Liverpool quietly repeated $15m transfer success as Jurgen Klopp’s January call-up speaks volumes

A little-used signing for the 2022 summer transfer is actually following a similar career path to one of his Liverpool predecessors, and seven games prove it.

Earlier this month, Jürgen Klopp broke the precedent by selecting Liverpool’s strongest team for the third round of the FA Cup.

Klopp could have been expected to rest Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Thiago and Mohamed Salah against Wolves, but they all started.

However, after the tie ended in a 2-2 draw, the German opted to make the changes for the midweek replay in Molineux. Caoimhín Kelleher, James Milner, Kostas Tsimikas, Stefan Bajčetić and Fábio Carvalho were among the honorees. But one player who was absent from both games, not just the starting XI but the squad as a whole, was right-back Calvin Ramsay.

Arriving from Aberdeen on an $8m (£6.5m/€7.3m) deal last summer, that would certainly have been the type of game he was surrounding. It looked like an ideal opportunity for the first team.

Although he hasn’t played as often as the Greece international, there is still a clear parallel between the two.

Tsimikas’ first season at Anfield after a $15m (£12m) transfer from Olympiacos was actually similar. He made just 225 minutes in seven games, with his Premier League involvement limited to two appearances as a very late substitute

“There are big games coming up and games I want to be involved in, so for me it’s about trying to get into the squad for games and hopefully trying to get a few minutes on the pitch.”

Liverpool have reportedly reduced interest on loans from Championship sides Watford and Swansea City this month (via TEAMtalk), which on paper looks like a surprising decision.

But it could only suggest that the club intends to accelerate Ramsay’s integration into the senior ranks in the coming months. The youngster will become champion at the moment, but at this stage he has nothing to worry about.