On this day in 2007, Liverpool signed the highly rated Ryan Babel in a £11.5m deal.
At the time Babel was only 20-years old and had just won the European Under-21 Championship with the Dutch national team in June before joining Rafa Benitez on Merseyside.
In 2007, a price tag of £11.5m. for a 20-year old brought with huge expectations, and rightly so. After developing at the world renowned Ajax academy, Ryan was one of the biggest prospects in Dutch football at the time and Liverpool supporters were very optimistic about the tricky Dutchman.
He looked at his best when played on the left wing, from where he could use his pace to beat defenders on both the inside and outside and either go for a cross or take a chance on himself.
Due to his height, he was able to feature as a striker as well, but was primarily used on the left wing.
He was frequently played by Benitez; he made 82 appearances in the Premier League under the Spaniard, scoring 11 goals and contributing with five assists.
However, under Roy Hodgson, a more defence style of football was implemented and it left little room for wingers like Babel. After only making nine appearances in the league, most of which came as a substitute, Babel’s Liverpool career came to an end.
Babel tried to force a move back home to cosy and familiar surroundings in Amsterdam, However, Liverpool accepted an offer of around £6m from Hoffenheim, even though just a couple of days before Kenny Dalglish had said that the player would not be moving anywhere.
YouTube: Ryan Babel – Liverpool Career
Ryan’s Liverpool career wasn’t what you would have hoped, he never became the world-star as he was once predicted to become and probably left with the same mixed emotions we as supporters had. He had the flair to do the amazing, but also his moments of inconsistency in big games.
However, I’ll remember him for the good. I quite liked him and for me, he was probably that one player you always hoped that would succeed. Sadly he didn’t do that.
