All eyes tend to be fixed on Mo Salah whenever Liverpool take to the pitch for a Premier League fixture.
But, with the ink drying on his new two-year deal, the bejewelled prince of Anfield will be even more at the centre of attention when West Ham United arrive on Merseyside.
Liverpool finally confirmed this week that Mo Salah will be staying for the foreseeable future. Both Salah and Virgil van Dijk belatedly ended the uncertainty surrounding their futures by putting pen to paper with the Premier League leaders.
If only Trent Alexander-Arnold felt like doing the same.
This, by the way, was the sort of occasion Crysencio Summerville was hoping to play a part in when he joined Sunday’s opponents in a £30 million summer deal from Leeds United. Summerville scored a famous winner at Anfield for Leeds United just before the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
There will be no repeat of that this weekend, however.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot wanted West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville at Feyenoord
Summerville joined West Ham in an attempt to establish himself alongside Salah and co as one of the Premier League’s elite widemen.
The chance to impress Arne Slot – the former Feyenoord boss who reportedly held talks about bringing Summerville to De Kuip back in 2023 – has also been ripped away thanks to a long-standing thigh issue which has kept the former Dutch Under-21 international on the sidelines since January.
Football correspondent Graeme Bailey reported back in July of last year that Liverpool had held talks with Summerville’s representatives. Things would go no further than that, however, as the reigning Championship Player of the Year ended the window as a West Ham player.
Perhaps, if Summerville had translated his stunning second-tier form into the top-flight, he would have once again registered highly in Slot’s thinking nearly a year on.
It is no secret, after all, that Slot dreamed of seeing the Rotterdam-born attacker made a return to his hometown club. It was also no coincidence that Liverpool showed some semblance of interest in the then-Leeds talisman once Slot had been confirmed as Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
“It is not difficult to find such a player [who can be a matchwinner from the wing]. I’ve said that before, because I can think of a lot. However, it must also fit within our financial possibilities,” Slot said shortly before closing the curtains on his time in the Feyenoord dugout.
“I’ll just mention a name so you can write about it again. I would have liked to see Summerville on our side, but he is too expensive.
“I have found him an interesting player for a long time.”
Summerville denied the chance to prove his worth in front of Arne Slot
Fourteen months on, while Liverpool are on the verge of a second Premier League title and as Salah looks to commemorate his new deal with the Golden Boot, Summerville faces an anxious wait as the £30 million acquisition looks to prove that the Premier League stage is not one too great.
A wait which looks likely to extend into next season, with no return date issued as of yet.
Maybe next year, Crysencio.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
