As was the case last season, Liverpool look a cut above their rivals in the Premier League, having stormed into a five-point lead after just five matches.
Arne Slot’s side have been far from perfect this season, but they have a knack for digging deep and finding a decisive goal in the closing stages. It is what champions are made of.
And, of course, it helps that Ryan Gravenberch is playing with such aplomb in the centre of the park. The Dutchman has picked up where he left off last year, and has even been heralded as “the best player in the country” right now by journalist Daniel Storey, having scored and assisted in the Reds’ latest win over Everton.
Gravenberch’s incredible rise to prominence over the past year has extinguished the need for a new number six. Efforts were made to sign Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, but the Spaniard stayed put and has now signed for Arsenal.
Oh well, Liverpool fans won’t care a jot. Gravenberch’s brilliance has also made it unlikely that a bid will be lodged for Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, who has been on sporting director Richard Hughes’ radar but who has been priced at £100m by the Eagles.
Liverpool might actually have sold a suitable Wharton alternative this summer, and, in fact, the same could be applied across many corners of the field, such was the scale of the exodus in the transfer market.
Liverpool's summer sales
Liverpool broke the spending record in the transfer window this summer, but they also recouped over £200m in player sales, with Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez leading the way there.
However, Slot and Hughes also got rid of a host of younger members. Jarell Quansah left for Bayer Leverkusen in a £35m deal, while Harvey Elliott, while still technically a Liverpool player, joined Aston Villa on loan until the end of the 2025/26 season, with an obligation to buy for £35m.
Elsewhere from the academy, Caoimhin Kelleher left for Brentford in the search for first-team football, and Ben Doak closed the door on his nascent Anfield journey by signing for Bournemouth in a £25m package.
All talented players with high ceilings above them, but there’s something of a forgotten man in there too. Indeed, Tyler Morton left Liverpool and joined Lyon over in France for a £15m fee in August, and it’s one which Hughes might come to regret.
Liverpool may regret selling Tyler Morton
Morton graduated from Liverpool’s academy and completed 14 senior appearances and a string of loans before leaving for Lyon. Regular minutes and a platform to build upon formed the basis of Morton’s decision.
And it was the right one: he’s flying. Likened to Xabi Alonso by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Morton is a smart playmaker with energy and vision to be proud of. The way in which he’s settled into life in France bears testament to that.
Cody Gakpo was also recorded to humorously declare Morton as a similar player to the one-time Reds maestro, so there’s clearly something there.
Alonso was an architect of a midfielder, truly one of a kind. Morton isn’t an elite player, but his skillset shares similarities, and that will serve him well.
Indeed, his is a sharp footballing mind, and Morton was among the first to acknowledge the potential of Slot’s system after Jurgen Klopp ended his iconic tenure at the helm.
“You can see it’s starting to click already,” Morton said after Liverpool defeated Arsenal in pre-season in August 2024. Few – if any – expected the Reds to challenge for the Premier League title at that stage, but Morton saw the genius inherent in his new boss’s tactics, and he was on the money.
This is a further similarity to Alonso, who was among the sharpest midfielders in the business back in his playing days. The Spaniard’s illustrious managerial career serves as further evidence of his brilliance.
Leaving Liverpool was clearly the right move to kickstart his career, but the midfielder may well be frustrated that he wasn’t afforded a greater opportunity to showcase his skills under Slot’s wing; he’s good enough to have impressed, for sure.
Matches (starts)
4 (4)
Goals
0
Assists
0
Touches*
73.8
Accurate passes*
50.3 (90%)
Key passes*
2.5
Succ. dribbles*
1.0 (80%)
Tackles
1.3
Clearances*
2.0
Ball recoveries
3.5
Duels won*
3.5 (58%)
Morton’s only four matches into life in France, but he’s certainly showing himself to be a midfielder of real quality, with reporter Andres Onrubia Ramos remarking that he has been “a total success” in France.
Obviously, Morton isn’t on the same level as prime Alonso, but there’s undoubtedly a likeness of style, and that’s something that Liverpool might come to regret parting with if he continues to skyrocket to the top.
Morton’s loan spell with Hull City across the 2023/24 Championship season underlined his natural technical quality. According to data-driven platform FBref, the teenager – at the time – ranked among the top 14% of midfielders for touches, the top 17% for pass completion, the top 11% for through balls and the top 16% for goal-creating actions per 90.
Goal-creating actions are phases of play that lead to a goal. These include moments such as a pass, take-on or foul being drawn.
Curiously, Wharton, Blackburn Rovers up-and-comer at the time, was among Morton’s most comparable players, and so now that we can observe the former Liverpool talent’s start to life in Ligue 1, the question is raised as to whether a bumper bid for the Palace man is necessary down the line.
Well, that would be the case if Liverpool had inserted a buyback clause when cashing in on the 22-year-old, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
While FSG’s decision to sell Morton to Lyon was understandable, given the limited playing time that the English midfielder could have expected after a peripheral 2024/25 season, his performances in France so far have underlined the asset Liverpool have lost.
Should Liverpool end up forking out a significant sum for a player such as Wharton during the coming transfer windows, we can’t help but wonder whether Morton might have saved a pretty penny for the Anfield side as he continues to make gains over the Channel.