Liverpool supporters will know that Arne Slot’s debut season in charge will likely be more of a success than Jurgen Klopp’s was, as their beloved now former boss had a lot on his plate when arriving to Anfield back in 2015.
In his first campaign as manager, the ex-Borussia Dortmund figure would achieve an eighth placed finish – which would be a disastrous position for Slot’s side to finish in by 2024’s standards – before slowly but surely bringing success to the Merseyside giants over a number of campaigns.
Unlike Slot, who has taken on the reins after Klopp’s exit with a strong squad already in place, the now unemployed 57-year-old had to get rid of some deadwood on his arrival, which included giving notable Reds dud Luis Alberto the boot initially on two separate loan deals, before letting him eventually head out the door permanently a year into his post.
Alberto would just never settle at Anfield, costing the Reds a fee of £6.8m in 2013, but is now completely forgotten about 11 years on.
Luis Alberto's time at Liverpool
The Spanish attacking midfielder, who has since carved out a successful career path for himself since his underwhelming stint in England, very much goes down as a dud from yesteryear when recounting his tough time playing for Liverpool.
The now 31-year-old would only ever make 12 appearances for the Reds in total before being sent packing under the early days of the Klopp regime, helping himself to just one assist too when donning his Liverpool colours back in 2013, when then manager Brendan Rodgers masterminded a 5-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
With zero goals under his belt, whilst also playing in the Premier League, Alberto’s time at Liverpool would undoubtably go down as a major flop, with the top-flight titans selling Alberto on for a loss at £4.3m to Lazio to bring his time at the club to an unsurprising end.
Luis Alberto's career since Liverpool
However, Alberto would find a new lease of life away from his subdued playing days at Liverpool out in Italy, with his current form for new employers Al-Duhail SC even bettering Mohamed Salah’s start to the Premier League this campaign.
As can be seen watching the clip above, Alberto looked a different player altogether lining up for Lazio over his quiet beginnings at Anfield, with sumptous strikes like this one versus Sampdoria commonplace throughout his time in Serie A.
The Spaniard would amass a mightily impressive 52 goals and 79 assists from 307 games in total for the Italian giants, before seeking out pastures new in Qatar, where he hasn’t slowed down with his output.
Stat
Luis Alberto
Salah
Games played
5
4
Goals scored
1
3
Assists
6
3
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Looking at the table above, for his new Saudi employers, Alberto actually boasts one more goal contribution than his Egyptian counterpart this season so far, having actually helped himself to an astounding three assists in just one clash when Al-Duhail emphatically beat Al-Rayyan SC 4-0.
Of course, the difference in quality is there as Salah has managed to put together six goal contributions in the hustle and bustle of the Premier League Alberto couldn’t handle, but the 31-year-old has certainly not allowed his poor time with the Reds at the start of his career to negatively impact him moving forward.
Salah didn’t help his own cause by having a rare off-day against Nottingham Forest last time out, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s underdogs walked away from Anfield with a shock three points, but he will know he has plenty more in the tank for Slot’s men as the season goes on.
Alberto will just hope he can keep up his own blistering start, eager to make sure he sees out his playing days in style, after shirking off his label of being a Reds reject.
Liverpool star was worth £1m when Salah joined, now he's worth 5800% more
He might even be Arne Slot’s best player…
1 ByAngus Sinclair