On Sunday we learned that Liverpool had rejected an £11.8 million bid for Wataru Endo from Marseille, but this was old news.
Not old news for us, but old news for the player and club as the deal “already collapsed weeks ago,” according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
So why have we only learnt of these events now?
Well, the way things often work at a well-run club in the transfer window, is the press only find out information when it is in the club’s interest to have that information made public.
This suggests Liverpool have reason to reveal the rejected bid. Marseille have reportedly moved on from Endo, but it could act as a message to other clubs about what fee Liverpool are looking for.
As a reader of This Is Anfield, you would possibly have already worked this out – it is hardly groundbreaking analysis.
However, thankfully there is a point to all this maundering, that we are all in the dark, and it is probably a good thing.
Lessons learned
If you cast your minds back to 2017, Liverpool were forced to pull out of a summer transfer for Virgil van Dijk when news of a meeting between Jurgen Klopp and the Dutchman was leaked.
While this kind of situation is commonplace in reality, Southampton capitalised on it being a breach of ‘tapping-up’ rules.
Liverpool apologised and put the deal on the back burner, until January when they got their man.
The lesson they learned was that the club needed to shut up shop. These days, Liverpool are very tight-lipped when it comes to their business.
This means we usually only find things out when Liverpool want us to. For the most part, journalists included, we are in the dark on what happens in behind closed doors.
It is all this murkiness that means supporters shouldn’t become too het up about a supposed lack of transfer activity.
Perhaps Liverpool should be more proactive, but so much hinges on the unknown.
Marseille’s bid for Endo was rejected weeks ago, but with Slot now having a better idea of the player’s capabilities, albeit in the context of pre-season, he may have decided he can do without the Japanese.
This, in turn, could be holding up a loan move for James McConnell, who would become more important should Endo leave.
And this, in effect, is the transfer carousel summed up; hundreds of players all waiting for their respective triggers.
A strange summer for Liverpool
For Liverpool, this summer has been further complicated by Slot’s arrival.
Everything has been delayed for the club as the coach and sporting director Richard Hughes assess their options. Hughes, himself predicted that we wouldn’t see any business done until August.
Of Liverpool’s arguable best starting XI, eight haven’t had a training session with Slot or actually met the man.
Alexis Mac Allister probably won’t even start the first game of the season, having only returned around 10 days previously after playing all but one game in Argentina’s Copa America triumph.
While the players on tour in the USA look to be learning well from Slot, it will be impossible to truly tell what kind of position Liverpool are in until we have watched a competitive game.
Harvey Elliott has provided some comforting words, saying he thinks the Reds can adapt “very quickly,” but admitted that this was in the context of pre-season.
He added: “It’s gonna take a while to get into it, but as I say, we just need to keep trusting what they’re teaching us, what they’re coaching us, and you know, make sure we keep going and don’t get frustrated if things don’t work out.
“It’s new. We just need to, as I say, keep trusting it.”
And that is the crux of things. Supporters are in the dark about transfers so try not to fret.
Nobody has ever seen Slot’s Liverpool play a competitive game, and that won’t change until August 17. Even then, though, who is to say the Reds will start well?
A poor start shouldn’t mean fans lose faith. We are now in a waiting game, and while we could see signings, the transfer game’s results aren’t the ones we are truly interested in.
Slot and the players are doing their best to ease any lingering anxieties, but it will be some time until Liverpool supporters are truly sitting comfortably.
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