Morientes to Liverpool in January?

Jivin Turkey

While I think some people may have got carried away with what he did last year for Monaco, he is still a very good player, and would provide a bit of balance to the Liverpool strikeforce instead of just having 2 headless chickens running in the direction of the football.

From Skysports:


Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes has revealed he would be interested in a move to Liverpool.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is believed to be weighing up a move for the Spanish international when the transfer window reopens in January.

Morientes has struggled to establish himself in Real Madrid's first team this season after returning from a loan spell at Monaco and he hinted he could be keen on a move if his opportunities do not improve.

"The return to form of Owen can be excellent for Real, but it is also a new problem for me," said Morientes.

"Liverpool could be a great option for January. I have always liked the Premier League and I know Rafa Benitez was interested in me when he was at Valencia.

"My situation at Real Madrid is not pleasant. If things continue like this I will have to think about leaving. I am tired of sitting on the bench.

"Liverpool is a club where any player would be happy to play. It is a club with a history of having great supporters, a good coach and now Spanish players."

Benitez, who tried to sign Morientes as part of the deal that took Michael Owen to Real Madrid in the summer, hinted that he could make a move for Morientes.

"When a player of the quality of Morientes talks about your club, then that has to be good," said Benitez.

"I really can't say any more than the fact that Fernando is a very good player... but I guess I know what the headlines will be!"

uberwolf

There are going to be a load of headlines between here and Jan on potential signings. Morientes wouldn't be too bad I guess Mista, aimar and Valencias centre back are all on the media shortlist as well. I agree a centre back and a astriker are needed for the first 11. the first 16 needs massive improvement, before you even move onto the first squad.

mike65

I read that Liverpool now have the smallest squad of the main premiership players so I guess he'd be useful addition. Here's a laugh - Morientes signs in Jan but so does Owen and both lead the attack next season!

Mike.

RE*AC*TOR

i wouldn't laugh if Owen came back. Now if he signed for Man City, then I'd laugh.

mayordenis

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

i wouldn't laugh if Owen came back. Now if he signed for Man City, then I'd laugh.

yeah they can have him would be great fun! Rob Jones for Man. City

gandalf

Morientes would be an excellent addition to Liverpool and maybe the missing link for them. They are sorely missing an intelligent target man and thats what they would get with him.

As for Owen did anyone else see football focus today when they said that Arsenal have been linked with him as well. Strange!

uberwolf

gandalf wrote:

As for Owen did anyone else see football focus today when they said that Arsenal have been linked with him as well. Strange!

I understood LFC had first refusal, surely they'd take him back rather then let him go to the gunners?

gandalf

Dunno I think he would be nothing more than bench fodder at Highbury!! One of those weird stories.....

p.pete

We need more options up front definitely but sadly I don't think Morientes can move until the end of the season thanks to only returning from his season long loan / FIFA rules. I'd still welcome him for next year though

<edit>

Actually does anyone have any detailed info on that FIFA law - I'm not too sure of my source on the restriction being a problem in this case (tribalfootball.com) as most web sites / articles don't mention there being any problems with a transfer going ahead.

Given it's news stemming from Spain I'm sure something completly different is going on behind the scenes - ie. agents drumming up stories about him going to Liverpool but negotiating with a completely different club.

Where's Bannor these days

puntosporting

Id gladly take owen back ,they can take cisse away if they like...

gsand

Owen cant resign till next summer

Something about only being allowed to transfer between the same clubs once a year...

Morientes might be a decent signing for the pool though-still looks quite a good player...

sprinkles

Morientes has said if he moves from Real Madrid then Monaco is his first choice. He gets on with Deschamps. Although he wants to stay and fight for his place at Real.

I think Liverpool need to start looking at getting a solid strike partnership, Baros is world class, he's proven that, I'm just not sure about Cisse. Someone really needs to teach him the offside rule.

RE*AC*TOR

Cisse is just pure potential. An uncut diamond. He just needs to gain some maturity.

p.pete

sprinkles wrote:

I think Liverpool need to start looking at getting a solid strike partnership, Baros is world class, he's proven that, I'm just not sure about Cisse. Someone really needs to teach him the offside rule.

Baros works very hard and has a lot going for him but I'm beginning to think that he couldn't form a partnership with any player - I see him more as a lone striker type figure.

As RE*AC*TOR says, Cisse is an uncut diamond - give him time...

Hopefully Rafa has a few names lined up for January, I doubt we'll get Morientes though. If it was on the cards then we wouldn't be hearing talk about it (which makes it harder to guess who may be lined up) unless his agent is an idiot.

As mentioned above it's more likely Morientes would go to Monaco - maybe the Liverpool talk is to strengten the salary negotiations.

super_furry

I personally don't rate Baros and think he should have been sold after Euro 2004 when he would have got at least £8million. He's just so unaware of everything that goes on around him, it's just a case of him putting down his head and running, more often than not into a blind alley.

RE*AC*TOR

Look, at least Baros get sinvolved in the game. I remember Owen in the last couple of seasons, he could go a hole match without ever exerting any influence. He was cat. Cisse and Baros both try to take on defenders, run at them etc. I for one prefer seeing that kind of approach.

super_furry

Yes, but there's very rarely any end product to it. Say what you want about Owen, but his goals carried us for three seasons. I just don't believe that Baros has it in him to be that prolific and giving a choice between an 'exciting' player and a goalscorer, I'd have Owen back in a flash.

RE*AC*TOR

They didn't carry us very far. The plastic treble season was ALL down to Gary McAllister. Now Robbie Fowler, I'd have HIM back in a flash.

super_furry

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

They didn't carry us very far. The plastic treble season was ALL down to Gary McAllister. Now Robbie Fowler, I'd have HIM back in a flash.

Absolute rubbish. Michael Owen singly handidly won the FA Cup for us that year, McAllister had six great games towards the very end of the season, culminating in the UEFA Cup final and Robbie Fowler was unfit and lacking any kind motivation when he was sold. Now, he's just a sad shadow of his former greatness. One of the best pieces of business Houllier ever did was conning £11million from Leeds for him.

Michael Owen was and is, a genuine world class player. Just look at his scoring record for the Reds - 158 goals in 297 games. How the hell can you argue with that?

Also talk of 'Plastic trebbles' is disrespectful towards the club and the players. No team has ever won three cups in the one season and it was an historic acheivement.

RE*AC*TOR

super_furry wrote:

Absolute rubbish. Michael Owen singly handidly won the FA Cup for us that year, McAllister had six great games towards the very end of the season, culminating in the UEFA Cup final and Robbie Fowler was unfit and lacking any kind motivation when he was sold. Now, he's just a sad shadow of his former greatness. One of the best pieces of business Houllier ever did was conning £11million from Leeds for him.

Michael Owen was and is, a genuine world class player. Just look at his scoring record for the Reds - 158 goals in 297 games. How the hell can you argue with that?

Also talk of 'Plastic trebbles' is disrespectful towards the club and the players. No team has ever won three cups in the one season and it was an historic acheivement.

Well, I could argue that he doesn't contribute anything to the team effort. His one ability was being able to run very fast - which he lost to a certain extent after several injuries. He is by no means world class (note his lack of games for Real Madrid).

super_furry

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Well, I could argue that he doesn't contribute anything to the team effort. His one ability was being able to run very fast - which he lost to a certain extent after several injuries. He is by no means world class (note his lack of games for Real Madrid).

Doesn't contribute anything? How about 158 goals? He's a striker, his job is to score goals - something he does better than all but a handful of other players in the world. You don't criticise Sami Hyypia for not creating chances of getting in enough crosses because it's not his job.

His lack of playing time at Madrid has nothing to do with his skill or ability and everything to do with the way a well past it Raul and his cronies control the dressing room at the Bernabeu and all but run the club now.

Honestly, it truly baffles me how, as a Liverpool supporter, you could possibly see Owen as anything but a great player.

RE*AC*TOR

Sorry, he was excellent at one stage, but I really am happy to see him go. He was dying a death, a farily steady decline. He kept being picked to play despite not playing well, other players (Baros) were definetly more deserving of their chance. With Owen gone, and his undeserved reputation (wonderboy ffs!), its a fresh start with no preconceptions of who HAS to play. If he returned it would be a return to that.

super_furry

Really can't go along with any of that at all, but seeing as it's lunchtime, we'll have to agree to disagree.

p.pete

It's totally off topic and I never really liked Owen but I'm inclined to stick up for his record at the club. I'd actually be quite excited about his prospects if he could ever put together a decent run of consecutive games (i.e. every game) in an injury free season.

His stats are remarkable considering it always took him about 5 games to get scoring again after every injury. Maybe he's passed it now but either way I don't miss him and I'm more interested in what strikers we can get to do a job for us now.

thejollyrodger

MORIENTES WANTS OUT - AGENT

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=international_feed/04/10/20/SOCCER_Spa-Real_Madrid_Morientes.html
The agent of Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes has confirmed his client is unhappy at the Bernabeu amid speculation in Spain that Liverpool are interested in acquiring the services of the Spanish international.

The agent, Gines Carvajal, was in Liverpool this week although his office would not confirm the reason for the visit to PA International.

On Tuesday Liverpool played Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League.

Morientes is keen to move on after falling down a Real Madrid pecking order in which Ronaldo, Raul and former Liverpool star Michael Owen are all ahead of him.

Carvajal told Radio Marca: "He is not happy because he is not playing. He admits that he was not expecting to be a starter but that he would be able to play in some games.

"If he had not already been at Real Madrid maybe they (Real) would have tried everything to sign him as a galactico but because he is already here (at Madrid) he is not a galactico.

"It's easier to give opportunities to someone who has come in (to Real Madrid) than someone who is already at the club."

Marca reports that Carvajal and an unnamed English agent are working on the deal and claim that Real would be glad to get him off their hands.

In last season's Champions League, Morientes was tournament top scorer with Monaco who reached the final and helped eliminate Real with goals in both legs of their quarter-final.

I think it would be a great move for Morienties and Liverpool.

impr0v

thejollyrodger wrote:

I think it would be a great move for Morienties and Liverpool.

I agree with one part of your statement

I can't see it happening to be honest. Morientes is saying all the right things but if a club express interest in him and he's sitting on the bench, of course he's going to flutter his eyelids, but I think he would have his sights on a club that's higher up the European pecking order at the moment.

super_furry wrote:

I personally don't rate Baros and think he should have been sold after Euro 2004 when he would have got at least £8million. He's just so unaware of everything that goes on around him, it's just a case of him putting down his head and running, more often than not into a blind alley.

I agree, I think with Baros they should have should have either sold him when his stock was up or built the team around him, as he's seemingly incapable of playing as anything other than a lone striker.

Dont be at yourself

What about Baros' partnership with Koller for the Czechs? Surely that suggests that he can form a partnership.

impr0v

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

What about Baros' partnership with Koller for the Czechs? Surely that suggests that he can form a partnership.

Yer, fair point. Maybe that's the kind of partnership he needs to prosper, a target man who will lay the ball off to him, rather than Cisse who in many ways is a similar player. In fairness to Koller, he's more than a one dimensional player too, he has a decent touch for his size.

p.pete

impr0v wrote:

if a club express interest in him and he's sitting on the bench, of course he's going to flutter his eyelids, but I think he would have his sights on a club that's higher up the European pecking order at the moment.

Liverpool aren't expressing an interest. Benitez wanted Morientes for the Owen deal but there has been no public expression of interest. I don't know if it is Morientes, his agent, Monaco or someone else fueling the stories but it's not Liverpool.

In fact Benitez was asked recently who his targets are and he said he didn't want to answer because as soon as he would start talking about players their prices would go up.

Fair enough - Morientes can do better then Liverpool. European pecking order may not be as important as you'd think though, he won't be playing in Europe unless for Real.

<edit>

Ok, I'll take back a lot of what I said above - his agent was in Liverpool on Tuesday..., sorry thejollyrodger - should have read your post