Graeme Souness is a Liverpool legend in his own right. He was a great player for us during his playing days. But he has raised questions about one of our new signings.
It was a bit of a concern at one point, where it looked increasingly likely that Kostas Tsimikas would be our only signing of this summer, having moved from Olympiakos for £11.75m.
But this club never fails to amaze me, as Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota arrived in the space of 24 hours to lift my spirits ahead of our first title defence.
Thiago moved from a Bayern Munich side that was on a high, having won the Bundesliga every season that he played there and won the Champions League in his final game against Paris-Saint Germain in Lisbon.
On the other hand, Jota moved from a Wolves side that was battling for European places. While Nuno Espirito Santo’s side and their progression has been reassuring, the Portuguese attacker wanted a new challenge.
Writing in his column in The Times, Souness voiced his concerns about Jota’s mindset coming into this Liverpool team, with no concerns about Thiago hitting the ground running.
“Bayern Munich don’t usually let their big players go before they are on the wane, but I just don’t see any indication of that with Thiago at 29, he said.
“He’s played at the highest level, at big clubs in Barcelona and Bayern Munich, so won’t be intimidated by coming to Liverpool and playing under pressure.
“He’ll understand that you’re playing in cup finals every week because the opposition badly wants to beat you. He can deal with all that.
“That would be my only question mark against Diogo Jota, Liverpool’s other new signing. At Wolves, it wasn’t a cup final every week but it will be at Liverpool, so he has to show that he’s ready for that. Otherwise, he fits the bill to deputise anywhere in that front three.
“He’s got great technique and understanding of the game, he’s already shown he can deal with the English game and play in a team that works hard, as Wolves do.
“Although he’s scored some important goals, I always felt that Divock Origi was never going to hold down a regular place in that Liverpool team, so Jota has to try to do that.”
L4L’s view…
These are fair points that Souness has raised here. I suppose if you haven’t played for a team that possesses a strong mindset that our team has, it can be difficult to gel almost immediately.
Of course, no disrespect to Wolves, who have only been a Premier League side consistently for the past two seasons. But it’s clear that they are not at the same level at us at this time, despite being a well-run football club.
That being said, we need to give Jota time despite Souness’ concerns, but while the Scot has a fair point. I don’t think he will have any problems with us during his first season.
If he can make an impact and give Klopp a selection headache, that’s all he can do. It will be difficult for him to break into our first team ahead of the usual culprits upfront. However, nothing is impossible.