Andy Robertson’s improbable Liverpool tale has been a dream but exit is a ‘weight off his shoulders’

“It’s maybe time for the story to end,” said Andy Robertson. But what a story it has been; it will culminate in a fond farewell but it has been an improbable tale. A year after signing from relegated Hull, he played in a Champions League final. A year later, he won one. The player released by his boyhood club, Celtic, went on to become possibly the finest left-back in the world.

For Liverpool, he has been a footballing success, a financial masterstroke. An £8m signing has been, pound for pound, Liverpool’s greatest bargain of the Moneyball era. That £8m has brought 374 appearances. But not too many more, with Robertson revealing on Thursday he will leave Anfield in the summer.

“The announcement came this week,” he said. “It means I don’t have to lie to everyone so it’s a weight off my shoulders.” It was scarcely a shock; a Liverpool legend has been phased out. “All good things come to an end. I’ve been here nine years and I couldn’t have dreamed of it being any better with all the trophies I’ve won.”

Andy Robertson will leave Liverpool at the end of the season (AFP via Getty Images)

Robertson was fundamental to them. He was the human dynamo on the left flank, the full-back with seemingly endless energy who had a tactical importance – allowing Jurgen Klopp to field a compact midfield trio with a front five when attacking completed by two overlapping full-backs – and a creativity. He broke the Premier League record for assists by a defender; until he lost it to his friend and teammate, Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The raiding Robertson had a spirit that summed up Klopp’s Liverpool. After what proved his last game as Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho gasped: “I am still tired just from looking at Andy Robertson. Absolutely incredible: he makes a 100m sprint per minute.” Or, not long after breaking into the Liverpool team, their 4-3 win over Manchester City featured Robertson’s epic, one-man, 94m press, closing down Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ederson and Nicolas Otamendi. It is, though, more than eight years ago.

“You’re not getting any younger,” reflected Robertson. “I saw a picture the other day of the Champions League final and even from the big squad picture, there’s only five or six of us left. These eras come to an end. That’s what’s happening, and in the next couple of years some of the other lads will leave in terms of their contracts.” That might have been a nod to Virgil van Dijk and Alisson. Mohamed Salah, of course, has announced his own exit 16 days before.

Robertson has been in and out of the Liverpool team this year (REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

Salah’s has been a fractious final year. There has, though, been less rancour about the way Robertson is slipping into the past. He had a mixed campaign last year, even as he won the Premier League for the second time. It was unsurprising when Liverpool then bought a left-back.

There were times this season when he should have played more, amid Milos Kerkez’s uneven start to life at Anfield. Robertson has been the most loyal of figures, a smiling vice-captain, but frustrated by only starting seven league games in the current campaign. Yet it is typical he goes without recrimination.

“I want to play, so that was where the discussions came,” he said. “It’s not like I’ve knocked back a contract or anything. I’ve always said I’ve had an amazing relationship with the owners and people like that. It was just a sit-down with my wife to see what we wanted next and we’ll see where we go.”

Milos Kerkez has displaced Robertson as Liverpool’s first-choice left-back (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

He should have options. Atletico Madrid wanted him last year, Tottenham in the winter window. "There’s been discussions all season,” he added. “Last summer I was close to having a decision to make and I decided to stay. It was the same in January.” Robertson aims to find his next destination before skippering Scotland in their first World Cup since 1998.

"I will be looking to sort my future out sooner rather than later,” he said. “I don’t want to be going to the World Cup with anything hanging over my head.”

Even before the suitors call, the phone has been ringing non-stop. There have been congratulatory messages and texts. Van Dijk’s message was delivered in public. “He’s always been on my left hand side on the pitch,” said the captain. “Off the pitch we also have such a good relationship. We’ve been through so many things together – highs, lows. He’s a special character. Above all, he’s been an unbelievable player and still is in my opinion.”

Robertson is expected to have plenty of suitors (REUTERS)

He was transformative. It is worth rewinding to a time before Robertson, when left-back seemed a problem position for Liverpool, when they seemed to sign one every summer (even getting Fabio Aurelio in two different summers), when James Milner was pressed into service out of position for a year.

The Scot wasn’t even their first choice in 2017: but Liverpool knew Benjamin Mendy was going to Manchester City and then Emerson Palmieri got injured. They admired Robertson’s attacking prowess but were not sure if he was good enough defensively. So he outstripped every expectation, including his own, to become, as Van Dijk said “one of the best left-backs in the Premier League ever”.