Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

~Rebel~

I saw that Real Madrid V Sociadad game, Gonzalez was fairly outstanding alright, looks a great player. Wicked fast, ran for the whole game and was willing to gamble on chances (how he got his goal). Xavi Prieto (right winger), another youngfella pool are apparantly interested in was much less impressive however, but its the first time i've seen him so could have been an off day.

Really looking forward to seeing Gonzalez at the pool next season anyway.

cruiserweight

Looks like The new stadium is still on the cards

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4901164.stm

el rabitos

Looks like The new stadium is still on the cards

just a formality really, the plans had to be re-submitted in april or pool would have lost the governments investment in the project. they still have to raise the rest of the cash

Mitch Connor

is it common for clubs to get government funding for stadiums?

Never heard of it before - at least not for a big club, i certainly don't remember hearing anything about Arsenal getting government funding for their stadium, though they may have done.

astrofool

depends, man city got a free stadium basically. I think its down to the community really and they may want to regenerate the Anfield area.

mike65

I thought City were tenants?

Mike.

p.pete

Tauren wrote:

is it common for clubs to get government funding for stadiums?

Never heard of it before - at least not for a big club, i certainly don't remember hearing anything about Arsenal getting government funding for their stadium, though they may have done.

I think most of the government funding money has to be spent on community development type stuff as part of the project as a whole. Not being spent on the stadium itself but on improving the park that the stadium will hopefully be built in.

mike65

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/tm_objectid=16934423%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=exclusive--rafa-wants-to-be-reunited-with-raul-name_page.html

no!

Mike.

segadreamcast

Bah - bloody Mirror. Let him go for nothing? Mmm, right.

p.pete

Eek! Even if he's free and takes a wage cut he'd still be a financial burden.

RE*AC*TOR

mike65 wrote:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/tm_objectid=16934423%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=exclusive--rafa-wants-to-be-reunited-with-raul-name_page.html

no!

Mike.

yeah, saw that on koptalk earlier - I don't think he's the player we need tbh.

Dont be at yourself

If he was on the cheap, I'd take him in a heartbeat, and hang on to Moro too. The two of them up front together would be a better option than bringing in some unproven players a la Cisse etc.

We haven't seen the best of Morientes, but perhaps playing him alongside Raul he can recapture his old form, and help Raul do the same. Perhaps.

Dont be at yourself

If he was on the cheap, I'd take him in a heartbeat, and hang on to Moro too. The two of them up front together would be a better option than bringing in some unproven players a la Cisse etc.

We haven't seen the best of Morientes, but perhaps playing him alongside Raul he can recapture his old form, and help Raul do the same. Perhaps.

yom 1

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

If he was on the cheap, I'd take him in a heartbeat, and hang on to Moro too. The two of them up front together would be a better option than bringing in some unproven players a la Cisse etc.

We haven't seen the best of Morientes, but perhaps playing him alongside Raul he can recapture his old form, and help Raul do the same. Perhaps.

Thats an awful big gamble that we cant afford to take IMO. Why is a club with such high ambitions, stature and reputation only looking into signing strikers who are well past there best. Nando has been such a disapointing signing. I really thought he could be a big player for us, but he has done fcuk all.

I would much prefer to see rafa chasing up and coming Premiership talent ala Darren Bent/Defoe. I know that foreign players are cheaper options but I would prefer us to pay the bit extra for a premiership striker than take another nando/cisse type risk that they won't settle in the premiership.

Dont be at yourself

Didn't we buy a proven Premiership striker in Crouch, who went on to have a goal drought of what, 19 games? And for the bargain price of £7million or so to boot. Darren Bent and Defoe, while differing in style of play to Crouch, are accompanied by the same hype, media circus and inflated price-tag as every other English player of quality in the league.

I don't know, there are drawbacks with any approach that is taken. Raul and Morientes have proven themselves at the very highest level, they have the ability and they have the mentality. At 29, Raul has plenty left to offer a club, and while I wouldn't like to see Rafa go out and spend £10 million+ on him, I think that if was available for cheap, he'd be worth the risk.

kaimera

woah.

Love to see Raul in a pool shirt myself and do think that him and nado would work wonders together again.

Some things you just don't lose.

But find it hard to see him going for free and his wages could unsettle some of our other players.

Vokes

Liverpool linked to Empoli striker
12th Apr 2006

By Staff Writer

Liverpool are in a race with Fiorentina for the signature of Empoli striker, Francesco Tavano according to reports in Italy.

Empoli are seeking to cash in on their promising young forward in the summer and Liverpool are said to be keeping close tabs on the player who has stated his desire to move to a Champions League participating team should he move on.

27 year old Tavano has scored an impressive 17 goals in 33 games this year for one of Italy's less fashionable sides and is sure to be a big hit should a move to the Premiership come off.

http://www.all3points.co.uk/cat/liverpool/tav120406.php

Report states he's a "promising young forward" and he's 27

Have also seen fresh rumours of contract talks with Victor of La Coruna.

p.pete

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Didn't we buy a proven Premiership striker in Crouch, who went on to have a goal drought of what, 19 games? And for the bargain price of £7million or so to boot. Darren Bent and Defoe, while differing in style of play to Crouch, are accompanied by the same hype, media circus and inflated price-tag as every other English player of quality in the league.

Darren Bent and Defoe are on the fringes of the england squad - Crouch is in the England squad purely because he's now playing for Liverpool. Heskey even managed to be in the England squad while at Liverpool, and if Crouch were to leave Liverpool I'd say he'd be dropped like a stone fairly quick.

Point I'm trying to make (without trying to dis Crouch, I'm happy with him) is that Bent and Defoe are on international fringes on their own merit. On the negative side there's probably more of the hype you mention and the cost could be huge. Not sure I'd be interested in Defoe but Bent could be worth a look - though he's only had one premiership season hasn't he?

RE*AC*TOR

Crouch is in the england squad because he poses a very unique threat to defenses.

He is there on his own merits, albeit a different set of expectations compared to Defoe or Bent.

p.pete

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Crouch is in the england squad because he poses a very unique threat to defenses.

He is there on his own merits, albeit a different set of expectations compared to Defoe or Bent.

Why wasn't he in the squad for 2 or 3 years previous to joining Liverpool? Why is Hesky not in the squad now?

Ardent

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

If he was on the cheap, I'd take him in a heartbeat, and hang on to Moro too. The two of them up front together would be a better option than bringing in some unproven players a la Cisse etc.

We haven't seen the best of Morientes, but perhaps playing him alongside Raul he can recapture his old form, and help Raul do the same. Perhaps.

I'd go along with with this.

Dont be at yourself

If we were to rewind to this time last year, people were calling for Liverpool to splash out on Andy Johnson, who was having a good season and who was on the fringes of the England squad, and yet who can honestly say that they want him at the club now? There are definite parallels between Johnson and the likes of Bent, and having the benefit of hindsight we can see that it was perhaps correct not to spend big money on someone relatively untested at the highest level.

As for Defoe, I don't know. As it stands, he'd walk into our attack, but there would be definite questions with regards to his attitude. And Tottenham surely wouldn't let him go cheaply. I also think that Liverpool should be aiming higher than cast-offs from a team who struggle to get into Europe. If the price was low, he'd be worth the risk, but I'd hate to see the club paying over the odds.

RE*AC*TOR

p.pete wrote:

Why wasn't he in the squad for 2 or 3 years previous to joining Liverpool? Why is Hesky not in the squad now?

He got his first call up for the engalnd squad before he joined liverpool.

el rabitos

i think theres a fine line when it comes to signing players like raul and morientes, in that they've won everything there is to win a few times, so i reckon theres a natural loss of hunger for winning.

i'd like to see liverpool take some time and look for the right striker(s).

the only player that keeps springing to mind though is michael owen

Dont be at yourself

Owen would be both too expensive and too injuery-prone for my liking.

el rabitos

maybe, i just cant think of any other player that will guarantee at least 15 goals a season

kaimera

Owen has 7 in the league this year...

cruiserweight

kaimera wrote:

Owen has 7 in the league this year...

In 10 games! Liverpools top league scorers are Steven Gerrard 8, Sanz Luis Garcia 7, Djibril Cisse 6, Peter Crouch 6!

jesus_thats_gre

cruiserweight wrote:

In 10 games! Liverpools top league scorers are Steven Gerrard 8, Sanz Luis Garcia 7, Djibril Cisse 6, Peter Crouch 6!

The fact he has only scored 10 goals this season is not what worries me.. Its the fact that he has only been fit for 10 games this season!!! **** spending 15 million on someone is only going to be fit half the season!!!

mike65

Last summer - no actually in Feb, I was wishing Owen had returned and hoped he would in the summer but now I say 'meh'. With Crouch and Fowler we're grand!

When a signing is made I just hope he is'nt a promising youngster and not a flaky OAP either.

Mike.

el rabitos

crouch is far too weak in front of goal and fowler isnt capable of playing 90 minutes week in week out. any foreign striker, despite his record would be a risk. on the other hand every english striker is either not good enough or has an inflated price.

not the best position to be in for the club right now.

anonymous_joe

Aren't yis selling Fowler to Bolton anyway?

Necronomicon

anonymous_joe wrote:

Aren't yis selling Fowler to Bolton anyway?

Big Sam is reportedly interested, should Fowler be let go at the end of the season.
I don't see why Benitez would let him go really. Surely someone that short of games isn't going to turn into super-striker in 6 months. I think Benitez needs to give him a little more time than that.

RE*AC*TOR

Necromomicon wrote:

Big Sam is reportedly interested, should Fowler be let go at the end of the season.
I don't see why Benitez would let him go really. Surely someone that short of games isn't going to turn into super-striker in 6 months. I think Benitez needs to give him a little more time than that.

that, and on a goal per game basis, he's probably our top-scoring forward.

Kimbot

Me thinks fowler should be kept at the club in a role like Rush was!! Training the younger strikers and then play where he can!! He would be excellent at that!!

Bannor

The striker situation is yet to be resolved. Depending on how things go there could be a complete clearout (except for Crouch). The door is still open for Morientes and Cisse

Fowler - If he keeps up the work rate in training and on the pitch, he will be offered a 12 month contract with the option of a further 12 months.

Raul - The story is from Real Madrid. The Real board want rid of him this summer and the media campaign is underway. There is no interest on the part of Liverpool.

Aguero - There are four clubs in for him, Liverpool is one of them.

Bellamy - Rafa's looking for players with pace to play off of Crouch. While talking to a journalist, Bellamy was mentioned as an example of the type of player Rafa was looking at. Rafa turned down the offer of Bellamy last year, but having said that he also turned down Pennant before he went to Birmingham and has tried to sign him since. Slightly unrelated heard a rumour that Pedersen is going to Man Utd, can't see the two of them leaving Blackburn.

woodyg

From what Raffa has said in the last couple of weeks, he's looking into bringin in a Striker in the 21 to 25 year old age bracket with both pace and skill.
I believe he was hinting at acertain Fernando Torres who will be available in the Summer and fits the bill perfect.
Could see a cash plus player deal with Moreientess or even Cisse headin the other way

el rabitos

i really cant see athletico letting torres go for anything under 20 or 25 million, he's their captain and the clubs golden boy, i'm not convinced he'll want to leave at the end of the season anyway.

david villa would have been my ideal choice of a striker, i think he's a more complete striker than torres, but he's recently signed a new deal at valencia afaik

Bannor

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

If we were to rewind to this time last year, people were calling for Liverpool to splash out on Andy Johnson, who was having a good season and who was on the fringes of the England squad, and yet who can honestly say that they want him at the club now? There are definite parallels between Johnson and the likes of Bent, and having the benefit of hindsight we can see that it was perhaps correct not to spend big money on someone relatively untested at the highest level.

As for Defoe, I don't know. As it stands, he'd walk into our attack, but there would be definite questions with regards to his attitude. And Tottenham surely wouldn't let him go cheaply. I also think that Liverpool should be aiming higher than cast-offs from a team who struggle to get into Europe. If the price was low, he'd be worth the risk, but I'd hate to see the club paying over the odds.

Benitez wanted Andy Johnson, everything was agreed until the Palace chairman decided he wanted more money for the player because he was seen as their best hope of promotion back to the Premiership. If Palace hadn't been relegated Johnson would be a Liverpool player now.

Defoe was offered to Liverpool as opposed to Liverpool went looking for the player. It's not going to happen anyway - Defoe was plan B/C/D, i.e. if all else fails we have the Defoe offer to fall back on.

DaBreno

What about Dirk Kyut, are we still interested? Maybe Feyenoord would'nt to let him go before the World Cup in case his value would rise. Himself and Bellamy would be very interesting Signings. While there is no doubting his talent, would Bellamy get on with Rafa?

mike65

The Times (of London) say Newcastle have Kyut penciled in to replace Shearer and they will spend the money if they want him.

Mike.

RE*AC*TOR

i don't think I've seen Kuyt, but isn't he another aerial type player?

el rabitos

where are those half witts getting all the cash from??

they just anounnced half yearly losses of around 4 million today

futuredeath

watching the first leg of the youth cup final at the moment and to be honest especially with the attacking players and most notably Paul Anderson there definately is quality coming through maybe giving someone a real chance is the way to go and get one reasonably big name proven striker.

<<EDIT>> Paul Anderson hit the bar a moment ago with a bicycle/scisors kick and my god this lad is talented would be gutted if he isn't given a chance in the first team at some stage.

zAbbo

Its no secret Paul Anderson is quality, anyone who has seen him play knows that, he'll have many pool fans talking after tonights performance.

futuredeath

zabbo wrote:

Its no secret Paul Anderson is quality, anyone who has seen him play knows that, he'll have many pool fans talking after tonights performance.

i didn't want to sound like i had unearthed this heavily guarded information, was just saying he's a class act.

zAbbo

futuredeath wrote:

i didn't want to sound like i had unearthed this heavily guarded information, was just saying he's a class act.

wasn't saying that mate, he's a class act, and has been all season, a real gem and only 17!

Chucky the tree

Wouldnt be suprised if dowler signed again. I think rafa doesnt want to offer him a contract just yet to make sure he keeps working hard. WHy get rid of him? hes proven hes just as good as nando and cisse. The other 2 can be sold for a bit of money.

Good win by the youths tonight. Anderson does look class. THought the 2 centre backs were good aswell.

mike65

Not again!

Blackburn will join the race to sign Robbie Fowler - if the striker fails to land a new contract at Liverpool.

The 31-year-old is on a short-term deal at Anfield and boss Rafael Benitez has yet to make a decision on his future.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce showed an interest and Blackburn boss Mark Hughes has now confirmed he will make a move.

He said: "If he became available I'm sure a number of clubs would be interested. He is the type of player I would ask about."

Liverpool play Chelsea next so I presume we can expect a transfer story next Thursday/Friday

Mike.

Vokes

More Joaquin and Victor rumours...

Liverpool make new approach for Betis star Joaquin

Liverpool have been told it will cost them £20 million to sign Real Betis winger Joaquin.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez is scouring Europe for a right-sided winger and has made an approach to Betis president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera in the last fortnight about Joaquin's availability.

Liverpool are prepared to offer £7 million for the winger, but were met with a sharp response that only a straight cash offer of £20 million will see Joaquin leave the Seville club.

Joaquin wants to move on, but won't demand a transfer in order to stay on-side with Betis fans.

"I have a good relationship with the president and if a major offer comes in for me, we will sit down and discuss it," said the young attacker.

"No-one can question my commitment to Betis. We've won a title and also played in the Champions League while I've been here. My commitment has always been 100 per cent."

http://www.tribalfootball.com/april/spanishnews180406.html

Liverpool are reportedly paying more than a glancing interest in Deportivo La Coruna winger, Victor.

The Anfield club has allegedly opened talks with the Spanish club over a deal to bring the 30 year old Spanish winger to Merseyside.

Reports in this weekend's paper suggest that the deal could be worth around £4 million to Deportivo for a player who had previously looked set to join Liverpool during the January transfer window.

Victor has played 18 times this season for Deportivo and scored 4 goals.

http://www.all3points.co.uk/cat/liverpool/vic180406.php