The winners and losers from Alisson’s world-record move to Liverpool

Alisson is very close to signing with Liverpool.

This would be a monumental signing, not only because once again Liverpool are signing one of Roma’s best players or fixing a position that had become a problem for them, but because the rumoured fee of £67 million would be a world record for a goalkeeper. In fact it would smash that record and mean that the Reds now have the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, centre-back and defensive midfielder.

But who are the winners and losers of such a monumental deal? We’ve had a look and come up with a list!

Winner: Jurgen Klopp

Imagine being Jurgen Klopp in 2016, and being in a position where you so unsupported by your club’s owners that you were making salty statements about the financial might of Manchester United as they spent £89m on Paul Pogba. “Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players, yes,” he said back in 2016. “Do I have to do it differently to that? Actually, I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.

But the second Klopp did have the money, he absolutely spent it. It would be reasonable to assume this makes him a loser, but a football manager making hypocritical statements about anything is hardly shocking. Klopp is a hypocrite regarding transfer spending… big deal. The truth of the matter here is that he’s addressed the biggest weakness in his Champions League finalist team with one of the best available options to do so. Alisson’s arrival is going to make Klopp’s job much easier (he’s never managed a goalkeeper this good).

Loser: Loris Karius

Just as Zinedine Zidane’s career was made because of four goals in three finals, Loris Karius’ career trajectory has been set because of two mistakes in one final (against a side managed by Zidane – how’s that for poetry?) Karius’ absurd blunders against Real Madrid, the first of which must rank amongst the biggest mistakes ever made in a football match, have cost him his spot as Liverpool’s no. 1.

Any notion of Klopp “sticking by his man” have been well and truly ruled out with this mega-purchase, and just like that Loris Karius is once again a back-up goalkeeper. He’ll play the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this coming season, but as long as Alisson remains fit, that’ll be it. Despite Karius’ excellent performances through 2017/18, he will always be associated that mistake and it will cloud everything he does – so even if he leaves Anfield the list of suitors for his signature will not be extensive.

Winner: Virgil Van Dijk and Dejan Lovren

There’s a strange confidence that can be transmitted by certain players, and Alisson has that. He brings a palpable sense of competence and energy to playing in goal, and that transmits to the defence ahead of him. They can play safe in the knowledge that Alisson is behind them to save the day should he be called upon to do so.

Van Dijk has already transformed Liverpool’s defence and helped get Dejan Lovren to reach his not insignificant potential. But he can’t do it all alone, he’s only one man after all. Well now he’s got Alisson to help him and between the two of then, they should be able to transmit a sense of serenity to Liverpool’s entire defence. Van Dijk and Lovren’s jobs just got a whole hell of a lot easier.

Loser: Chelsea

Poor Chelsea. They were the favourites for Alisson and had been tracking him for ages because they knew they would have to replace Thibaut Courtois. Except they waited too long to move, and now Courtois is leaving to join Real Madrid whilst Alisson has gone to Liverpool.

This leaves Chelsea without a top-class goalkeeper and facing a market where the only possible options are the eye-wateringly expensive Jan Oblak (if he even wants to leave what looks like it could be the best Atlético Madrid side ever to play in the Europa League) or the more reasonably-priced Jasper Cillessen, who is brilliant but hasn’t been a regular starter at club level since early 2016. There’s just not many top-class goalkeeping options available.

Winner: Kasper Schmeichel

Of course, with the market largely shorn of top-class options, Liverpool may look inward. There they will see Kasper Schmeichel. Premier League title winning Kasper Schmeichel. 2018 World Cup hero Kasper Schmeichel. He’s not the perfect goalkeeper and certainly doesn’t fit Maurizio Sarri’s style anything like as well as Alisson would have, but he’s good and proven.

For Schmeichel this is a dream come true. He must have thought the brief high of Leicester’s title win would be an amazing peak to a career in the game that could never be matched. Now he’s being linked with a move to one of the English football’s modern greats, to once again play regular European football and take the field alongside the likes of Eden Hazard and Willian (well, maybe). Sure, he’ll have to work on his kicking if he wants to please coach Sarri, but this would be huge for Kasper.

Loser: Everton

Oh, Everton. Even when you’re not playing Liverpool, not talking about Liverpool, not even dealing with or thinking about Liverpool, you find a way to lose to Liverpool. The Toffees were odds-on favourites to sign Bordeaux’s Brazilian winger Malcolm, adding the forward sensation to their young crop of footballers.

Except then Liverpool paid £66m for Alisson, which meant Roma now have the big money needed to step to Bordeaux and jump ahead of everyone in the queue for Malcolm. Di Marzio says Roma are now favourites, which means Everton will surely miss out on their young phenom as they suffer yet another defeat to Liverpool.

Winner: Monchi

In February 2016, Roma paid €7.5m for Alisson. He was originally the back-up, but took over as the starter in 2017/18. The Brazilian had a very good campaign for the Giallorossi, showing his skills in Serie A and the Champions League.

He did wonderfully, but lest we forget this is a guy who in his last two Champions League away games has conceded 9 goals. Yet somehow Roma have just sold him for a fee that literally doubles the record set by Gianluigi Buffon all those years ago.

That’s absurd for a guy with just one season for top-level European football under his belt. How on earth did Roma extract such a fee from Liverpool? Well, the man now running their transfer activity is the genius Monchi. The Spaniard who oversaw Sevilla’s rise from a second division side to five-time Europa League winners (including three consecutive wins).

Monchi is a brilliant man, and his work in the transfer market is legendary. Although he didn’t sign Alisson, he used all his skills to sell him for as much as possible. Now he has almost £67m to reinvest in the squad and helped rebuild a stronger, better Roma.

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