New Balance - Liverpool FC Fotbollströja Hemma 2016/17

This Liverpool 2016/17 home shirt was made by New Balance and features Kolo Touré’s #4 nameset in the Premier League style. It is an unusual configuration because Touré’s three-year Liverpool spell ended in the summer of 2016, meaning he left for Celtic before Liverpool began the competitive 2016/17 campaign. The shirt therefore represents the very end of his time at Anfield rather than a season in which he played competitively in this design. 

The shirt was created for Jürgen Klopp’s first full season in charge, when Liverpool made a major step forward and finished fourth in the Premier League to secure Champions League qualification. The squad was reshaped with the arrivals of Sadio Mané, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joël Matip, joining players such as Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and James Milner. Touré, however, had already departed for Celtic by the time that campaign began.

Touré’s final Liverpool campaign had instead been 2015/16, and he played an important role during Klopp’s first months at the club. He made 26 appearances across all competitions and featured eight times during Liverpool’s run to the Europa League final, including starting the final against Sevilla in Basel. His Liverpool spell ended after 71 appearances across three seasons, bringing to a close a Premier League career that had also included spells with Arsenal and Manchester City.

For collectors, that timing is what makes a Touré #4 version of the 2016/17 shirt particularly interesting. Rather than representing a full playing season, it captures the brief crossover between the release of Liverpool’s new red-and-gold New Balance design and Touré’s departure from Anfield. Combined with the classic Premier League nameset and Touré’s popularity during the early Klopp period, it is a distinctive configuration from the beginning of Liverpool’s transformation under Klopp.

Shirt condition: 6.5/10