In June 2020, Liverpool finally won the league for the first time in 30 years. A quick look at their list of No.6s over the years gives a hint as to why the wait was so lengthy.
Having ended that wait, Jurgen Klopp has added the considerable talent of Thiago Alcantara to his squad for their title defence.
The Spanish midfielder, who treats every 10-yard pass with the care and precision of a mechanical engineer, was signed from Bayern Munich for a fee of £25million. This counts as a genuine bargain in an age where Manchester United were willing to pay double for the services of Sean Longstaff.
But who won that shirt before him, and where does Thiago rank among them? Here, we’ve ranked each player to wear Liverpool’s No.6 shirt in the Premier League era from worst to best.
8. Luis Alberto
The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of memorable is Luis Alberto’s time at Liverpool.
Signed from Sevilla for £6.8million in the summer of 2013, the Spanish attacking midfielder made nine appearances during Brendan Rodgers’ doomed title challenge without ever threatening to find the net.
Was loaned to Malaga and Deportivo La Coruna before being offloaded to Lazio in 2016, marking the end of an error.
7. Don Hutchison
When speaking of his time at Anfield, Hutchison recalled how he ‘got on well with Graeme Souness and I think he quite liked my style of play because I got stuck in’. It must have seemed like centuries since fellow Scot Alan Hansen wore the No.6 jersey.
Sadly, Don tackled Liverpool’s nighttime establishment with the same vigour as his opponents and is best remembered by many for proudly displaying his crown jewels in a city-centre bar.
Scored 10 goals in the inaugural Premier League season before leaving for West Ham, which seems a more appropriate fit all round.
6. Phil Babb
We’ve all seen the clip. You know the one. A despairing Babb trying to prevent a Chelsea goal in 1998 and sliding into the goalpost, one leg either side, and injuring his coccyx. Even writing this sentence about the incident elicits a wince.
That memory, destined to live forever in football compilation videos, has unarguably overshadowed the memories of Babb’s Liverpool career of 170 appearances and *checks notes* one goal.
An unremarkable player in an unremarkable era for the club, Babb served Liverpool well during his six-year spell, but injuries and inconsistencies meant his career was sadly unfulfilled.
5. Fabio…
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