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.

Sterling or Morata: Who would you take?

StatsBomb, one of my favorite blogs, recently wrote an article claiming that Alvaro Morata is the 'best young prospect in Europe.'  I have to respectfully disagree though, Raheem Sterling is much better and younger.  Here are stats from last season for Sterling and the last two combined for Morata:

	Morata	Sterling
age	21	19
app (sub)	8(27)	24(9)
mins	994	2220
goals	10	9
assists	1	5
chances	18	51
npg90	1	0.36
gcp90	1	0.57
ccp90	1.64	2.06
pass %	66.5	81.7
bp %	48.1	46.8
sacc %	58.8	48.9
shot %	15.7	20
take on %	42.5	64.3
TTI90	18.4	12.1

They play different positions, Morata up front and Sterling on the wing, so you would expect Morata to have a higher non-penalty goal and goal created per 90.  Other than goal scoring and shot accuracy, Sterling is better in every other category.  

He creates more chances per 90, has a significantly better passing rate with a lower back pass percentage, is much more efficient at taking on defenders, and turns over the ball considerably less.  Shot selection is a bit mixed though as Morata has more on target, but Sterling puts a higher percentage in the back of the net.

One stat that I didn't include was aerial duels, for a few reasons.  First, Alvaro Morata is 6'3" and Sterling 5'6".  Second, positioning, Morata plays up front in the middle and obviously gets more crosses fed to him.  Third, these numbers are reflected in shot and passing stats.  Also, it would be one thing if Morata had scored a ton of header goals, but he has one in the last two seasons, and no one I know keeps track of key headers, chances created via header, header pass percentage, nor header shot percentage.  I have a feeling if someone did track the latter, neither Morata nor Sterling would have an impressive rate.

The bottom line is Sterling is the better chance creator.  He can create his own shot for himself and others, where Morata seems to rely on players like Sterling for service.  Morata is a one-toucher, a good one, but still if he doesn't shoot or pass with his first touch, there's a high probability that he's going to lose possession. Of course, if you already have a Sterling, adding a Morata wouldn't be a bad idea.