Liverpool have moved on from The Coutinho Money to fund transfer masterplan through bank of Brentford
Liverpool have a knack of finding a money pool and rinsing it over time. Brentford have landed a bargain which could bring Florian Wirtz to Anfield.
This last decade or so of consistent operational competence at Liverpool has been funded through frequent visits to some particularly profitable wells.
It is ironic that perhaps their most lucrative economic lever emanated from Barcelona, kings of the financial loophole. In one of the most efficient, methodical series of high-risk decisions in sporting history, Liverpool traded their most saleable asset at peak value for the requisite equity to break the world transfer records for both a centre-half and a goalkeeper within six transformative months.
The long-running and long-laborious joke some rival fans still greet every mildly expensive Liverpool transfer with seven years later is that The Coutinho Money will never run out. But the way it was procured and immediately reinvested in Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, trophy-hoarding stars who remain embedded in the backbone of this glittering era, will never cease to impress.
But those savings could not sustain them forever. Liverpool knew they had to identify and exploit other reliable sources of income. The bank of Bournemouth sufficed for a weirdly long time, as did the riches of Crystal Palace during their curious obsession with Reds cast-offs. Saudi Arabia kindly gave their grand midfield restructure a ludicrous assist in the summer of 2023.
Now Brentford have shown there is value in paying the Liverpool tax, that it is worth signing up for the Anfield loyalty card. An initial fee of £12.5m for Caoimhin Kelleher seems like a steal – especially as the Reds were quoting twice as much last season and £20m heading into the summer – but there is a reason most stories confirming the agreement have made specific mention of the strong relationship between the two clubs involved.
If the performance-related clauses in the Kelleher deal, as well as Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho’s moves last year from Merseyside to a small Hounslow bus stop, are met in full, then only Barcelona (£234.25m) will have ever paid more money for Liverpool players than Brentford (£70.5m), who would overtake Chelsea (£67.5m).
Thomas Frank called the champions “complete” and “the best team in the Premier League and the world” in January; it is a market he is more than happy to shop in.
Brentford have even had the whole gamut of buyer satisfaction: Sepp van den Berg has settled impeccably into the heart of their defence while Fabio Carvalho failed across those forward positions before his season was ended by injury in February.
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Kelleher feels almost foolproof, considerably more experienced than either at the time of their departures, and significantly cheaper. Aaron Ramsdale has been transferred for more than the Irishman’s final possible cost of £18m on three separate occasions and Alisson’s perennial back-up is the better keeper.
“I think I’ve said it before as well that like, I feel like I’m a number one and I feel like I’m good enough to play week in, week out,” Kelleher noted after the final game of a season which produced 20 appearances. “Obviously, this season I was lucky enough to play a lot of games… but yeah, it’s definitely something I’m looking at.”
Liverpool knew the 26-year-old could not wait for another Alisson injury for his opportunities, not least with the introduction of Giorgi Mamardashvili to the glove-based equation next campaign. With a year remaining on Kelleher’s contract, the Brentford button has been pressed once more in a deal which suits all parties.
It might even be the ultimate 4D chess move from Richard Hughes. Brentford securing their next keeper at a relatively low price will free current incumbent Mark Flekken to make his planned move to Bayer Leverkusen, who might consider the scenario’s simplicity and mutual benefit to be a sweetener in the Florian Wirtz negotiations.
That club-record move inevitably still feels like the ultimate endgame for Liverpool in an ambitious summer squad restructure geared towards the successful defence of their title. But as ever, the majority will be financed through sustainable means.
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