The Transfer That Almost Was: Ian Graham Reveals the Transfer He "Begged" Liverpool Not to Sign
Ian Graham, Liverpool’s former director of research, has lifted the lid on one of the Reds’ most infamous transfer flops. In a candid interview with The Athletic, Graham revealed that he "begged" the club’s owners not to sign Christian Benteke in the summer of 2015.
At the time, Brendan Rodgers was the Liverpool manager, and Benteke was being touted as a potential game-changer for the Reds. However, Graham was adamant that the Belgian striker was not the right fit for Liverpool’s style of play. Despite Graham’s reservations, the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, paid £32.5 million to bring Benteke to Anfield.
The move turned out to be a disaster, with Benteke scoring just 10 goals in 42 appearances before leaving the club after just one season. Graham’s reluctance to sign Benteke was rooted in his analysis of the striker’s playing style, which he believed did not align with Liverpool’s attacking philosophy.
The difference between Rodgers and his successor, Jurgen Klopp, was stark. Graham praised Klopp’s open-mindedness and willingness to use data to inform his decision-making. "The difference was Jurgen’s open-mindedness," Graham said. "The data gradually became more sophisticated and the models improved, but there wasn’t a step-change in the quality of our analysis when Brendan left and Jurgen arrived. It was the same processes and the same people."
Graham’s comments highlight the importance of using data to inform transfer decisions. While Liverpool’s recruitment process was already sophisticated under Rodgers, Klopp’s arrival marked a significant shift in the club’s approach. "Jurgen saw players in the same way as Michael Edwards, whereas Brendan didn’t," Graham said. "Jurgen didn’t have any experience of data analysis in football before he came to Liverpool. We were asked questions occasionally by Jurgen and the coaching staff, but it wasn’t part of our weekly work to sit down and go through next week’s tactics or last week’s performance with Jurgen."
The difference between Klopp and Rodgers was not just limited to their approach to data analysis. Graham praised Klopp’s willingness to listen to expert opinion and his recognition of the value of data in informing his decision-making. "The difference was it was accepted that this is one of the ways Liverpool works," Graham said. "Jurgen believed in experts and that they can make a difference. He knew that data informed our recruitment process and the feedback he got after games from our video analysis department and he was receptive to that."
As Liverpool continues to dominate the Premier League, it’s clear that the club’s commitment to data-driven decision-making has played a significant role in their success. Graham’s comments serve as a reminder of the importance of using data to inform transfer decisions and the value of having a manager who is willing to listen to expert opinion.
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