Ranking the 11 Liverpool loan signings this century before Ronald Araujo arrives

With Ronald Araujo set to become Liverpool’s 12th loan signing since 2000, we’ve ranked the 11 previous players borrowed by the Reds…

It makes for some harrowing reading.

Liverpool’s record in the loan market is poor, with only one sure-fire hit. Even the one other player who was a success is remembered as an error when the Reds chose not to sign him permanently.

So, with Araujo heading for Merseyside this weekend, here is how his loanee predecessors are ranked…

11) Arthur Melo – from Juventus, 2022

One half of the entirely legitimate swap deal that saw Arthur join Juve from Barcelona in 2020 for a reported initial fee of £66million, the Brazilian midfielder was loaned out by the Old Lady to Liverpool on deadline day in summer 2022.

He played a total of 13 minutes for the Reds in a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Napoli.

Sure, Arthur was unfortunate with injuries but Liverpool paid almost £4million in loan fees for not a single appearance in the Premier League.

10) Steven Caulker – from QPR, 2016

Jurgen Klopp’s first Liverpool signing was probably his strangest…

Caulker was on loan at Southampton from QPR during the first half of 2015-16, an arrangement that was terminated to allow the once-capped England defender to move to Liverpool.

“We want to press the opponent and so they have to play long balls,” Klopp explained. “If they play long balls, you need people in the last line who can help you with headers and we’ve found it with Steven Caulker.”

Only Caulker was used more as an emergency striker. Three of his four appearances came off the bench, thrown up top by a desperate Klopp. He joined for the second half of the season but was never seen again after January before being returned to QPR while we all wondered what the f*** Liverpool were thinking.

9) Daniele Padelli – from Sampdoria, 2007

“He’s a good young goalkeeper who has been selected for his national side,” said Rafa Benitez when asked to introduce his new loan signing in Januaru 2007. “Padelli will give us a good option for the future. The fact he is once again with the Under-21s for his national side tells you that we are signing a very good player.”

Only, that was his only Italy Under-21 cap. Seemingly for good reason if his one and only ‘shaky’ Liverpool appearance on the final day of the season – a 2-2 draw with Charlton – was any measure. Padelli was returned to Sampdoria and went on to have a long career but largely as a stand-in.

8) Nuri Sahin – from Real Madrid, 2012

Huge things were expected of Sahin when he moved from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid in 2011 on a six-year deal, but he managed only 10 appearances in all competitions at the Bernabeu.

He went two better at Anfield for Rodgers, scoring three goals in a dozen games after joining on loan at the start of the 2012-13 season. But Sahin was little more happy at Liverpool than he was in Madrid, especially while Rodgers insisted on playing him out of position.

“I did not fail at Liverpool,” he insisted shortly after his Reds loan was terminated to allow him to return to Dortmund. “Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a number 10. But I do not play behind the strikers.

“It is not my real position. Still, no regrets. To play at Anfield was a wonderful experience. And maybe if I had not gone there I would not have been able to return to Borussia Dortmund. For that, I am happy. Thank God I have left Brendan Rodgers.”

7) Paul Jones – from Southampton, 2004

A nice story, this, if inconsequential for anyone outside the Jones family…

Gerard Houllier was already without Chris Kirkland when Jerzy Dudek was crocked too. So Liverpool went to Southampton to borrow the out-of-favour 36-year-old, who jumped at the chance to join his boyhood club for a month rather than move permanently to Portsmouth.

Jones became the Reds’ oldest post-war debutant in a 1-0 win over Aston Villa, then featured in a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham, before Dudek returned and Jones was sent back to Saints having accomplished a lifelong dream to play for the Reds.

6) Javier Manquillo – from Atletico Madrid, 2014

The 20-year-old Spanish right-back was Rodgers’ seventh summer signing in 2014 and arrived for a two-season stint at Anfield.

Manquillo seemed a steady presence in defence but never featured in the Premier League after December of his first and only season, his prospects largely scuppered when Rodgers switched formation to three-at-the-back. So Atletico took him back a year ahead of schedule when Liverpool signed Nathaniel Clyne in 2015.

5) Ozan Kabak – from Schalke, 2021

After Caulker, Klopp went five more years before making a loan signing. And even then, he probably wished he hadn’t bothered.

By January 2021, Klopp had already lost Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, so on deadline day, Liverpool bough Ben Davies from Preston for £1.6million, and signed Kabak on loan from struggling Schalke with the option to buy for £18million.

That was never going to happen. Kabak actually performed better for Liverpool than he did at Norwich the following season, but nowhere near good enough to earn a permanent deal.

4) Aly Cissokho – from Valencia, 2013

Liverpool signed Cissokho on a season-long loan in August 2013 when Granada changed the terms of a permanent deal for Guilherme Siqueira.

The Frenchman almost took a Premier League title winner’s medal back to Spain with him, despite spending most of the campaign as back up to Jon Flanagan.

Cissokho never looked good enough for Liverpool, and barely up to standard for a poor Aston Villa, who saw enough in his season at Anfield to sign him permanently from Valencia.

3) Victor Moses – from Chelsea, 2013

Three years and three loan moves before Antonio Conte turned Moses into a flying wing-back, the Nigeria international was out of favour at Stamford Bridge just a season after signing from Wigan.

He fared little better at Anfield as a late-window loanee, kept out of Rodgers’ team by Raheem Sterling.

Moses played 19 games as Liverpool went so close to the title, but only six times as a starter.

2) Nicolas Anelka – from PSG, 2001

“This is no risk. This is a fantastic deal, I’m convinced, for him and for us,” said Houllier when he borrowed Anelka off PSG in December 2001. “I know what has been said about him and I don’t care.”

Anelka arrived back in the Premier League with a tarnished reputation owing to his acrimonious Arsenal exit. But Houllier had worked with the striker previously, and his optimism around loaning the 22-year-old France international was well-founded.

Which made the decision not to sign him permanently in favour of buying El-Hadji Diouf all the more weird.

“Every club makes mistakes in the transfer market and we made one when we didn’t sign Anelka,” admitted Steven Gerrard later. “Nicolas was top class for us and I thought he’d done enough to stay. He was a good lad around the dressing room as well… I don’t think anyone will deny we got that one wrong.”

1) Javier Mascherano – from MSI, 2007

The Argentina midfielder arrived at Anfield in February 2007 on an 18-month loan, which the Reds assumed would give them time to unpick the tangled mess around him…

Mascherano’s ownership rights – Carlos Tevez’s too – belonged to MSI, the pair’s spell at West Ham proving a huge headache for the Premier League.

On the pitch, though, Mascherano quickly became a key player for Liverpool, freeing up Steven Gerrard in Benitez’s midfield. While still on loan, the manager accurately described his midfielder as a “monster of a player”.

After a period of limbo, Liverpool eventually paid MSI £18.6million but Mascherano was well worth the money and the hassle. He stayed until fighting to join Barcelona in 2010