Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2008/2009

missingtime

That goal against belgium is a class one :-)

IrishMike

Dont want him, he is a step up from garcia but is a diver and far too lightweight.
Also doesnt get past his man enough for a player of his ability and speed.
Would be huge money, large wages and a big ego.
For me a definite no thank you very much!

Tusky

http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=24

David Silva: There has been no Liverpool contact

David Silva has been one of the bright lights of the Spanish national team. He came in to the tournament at a low point after a long and demoralizing season at Valencia, but he now looks like a resurrected man. As we say, football is a state of mind, and Silva now feels confident after starting the tournament well. It helps that he is surrounded by quality players: key ingredients to make him feel fresh, unburdened and to want to try things out on the pitch.

How about his future? I have heard all the rumours about Liverpool, but I have to say that there has been no contact between club and player or between Valencia and Liverpool. I have to say that the 25 million euros price tag is too high for Liverpool. Eduardo Macia, the chief scout at the club, is in love with the idea of what the player could do in the Premier League, but Liverpool have set their sights on other players. That’s the situation as it stands at this precise moment in time: things change quickly in football and who can predict what funds may, or may not, be available in the future.

However, at the moment, the high market price of David Silva, and David Villa, means that Liverpool are having to look elsewhere for now.

BLAH. Ballague is a ****er. Ruining our hopes of signing Villa, Queresma & now Silva. If that article is to be believed, we wont be getting anyone in his price bracket (20m) either.

Karmafaerie

Nobody know how much money Liverpool have to spend.
Not even Rafa!
He's said this himself.
The Americans are only know getting the thumb out and deciding.
I've said it numerous times already, but I honestly believe that Pool are going to spend £50-60 million (and make back about £40 mill in sales.)

Guy:Incognito

Karmafaerie wrote: »

to spend £50-60 million (and make back about £40 mill in sales.)

That ties in exactly with what everyones been saying though. 10-20m to spend. It'll always be more if we sell players.

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Nobody know how much money Liverpool have to spend.
Not even Rafa!
He's said this himself.
The Americans are only know getting the thumb out and deciding.
I've said it numerous times already, but I honestly believe that Pool are going to spend £50-60 million (and make back about £40 mill in sales.)

If you really believe that as of today (June 24th) Rafa doesnt know how much he has to spend, you are a bit silly.

whatawaster

I'm really starting to think Ballague, along with Rafa and Tony Barrett, is trying to make everyone think we have no money. Why is he coming out and denying every single transfer link. I know Liverpool are his team, but even so he's going a little OTT.

I find it very hard to believe we won't have 40 million to spend on attacking players. Barry and Alonso's transfers will cancel each other out (though Xabi is really worth a lot more i think), we'll actually make a profit of around 4mdefenders/goalkeepers (Out: Riise 4, Finnan 2, Carson 5 - Total 11 . . . In: Dossena 7)
Add to that 4 million the sales of Guthrie (2), Pennant (6), Crouch (9) and a 20 million injection from the board as an absolute minimum and that gives us a decent 41 million to blow on 3 forward players.

Silva, Zarate and a backup striker please.

20 million from the board is very reasonable. It's less than our CL earnings from last season, and doesn't even begin to eat into the massive TV cash that every other team in the league will get to spend.

~Rebel~

Tusky wrote: »

If you really believe that as of today (June 24th) Rafa doesnt know how much he has to spend, you are a bit silly.

most seasons yeah, but this year has been nuts with the gilette's and hicks' fighting. They obviously have to be on the same page to sanction any money whatsoever, and if reports are to be believed they have only just started building bridges. Plenty of summer ahead so i think the money will come, to some degree anyway, but I wouldn't be so sure a figure has been given to Rafa yet. I get the feeling he's just been told to deal with what he can make back for the moment until things are a bit clearer. But I would expect a definite figure around the time the window opens officially. In fact I think this need for transfer money being sorted now is what's gotten the ball rolling on improved communication between G+H

Tusky

whatawaster wrote: »

I'm really starting to think Ballague, along with Rafa and Tony Barrett, is trying to make everyone think we have no money. Why is he coming out and denying every single transfer link. I know Liverpool are his team, but even so he's going a little OTT.

Well he is a Spanish football journalist who supports Liverpool so it makes sense for him to update on the Villa & Silva rumors. In regards to Queresma, that was a direct question that someone asked him.

Mr Alan

i reckon Rafa knows the minimum he has to spend, but not the maximum if that makes sense.

missingtime

Maybe rafa's suprise is that he isn't that broke after all.
I'd say he's trying to distance himself from any players other than say barry.
I'm gonna try and wait it out and not be so negative.
All this transfer business is makin the summer seem very long.

Tusky

Juventus possibly signing Senna instead of Alonso ?

The agent of Villarreal star Marcos Senna has revealed that Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri is a big fan of his client. Juventus are well known to have identified a centre midfielder as their primary summer transfer target, and this has led to them being linked with a whole host of players in and around Europe.

It had seemed that deals for both Xabi Alonso and Dejan Stankovic were edging closer to completion, but the former has hit a hitch, while the latter is on the verge of collapse.

One centre midfielder who has been earning rave reviews is Villarreal’s Marco Senna, who has impressed hugely for Spain at Euro 2008.

The player’s agent has revealed that his client is admired by Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri, opening up the possibility of a summer transfer.

“It’s no secret that Senna appeals to Juventus and in particular Claudio Ranieri,” Jose Manuel Butraguenos stated.

“The Juve Coach knows him well and spoke to him about a month ago. I haven’t had any news since then, but we are waiting.

“A lot depends on the club. Senna has proven himself to be one of the best players at the European Championship, but if the two teams found an agreement he would be very willing to join the Bianconeri.”

Senna will turn 32 this summer, but his experience and battle-hardness could prove crucial ahead of the two-pronged attack on Serie A and the Champions League.

Bubs101

As a Juve fan, I doubt that's true. Senna is better than, but far too similar to Sissoko to sign. I'd say Xavi is still the cert

Tusky

Me thinks Ive been spending too much time on the computer these last few weeks...

Tusky 178
IrishMike 167
Mr Alan 159
Karmafaerie 102
zing 092

Pompey's £9m Crouch bid rejected

Liverpool have rejected a bid for striker Peter Crouch from Portsmouth, BBC Radio Merseyside understands.

Neither club are prepared to comment on the reports but the offer is believed to have been in the region of £9m.

The 27-year-old played under Pompey boss Harry Redknapp at Southampton before he moved to Merseyside for £7m in the summer of 2005.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has hinted he would consider offers for Crouch in the region of £15m.


The England international has scored 40 goals in 135 appearances for the Anfield side but has struggled to hold down a regular first-team place last season.

Crouch was relegated behind Fernando Torres, who scored 33 goals for the Reds after signing from Atletico Madrid last summer.

But Crouch, who has a year left on his current deal with the Anfield club, still managed to net 11 goals as he was mainly used as a substitute by Benitez.

Crouch started his career as a trainee at Tottenham before moves to QPR, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Norwich, Southampton and Liverpool.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7471969.stm

IrishMike

Tusky wrote: »

Me thinks Ive been spending too much time on the computer these last few weeks...

Tusky 178
IrishMike 167
Mr Alan 159
Karmafaerie 102
zing 092

Easy knowing that i do shag all at work looking at that.
I feel dirty knowing ive posted more than Al!
How did you get those figures Tusky?

Tusky

IrishMike wrote: »

Easy knowing that i do shag all at work looking at that.
I feel dirty knowing ive posted more than Al!
How did you get those figures Tusky?

If you go to the main soccer forum page and click on the amount of views for this thread, it breaks down the number of posts for each user.

rosboy

Tusky wrote: »

Juventus possibly signing Senna instead of Alonso ?

I think Senna's agent is trying to talk Senna into Juventus. This is from June 14th (think it was reported on Sky Sports, but can't find the link):

http://www.goal.com/EN/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=735927

leninbenjamin

what's Rafa's evaluation of crouch? I would have thought 9 million wouldn't be too far off a fair evaluation myself.

zing

Seems to be holding out for 10m for him.

~Rebel~

zing wrote: »

Seems to be holding out for 10m for him.

and if Pompy really do want him, Rafa will get it. Makes no sense to accept the first offer. Id say Pompy enquired, Rafa said 15, both know thats bollocks so he'll go for 10 to 12. Would be pretty happy with that.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Would take 15 for him, would accept 12.5 at a pinch, would not be happy with much less than that. He has a knack of scoring against us

zAbbo

I think he's worth around 15m in the current climate.

We bought him for 7m, and by all acounts have greatly enhanced his profile.

He has a great scoring record for club and country, so around 12-15 sounds good.

~Rebel~

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Would take 15 for him, would accept 12.5 at a pinch, would not be happy with much less than that. He has a knack of scoring against us

He's definately worth 15, but im not sure who will come in for him besides Pompy in the premiership that he'd be happy to head to. I suppose Villa could go for him and we could have protracted angry transfer saga; Round 2.

Although, I think we should hit up Spurs. Berba looks on the way and Crouchy could really do a job for them, and they're throwing cash every which way! Offer crouchers to them for 2 or 3 mill more then whatever Pompy are willing to give.

Tbh, i'd love if he just agreed a new deal altogether so we didn't need to sell and replace.

Thanx 4 The Fish

If that was the case I would like to see the back of Voronin and the signing of Villa, I know it is hugely unlikely but who knows eh. Also if we do get some nature of superwinger, crouchie would be the ideal target man for somebody who can get a cross off the bleeding ground.

Pepe LeFrits

Does he not only have one year left on his contract?

No way he's worth £15m if so.

tonc76

1 year left on his contract is correct and as a result £15m is an inflated price

Rafa will take £10 imo

Thanx 4 The Fish

Dunno, he scores goals wherever he goes, is proven at premiership level and offers something that not may players do. I reckon 15m, with the price of players being what it is and particularly english ones (bent anyone) is not that far off the mark.

Tusky

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

Dunno, he scores goals wherever he goes, is proven at premiership level and offers something that not may players do. I reckon 15m, with the price of players being what it is and particularly english ones (bent anyone) is not that far off the mark.

He is worth 15m but as previously said, because he only has one year left on his contract, his value has dropped. Its a major error on Rafa/Liverpools behalf not to have had him sign a new contract last summer.

Look at it this way, if Portsmouth wait one year, they can get him for free.

Thanx 4 The Fish

True but if we want we can sit him in the reserves for a year, that would certainly do neither side any good but he would be the worst off from not playing competitive footy for a year.

Pepe LeFrits

He'd be free then though.

Tusky

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

True but if we want we can sit him in the reserves for a year, that would certainly do neither side any good but he would be the worst off from not playing competitive footy for a year.

Why on earth would we do that ?

gixerfixer

If darren bent is worth over 15 million then crouch is worth a hell of a lot more than that,one year left on contract or not.Think the lad has been given a hard time by the press and public in general and is an excellent striker.Englands leading scorer over the last 4 years if im not mistaken?

el rabitos

gixerfixer wrote: »

If darren bent is worth over 15 million then crouch is worth a hell of a lot more than that,one year left on contract or not.Think the lad has been given a hard time by the press and public in general and is an excellent striker.Englands leading scorer over the last 4 years if im not mistaken?

wouldnt say he's an excellent striker to be fair, he's definitely an great option to have on the bench and if anything happened to keep torres on the sidelines for any sustained period i'd be happy to have crouch there.

i highly doubt rafa is too interested in losing him, but he'll certainly be needing alot more minutes on the pitch than he got last season if we're to get him to sign a new deal and get some cash out of selling him on, whenever that may be.

all in all i think rafa knows the market well and god knows if it was us trying to buy crouch we'd be getting ****ed over and held to ransom for a huge fee, makes sence to only let crouch go if we get a stupid bid. 12 -15 mill

Pepe LeFrits

gixerfixer wrote: »

If darren bent is worth over 15 million then crouch is worth a hell of a lot more than that,one year left on contract or not.Think the lad has been given a hard time by the press and public in general and is an excellent striker.Englands leading scorer over the last 4 years if im not mistaken?

Darren Bent was 23 when Spurs signed him, under a long term contract and he had been the top English scorer in the PL for 2 seasons running.

ShoulderChip

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Darren Bent was 23 when Spurs signed him, under a long term contract and he had been the top English scorer in the PL for 2 seasons running.

excellent point and a great way to make your 8th post on this thread from an arsenal fan.

mike65

Dear God.

Just sign someone or sell someone Rafa.

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Darren Bent was 23 when Spurs signed him, under a long term contract and he had been the top English scorer in the PL for 2 seasons running.

Crouch has been the tallest English striker for 5 years running.

Pepe LeFrits

monkey9

el rabitos wrote: »

wouldnt say he's an excellent striker to be fair, he's definitely an great option to have on the bench and if anything happened to keep torres on the sidelines for any sustained period i'd be happy to have crouch there.

i highly doubt rafa is too interested in losing him, but he'll certainly be needing alot more minutes on the pitch than he got last season if we're to get him to sign a new deal and get some cash out of selling him on, whenever that may be.

all in all i think rafa knows the market well and god knows if it was us trying to buy crouch we'd be getting ****ed over and held to ransom for a huge fee, makes sence to only let crouch go if we get a stupid bid. 12 -15 mill

Crouch, for me, is definitely excellent. i was someone, who when Rafa signed him scoffed as if we had signed Sean Dundee to replace Torres. But the bloke has proved himself to be a goalscorer at the highest level. We should be doubling our money, but as previously been stated, he has a year left so 10 mil is fair enough. Away fans may still call him, ignorantly, a freak. But Liverpool fans realise the bloke's brilliance!!

Boggles

monkey9 wrote: »

Crouch, for me, is definitely excellent. i was someone, who when Rafa signed him scoffed as if we had signed Sean Dundee to replace Torres. But the bloke has proved himself to be a goalscorer at the highest level. We should be doubling our money, but as previously been stated, he has a year left so 10 mil is fair enough. Away fans may still call him, ignorantly, a freak. But Liverpool fans realise the bloke's brilliance!!

Stop BullShíttíng!

If he is as good as your saying he would be going nowhere.

He is a decent striker who will get you 15ish goals if deployed properly.

ShoulderChip

Boggles wrote: »

Stop BullShíttíng!

hey who are you to say that to anyone?
this is the internet for fuck sake

Mr Alan

Not really bull****ting Boggles, the only reason he hasnt made more of an impact with us is because he is competing with possibly the best striker in the world last season in Fernando Torres for one place. Yet he has continued to do well whenever given a shot and called upon.

Crouch is an excellent player. A little more pace and ability to head the ball better and he would be world class imo.

10million if Portsmouth are the only realistic interested party. 12-15 if there is a couple of clubs in for him. imo.

I think he'll be sold for 10.

Drag00n79

If he goes I expect the lad will have a great season returning to Pompey and not being on the bench so much.

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

Not really bull****ting Boggles, the only reason he hasnt made more of an impact with us is because he is competing with possibly the best striker in the world last season in Fernando Torres for one place.

I'm not judging him on last season.

Mr Alan wrote: »

Crouch is an excellent player. A little more pace and ability to head the ball better and he would be world class imo.

He is a decent player, I like Crouch and I think he has alot to offer. I also think Rafa has treated him unfairly this season.

If you think he is excellent / just short of world class so be it. Your opinion. Entitled to.

Boggles

ShoulderChip wrote: »

hey who are you to say that to anyone?

Boggles!

ShoulderChip wrote: »

this is the internet for fuck sake

No Shíté? have a cookie!

Mr Alan

Brian Reade has a book out about his years following Liverpool, I'd imagine it'll be a cracking read. Imaginatively called "43 Years With The Same Bird"

There have been football books which have told their tale through the partisan heart of a besotted fan, and those that dissected their subject through the scientific mind of an objective writer. But rarely does one fuse the blind passion of a lifelong supporter with the cold eye of an award-winning journalist in the way "43 Years With The Same Bird" does. That bird is the Liver Bird, and on the surface, this book is a pitch-side view of the entire modern era of Britain's most successful football club.It is Brian Reade's take on the extraordinary stories behind the 48 trophies he has seen Liverpool lift since watching them en route to their first-ever FA Cup win in 1965, right through to the Champions League defeat in Athens in 2007. It takes in all of the big nights that propelled the club to five European Cups, three UEFA Cups, 12 titles, countless domestic cup triumphs, bitter failures, the tragic disasters in Sheffield and Brussels, as well as the barren years of the late 60s and the 90s. But the book goes far deeper than that.It's about how football allowed a father who was separated from his son to forge a precious bond.

How a football club can make a city that is dying on its knees keep believing in itself. How you should never, as a professional, get too close to your heroes. How being part of a disaster at a football match (Hillsborough) can leave you a mental wreck, unwilling to carry on, but how witnessing a miracle on a football pitch (Istanbul) makes you realise that no matter how low you sink, you should never give in.

Link to buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/43-Years-Same-Bird-Liverpudlian/dp/0230709680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214351464&sr=8-1

IrishMike

Boggles wrote: »

Stop BullShíttíng!

If he is as good as your saying he would be going nowhere.

He is a decent striker who will get you 15ish goals if deployed properly.

Decent strikers dont score 15 premiership goals a season.
He is a lot better than decent, quality striker who is getting limited
appearances due to Torres being amazing and the system we play.
He is leaving not because Rafa wants him to, its because he wants to.
Thats the difference.
Im sure Rafa would keep him in a heartbeat but cant guarantee him regular
first team football.

dardoz

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Darren Bent was 23 when Spurs signed him, under a long term contract and he had been the top English scorer in the PL for 2 seasons running.

and when was that exactly?

http://www.thefootballpremiership.co.uk/premiership_top_goalscorers.htm

gucci

dardoz wrote: »

and when was that exactly?

http://www.thefootballpremiership.co.uk/premiership_top_goalscorers.htm

In the two seasons previous to when Spurs signed him, as the website you brought up shows? Note: He said English strikers in the premiership.

Dont be at yourself

He was the top English goal scorer in 05/06 and 06/07, your link says as much.