Liverpool rarely sign loan players – and the ones they do rarely succeed. Ronald Araujo is their latest hope…

The reaction to a potential new Liverpool signing tends to follow a familiar script.

First comes the excitement. Then the frantic scramble to find out more, share the story, pass judgement, analyse, and, for the really creative few, produce that nugget of information that offers genuine insight — or failing that, generates a healthy supply of clicks and likes.

What’s certain is that it’s never as simple as one player coming in to replace another (or cover for those who are injured). No matter the age or profile of the player, there’s always something to discuss.

As Ronald Araujo discovered recently when the Uruguay international defender’s move from Barcelona managed to tick pretty much every box in the modern transfer-reaction handbook.

There was the initial reveal, a bit of a scramble and then deeper analysis. Fans will be split between two camps: those who think he’s what Liverpool need or not what they need, based on who and where they receive their information from.

Yet perhaps the strangest and most significant factor in this transfer is the scepticism surrounding it because of the nature of the deal. This might have been far less pronounced had Liverpool simply bought Araujo for the €55million (£47m; $63.7m) fee inserted as an option in what, to start with, is a season-long loan.

Araujo captained Barcelona last season en route to winning La Liga (Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images)

Instead, that loan element feels rather awkward for supporters, simply because Liverpool rarely do these types of deals — and more importantly, they rarely do them well.

Look at the names over previous years — Aly Cissokho, Javier Manquillo and Arthur Melo, to name a few — who failed to make an impact (there are many more) when borrowed from other clubs, and it’s clear where the concern stems from.

The sensible outlook, of course, would be to consider the move on merit and judge it for what it is. Unless something has gone badly wrong, Barcelona do not let 27-year-olds who captained them in the previous season and have 213 first-team appearances for the club leave lightly — or for such a future amount — so we’ll leave you to make your own conclusion on that.

But if this season goes well, Liverpool will have the chance to buy a player with one year of useful Premier League experience added to his Wikipedia page for a decent fee next summer.

And if it doesn’t work out, they can send Araujo back to Catalonia and move on with their own young defensive prospects Jeremy Jacquet, Giovanni Leoni, Ifeanyi Ndukwe and perhaps Mor Talla Ndiaye in 2027-28, and then consider a different option should they wish to recruit again.

Admittedly, that would be far too rational, though.

Supporters mostly only care about the here and now, and if Araujo turns out to be disappointing, then he’ll go straight onto the list of other Liverpool loan signings who failed to make an impact, with the “See? Told you so” comments to follow.

The most recent of those was Melo, a midfielder who played only 13 first-team minutes after joining from Juventus in September 2022, when Liverpool were suffering from a midfield crisis. Before the Brazilian came defender Ozan Kabak (Schalke) and before that, another centre-back in Steven Caulker (Queens Park Rangers).

Now you can see why there was some concern about a loan for Araujo, even though there’s no correlation between the new and the old, other than the simple structure of the deal.

That Liverpool have made only three loan signings across the past 10 years also highlights the rarity of such moves. Manchester City follow a similar strategy. They haven’t borrowed a player since goalkeeper Scott Carson joined from Derby County in summer 2019 to be their third-choice at the position.

The next four teams with the most points in the Premier League over that same decade have taken a very different stance, though.

Arsenal signed Piero Hincapie on loan last season, and Raheem Sterling and Neto in the previous one. David Raya, Martin Odegaard, Dani Ceballos, Mathew Ryan, Cedric Soares, Pablo Mari and Denis Suarez also joined them on that basis in the years between 2016 and 2023.

Manchester United haven’t been as prolific with their approach to this area of the market, but, excluding goalkeepers, have still arranged the loan arrivals of Sofyan Amrabat, Sergio Reguilon, Marcel Sabitzer, Wout Weghorst and Odion Ighalo during the same 10-year period. Most of those have struggled to make an impact.

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, are on a completely different level.

In the past four years, Chelsea have had more loanees in through the door than Liverpool have had in a decade. Tottenham borrowed as many players last season as have moved to Anfield via that route in our decade-sized sample.

So why do Liverpool so rarely turn to loan signings?

Well, those who run the club will say it’s because they are organised operators who have their house in order through long-term squad building. Only in exceptional circumstances do they turn to these temporary fixes, but that’s where they find themselves heading into the season.

Joe Gomez is out injured for the next few weeks. The two recent young, big-money central-defensive signings, Jacquet and Leoni, are both returning from injuries. Ndukwe, 18, will have to head out on loan because he doesn’t qualify for a UK work permit.

The need for reinforcement at the position was huge.

Having a 35-year-old Virgil van Dijk as the only fit senior centre-back was not sustainable, especially as, like Gomez, he’s on course to be out of contract 10 months from now.

Whether Araujo was a good choice will take some time to determine. But it’s a push to think of many better alternatives with a matching profile who were available under similar conditions.

That said, while taking a wage cut to join Liverpool sounds like a bonus, Araujo is still going to cost a considerable amount of money. The club really need this to work out, especially with Jacquet and Leoni still developing.

If supporters are looking for an uplifting loan success story, then perhaps Nicolas Anelka fits the bill. When Liverpool borrowed him from Paris Saint-Germain in December 2001 following the departure of fan-favourite striker Robbie Fowler, there were questions about his character and attitude after previous spells at Arsenal and Real Madrid.

Anelka was a successful loan signing for Liverpool (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Although it was a different type of gamble, Anelka proved to be a savvy signing and helped Liverpool finish second that season. The only mistake that followed was not signing him permanently at the end of it, when he went to City instead.

The hope at Liverpool is that Araujo proves more of an Anelka than an Arthur Melo, and is never compared to Kabak, Caulker, Cissokho or Manquillo.