Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

zing

Tusky wrote:

Sissoko - 10m
Gonzalez - 5m

That was more like EUR 5m

Pongolle - 2.5m
Cisse - 5m ?

I've seen 7m quoted a number of times in relation to Marseille's option on Cisse.

Carson - 2m ?
Bellamy - 8m
Le tallec - (?)

Probably about 1m for him

Talk of Paletta being moved on as well - cost 2m iirc - not sure what we'd get back.

PHB

I disagree, you could put the same formula with chelski- spent how much last summer- did they win the CL? players are only really that overpriced when either A- the club doesn't want to sell them - Carrick, Hargreaves etc. or B-bidding war. Carrick is hardly the reason that United won the league, it was more so to do to - great start of the season, mostly injury free + trouble in Chelki's camp.

Maybe, although I don't agree with the last two points(first choice back four out for about a month, etc.), but that's another debate. Carrick was the final piece of the jigsaw. Our weak central midfield was holding us back, we needed to stop O'Shea playing in central midfield! Yes he isn't worht 18 million, but his addition to the team was a huge huge part in winning the league, worth 18 million. That's what its all about.

Teams can do really well in the league without big name players (look at the spanish league where Sevilla an excellent team but without the big name stars of Barca and Real are still in with a shot), however you need the right balance in the team to win. Pool are close but are missing a good striker (though one of our current ones could always have a better season next year ala Drogba) and better winger(s). Our title aspirations were pretty much over when the season started and thats what they need to avoid most- a sluggish start. Other than that if we sort our away form out (how the hell do you do that?) the situation will seem much brighter.

You sort out your away form with better players to be honest When was the last time a non-big name team won the premiership? The bar for the league is a lot higher in the premiership than it is in La Liga.

Look at Carragher, great CB. Needs somebody like Rio in style to partner him. Say you bought Carvalho for 30 million. Of course he wouldn't be worth 30 million on his own, but in terms of his contribution to the team, he's worth it in that you'd have Carragher and Carvalho for 30 million, which would totally be worth it.

Agger isn't a CB i'd like to see replaced and he certainly didn't cost £30million! I see what you're saying but you've got to use better examples!

Yeh fair enough, I'm just trying to use Liverpool examples. Although I think Agger is still like a year or two away from being really top class.
Liverpool currently have a back 4 which is pretty impressive, and their central midfield is incredibly strong. In order to challenge they need to fix up front first, if that costs 30 million a player for the type of player they need, then even though they aren't worth it individually, in terms of the team, they are worth it.

It's why Carrick was 'worth' 18 million, it's why Malouda would be 'worth' 20 million, not as an individual player, but as part of the final parts of the team.

Tusky

I agree with PHB. Its worth it if the end result is that the team plays and performs the way the manager wants, then the price is justified. We have had plenty of bargains over the past few years. Alonso, Sissoko, Masccherano, Agger, Reina...but you cant always buy bargains, sometimes you need to pay over the odds too.

Still doesnt change the fact that I dont see Villa, Tevez or Eto'o at Anfield next year.

Chardee MacDennis

seems Juve have offered in the region of £10-13.5m for Sissoko. i'd ask for 15, and be chuffed!

Kone

13mill would be ok for Momo.

I'd still like him to stay but he wants to play and if he isn't happy with rotation then he has to go.

Mr Alan

if this Lucas fella works out ok, Liverpool are spoilt for choice in the middle, and in my opinion would have the strongest central midfield in world football Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Lucas / Sissoko.

Think we should definately take the 13 million for him if its on offer

el rabitos

i'd be interested to know why no bid has been table for malouda as yet, our interest in him has been registered and yet theres no bid. sounds like they're scratching their arse waiting for chelsea or arsenal to put in a bid to see what the going rate is.

typical head scratching stuff from inside the club

Chardee MacDennis

how do u know there is no bid?

Mr Alan

cause Lyon came out and said they have recieved no offers for him yet

Chardee MacDennis

well that would be a clue!!

el rabitos

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/0100news/tm_headline=malouda%2D-no-deal-yet-for-liverpool%26method=full%26objectid=19229789%26siteid=50061-name_page.html

&

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=469528&CPID=24&clid=14&lid=&title=Malouda+reveals+Reds+interest&channel=&

both confirm interest and no bid

theres plenty of time and all, but why not get a deal wrapped up before any of the other teams start sniffing

Tusky

Maybe hes being used as a smoke screen for a different target.

el rabitos

Tusky wrote:

Maybe hes being used as a smoke screen for a different target.

aye, that could be true, i find it hard to believe rafa benitez, mr perfectionist and football on the brain 24/7 hasnt got his list of who he wants already, and if malouda is indeed on that list i'd be interested to know what the hold up is.

my only concern would be that arsenal and chelsea havent done any major business yet, so i'd prefere to see the club get in there and wrap up some deals. its clear that when chelsea start spending, prices go up. i'd rather avoid competing with them an arsenal if possible.

emc2

Is Rafa not on holidays till monday? I think that he'd need to ok any bids for player....

Dub13

emc2 wrote:

Is Rafa not on holidays till monday? I think that he'd need to ok any bids for player....

The way these things work is Rafa would give Rick Parry a list of players to go after and Parry does the donkey work,Rafa would not have much more input on till the deal is been singed by both party's.

Guy:Incognito

Slurms wrote:

Apparently Juve want Momo and they're offering £10million.
http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=469752&CPID=21&clid=14&lid=&title=JUVENTUS+MAKE+SISSOKO+MOVE

I'd say Sell! Sel! Sell!

~Rebel~

I do love sissoko, and think in 5 years he'll be top top class, but, unfortunately in the here and now he's probably at the bottom of the pecking order, so for his own sake, to develop into that great player, this move would be ideal for him. Would love to see his type of play in the slow build up of Italy, haring around throwing in tackles everywhere, be great!

empirix

Stekelly wrote:

I'd say Sell! Sel! Sell!

Personally i want this guy to stay, reminds of Patrick Viera and definitely has a touch of class about him, if he just learned how to pass the ball accurately his the potential of being world class - i say keep him

eirebhoy

el rabitos wrote:

i think saviola would struggle to impose his game in the premiership, he's got bags of talent, but he's very lightweight and he's got a reputation for being a pain in the arse off the pitch.

O'Neill has been after him for years. He turned down a loan move to Celtic. He rates him very highly it seems.

zing

emc2 wrote:

Is Rafa not on holidays till monday? I think that he'd need to ok any bids for player....

Let's face it - Rafa is never on holidays. He may be in a different country or whatever and his family might be on holidays but I don't know if Rafa would be capable of a holiday in the traditional sense.

As I understand it he's very involved in the transfer negotiating rather than at a lot of clubs where the manager just nominates players and asks his ceo or whoever to go sign them.

mike65

I'll post next when Liverpool actually sign someone!

Mike.

zing

mike65 wrote:

I'll post next when Liverpool actually sign someone!

Mike.

That's not going to do much for your posts count then is it ?

el rabitos

eirebhoy wrote:

O'Neill has been after him for years. He turned down a loan move to Celtic. He rates him very highly it seems.

i rate him highly myself, i just dont think he's the kind of player liverpool need and i dont think he'd thrive in the premiership. barcelona's tactics under rijkaard have never suited his talents and yet he's still had a good return of goals.

his contract at barca is up this summer and i dont see him leaving spain tbh. he'll be after huge wages though. his current contract at barca is for stupid amounts of money.

zAbbo

I saw Saviloa play live a month ago, and he was only on the pitch for 10minutes, his movement and awareness were far better than Ronnie, Eto'o and Messi, ge scored the winner, and is a quality striker.

Do you think Barca could risk losing Eto'o and Saviola, and possibly Gudjohnson ?

el rabitos

zabbo wrote:

I saw Saviloa play live a month ago, and he was only on the pitch for 10minutes, his movement and awareness were far better than Ronnie, Eto'o and Messi, ge scored the winner, and is a quality striker.

Do you think Barca could risk losing Eto'o and Saviola, and possibly Gudjohnson ?

dont see barca letting go of any of the star players appart from maybe deco. milan seem determined to link ronaldinho up with kaka to form what they see as some kind of "dream partnership". but i dont see barca relinquishing their hold on the biggest marketing tool they have.

saviola has a contract offer from barca on the table, but they want to cut his wages, and rightly so. but with little assurances over playing time, he looks to be gone. bad bit of business from barca there, they should have sold him on last year after his good year at sevilla.

Waster

zing wrote:

That was more like EUR 5m

Gonzalez to Betis for £5m not €5m according to ESPN.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=433163&cc=5739

shatners basoon

PHB wrote:

Maybe, although I don't agree with the last two points(first choice back four out for about a month, etc.), but that's another debate. Carrick was the final piece of the jigsaw. Our weak central midfield was holding us back, we needed to stop O'Shea playing in central midfield! Yes he isn't worht 18 million, but his addition to the team was a huge huge part in winning the league, worth 18 million. That's what its all about.

Well United had far better cover than Chelsea in the defense department and i did say mostly, certainly nothing in comparison to chelsea's or Arsenal's injuries. That being said i'm not trying to take anything away from United's win just saying that Carrick certainly wasn't the main reason for it imo. Your saying that his addition was worth 18million as you won the league but thats only in hindsight and is pretty damn easy to say now. Heck you could argue that losing Ruud won you the league too by that logic!

However i understand maybe that you're trying to say that Carrick gave united the balance they needed to win the league (coupled with the luck needed for such an ardeous campaign). Maybe sometimes you have to pay 18 million for that but i certainly don't think its either completely positively necessary.

The 'jigsaw' doesn't have to be finished with top name player but with a good one. The balance thats needed in great sides was lacking in Pool in the early parts of the season where players didn't fit in properly. United made few changes from the team that finished pretty damn strongly two seasons ago and thus with the balance fairly intact hit the ground running. Chelsea changed their winning formula and slipped up. Too many changes were made to the pool squad last year (though it was probably necessary) and it took them an awfully long time to get up and running. I'd be delighted with a big name signing if he fits the team the way Rafa wants it. Its more to do with paying for what you want then what its worth.

You sort out your away form with better players to be honest When was the last time a non-big name team won the premiership? The bar for the league is a lot higher in the premiership than it is in La Liga.

I'd say Arsenal were the last team that did it but that was a long time ago where in three seasons they went from 5th-3rd-1st
(spurs in two years time anybody?:p). Naturally that being said the league is a hell of a lot more difficult now than it was then but that doesn't mean its not possible- though its unlikely!

Anyway i'd like Malouda, i think 17 is a bit too much for him but if the cash is there i think they should go for it.
Not too sure about Saviola (despite his greatness when i signed him 5 years ago in CM:D) though if he's on a free i definately would have taken him over Voronin.

We tried Anelka before remember, i dislike him anyway!

jesus_thats_gre

Apparently Rafa is willing to throw his whole transfer budget at Eto'o.. I must admit at being slightly disappointed that betwee 35 and 40 million is being made available to him considering United just spent close to 55 million in a fooking day.

zing

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Apparently Rafa is willing to throw his whole transfer budget at Eto'o.. I must admit at being slightly disappointed that betwee 35 and 40 million is being made available to him considering United just spent close to 55 million in a fooking day.

That's all just rumour and speculation and there's no way he'll throw his entire budget at one player.

Drag00n79

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Apparently Rafa is willing to throw his whole transfer budget at Eto'o.. I must admit at being slightly disappointed that betwee 35 and 40 million is being made available to him considering United just spent close to 55 million in a fooking day.

I would not like to see our whole budget go on one player - even Eto'o. I am becoming increasingly frustrated by LFC in the transfer scene. Always loads of rumours with us whereas other big clubs usually just do the deals without prior media knowledge - ManU's buys this week and Pizarro going to Chelsea for example.

Bounty Hunter

that 35m figure was just plucked out of thin air by the press, and if Pool were lucky enough to do that deal, come 2moro everyone would be very happy and talking about the 1 other winger they still expect to come in before the window closes.

~Rebel~

Shamrok wrote:

I would not like to see our whole budget go on one player - even Eto'o. I am becoming increasingly frustrated by LFC in the transfer scene. Always loads of rumours with us whereas other big clubs usually just do the deals without prior media knowledge - ManU's buys this week and Pizarro going to Chelsea for example.

to be fair, the only one of those where there wasnt prior media knowledge was the Anderson deal. Nani and Hargreaves have been closely linked with United for a long time, and Pizarro to Chelsea has been common knowledge for a good while as well.

From The Guardian A Few Weeks Ago:


Mourinho will then turn his attention to bringing Reading's out-of-contract midfielder, Steve Sidwell, to Stamford Bridge, with the PSV Eindhoven defender Alex also likely to join the squad. Bayern Munich's striker Claudio Pizarro is another free-transfer option Chelsea are believed to be considering.

The Rooster

Not transfer related :eek: but some interesting Opta stats for top Liverpool assists in the Premiership (Finnan got most assists in CL)

Kuyt 4
Pennant 4
Finnan 4
Garcia 4
Aurelio 3
Gerrard 2
Bellamy 2

All very low, and perhaps gives further evidence that:
- we dont create enough good chances for our strikers given the amount of possession we have in most games
- we missed Luis Garcia
- Alonso had a poor season
- Riise shoots too often (as does StevieG).

Some samples of other premiership assists:
Fabregas 11, Rooney 11, Lampard 10, Arteta 9, Berbatov 9, Bentley 8, Ronaldo 8, Downing 8, Giggs 7, Lennon 7.

Stky10

The Rooster wrote:

All very low, and perhaps gives further evidence that:
- we dont create enough good chances for our strikers given the amount of possession we have in most games

Trueish. We've very little pace, flair, or ability to leave a full back on his ar$e out wide which is why wingers for both sides are needed for the new season. Partly though its also a failure of the strikers to convert a good percentage of the chances that are created for them.

The Rooster wrote:

- we missed Luis Garcia

He's had his chances to shine and he's just not good enough. I'd like to think we could use him as a lightweight in a transfer for someone else (like Cisse for Simao, how's about little luis for Quaresma.... please??), but Rafa seems to like him so it looks like we're stuck with him for another season. He's got all the skills in the world, but too inconsistent, and too lightweight.

The Rooster wrote:

- Alonso had a poor season

True, but thats partly down again to the poor performance out wide. If we had more of a threat out there it would create more space in the middle, and more opportunity for him to make more effective passes. As it is, most of the play and players now falls in to a congested middle and there is less space or time for him to play.

The Rooster wrote:

- Riise shoots too often (as does StevieG).

Undoubtedly true. Lots of power but rarely any accuracy

copacetic

The Rooster wrote:

Not transfer related :eek: but some interesting Opta stats for top Liverpool assists in the Premiership (Finnan got most assists in CL)

Kuyt 4
Pennant 4
Finnan 4
Garcia 4
Aurelio 3
Gerrard 2
Bellamy 2

All very low, and perhaps gives further evidence that:
- we dont create enough good chances for our strikers given the amount of possession we have in most games
- we missed Luis Garcia
- Alonso had a poor season
- Riise shoots too often (as does StevieG).

Some samples of other premiership assists:
Fabregas 11, Rooney 11, Lampard 10, Arteta 9, Berbatov 9, Bentley 8, Ronaldo 8, Downing 8, Giggs 7, Lennon 7.

the other way of looking at it is that we were very poor up front and don't turn good chances into goals. Obviously if we scored another 30 goals this season everyones assists would be much higher!

eirebhoy

The Rooster wrote:

All very low, and perhaps gives further evidence that:
- we dont create enough good chances for our strikers given the amount of

I don't know about that. At Celtic we have Kenny Miller who maybe gets 1 shot on goal in every 3 games. People say he's not getting the supply but that's not the problem at all. The problem is he's not getting into the goalscoring positions. He has no positional sense and he just works his arse off. I don't know why Liverpool are signing Voronin. He's pretty much a more intelligent and confident version of Kenny Miller but he's not a goalscorer.

If Liverpool had van Nistelrooy up front then they'd be creating a lot more chances.

As for Alonso. Read my sig.

zAbbo

Rumour Roundup

Manchester United are set to beat Arsenal, Liverpool, Bolton, Valencia and Real Madrid to the signing of Barcelona's Argentine striker Javier Saviola, for a cut-price £7m (News of the World).

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez wants £35m to spend on Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o (News of the World).

Liverpool are in talks with Juventus about selling midfielder Momo Sissoko to the Turin club for £12m (Star on Sunday)

Liverpool fans have been condemned as the worst in Europe in a scathing Uefa report, following crowd problems at the recent Champions League final against AC Milan (News of the World).

Not one player at Chelsea, one of the richest football clubs in the world, agreed to contribute any of their wages to the May Day For Nurses campaign, where footballers are asked to give a day's wages to hard-up Nurses. Of all the 556 Premiership players asked to help with the scheme, only 225 contributed. (News of the World)

Chucky the tree

zabbo wrote:

Not one player at Chelsea, one of the richest football clubs in the world, agreed to contribute any of their wages to the May Day For Nurses campaign, where footballers are asked to give a day's wages to hard-up Nurses. Of all the 556 Premiership players asked to help with the scheme, only 225 contributed. (News of the World)

Damn right, i would of told her to f off aswell if i was a footballer.

zing

Dudek to Betis ?

http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/betis/es/desarrollo/1001494.html

Best of luck to him wherever he goes..

Stky10

Alves is off the wanted list. Looks like we dodged a bullet last summer cos he's been cack anytime I've seen him recently

http://aliverpoolthing.blogspot.com/2007/06/no-liverpool-move-for-alves_03.html

raven136

Alves is widely regarded as one of the best players in La Liga and the best at Sevilla.If our reason for not buying him is that we have arbeloa and Pennant then God help our scouting system.(maybe they have a better winger in mind instead of alves)

Sunday Times today is saying that Rafa's budget is 35m(euro 50m).Have to say if its true then thats a major letdown,but with the possible sales of Bellamy and Carson that would rise.Cant see Rafa spending an entire budget on Eto.

Zapp Brannigan

Ever since Mancini was mentioned I've been excited. He'd be exactly what we need. A winger who plays on both wings, great pace, good end product, fantastic skill. Everything that our current wingers lack (except for Pennant but he's inconsistent)

Stky10

raven136 wrote:

Sunday Times today is saying that Rafa's budget is 35m(euro 50m).Have to say if its true then thats a major letdown,but with the possible sales of Bellamy and Carson that would rise.Cant see Rafa spending an entire budget on Eto.

Aren't all clubs earning an extra 30million a season from this year in TV money?. And isn't the supposed transfer budget of Sunderland this summer 30 million?. If we're to close the 20 point gap to the top two, then we're going to have to improve more than they will this summer. From what I've seen, and the general vibes coming out of the club (and especially from the article linked below) I'm getting pretty depressed over what the incomings and outgoings are going to be.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolecho/sport/columnists/tm_method=full&objectid=19198392&siteid=50061-name_page.html

The latest rumours seem to suggest that both Sissoko and Xabi could leave this summer, while we could still be stuck with the likes of Kewell and Garcia. Looks like one step forward and two steps back.

el rabitos

can always rely on bascombe to tell it like it is, and what it is, is not looking good.

good to see rafa shares the same frustrations with the club that many fans have had for a while now. luckily for him, he doesnt have to stick around and go grey trying to fix the club from the ground up.

...wonder if the bookies are taking odds on rafa hitting the road.

Raskolnikov

Waster wrote:

Gonzalez to Betis for £5m not €5m according to ESPN.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=433163&cc=5739

Good bit of business that. He just ain't good enough for 'Pool.

Chardee MacDennis

who are the key figures barely on speaking terms?

el rabitos

Call_me_al wrote:

who are the key figures barely on speaking terms?

parry and benitez i would assume

Chardee MacDennis

while that is who springs to mind - how can they run day to day business and how can liverpool as a club and business operate effectively in that situation.

Anyone else feel a sense of impending doom? I have a horrible feeling that rafea wont get the backing he wants and will pack his bags, and if Rafa doesnt merit that backing is there any manager in the world that will get it from the owners?

el rabitos

i'm not sure "doom" will be the word for it if rafa hits the bricks

but there is a sence after reading that piece that he could be off.

the big job at the club just seems like more hassle than its worth tbh

Stky10

Slightly less depressing article

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2094666,00.html

Even if it fails to see that ManU paid so much for potential in 19/20 year olds, whereas Simao is 27. Also fails to note that by selling Anderson, Porto are less likely to sell Quaresma, or do so for his true worth (if Quaresma is a target, which I have no idea whether he is or not, sadly I fear not)