Reds “monster” has seen his value soar 135% in 3 years

Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has enjoyed a phenomenal spell on Merseyside as he has won multiple major trophies and instilled an attractive style of football.

Who has played the most games for Klopp at Liverpool?

The German tactician has had a strong core of stars for the majority of his most successful period with the Reds over the last seven or eight seasons.

Klopp’s most-used players at Liverpool in all competitions (stats via Transfermarkt)

There are also six players below those five who have played over 200 games for the former Borussia Dortmund manager and one of them is Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, who the boss has played a blinder with since his move to the club in 2018.

How much was Alisson worth at Roma?

At the end of his spell with Italian giants Roma, FootballTransfers placed his Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at €27.5m (£23.5m) after his impressive performances in the Serie A.

The towering titan only spent one season in Italy but made the most of his time there with a string of exceptional displays between the sticks. He averaged an excellent Sofascore rating of 7.13 across 37 league starts as the impressive gem only missed one match all term.

Alisson saved 80% of the shots on his goal and ended the campaign with 17 clean sheets to his name, whilst the Brazil international’s underlying numbers also caught the eye.

Based on the post-shot xG value of the shots against him, the 6 foot 3 giant was expected to concede 35.4 goals. However, he only allowed 28 strikes to fly into his net, and this means that he prevented 7.4 xG more than the average goalkeeper would have been expected to over the course of the season.

How has Alisson performed for Liverpool?

His debut campaign with the Reds was a mixed bag after his move from Roma in the summer of 2018 as the shot-stopper made a number of errors.

The former Internacional star made three distribution mistakes directly leading to a shot for the opposition and three blunders that directly led to a goal for the other team over 38 Premier League matches during the 2018/19 campaign, as per Sofascore.

He did, however, prevent 5.2 more xG than expected based on the post-shot xG of the strikes on his goal, which suggests that the talented ace struggled with the ball at his feet but excelled at stopping shots.

His shot-stopping regressed during the following campaign, though, as Alisson conceded 2.3 more goals than expected across 29 top-flight appearances as he also made three errors that led to a shot or goal for the opposition.

This led to FootballTransfers dropping his xTV down to €26.9m (£23m) by January of 2020 and some may not have blamed Klopp if he had decided to look for either strong competition for the Brazilian gem or a possible replacement due to this regression.

Instead, the German head coach backed him to continue as his number one and this turned out to be a blinder from him as Alisson turned his form around to become a consistently reliable performer for the Reds.

The former Roma colossus, who journalist Matt Kim once hailed as a “monster”, prevented three xG more than expected throughout the 2020/21 campaign and kept ten clean sheets in 33 Premier League matches.

He also immortalised himself in Liverpool folklore as the impressive titan became the first goalkeeper in the club’s history to score a goal as he found the back of the net with a stunning header against West Bromwich Albion in the 95th minute of a clash at the end of that term.

Alisson’s has maintained a strong level of form since the start of the 2020/21 season as he has prevented 15.7 xG over the last three-and-a-bit Premier League campaigns.

In fact, the £150k-per-week ace has been one of the best shot-stoppers in Europe in recent times. Over the last 365 days, the Reds brute ranks within the top 3% of his positional peers among the Men’s Big Five Leagues and European competitions for post-shot xG prevented per 90 (0.20).

He also ranks within the top 6% for defensive actions outside of his penalty area per 90 (two) and this shows that the Brazilian-born talent excels at coming off his line to sweep up the danger in behind his defence. This allows Liverpool to play a high line as they know that they have a goalkeeper who can come out to clear balls that are played into the space between him and the back four.

The experienced ace has also been a consistent performer in the Champions League over the years. He has stopped 11.2 more goals than the average goalkeeper would have been expected to over five European campaigns and 47 outings with the club.

How much is Alisson worth now?

The 30-year-old phenom’s superb form over the last few years for the Reds has been taken into account by FootballTransfers as they have placed his current xTV at €63.1m (£54.1m).

This means that his value has soared by roughly 135% since it dropped to €26.9m at the start of 2020, which is a reward for his exceptional displays between the sticks in the Premier League.

Alisson, who has won the top-flight, the Champions League, the League Cup, and the FA Cup with the club, was able to bounce back from his early struggles to establish himself as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe and England.

The aforementioned statistics prove that he is among the top performers in his position when it comes to sweeping and stopping shots that he is not expected to, which is why the £54.1m-rated giant is so important for Liverpool as he can be a match-winner with his ability to make huge saves.

Therefore, Klopp played a blinder in terms of both his decision to sign Alisson from Roma in 2018 and then by having the confidence to back him during the difficult times at the start of his career at Anfield.

Liverpool have benefitted greatly from the German tactician’s faith in the Brazilian star and, hopefully, the club will continue to enjoy his performances on the pitch for many more years to come as he should still have plenty of football left in him at the age of 30.