Liverpool had to be convinced to make a key signing by former manager Jurgen Klopp, which has since turned into a successful bargain for the Reds.
Ian Graham worked at Liverpool in the summer of 2017 as the ex-head of research, overseeing the club’s recruitment department which relied heavily on data to make decisions.
Mohamed Salah arrived that year despite Klopp instead wanting to bring in Julian Brandt, but roles were reversed when the German boss wanted a new left-back. While the data suggested Benjamin Mendy and Emerson Palmieri should be the priorities for the Reds, Klopp had other ideas.
Liverpool signed Andy Robertson because of Jurgen Klopp
Though Andy Robertson had just been relegated from the Premier League with Hull, Klopp saw potential in the Scotsman and made a plea to bring him to Anfield, even though the data suggested otherwise. The two clubs managed to agree an £8m deal, in a fee that now looks like an absolute bargain.
“His defensive ratings weren’t good,” Graham admits to FourFourTwo. “Hull had been relegated playing an open style and a back four – they’d played a back five in the Championship and had a really good defence, so he went from looking really good to really bad.
“Our concern was which defender are we getting? But Jurgen said, ‘If he does have defensive weaknesses, we can cover them up by covering him from midfield, I need a full-back with attacking quality’.
“Alberto Moreno was the previous left-back and was similar – good at attacking, but maybe questionable defensively. The reason we were getting another full-back was we thought we could improve on that, but we were getting a similar profile, so that was Jurgen convincing us.
“He was high on our list and we were happy to sign him, but we just wanted to make it clear that if he made a defensive mistake, don’t complain to us! As it turned out, he’s made very few mistakes. He’s a great defender.”
Robertson has since gone onto make 300 appearances in his seven-and-a-half years at Anfield, laying on a high number of assists and providing a constant threat from left-back.
His performances have seen him been included twice in the PFA Team of the Year, while the 34-year-old has picked up a Premier League trophy, a Champions League crown, FA Cup medal and two League Cups during his time at Liverpool – with potential for more silverware come the end of 2024/25.
