Liverpool have completed their first signing of the summer with Konstantinos ‘Kostas’ Tsimikas joining in an £11.75m deal from Olympiakos.
Jurgen Klopp had prioritised signing a left-back to provide competition to Andy Robertson so far this transfer window and Liverpool had a £10m bid for Norwich City’s Jamal Lewis rejected.
Norwich reportedly valued Lewis at close to double what Liverpool offered and so the Premier League champions switched their attentions to Tsimikas instead.
The 24-year-old impressed in both the Champions League and Europa League for the Greek champions and will add depth to Liverpool’s defence next season.
At just under £12m, Tsimikas represents a low-cost, low-risk recruit in keeping with Liverpool’s transfer business over the past 18 months. Indeed, his arrival is not too dissimilar to that of Andy Robertson who cost Liverpool just £8m when joining from Hull in 2017.
Robertson took time to fulfil his potential, famously starting out for Queens Park in the Scottish fourth-tier and Tsimikas has also undertaken a circuitous route to the top, spending time on loan at Esbjerg in Denmark and Willem II in Holland before establishing himself at Olympiakos.
Liverpool have been fortunate that Robertson has been so durable, with the Scot missing only four Premier League matches and one Champions League game since the start of 2018-19. Neither James Milner nor teenage right-back Neco Williams offer the same attacking qualities when filling in for the Scot.
Tsimikas, though, provides Klopp a like-for-like option at left-back should Robertson be absent. The Greek international is nimble across the turf and possesses the energy reserves required of a full-back playing in a Klopp system to gallop up and down the touchline, as he did at will for Olympiakos this season.
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Although Robertson is a more complete player, Tsimikas is a better ball-carrier. In 10 games across the Champions League and Europa League, Tsimikas completed 19 dribbles including six in one game against Red Star Belgrade, while Robertson managed just three from eight appearances in Europe.
Tsimikas was also a key creative outlet for Olympiakos, creating 13 chances in European competition, more than any other player in their squad. He only managed one assist in Europe and a further two in the Greek Super League in 2019-20, but those numbers would surely rise with better finishers to feed at Anfield.
Although Tsimikas tends to hug the touchline to provide width to his side, he is accomplished on his weaker right foot which means he is adept at taking up positions in the half-spaces infield in a manner similar to full-backs deployed by Pep Guardiola who has popularised that particular tactic.
Defensively, Tsimikas performed well in Europe too, topping Olympiakos’ charts for tackles won (34) and interceptions made (21). In his latest match for Olympiakos against Wolves on Thursday, meanwhile, he helped to nullify the threat of Adama Traore who was hooked by Nuno Espirito Santo before the hour mark.
While it is difficult to gauge the quality of signings from the Greek Super League considering Olympiakos lost just once in 36 matches during 2019-20, Tsimikas’ performances in Europe – against three English opponents in Spurs, Arsenal and Wolves – this term suggest that he is capable of making the step-up to a higher domestic standard.
If he is able to continue his development in English football and reach the standards set by Robertson, Liverpool will have completed a very smart piece of business.
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