Transfers have become the big topic when it comes to football these days. Whether it’s loans, frees or the big-money permanent deals, they dominate social media, websites, newspapers and the airwaves.
But in January 2006, Liverpool struck an agreement that you rarely see at the top level nowadays.
The Reds shook hands on a deal with Villarreal that saw Josemi move to Spain and Jan Kromkamp arrive on Merseyside.
Josemi made 35 appearances in 18 months at Liverpool, including seven during the glorious 2004-05 Champions League campaign, but he was gradually expressing a desire to return to his homeland. This is where then Reds boss Rafa Benitez used his ingenuity in the transfer market to bring in a new player and solve the issue with an existing one for no cost.
"As both players have discovered, it is difficult to play in another country," said Benitez at the time. "Josemi has tried to learn English and he's improved a lot but for him and his family it has been hard.
“Kromkamp has suffered the same in Spain. He speaks English but at Villarreal almost everyone speaks Spanish so it was not an ideal situation for him."
Whereas Josemi had been in England a year and a half, Kromkamp had only in Spain a matter of months before the Dutchman was moving on again. But it was not something he was expecting.
“I was on holiday back in Holland when the move to Liverpool began to take shape,” Kromkamp was quoted telling The Offside Rule podcast in 2017. “Villarreal had only recently signed me from AZ [Alkmaar], Manuel Pellegrini was the manager at the time and they signed me because I had done well in Europe. We reached the UEFA Cup semi-final but the other full-back at Villarreal was also a good player so I wasn’t always in the team.
“It was difficult for me because I wasn’t playing as many games as I wanted to at the time. I played in the Champions League and quite a few in La Liga but in December I was on holiday and got a call from my agent. He just said: ‘Are you interested in Liverpool?’ I was laughing like: ‘Are you serious?! Of course I’m interested in Liverpool!’
“They wanted to do a swap with me and Josemi. At the time Josemi was at Liverpool but I think he was a little bit homesick or didn’t like the weather and wanted to go back to Spain. I thought England was better for me than Spain at the time so it was a good deal for everybody.”
Kromkamp’s debut would come in the FA Cup third-round tie away at Luton Town. It was a game that has become famous for Xabi Alonso’s outrageous goal scored from the halfway line.
“My first game was at Luton which was quite an introduction to English football,” said the now 41-year-old. “There were a lot of long balls from Luton, they had a lot of players who were strong and physical. I was always one of the players who was quite fit in the Netherlands, but I came to England and it was such a higher level in terms of pace and tempo.
“That was the game where Xabi Alonso scored from the halfway line. If you go on the internet you can see me and (Steven) Gerrard shouting at him. We were like: ‘What are you doing?!’ But when we saw where the ball was going we were ok with it!”
Even though Kromkamp spoke relatively good English, he would later admit to struggling to understand two of Liverpool’s local players, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
"Before a game I was at the table for lunch with Carragher and Gerrard... just forget it!" Kromkamp laughed, when he told Liverpool’s club website in 2016. "I didn't know what they were talking about, it's another language!"
In the end, Kromkamp would make just 18 appearances for Liverpool during his six months at the club. The summer of 2006 saw him move back to his homeland and join PSV Eindhoven.
"It was difficult because I really wanted to stay in England because the atmosphere in the stadiums shows how much the supporters love football - it's only in England, nowhere else is like that," Kromkamp said reflecting on his Anfield exit.
"[But] I needed to have a coach who would play me. If not, then you are not only fighting against your opponent, but also against the judgement of your coach all the time.
"I talked with my family and asked: 'What should I do? Stay with Liverpool and have a big chance that I don't play a lot of games, look for another English club in January or go to PSV?' That was a very difficult decision for me.
"When I went to PSV, we played Liverpool a couple of times in the Champions League. I came to Liverpool and I was like: 'Oh no, why did I leave this club? I was there!'
"But in the end, it was a good decision. After a few years, my knee got worse and worse so it was better for me to be with relatives rather than in another country."
One of those meetings that Kromkamp referred to after his exit from the Reds saw some mild edginess between the respective parties.
In the build-up to a Champions League match between the clubs in 2006, Kromkamp had apparently been quoted in a radio interview branding Liverpool a “long ball team”. This certainly got the attention of Benitez, who made his feelings clear.
“He is a player who was with us for a year so he will know about us, he will know about our style but he will also know from the training ground the quality we have here,” said Benitez in November 2006.
“It is not nice to see him talking about us the way he has. But he will know the weaknesses and the strengths.”
Kromkamp himself attempted to clear up his remarks about Liverpool. In doing so, he made it obvious that he still held an affection for the Anfield club.
“I do not want the crowd after me, I want them to know that what I said was misunderstood,” said Kromkamp in November 2006. “I had just a short radio interview and I have never said anything bad about Liverpool or the manager.
“I do not understand how anyone could say anything bad about this club, I enjoyed my time at Liverpool and have never said bad things like this. I even had text messages from friends here about it and I want the crowd to understand.”
Kromkamp’s career would continue at PSV until he left to join Go Ahead Eagles in 2011. Just two years later, though, he would be retiring from playing and focusing on his next career path.
For some players they go down the punditry path, like Carragher. Others like a quiet life away from football, and enjoy time to pursue other ventures and interests, as well as spend time with their family.
But for Kromkamp, it was all about coaching. After retiring at the age of 32, he was keen to stay in the game and pass on his knowledge to the next generation.
Starting at the club he finished his playing career at, Kromkamp set about being a coach at the Go Ahead Eagles with their youth teams. His first job as a manager of a senior team came in 2020.
That year saw the former Liverpool defender take charge of Dutch fifth-tier club CSV Apeldoorn. It’s a position he still holds now, and even guided the club to promotion from the sixth tier in Holland last season.
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