Liverpool Flop Who Left For Just £4m Now Has More La Liga Goals Than Samuel Eto'o

· GiveMeSport

He may have struggled to score in England, but the former Liverpool man has been hitting the back of the net for fun in Spain

Liverpool have been blessed with some incredible footballers in recent years. As well as the likes of Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold coming through the club's academy, they've also had tremendous success on the transfer market.

A lot of that is thanks to a stellar recruitment team. They've brought in stars such as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Luis Suarez in the last 15 years and have very rarely missed on transfers, especially during the Jurgen Klopp era, where FSG's pragmatic strategy suited the ethos of their beloved boss.

With that said, not everyone has been a hit, and one player that Brendan Rodgers signed back in 2013 struggled to find his feet at Anfield. He wound up playing only a handful of games, despite the side spending around £9m on his services.

He's since gone on to be a major success elsewhere, though, and can often times be unplayable in Spain - though, now that he's 39, he's finally slowing down.

After coming through the ranks at Celta Vigo, Iago Aspas made a name for himself in the Spanish club's senior team. He got off to a slow start, but soon found form in La Liga and was scoring for fun when Liverpool came calling in 2013.

The Reds had finished seventh in the Premier League the season before and were ready to take things to another level. They brought the Spaniard in for around £9m and things got off to a promising start. In his first appearance for the side, he scored and bagged an assist in a pre-season friendly against Preston North End and Rodgers was very impressed. Speaking about Aspas, via quotes shared by the Daily Mail, the manager said:

> "Iago works hard; he's got a trick in and around the box and he excites supporters. He's a good guy and he works very hard for the supporters. > > "He drifts well in between the lines and always wants to receive the ball, but what I like is that he wants to score goals. He's looking to create and combine or go solo by himself and get a shot in. His goal was a terrific strike."

The bright start didn't last, though, and Aspas struggled to make much of an impact in the Liverpool team once the 2013/14 season got underway. He was behind Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge in the pecking order and failed to bag his first official goal for the Reds until January 2014.

His minutes began to dwindle as a result of his poor form. Rodgers spoke to the Liverpool Echo following his early issues and remained optimistic about the star, saying:

> "Iago has an instinct for a goal but in the games so far he probably hasn’t had the opportunities either made for him or that he’s been able to create for himself. > > "He has come from Spain into the Premier League – there is a big difference. Once he becomes accustomed to it, he’ll be able to handle it. We can’t expect too much too soon. He works tirelessly every day and I expect him in time to improve and get better and better."

Unfortunately for Rodgers and Aspas, the forward didn't improve very much, and he was loaned out to Sevilla after just one season at Anfield. The La Liga club activated a clause in his contract to sign him from the Reds for just £4.4m in 2015, only to then sell him back to Celta Vigo that very same day.

He left Liverpool having scored just one goal in 15 appearances and is considered one of the worst players in the club's history. His return to Spain sparked a resurgence, though.

While his time in England didn't work out, Aspas returned to Spain and was an instant success in his first campaign back with Celta Vigo. He scored 18 goals in all competitions during the 2015/16 season and hasn't slowed down much in the decade since.

He's scored 223 goals for the club across two spells with them and, now 39, those issues he had in England feel like a distant memory at this point. He is Celta Vigo's captain, and can look back on his career with much fondness.

Iago Aspas' La Liga Career

Season | Team | Appearances | Goals | Assists - 2012/13: Celta Vigo (34 apps, 12 goals, 7 assists) - 2014/15: Sevilla (16 apps, 2 goals, 1 assist) - 2015/16: Celta Vigo (35 apps, 14 goals, 5 assists) - 2016/17: Celta Vigo (32 apps, 19 goals, 4 assists) - 2017/18: Celta Vigo (34 apps, 22 goals, 5 assists) - 2018/19: Celta Vigo (27 apps, 20 goals, 6 assists) - 2019/20: Celta Vigo (37 apps, 14 goals, 3 assists) - 2020/21: Celta Vigo (33 apps, 14 goals, 13 assists) - 2021/22: Celta Vigo (37 apps, 17 goals, 7 assists) - 2022/23: Celta Vigo (37 apps, 12 goals, 4 assists) - 2023/24: Celta Vigo (35 apps, 9 goals, 10 assists) - 2024/25: Celta Vigo (30 apps, 10 goals, 5 assists) - 2025/26: Celta Vigo (31 apps, 5 goals, 3 assists) - 2026/27: Celta Vigo (5 apps, 1 goal, 0 assists)

He still looks back on his time with Liverpool fondly, though, and in quotes shared by the Mirror, he said back in February 2025:

> "It was their best year for 10, 15 years, they were close to winning the league. [Daniel] Sturridge scored 21, Luis [Suárez] 31, so it’s normal that I didn’t get many chances. It didn’t annoy me; I understood that I couldn’t play with them at that level. > > "It’s hard, of course: I’d played every game at Celta. But there are times you can’t play and when they win [without you], you know that. You have to take your frustration out on the training ground and the sessions were really good, at least."

The Spaniard is considered a legend for his club.

The striker has now scored 171 La Liga goals, the 18th most in the league's history. His tally is greater than the legendary Samuel Eto'o, who hit the back of the net 162 times in the Spanish league, while he would need eight more to equal Saurez's record. Not bad at all.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 13/09/2026

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