It was the shock transfer of the summer that didn’t happen. And while Anthony Gordon remains very much at Newcastle United, Mark Lawrenson believes Liverpool have still become beneficiaries of the failed move to Anfield.
The Reds reached an agreement that valued winger Gordon at £75million in a deal that would have seen Joe Gomez move in the opposite direction for £45m before the Magpies pulled the plug.
Lawrenson, the celebrated former Anfield centre-back and one-time coach at Newcastle, expects Liverpool to rekindle their interest in Gordon next summer. But he has pointed to how the move for the England international has prompted a positive reaction from the two players who were already scrapping for a place on the left flank under new Reds boss Arne Slot.
“Gordon is without doubt a player Liverpool will keep an eye on,” says Lawrenson. “He’s got great ability, and has learned how to play football properly. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that whatsoever. He knows what’s expected of him and he’s lightning quick.
“He has done Arne Slot a bit of a favour this season because Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo have got their heads down and thought ‘crikey, if he turns up on the doorstep we might not be playing on a regular basis’.
“Slot won’t be bothered too much if somebody knocks on his door and asks why they aren’t playing. He’ll just say ‘we are winning almost every week and the lads in your position are scoring, so hang on’. It’s basically like the old days at present. You knew if you got injured, you might not be back regularly in the team for a long time as others had stepped up.”
With the Gordon deal having fallen by the wayside and a proposed transfer for Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi having also failed to materialise, Liverpool’s only new signing for the season was Federico Chiesa from Juventus.
Valencia goalkeeper Giorigi Mamardashvili will arrive next summer, and Lawrenson is fully expecting more incomings to follow, not least given Liverpool may have to replace three players – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah – who are at present set to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.
“I absolutely 100% feel as though this is a season where Slot is taking stock of the squad he has inherited, and next summer will be one where Liverpool make far more moves in the transfer window,” he says.
“Slot is in a great position where he has a really, really good squad already. He’ll want to tinker with it a bit this season, see what is possible and then recruit next summer and hope that things are even better.”
Lawrenson adds: “I’m not surprised by how well Liverpool have been doing this season because we have outstanding players. You might think we maybe need an extra central midfielder player, but it’s a great job for the new manager to have.
“I mean, what’s he had to do to change much? He’s basically said ‘same as last year, boys’. He’s tweaked little things which are good and it’s helped Liverpool start really well.”
Lawrenson believes the success under predecessor Jurgen Klopp has made it easier for Slot to hit the ground running. Lawrenson played under three managers during Liverpool’s period of success in the 1980s, with Bob Paisley – the man who brought him from Brighton – replaced by his assistant Joe Fagan before the Reds surprised by naming Kenny Dalglish as their first and so far only player-manager.
