Liverpool have previously signed two players from Sporting Lisbon, neither of whom have made an impact at Anfield, with Thiago Ilori going so far as to call the move “stupid”.
Liverpool’s previous signings from Sporting Lisbon have not always been successful. The £830,000 transfer of Joao Carlos Teixeira in 2012 is a prime example.Despite being dubbed the ‘New Deco’, his time at Liverpool was marred by injuries and a disappointing loan spell, which eventually saw him leave the club in 2016.
Liverpool paid £250,000 for Teixeira when he moved to Porto after making eight appearances and scoring just once. Coming to Anfield had a bigger impact than any other Sporting Lisbon player. In August 2013, former manager Brendan Rodgers ordered a double deal for PSG’s Mamadou Sakho, 20, and Sporting Lisbon’s Thiago Ilori, 20, for £7m.
Rodgers believed the Reds’ defense would be solid for the next decade. He added: “We have two opportunities: one we have kept for a year with Thiago Ilori, a young talent who could become a great talent.”Rodgers described Ilori: “He’s 6ft 2in”, he’s very quick, strong, can jump and needs to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.
“He’s a man for the future, but he could be a very big talent,” Rodgers said of Saho. “Saho is 23 years old, but he is an experienced player. He has plenty of international caps and looks like an absolute monster in training. “He’s ready now and that’s what we want.
“Rodgers concluded: “We had an opportunity to do that and protect the club for the next 10 years and we did that.” However, Rodgers’ high expectations for Sakho have not lived up to expectations. The Frenchman’s tumultuous spell at Anfield ended with a £26m move to Crystal Palace in August 2017 after making 80 appearances in four years.
Ilori, who attracted much attention before joining Liverpool, has not played under Rodgers, although the manager has said he will stay with him for a year. After moving to Anfield, he was loaned out to Granada and Bordeaux, where he played a total of 24 matches. “I want to play for Liverpool, I don’t want to be there just to sit there,” Ilori said in August 2015.
“My goal is the same as every player’s: we all want to play like we’re fighting for our place. “I joined Liverpool two seasons ago to play for Liverpool. That is my main goal and I will do everything I can to make it happen.” He was loaned to Aston Villa but did not get a chance to play until then. It was withdrawn in January 2016.
Liverpool manager Klopp admitted he didn’t even know Ilori was a Reds player. “When I first came here I didn’t know he was an LFC player, of course he was at Aston Villa,” he said. Liverpool’s previous signings from Sporting Lisbon have not always been successful. The £830,000 transfer of Joao Carlos Teixeira in 2012 is a prime example.
Despite being dubbed the ‘New Deco’, his time at Liverpool was marred by injuries and a disappointing loan spell, which eventually saw him leave the club in 2016. Liverpool received £250,000 when Teixeira moved to Porto after making eight appearances and scoring one goal for the Reds. Coming to Anfield had a bigger impact than any other Sporting Lisbon player.
In August 2013, former manager Brandon Rodgers completed a double deal to sign Mamadou Sakho, 20, from PSG and Thiago Ilori, 20, from Sporting Lisbon for £7 million. Rodgers believed the Reds’ defense would be solid for the next decade. According to the Liverpool Echo, Rodgers said at the time that he wanted to “secure the present and the future of the club” and that “finding a centre-back is very difficult”.
If you look at some teams, there are aging centers. “Cut it in half because it’s really hard to get the best. He added: “We have two opportunities: one we have kept for a year with Thiago Ilori, a young talent who could become a great talent.”Rodgers described Ilori: “He’s 6ft 2in”, he’s very quick, strong, can jump and needs to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.
“He’s a man for the future, but he could be a very big talent,” Rodgers said of Saho. “Saho is 23 years old, but he is an experienced player. He has plenty of international caps and looks like an absolute monster in training. “He’s ready now and that’s what we want.”Rodgers concluded: “We had an opportunity to do that and protect the club for the next 10 years and we did that.”
However, Rodgers’ high expectations for Sakho have not lived up to expectations. The Frenchman’s tumultuous spell at Anfield ended with a £26m move to Crystal Palace in August 2017 after making 80 appearances in four years.
