This season’s Premiership with its unpredictability is gradually becoming the most exciting season in the Premier League era. With the exception of Chelsea and, to an extent, Manchester City, all the so-called big teams have struggled.
The fact that West Ham and Southampton are fourth and fifth respectively– not to take anything thing away from both teams– tells a lot about how far the mighty have fallen. As such, the January transfer window (in a few weeks) could not have come at a better time for clubs, like Liverpool, looking to strengthen major areas of their teams.
With the Reds’ defense seeming like a lost cause– let’s face it, the only offense that won’t breach that backline is Liverpool’s attack– the only hope the team has of achieving anything this season is to add firepower up front. Since the sale of Luis Suarez, their attack has fought tooth and nail to regain some of the bite it had last season without success. This is made much worse by the fact that Daniel Sturridge’s glass-like legs cannot be relied upon to last a couple of games without falling apart.
Furthermore, their replacements, Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert, have so far proved to be anything but a solution to the team’s offensive woes. Balotelli for instance, despite his huge potential, has about as much chance of inflicting damage on opponents as a cone has of disrupting an airplane in full flight.
Similarly, though a hard-worker, Lambert lacks sufficient pace to trouble defenders. Borini on the otherhand has both pace and an impressive work ethic, but is about as effective as a headless chicken, in that he lacks the ability to be decisive in the final third.
It therefore comes as no surprise that Liverpool are shopping for a striker in the upcoming transfer window. With the club denying reports of an early return of loanee, Divock Origi, they have turned their attention to Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain. According to Daily Express , Liverpool has emerged as one of the favorites to sign Higuain who is unhappy at Napoli due to lack of playing time. This rumor, coming from the daily express ranks about 6 out of 10 credibility-wise.
Gonzalo Higuain, although a good goal-scorer, would not be a good signing for Liverpool. One reason for this conclusion is his age. At 27 the striker is arguably past his peak and will not offer much to this Liverpool team.
Secondly, his style of play is not suited to the Premier League which is more fast-paced than the Italian League (where he is not even a guaranteed starter). It can be said that what this Liverpool needs is a proven goal-scorer like Higuain, a poacher who is capable of popping up in the box and putting the ball in the net. However, if what we have learned with Balotelli and Lambert is anything to go by, what Liverpool need is not just any goal-scorer but a mobile one like Suarez and Sturridge.
Regardless of the disadvantages of this potential transfer, a player like Higuain would be valuable to any team due to the wealth of experience he brings. Having played for big teams like Real Madrid, Napoli, etc. his presence in the Liverpool dressing room would be helpful to young players like Raheem Sterling and Lazar Markovic.
Also, due to the lack of available world-class strikers in the market this window, Higuain could prove to be a good short-term solution to the team’s attacking problems. Not only would he come cheap, any possible deal for the striker has a high chance of being successful due to the attractiveness of the premier league and his willingness to get more playing time elsewhere.
