Liverpool moving for Southampton’s Dusan Tadic is not the sexy, high-profile move the fans were promised. However it is still a smart move.
There is an air of disappointment around the transfer of Dusan Tadic to Liverpool. The news of Liverpool’s interest in the Serbian midfielder came just days after the Virgil van Dijk debacle. It is not the ‘transfer record breaking‘ move that was promised. It barely scratches into the supposed £200 million transfer budget.
But the most underwhelming element it is another Southampton player. How many times are the Reds going to raid the South coast rather than find European targets? In all, the Anfield faithful have given a muted response to this news.
Hot on the tails of the van Dijk collapse, the news of this move put Liverpool’s swift apology into light. They did not want to rock the boat before their secondary Southampton target was complete. But if we can put some of these things aside and look at the transfer alone it is not as disappointing as it may seem.
For a start he is a solid player. Maybe a really good one. Liverpool did not have enough of those last year. When Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana were out with injury the Red’s squad was thin and lacking in talent reserves. Dusan Tadic is ‘proven’ in the Premier League and still has good years left. He also would not cost a fortune. These days £13 million barely buys an average full back. Getting an attacking contributor at that price is good value.
Next: Coutinho speaks on Barcelona future
Last summer saw a couple of expensive buys (Mane and Wijnaldum), a few cheap flyers (Klavan, Kairus) and a free transfer bargain (Matip). If this is not height of the ambition but merely a sensible squad move then it makes sense. Liverpool fans should be willing to put frustrations aside and take this move for what it is; smart.