Is Brendan Rodgers heading down the same route as Kenny Dalglish?

According to numerous news outlets, including Sky Sports Liverpool are chasing the signature of Swansea midfielder Joe Allen.

The Welsh midfielder is highly-rated and has a release clause of £15million in his contract.

Overpriced

During his second spell at the club Kenny Dalglish spent far too much money on overrated and overpriced British players.

The main examples being Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll. Both are decent players, but neither were worth the fee the Reds paid.

The result of Dalglish’s work in the transfer market was an eighth place finish in the Premier League and the club down millions of pounds. Those Dalglish deals have made new boss Brendan Rodgers life a lot harder. He now has to shape a team out of overpriced, mediocre players.

Same?

I am a big fan of Brendan Rodgers as a manager and his football philosophy. His ideas on football are admirable, but if reports are to be believed then he is about to offer Swansea City £15million for Joe Allen.

I believe this is a deal that can’t be allowed to go through. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Allen is a promising young player and may become a top player in the future. However, I don’t think that at this moment in time he is worth £15million.

Allen was superb for Swansea last season, but it was just one season. To be worth £15million surely a player would have to play consistently well for a number of seasons?

Mediocre

Liverpool as a football club deserve better than mediocre players and players who arrive with only potential. The club was once the biggest force in English football. The way they have done their transfer business in the last few years though have turn them into a laughing stock.

The Reds were need to get back to signing quality players, not overpriced potential. Other clubs have managed it this summer already. Take a look at Manchester United. The Red Devils’ managed to sign Japanese midfield playmaker Shinji Kagawa from Dortmund for £12.5million.

Some may argue that Kagawa has no Premier League experience, Joe Allen has just one season of top flight football under his belt. Kagawa has been outstanding for Dortmund in the Bundesliga for the last few seasons and has Champions League experience as well. I know which player I would prefer my club to sign.

Improvement

One thing is for sure and that’s Liverpool’s squad needs to be improved this summer. Having not seen much of new signing Fabio Borini, I can’t judge whether or not he will be a success in the Premier League, but my sources in Italy say he could be a really good buy. I’ll bow to their superior knowledge on this subject.

Brendan Rodgers usually has a really good eye for a player and will know that he can’t afford to waste the clubs money on expensive flops. The clubs owners won’t be willing to bankroll failure for long. They are still paying for Dalglish’s expensive flops.

Disappointment

Liverpool fans have had Premier League disappointment for far too long. If Liverpool don’t add to their squad, next season will be a similar story, unless Brendan Rodgers can work miracles. I actually think Joe Allen would be a good signing, but not at £15million.

If he was available for a smaller fee I could see Liverpool pursuing the deal. However, Liverpool have made far too many errors in the transfer market in recent seasons to take a £15million risk on Allen fulfilling his potential.

Turnaround

I feel like a broken record sometimes, but I really do think that Brendan Rodgers will turn Liverpool round given time. Rodgers has proved himself to be very shrewd in the transfer market at Swansea and hopefully he can continue that at Liverpool.

I just hope for Rodgers sake that he isn’t lured into the same trap that Dalglish was of overpaying for overpriced British talent. I doubt he will be and I’m sure he will be a success at Anfield.

Is Brendan Rodgers taking the same route as Kenny Dalglish?