Ex-Aston Villa man tells Liverpool they ‘missed’ Zion Suzuki transfer – ‘Brilliant goalkeeper’ | OneFootball

Stephen Warnock has told former club Liverpool they “missed” the signing of Zion Suzuki, who headed to another of his former club’s, Aston Villa, in the summer, where there’s been a lot of movement.

Villa signed 11 players this summer and sold 10. Big names such as Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins left, while some exciting prospects such as Johan Manzambi and Zion Suzuki have joined.

Japan No.1 Suzuki has impressed with his range of passing, in particular, and Warnock feels he’d have been a good addition for Liverpool.

He told GOAL: “I completely understand Emi Martinez. He’s been wanting to get away from the football club for a while. I actually think they’ve got a brilliant goalkeeper in Suzuki in that position. I was at the World Cup and did his game against Brazil.

“I thought he was brilliant in that game. I think he probably could have done better with the first goal, but his distribution is brilliant. I look at Liverpool [with Alisson heading towards free agency] and think, you missed one there, if I’m being completely honest.

“But, yeah, it’s not an ideal situation. What you will find with Unai Emery is it’s the right man to build that football club again, build that team, that understanding of how to play. I think they’ll be in a better position in the next two or three years, rather than the short term. But the next two or three years, I think it’ll be a blessing in disguise.”

Liverpool have signed Lucca Brughmans from Genk, to join in 2027 when Alisson is likely to leave, so they could be in a good spot anyway.

Warnock feels at Villa, the immediate effects of losing so many players could be somewhat problematic before they sort themselves out.

He said: “I think the hard thing is you want to do it in dribs and drabs, don’t you?

“But it’s just come to a point where it’s six players out of the starting team from the Europa League final that have left the football club. All your experience is in that.”

Danny Murphy doesn’t worry for Aston Villa

Danny Murphy is in the same boat as Warnock, feeling Villa are certainly not in the best situation, but has no big worries for them.

He said on Match of the Day: “Massively in transition, I mean 11 signings is a hell of a lot, and they’ve lost real quality.

“Look [at] the starting 11 from the Europa League final which they obviously won, a lot of quality international players, experience, this is what’s left.

“Six have gone, they’ve spent a lot of money bringing in 11 players, and there’s a lot of quality international players in there.

“But it’s going to take him [Emery] a little bit of time to implement his style on those players and then get them integrated into the team.

“I’m not worried about Villa. I think they’ll be absolutely fine, they started slowly last year, he’s a wonderful manager, he improves players. I don’t worry for Villa.”