David Villa - a risk worth taking?

Brendan Rodgers is making a bold statement of intent in his pursuit of want away Barcelona hit man David Villa. To attract such a stellar name to line up alongside Luis Suarez and, almost certainly, Daniel Sturidge, surely announces LFC, FSG and Rodgers desire to restore the club to the top table of European football.

If a player of Villa’s calibre can be added to the rank a clear message would be sent to the doubters and boo boys clamouring to relegate Liverpool to the also-ran’s of the Premier League mid table for the long term. Certainly results this season have fallen some way short of the expected standard with a desperate lack of shooting prowess being evident in many of the worst results.

So much of the modern game is about impressions and image and clearly the image of the club as one unable to seduce the best of the best is one which needs to be dispelled.

The stumbling block thus far is Barcelona’s unwillingness to part with their star man on a loan deal. One can only assume that a permanent deal would not come cheap and some may question the wisdom of signing Villa on anything longer than a season by season deal. At 31 years old, and having struggled for fitness this term, Villa may be a risk but a risk which would certainly put some puff in Liverpool chests and bring genuine excitement to the Kop.