IT WAS one of the more under-the-radar purchases of the close season, coming late on a Friday when football fans around the world were eagerly anticipating the World Cup final between France and Croatia two days later.

Liverpool were signing a back-up midfielder for £13 million and it went largely unnoticed at the time.

Xherdan Shaqiri’s cut-price arrival at Anfield from relegated Stoke in July could, however, prove to be a masterstroke — an astute piece of business that may yet be a key factor in Liverpool’s bid to capture a first league title since 1990.