The winter transfer window is coming to an end, as always, winter has never been a popular trading time for the transfer market, the mainstream European league has been carried out for half a year, and the strategic planning of major teams has generally taken shape, and it is not appropriate to make large changes. In the past, such as Liverpool's arrival of Suarez in 2011, and even recently Bruno Fernandez's arrival at Manchester United in 2020, these important winter trades are rare examples.
But when it comes to the most classic winter transfer market, it is 2018, there are many big deals in which big teams introduce future main players. Among them, Liverpool's one-out and one-in operation has changed the next few years of the Champions League, the layout of the Premier League, and even the competition for the individual honor of the players.
The time will be counted by the summer transfer window of 2017, when Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain triggered a €222 million termination clause, taking Neymar away from Barcelona. Directly getting a sky-high transfer gain gives Barcelona the ability to spend money directly on other transfer operations, but it is also a factor in increasing the seller's bid price. After Neymar left, Barcelona bought Dortmund's rising star Dembele for an exaggerated price of 150 million euros.
That's not the point, with liverpool's Coutinho bought for €160 million in the winter transfer window. Let Barcelona handle 3 large-hand deals of over 100 million euros in a single season. A few years later, the main player of the Treble season was sent in exchange for two stars, one of whom had to borrow to regain his form in the Bundesliga, and the other spent most of his time in the hospital bed. Barcelona fans, such as the editor himself, are all saddened by the management led by Bartomeu.
However, Liverpool took the lead in buying the coveted top centre-back, Southampton's Van, before sending Coutinho. Two deals planned at the same time successfully solved the problem that had plagued Liverpool for half a season, attacking strong and defending weakly. The main squad of the 4-3-3 formation was established, and van Dijk's role as the leader of the defensive line was also confirmed, and he reached the Champions League final that season, but unfortunately lost to Real Madrid. Subsequently, Liverpool repeatedly strengthened the squad, successively buying reinforcements such as goalkeeper Alisson, winger Shaqiri, etc., and won the Champions League and premier league titles in the following two seasons, getting rid of the decline that lasted for many years in one fell swoop. A few years of experience at Liverpool have given Van Dijk the opportunity to compete with the two contemporary champions, such as the International Footballer of the Year and the Ballon d'Or and other awards.
The transfer of Neymar in 2017 indirectly caused an important reinforcement for Liverpool in the summer of 2018, which contributed to the subsequent "butterfly effect", which can be described as an impact across time and space. This sky-high transfer can be described as a stone stirring up a thousand waves.