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Liverpool’s mix of young blood and old heads is right model for Chelsea

If there is one key lesson from Liverpool’s title triumph for Chelsea to absorb then it is surely the importance of sometimes paying the going rate for players capable of changing a team’s mentality and raising the level as soon as they join.

That is not to say there is no logic to Chelsea’s wider strategy of scouring the world for young talent and betting on their potential by handing out heavily incentivised long contracts. They have been ridiculed at times but believe vindication will arrive. The club are sticking with this approach and will be able to argue with some justification that the project is on schedule if Champions League qualification is in the bag at the end of the season.

Yet while the impression is of Chelsea attempting to make Brighton’s data-driven model work on a bigger scale, they should also look at how having solid foundations gave Liverpool a chance of a smooth transition when Arne Slot replaced Jürgen Klopp last summer. Slot did not have to worry about the strength of his squad’s mentality. There was no shortage of experience or leadership at Anfield. Liverpool have been canny in the transfer market at times – landing Mohamed Salah for £36.9m in 2017 is one of the best value-for-money signings of all time – but they have also benefited from knowing when to bite the bullet and buy for the here and now.

The mind goes back to the early days of the Klopp era, when Liverpool were wildly entertaining but prone to letting themselves down with rash decisions in key games. What would it take to make the leap from pretenders to champions? The answer was that they conceded too many goals during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The defence was not solid enough and neither Loris Karius nor Simon Mignolet was a convincing option in goal.

Klopp took action. He sold a key attacker, Philippe Coutinho, to Barcelona in January 2018 and reinvested the money wisely. Virgil van Dijk, 26 at the time, joined from Southampton for £75m that month. The Dutch centre-back instantly sharpened Liverpool’s defence and helped them reach the 2018 Champions League final, where mistakes from Karius meant Klopp’s side lost to Real Madrid.

The response to Karius’s mishaps was more ruthlessness. A goalkeeper was needed and Liverpool went for it in the next transfer window, paying £66.8m to sign Alisson from Roma. They were not hanging around. Alisson was 25 and elite. Remember his save in Liverpool’s win over Napoli in December 2018? They would not have won the Champions League without that intervention. Liverpool were rewarded for their seriousness; the mentality monsters built on becoming European champions by charging to their first league title in 30 years.

Chelsea, who have the second-youngest squad across Europe’s top five leagues and are monitoring the 19-year-old Ajax left-back Jorrel Hato, should take note. They will give Liverpool a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon and face a team with stability at their core. Van Dijk, now 33, is still the defensive rock and has signed on for two more years. Alisson, at 32, remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world. It is a simple equation: buying the best usually makes you the best.

Liverpool were not prioritising resale value when they bought Van Dijk and Alisson. They were not thinking about what they could become. They took the plunge, brought in proven talent and have reaped benefits during the past seven years.

There is an enviable culture at Liverpool. Young players who join can learn from Van Dijk and Alisson and lean on their leadership during challenging moments. Standards are maintained in the dressing room. Chelsea are still lacking in that area. Enzo Maresca has bought into the project but has hinted at wanting more experience. The manager’s oldest player is the 27-year-old Tosin Adarabioyo, who is not a regular in defence. Is there anyone who can push Cole Palmer and help the 22-year-old out of the first dip of his senior career? Chelsea need older heads with the potential to guide the youngsters and make them contenders for the biggest prizes.

There is scepticism within the game about whether suggestions that Chelsea were looking at signing Van Dijk on a free before he committed himself to Liverpool were genuine. Why not go for Kevin De Bruyne when the midfielder, 34 next month, leaves Manchester City? De Bruyne is clearly motivated and knows what it takes to win. There is also an opportunity to ask Aston Villa about Ollie Watkins; the striker is 29 but is a proven goalscorer at this level.

For Maresca, the signs are that Chelsea are moving in the right direction. Still, he can see why they faded after a promising start to the season and proved unable to keep up with Liverpool. “They have been consistent compared to us,” the Italian said. “For part of the season we were very good, and then we lost some games. In terms of experienced players that know how to win games and these kinds of things, I think they have something more compared to us.”

The next question, then, was whether Chelsea should sign their equivalent of Alisson and Van Dijk. “For sure, if you want to close the gap with these kind of clubs then you have to do [these] things,” Maresca said.

He went on to say his side will be better for experience gained this season and namechecked Levi Colwill as a leader. The impression was of a manager aligned with Chelsea’s vision. They have shown little sign of deviating from their chosen path. Even so it would not be weak to tweak the strategy every now and then. The right readymade signing could be the final piece in Chelsea’s jigsaw.

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