Why Andy Robertson’s Imminent Arrival at Liverpool Is A Smart Move For The Club
Liverpool are on the verge of completing their third major transfer of the summer, as Hull City left-back Andrew Robertson edges closer to a move to Anfield. According to reports from the Mirror, the 23-year old left-back has left Hull’s warm training camp in Portugal in order to complete a medical with the Reds, before sealing a move. And the Independent reported that the club has agreed a £10million fee for the transfer.
Liverpool have been scouring the market for a new left-back ahead of the new season as Jurgen Klopp is intent on reinforcing his defensive options. Last season the Reds were heavily reliant on veteran midfielder James Milner to operate as their left-sided full-back, with Klopp not trusting the erroneous Alberto Moreno to be a regular in the playing XI.
With the Spaniard likely to be sold before the transfer window closes and the possibility of Champions League football at Anfield provided they get through the final qualifying stages, the Reds were in dire need of adding numbers to their ranks, considering the extra number of fixtures they are likely to play.
In Robertson, they will get a young and promising left-back, who can grow in stature with the club. The 23-year old joined Hull from Scottish club Dundee United in the summer of 2014 and established himself as the first-choice at the club under former manager Steve Bruce, in the Tigers’ comeback season in the Premier League.
While they went down back to Championship at the end of the season, Robertson had made his mark and had turned several heads around with his performances.
He built on that with another strong campaign in 2015/16, helping the club to achieve promotion immediately. Upon returning to the top-flight, the Scotland international had another decent campaign, despite his team facing the same fate of relegation yet again. Robertson finished the season with a solitary goal and 3 assists in 39 games in all competitions.
Robertson may not be the big name transfer that Liverpool fans were hoping for, but he has the ability to be a shrewd addition to the club. He may not have had the best of numbers in terms of goals and assists, but can certainly make a difference to the team, down the left-hand side. The 23-year old possesses decent pace and is good with the ball at his feet, which allows him to carry the ball up the field quickly and put his team on the front-foot.
Possessing a decent enough range of passing, Robertson also backs it up with solid defensive nous. His positional awareness and the alertness to track the opposition runners is something that will be a huge improvement on Alberto Moreno. A strong tackler as well, he will bring in the solidity and steadiness to the Liverpool backline.
While he may not immediately be able to wrestle the starting position from Milner, at 23, he has plenty of time to get better and grow. Working with a manager like Klopp, who has shown that he can get the best out of players with potential, will help him achieve just that. Liverpool may not be getting their hands on a world beater, but Robertson will be a huge upgrade on Moreno and will only continue to get better from hereon. At just £10million, he could prove to be an extremely smart purchase by the Reds.
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