening fixture against West Ham. To sign Shaqiri for under £15 million is an outstanding bit of business, with the Swiss international proving his talent with a series of wonderful goals. While the Liverpool supporters will largely focus on their big-money transfers, Shaqiri could slip under the radar and prove to be much more than the transfer fee the club paid to bring him from Stoke. Liverpool will be fancied by many as challengers for Manchester City in a bid for the Premier League title but, firstly, they must start winning matches against the lesser teams. Against the top teams, Liverpool were incredibly dangerous and ripped defences to shreds but did drop points against teams fighting near the bottom of the table and therefore could have ended the season much higher than fourth place. The three teams that finished above the Reds – Man City, Man United and Tottenham – have made the substantial improvements that Liverpool have done to their squad which could make an important difference.
