The five signings Liverpool missed out on this year

There were quite a few gems for taking at the beginning of the transfer window, unfortunately most of the young, talented future stars have been taken.

1. Alfred Finnbogason, 25, Real Sociedad
Real upgraded from Griezmann when they picked up the Icelandic striker from SC Heerenveen.  He lead all scorers in the Eredivisie last season with 29 goals and also added 10 assists from 57 chances created.  The season before he scored 24 times.  He doesn't have all the physical attributes to out-muscle or speed past his opponents and relies on positional instinct and clinical finishing to score.

2. Dušan Tadić, 25, Southampton
Another Eredivisie product, Tadić lead the Dutch league in assists with 14 and chances created with 133.  He also scored 16 goals.  Southampton got him for £11m, considerably less for what we paid for the player he replaced.  I wrote about him here.

3. Yann M'Vila, 24, Inter Milan
One of the best defensive midfielder prospects under the age of 25 in Europe, M'Vila has found himself on loan in Italy for the next year.  He'll probably use that time to impress a future suitor and there will be aplenty.  His physical prowess, passing ability, and defensive instincts allow him to dominate matches in Serie A, especially considering he is not the fastest of players.  He also has an eye for attack, in his last season with Rennes, the 2012-13 season, he created 43 chances and posted an impressive 7.7 successful long balls per 90 at a 67.7% rate.

4. Kelechi Iheanacho, 17, Man City
If you watched Liverpool's preseason 'victory' over Man City at Yankee Stadium July 30, you may have noticed Iheanacho, He the only City player to convert a penalty.  Iheanacho introduced himself to the world at U17 World Cup, where he put in a performance for the ages.  He scored 6 goals and assisted on 5 more, a 1.77 goal created per 90 average might I add, to lead Nigeria to the title and winning the Golden Ball in the process.  He added the 2013 CAF Most Promising Player of the Year award to his cabinet as well.

5. Álvaro Morata, 21, Juventus
Morata's abilities and potential have been well-documented elsewhere and though I think he'll be a goal-scoring machine at the Turin club, don't expect much else.  Does it matter though?  The former Real Madrid starlet has Golden Boot potential, last season he averaged a goal every 90 minutes played and his above-Serie A-average pace should lead him to a very fruitful Juventus career.  His physical attributes alone would leave one to believe he may one day be successful in the Prem as well.

The transfer rubbish bin: Vidal, Pogba, the Pope & Santa Claus

The latest slop to come from the transfer pig trough is Liverpool's interest in Juventus midfielders Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba.  The chance of such rumours coming to fruition are like Kate Upton having my love child.

Arturo Vidal is a man-beast.  Unfortunately, Liverpool have no interest nor room for the 27-year-old Chilean International. With Can, Henderson, Gerrard, & Lucas, minutes would be sparse, and his lack of 'specialization' would only hurt his chances of pitch time.

Vidal is an all-round good midfielder, but does nothing great.  Here are his stats from last season:

npgp90	gcp90	ccp90	ap90	ccv
0.33	0.59	1.73	0.18	10.6
pass%	bp%	sacc%	shot%	TTI90
83.7	40.9	33.3	19.3	13.2
gsp90	gap90	gop90	tgop	gopd90
2.21	0.74	1.47	1.5	-0.03
intp90	drbp90	tp90	tack%	adw%
1.44	1.99	4.8	43.2	53.8

If he hadn't scored 11 goals and had 5 assists, he'd be a poor man's Lucas.  If he didn't post such defensive numbers, he'd be a slightly passing inferior Jordan Henderson.  Either way, he pales in comparison to a 33-year-old Gerrard.

Pogba falls under the same problem, he's also a box-to-box whom would probably be great at being either an attacking or defensive midfielder if he just concentrated his efforts towards being one or the other.  He does seem to be better on the ball than Vidal though.

npgp90	gcp90	ccp90	ap90	ccv
0.21	0.41	1.41	0.21	14.6
pass%	bp%	sacc%	shot%	TTI90
83.8	39.7	39.7	9.6	11.3
gsp90	gap90	gop90	tgop	gopd90
2.14	0.59	1.55	1.5	0.05
intp90	clrp90	tp90	tack%	adw%
1.06	1.14	2.46	40.6	58.4

They are very similar players which is probably why Juventus are shopping both, but will probably only sell one.  Unfortunately, there is no reason to buy either, Henderson is just as good, Gerrard is better, Lucas is a far superior holding midfielder, and Can has all the assets to compete for minutes.

The Pope is great at crosses and saves, but do we really need a winger/keeper?