Liverpool are chasing a Champions League finish this season and have Real Madrid to look forward to in the last-16 of the competition. It’s vital that they make it.
Liverpool are already in a better position in the Premier League table than they were when domestic football returned off the back of the World Cup in Qatar.
In the first round of matches back, Jürgen Klopp’s men were largely impressive against Aston Villa and picked up the three points, shortly after fourth-placed Tottenham could only draw at Brentford.
The gap to Spurs is now only five points and Liverpool have a game in hand (against Chelsea) to play which could see them breathe down the necks of Antonio Conte’s men further if they can win in that fixture whenever it is rearranged.
With 23 matches left, Liverpool would have liked their odds of winning the title to have been a little shorter, but they are in a decent position, all things considered, to push on and achieve their minimum objective after a tough start to the campaign.
Their performance against Aston Villa certainly pointed towards that and the transfer of Cody Gakpo will only help further in their bid to finish inside the top four places for the seventh successive season.
The importance of doing so financially is important, with Liverpool relying on the revenues generated to make sure they can compete with transfer fees and wages, but there is a significance beyond that as well.
Gakpo could have moved to Manchester United and it seems pretty likely that the Champions League — and not just a phone call from Virgil van Dijk — convinced him a transfer to Anfield was better for his career than moving to Old Trafford.
Liverpool are the favourites to get back into the competition next season from this point and also have a glamour tie with Real Madrid lying ahead which Gakpo can now be a part of. He will have seen Liverpool not just qualifying for that competition in recent seasons, but winning it and reaching three finals.
With Newcastle United inevitably heading towards the Champions League places regularly sooner rather than later, even if this season proves slightly too soon for them, that challenge is only going to increase even further.
Chelsea and Arsenal, among others, are showing no signs of slowing down with their spending and Manchester City will be guaranteed to come inside the Champions League spots for as long as Pep Guardiola is at the helm and probably beyond.
Not least for a team without the riches and willingness to pay over-the-top their some of their rivals have, Liverpool need the top four places to reach the levels they want to be at in future, even if Klopp might publicly insist that he wouldn’t want to sign a player who only moved to his side for top-level European football.
The reality — financially too — is that it matters a great deal when it comes to most transfer dealings and that is probably a big reason as to why Liverpool have acted now to bolster their squad and get ready to push on.
If Gakpo helps push them into the top four and perhaps even beyond Real Madrid in the Champions League last-16 too, then his capture will already have more than been justified.
That he picked Liverpool over Manchester United is only more evidence of the top European competition’s importance, with the Reds using that advantage to give them a boost when it comes to maintaining that particular edge beyond this season.
As Virgil van Dijk told The Athletic during the World Cup with a brutal statement that might have influenced Gakpo’s choice of move: Manchester United are not currently on Real Madrid’s (or Liverpool’s) level. The Champions League is a major reason for that, and Gakpo, the Reds will hope, that see them extend that further.
Source: liverpool.com
