- Liverpool's midfield rebuild last summer has been a resounding success.
- Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, and Wataru Endo have all excelled in the newlook engine room.
- Despite missing out on Jude Bellingham, Liverpool's supporters are content with their midfield options.
With just a matter of weeks left in the season now, Liverpool can confidently declare last summer's midfield rebuild a success. The title challenge that ensued that overhaul has been beyond what most supporters and pundits ever expected.
After Dominik Szoboszlai took many of the early plaudits, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo have gone on to underline their importance with a rich vein of form. Such has the success of the newlook engine room been that it would be extremely difficult to decide which of those three can claim to be the signing of the season.
And yet still, there's a tiny part of you that looks on with a hint of regret as Jude Bellingham establishes himself as an instant superstar at Real Madrid. There was yet another reminder this week when he rescued England against Belgium.
Broadly, though,Bellingham’s name hasn’t featured too much, which perhaps underlines. Sometimes in football,the narrative is dictated by players you don't sign.
The recordbreaking feats of Erling Haaland at Manchester City agonize Manchester United because they turned down the opportunity to sign him for a paltry $4.9m in 2018.
At the start of the season, Chelsea hoped Liverpool would experience a similar envy after beating them in two midfield transfer battles. However, Liverpool has had little cause for jealousy as their alternative number six solutions have proven successful.
Romeo Lavia's season is already over with just 32 minutes played due to injury. Liverpool may not know if they made a lucky escape or if he would have faced similar issues at Anfield.
In any case, Liverpool feels no regret and remains content with their current options. (An original version of this article was first published on October 17.)
