Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2008/2009

Pyjamarama

BastardPrince wrote: »

Cudicini is in no way great, he is probably the best backup keeper i can think off though and i would say most clubs would take him as their no. 1.

He's better than good though so the point stands. Very Good but not great would be his grouping!

raven136

Mr Alan wrote: »

I wouldnt mind Downing tbh.

i would prefer him than riera.Silva would be ideal but if we want to win the league we probably will be better off with a player with premiership experience.
Other than downing is there any player around the ten mill mark?

Dont be at yourself

I wonder is SWP on the move? Or Duff at Newcastle?

IrishMike

BastardPrince wrote: »

Cudicini is in no way great, he is probably the best backup keeper i can think off though

Dudek is well up there in the best backup keeper in the world league i would imagine

Mr Alan

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

I wonder is SWP on the move? Or Duff at Newcastle?

SWP would be decent.

Duff? Not a hope in hell, i'd prefer Riera,Milner,Downing and virtually anyone over him

Pyjamarama

Woudn't mind SWP but would Chelski sell him to Pool? And for 10m I doubt it. there'd be lots of clubs in for him so we'd have to pay through the nose...

I'd like Reira actually, seen a fair bit of him last year and he really is a different player to the one at City. He just didn't settle there and to be fair in our system he'd be asked to do far less defensively than he was at city. He's smart, good touch and can beat his man. His final ball can be a bit wayward but i'd have no problem with him and Babel as our options on the left.

Malice

If we could sign the Damien Duff from 2002 I would be delighted. Unfortunately the laws of physics and time-travelling are against that happening .

Táck

if we signed d.duff it would be tragic!

PHB

Chelsea wouldn't sell Duff to Liverpool before I thought, can't imagine they'd sell SWP.

_blank_

Who was the last player to go from one of the top four to another?

Seba Veron, was it?

Mr Alan

jon obi mikel?
diarra?
cole?

_blank_

Mr Alan wrote: »

jon obi mikel?

Ah here Al, come one now.

Mr Alan wrote: »

diarra?
cole?

Ah yes.

Fratton Fred

PHB wrote: »

can't imagine they'd sell SWP.

He'll be joining Crouchie soon.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=761736

PHB

Cole and Gallas

ShoulderChip

no diarra.

IrishMike

DesF wrote: »

Who was the last player to go from one of the top four to another?

Traore when he left Liverpool and changed his name to Wes Brown? :pac:

IrishMike

Liverpool, Juventus Chase Meira
Liverpool and Juventus have signalled their intention to sign VfB Stuttgart defender Fernando Meira, his agent has claimed.

The Portuguese international has been an ever-present figure for Stuttgart since he joined from Benfica in 2002, having been named as team captain in 2006.

It is understood that Meira has made no secret of his interest in a new challenge after six years of play with the German outfit, who finished in 6th place in Bundesliga.

The player's agent, Roger Wittman, claims that Stuttgart have agreed to let the player leave in the close-season in case an offer from a big club is made.

"As soon as the player is on the transfer list, everything will happen very fast. There is always interest in a player with his qualities," Wittman told Stuttgarter Zeitung.

Wittman further added that Liverpool and Juventus are both keeping tabs on his client.

Meira, 30, has 50 international caps to his name and joined Stuttgart for a fee of 7.5 million euros.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=763611

Why on earth would we be chasing a £5.5m defender?
Can also play as a DM though so may be an "option" in the centre half/DM bracket

Also rumours that Liverpool have made a €20m bid for Luís Suárez
http://ajaxtoday.nl/nieuws/1057?PHPSESSID=4iennv0s8jhn09u26fuv6k44d7

Honestly never heard of the guy, meant to be a brilliant with a dead ball though

Cyrus

IrishMike wrote: »

Why on earth would we be chasing a £5.5m defender?
Can also play as a DM though so may be an "option" in the centre half/DM bracket

a player with many possibilities no?

rosboy

IrishMike wrote: »

Why on earth would we be chasing a £5.5m defender?
Can also play as a DM though so may be an "option" in the centre half/DM bracket

I've seen this in a few places too. Maybe Rafa is contemplating playing 3 central defenders with Dossena & Degen as wing backs?

For those central defernder positions you'd have:

Carragher
Agger
Skrtel
Miera
Hyypia
....with Huth and San Jose possibly playing a part if we got stuck. They've been impressive in the reserves last season, but of course that doesn't definitely mean they'll make the step up.

............or maybe the report linking us with him is total crap! We'll know by 1st September.

IrishMike wrote: »

Also rumours that Liverpool have made a €20m bid for Luís Suárez
http://ajaxtoday.nl/nieuws/1057?PHPSESSID=4iennv0s8jhn09u26fuv6k44d7

Honestly never heard of the guy, meant to be a brilliant with a dead ball though

I read this earlier too. Here's the translation (I got it from RWAK):

The editors of AjaxToday.nl has learnt from reliable sources that a Liverpool bid of nearly 20 million has been done for Ajax attacker Luis Suárez. 'The Reds' see in the Uruguayan international attacker the ideal reinforcement for next season. Suárez though, has given an indication that he may not be interested in a move to England. From this, it appears that a move to Liverpool would be rather unlikely.
Moreover, the same source reported that the arrival of Brazilian defender Henrique to Ajax had been done. A new signing by FC Barcelona, he will enjoy a season-long loan with the Amsterdammers.

tonc76

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

I wonder is SWP on the move? Or Duff at Newcastle?

The only Duff I'd like to see in a Liverpool shirt is this fella ....

gixerfixer

Duff is no better than harry kewell.If anything worse because he's just plain lazy.

prendy

duff shouldnt even be discussed if were seriously challenging for the league. SWP would be a decent signing but id hate to see downing signed.

pvt.joker

+1 If ye are reduced to hoping to sign Duff then just accept your 4th (at best) position.
He is 5 years past his best.

shayser

Another yute. Winger/striker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7493493.stm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfnaf2bQNLk
(couldn't get the embed to work)

~Rebel~

shayser wrote: »

Another yute. Winger/striker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7493493.stm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfnaf2bQNLk

(couldn't get the embed to work)

fixed


id fancy a bit of suarez to be honest though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgUn4RrL9Ic

leninbenjamin

I know you can't trust those youtube videos but that's exactly the kind of player Liverpool need imo. Able to do a job out on the wings, yet good enough to get inside and support the strikers and even the ability to play of the shoulder too. Feck Barry and Keane, two acquisitions along those lines and Pool would be good enough to challenge for the league imo.

~Rebel~

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I know you can't trust those youtube videos but that's exactly the kind of player Liverpool need imo. Able to do a job out on the wings, yet good enough to get inside and support the strikers and even the ability to play of the shoulder too. Feck Barry and Keane, two acquisitions along those lines and Pool would be good enough to challenge for the league imo.

In 06/07 got 13 league goals for Groningen, last year got 19 in the league for Ajax. Has looked very good any time i've seen him (admittedly not a whole lot), but at 21 would be a great buy imo. Good to hear us being linked to his like anyway!

Tusky

What is it with football videos having terrible music ? If its not scummy dance music its bloody Robbie Williams!

He looks good though Rebel.

IrishMike

Tusky wrote: »

What is it with football videos having terrible music ? If its not scummy dance music its bloody Robbie Williams!

He looks good though Rebel.

Ya and he is not a bad player either

Next season we could have Alan+Torres and Tusky+Suarez.
Could double date ;)

Tusky

IrishMike wrote: »

Ya and he is not a bad player either

Next season we could have Alan+Torres and Tusky+Suarez.
Could double date ;)

The Mr Tusky shuffle ? Nah, Im not feeling it.

Chardee MacDennis

i'm very wary of dutch imports tbh....

mayordenis

BastardPrince wrote: »

i'm very wary of dutch imports tbh....

agreed

van persie, van nistelrooy, robben, not to mention our own kuyt and babel and the fact that he's Uruguayan.

Chardee MacDennis

mayordenis wrote: »

agreed

van persie, van nistelrooy, robben, not to mention our own kuyt and babel and the fact that he's Uruguayan.

imports from the dutch league is what i meant . it is a massive step up to the premier league from the Eredivisie and not many players do it it, Alves couldnt stop scoring there and doesnt look that special in the epl yet.... and he's brazilian in case you want to be anal about that too.

Tusky

BastardPrince wrote: »

imports from the dutch league is what i meant . it is a massive step up to the premier league from the Eredivisie and not many players do it it, Alves couldnt stop scoring there and doesnt look that special in the epl yet.... and he's brazilian in case you want to be anal about that too.

I agree. Sure Kuyt was one of the best players in the Dutch league before he came to Liverpool!

mayordenis

well about alves he's playing for boro and he hasn't had a full season so rating him on the last few months is nonsense especially those goals against utd.

I know tusky and now all does is put in huge performances in the PL and CL oh and still at the euroes.

Tusky

mayordenis wrote: »

I know tusky and now all does is put in huge performances in the PL and CL oh and still at the euroes.

Yeah he does. 33% of the time. Ive had this debate before. He played 2/3 of the season as a striker in a 4-4-2 and scored 3 league goals, 2 of which were penalties in the same match.

I like Kuyt, but thats hardly impressive. He was ok in his first season. Terrible for most of his second, and then v.good towards the end.

Kuyt - all comps
92 apperances, 25 goals.

Premier League 07/08
29 Appearances, 3 Goals (2 pens)

Premier League 06/07
34 Apperances, 12 goals

League Totals
63 Appearances, 15 goals

Now when you compare those stats to the fact that he scored 83 goals in 122 games for Feyenoord...it really shows the difference in the leagues, which was what the original disagreement was about.

mike65

Shall we have a Danish then?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7493493.stm

Mike.

woodyg

nearly 1 million on a kid that no body outside of Denmark heard off shows there's cash to spend if needed. yet more evidence of raffa's idea to go down the arsenal road if possible in getting in the top young talent, no harm there.

with crouch more or less gone and a reproted 11 sterling coming in from his sale (good price) will the money be used to fund the keane raid?

Drag00n79

Alonso is reported by the Italian press tonight as saying he does not want to leave Liverpool, that he is happy there and he wants to win the Premier League - that's his only goal.

Source

~Rebel~

Shamrok wrote: »

Alonso is reported by the Italian press tonight as saying he does not want to leave Liverpool, that he is happy there and he wants to win the Premier League - that's his only goal.

Source

interesting. Perhaps some of this next season then?

---

Masch--Barry

---

Alonso
--Gerrard

---

Babel

---

Torres

still an improvement on last seasons first 11 imo, though not quite how we expected it to come.

Tusky

~Rebel~ wrote: »

interesting. Perhaps some of this next season then?

---

Masch--Barry

---

Alonso
--Gerrard

---

Babel

---

Torres

still an improvement on last seasons first 11 imo, though not quite how we expected it to come.

That would be pretty disastrous. I would imagine that the middle of the pitch would be a bit of a mess if we had Masch, Barry & Alonso all playing center mid. Unless you mean that Alonso would take up Gerrards old position ? Hes not really mobile enough for that and doesnt score enough goals. Its also shifting Gerrard out wide, which we shouldn't do. He has just had his best season ever in regards to goals and assists.

~Rebel~

Tusky wrote: »

That would be pretty disastrous. I would imagine that the middle of the pitch would be a bit of a mess if we had Masch, Barry & Alonso all playing center mid. Unless you mean that Alonso would take up Gerrards old position ? Hes not really mobile enough for that and doesnt score enough goals.

Yup, further forward in Gerrards position, but playing his own game rather then trying to emulate what Gerrard did. Him passing around from further forward, he'd definately get a lot more assists, and would also get a lot more goals then he did from deep. He does have a fantastic strike after all, but rarely gets forward enough to utilize it for us. In his one start for Spain, he showed what he can do when allowed to go forward more with 2 fantastic attempts. As well as this, Barry would score more then Alonso did in the midfield role, if used as he was at Villa (which only makes sense as its those performances in that role which have us buying him).

Its also shifting Gerrard out wide, which we shouldn't do. He has just had his best season ever in regards to goals and assists.

Yes he has, but i couldn't see his stats dropping. His previous best season was from right wing, so its fair to assume that in a free RWF role he'll do well.

Im not suggesting this as a plan or even what i think will happen, im saying that right now, the way things are, if Alonso were to stay as that article says, and we still buy Barry, that this imo is our strongest 11, with no weak links. If you add a top wing forward into the equation, then you put him in RWF and Gerrard into his position from last year, and either alonso or barry on the bench.

Tusky

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Yup, further forward in Gerrards position, but playing his own game rather then trying to emulate what Gerrard did. Him passing around from further forward, he'd definately get a lot more assists, and would also get a lot more goals then he did from deep. He does have a fantastic strike after all, but rarely gets forward enough to utilize it for us. In his one start for Spain, he showed what he can do when allowed to go forward more with 2 fantastic attempts. As well as this, Barry would score more then Alonso did in the midfield role, if used as he was at Villa (which only makes sense as its those performances in that role which have us buying him).


Yes he has, but i couldn't see his stats dropping. His previous best season was from right wing, so its fair to assume that in a free RWF role he'll do well.

Im not suggesting this as a plan or even what i think will happen, im saying that right now, the way things are, if Alonso were to stay as that article says, and we still buy Barry, that this imo is our strongest 11, with no weak links. If you add a top wing forward into the equation, then you put him in RWF and Gerrard into his position from last year, and either alonso or barry on the bench.

Id rather we keep Alonso - but I really dont see us starting next season with both Alonso & Barry in the team. Too many central midfielders spoil the broth!

Dont be at yourself

A lot of reports now that Alonso has snubbed Juve. Juve have also apparently moved for Sevilla's Poulsen, so that'd put the move in further doubt.

I'd be made up if Alonso stays. I still wouldn't mind Barry coming in, but with Alonso in the squad, there's no need to pay over the odds for him. Get him if the price is right, I suppose. The priority is still in the attacking third, so we'll see.

MementoMori

The Times has a report that Villa have accepted the offer of £15m plus Finnan for Barry. Story & Link in Barry tread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=56492043&postcount=1019

MementoMori

An update on where I think we are with the sales side of transfer things.

Assuming Barry for £15m plus Finnan goes through.

In : Barry (18) , Dossena (6.8) , Degen (0), Total : 24.8

Out : Crouch (10) , Finnan (3) , Riise (4) , LeTallec (1) , Kewell (0) Total : 18

Net Spend : 6.8m

Alonso - £16m - I still think that Alonso will end up at Juventus. I think the reports about Poulsen and Stankovic are just stories trying to get the Alonso as cheap as possible by Juve. Any of the stories/reports I’ve seen is that there is not a lot of difference between Liverpool’s valuation and Juve. Given the Barry deal going through this must tip the balance in Juve’s favour so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a deal being agreed between the clubs but any actually signing might be delayed with Alonso on his holliers - Would prefer to see the deal wrapped up, but could potentially be used to strengthen our bargaining position with say Spurs for Keane. I think they would up their valuation if we had sold Crouch and Alonso and bought Barry. I really hope that this deal gets done as I cant see any logic to having Gerrard, Mascherano, Barry, Lucas, Benayoun , Plessis, and Alonso in our squad - I know Rafa loves his CMs but come on. I think the slower pace of the Italian game would suit him to a tee.

Carson - £5m - Stoke rumours resurfacing. Saw a rumour somewhere that Boro and WBA had been put off due to his £10m valuation. I think one of the reasons he’s being moved on is to free up funds and that Rafa must value him pretty highly. I think we should maybe reduce the price a bit and have a sell-on clause in the contract if he’s sold for over £10m within the next few years. Given he’s an English keeper stranger things have happened. He’s only 22 and I could potentially see someone buying him for this sort of price. Maybe even if it was only 15% to 20% but I’d just hate the idea of him going for big money down the line and not getting a slice of the pie. Going to Stoke say recovering his form, being partly responsible for keeping them up for a year or two and Arsenal/Chelsea/Utd coming in with a silly money offer. Seems likely Cavalieri deal will be done soonish at a price of £3m . Read mixed reports on him but will wait to say how he performs before judging. £3m isn’t exactly extortionate.

Itandje - £2m Someone at Liverpool should have a word a day or two after we sign Cavalieri and point out that with Reina, Cavalieri, Carson (if still around) that he is fourth choice so if he has any sense he should join Kewell in Turkey. Maybe a combo of Skrtel/Masch and Carra might point out in a friendly non-threatening manner, it’s in his and the club’s best interest to move on. Jog on time imo.If he doesn’t move on I will be majorly pissed at him. Might not be fair but I want him gone.

Guthrie - £2m - Wonder if he’s be held onto until the Olympics are over and Masch and Lucas are back and injury free? My current favourite conspiracy theory. Too many bodies ahead of him to see him getting into the first team and I can’t see him wanting to go back to the reserves after almost 30 appearances for Bolton last season. Don’t know if Bolton would be interested in after signing Muamba for £5m as a CM. Checking that football lineups site seemed Bolton played him as RM (12) and LM (4) as well as CM (11).

Hobbs - £1m - I think I saw a rumour that was Ipswich that bid a million for him. Might be moved on depending on how Rafa rates him - with Cara, Skrtel, Agger & Sami around tough to see him making more than an odd cameo appearance at best. Maybe a loan deal to a Championship team where he would get games would make the most season. Back to Scunthorpe?

Pennant - £4m - Not one single rumour I can think of - Unloved - Most likely to continue to be a squad player unless we buy a RW and use him as part-exchange - which given the lack of right sided player rumours so far unlikely unless Rafa pulls something out of the bag. I think Rafa’s is more concerned with a striker and then a left-sided winger atm..

Voronin - More unloved - Seems unlikely to move this season - my hope is that Torres, Babel and the new second striker will perform so well that he will be relegated to an injury cover situation, or someone to bring on at the end of already won games to save these players for future matches.

Benayoun - Think it’s pretty certain he’ll be at Liverpool next season

Nemeth - Seems to be a fair bit of speculation that he will be going to Leeds for a season-long loan. I think this isn’t because Rafa doesn’t rate him, more a case of Rafa not rating the reserve completions [he’s spoken about this before - I think the lack of B and C teams by the big clubs in the lower leagues in England a la in Spain is one of things that irritates Rafa ]

Insua - The only other first-team player that might possibly go out on loan but I don’t expect him to be sold

My guess is that Alonso,Carson and Itandje get sold bringing in £23m

Guthrie I don’t know - maybe after the Olympics - lower level PL side maybe?
Hobbs - loan deal to Scunthorpe makes sense to me
I expect us to still have Benayoun(cool), Pennant (meh) and Voronin (IYFTSEOTG -Earthworm Jim)
Nemeth - I would prefer we keep him and for him to push Voronin down the pecking order but Rafa seems to think he’s not ready yet and he’s still a young lad. Playing regularly in a pretty competitive league will give us a much better idea if he is good enough for the first team. Rafa’s knowledge > my knowledge
Insua - possibly the young player who might benefit from the seven subs thing.

So assuming the sales of Alonzo (16) , Carson (5) and Itandje (2) go through and we buy Cavalieri for (3) then we are up £13.2m net

We’d have the keeper situation sorted, and I cant see us at looking at anything apart from the final attacking third of the field.

MementoMori

So we've netted £13.2m in sales - see above ^^^^

Who do we buy?

I dont think Villa is an option - think he want to stay in Spain. Silva is off the cards too as I think he's too expensive for us.

Keane - There was a rumour that Spurs bid £9m for Crouch. If thats the case then our Crouch plus £5m bid which was turned down would represent an offer of £14m in Spurs's eyes. I don't know how much more it would cost to land Keane but I definately can't see us going much north of £20m maximum.

The whole Downing link has gone quiet the last while so it's hard to see where that's at. Wonder if we could swing a Carson plus cash deal. Boro def need a proper keeper. Carson plus £2m would be an okay deal
More realistically Carson plus £7m though. Wouldnt be too displeased by that at all.

Also the Milner link seems to have faded. If Bentley ends up at Spurs, he might well end up moving to Villa.:)

Riera looks to be massively overpriced. Didnt really fancy him at £9.5m and def don't fancy him at more. Hope this rumour dies.

Crespo - I'm liking the idea of him on a free more and more. It would only be a short-term thing but I could see it working.

On the Luis Suarez thing - £20m is a lot of money and the rumours seem pretty vague - given there are rumours about Huntelaar around the £18m to Utd and Arsenal he'd want to be pretty special. I don't know anything about him but would share some apprension about the Dutch League - as against that he's much younger than our most recent Dutch league player and would be expected to improve. I don't buy the rumour though. Doesnt pass my sniff test. :cool:

So it seems like these are the current players we are interested in/been linked with according to rumours. The Suarez one I only commented on as it's the most current. I 100% believe that Rafa is interested in Keane but I don't know what the chances are with our finances. Leaning towards the opinon that this could run until the end of August - think of it as the sub transfer saga coming off the bench, if the Barry saga finally ends:(
On the Crespo on a free - would luvitluvitluvit
On the whole Downing thing - depending on how much he cost would be interested. Rate him a lot highter than Riera and obviously Millner.

Don't think it would be impossible to end up with getting all three of Keane
(20), Crespo (0), and Downing (12) . Purchase cost of £32m plus our sales of £13.2m => net spending of £18.8m Surely the Yanks could afford that.:rolleyes:

Resulting squad

Fernando Torres
Robbie Keane
Hernan Crespo
Dirk Kuyt
Ryan Babel
Stuart Downing
Steven Gerrard
Yossi Benayoun
Jermaine Pennant
Javier Mascherano
Lucas
Damien Plessis
Andriy Voronin
Krisztian Nemeth
Sami Hyypiä
Daniel Agger
Fábio Aurélio
Alvaro Arbeloa
Martin Škrtel
Philipp Degen
Jamie Carragher
Andrea Dossena
Emiliano Insúa
Pepe Reina
Diego Cavalieri

Potentially a massive step up in quality in terms of the squad in my opinion.

In : Keane, Barry, Crespo, Downing, Degen, Dossena, Cavalieri
Out : Alonso, Crouch, Finnan, Riise, Kewell, Carson, Itandje, LeTallec

Would be very impressed with our transfer dealings if that's how things ended up.

Dont be at yourself

Yeah, it doesn't look too bad, does it? While I still have reservations about selling Alonso, the overall squad would look much better. I reallythink Keane could be a great addition to the attack, but Spurs wont let him go easily.

I read that Hamburg are looking to release Sorin from his contract. He's 32, and I haven't seen him at Hamburg, but he was a cracking player before he moved. He'd be great cover/competition for Dossena/Aurelio, and could no doubt teach compatriot Insua a thing or two. Pie-in-the-sky though, as left-back isn't really a problem position for us now...

IrishMike

According to Borja Valero’s agent, the Real Mallorca midfielder is being linked with a move to the red half of Merseyside.

Valero’s agent Alexander Caamano said, “Liverpool are interested in the boy after monitoring his progress last season. I hope to speak with Mallorca about this matter in the next few days.”

Mallorca’s sporting director Nando Pons is reluctant to sell the player, but will consider if a great offer comes knocking.

Pons said: “The club needs money but we don’t want to break up the team we had last season. But if a great offer arrives we will be forced to consider it.”

Borja Valero caught the eye of Liverpool scouts with his commanding performance last season. The 23-year-old player joined RCD Mallorca after being released by Real Madrid.

http://kop-tv.com/go/reds-linked-to-yet-another-real-madrid-reject/


Think ye will all join me in a chorus of "Who are you!"

jesus_thats_gre

Pulling Crespo's name out of nowhere and sticking it on that list is slightly pushing it tbh.. We haven't been linked with him at all.


As for the possibility of signing Barry and Alonso not moving on. This wouldn't be a bad thing in my opinion but I would very much doubt that you will regularly see Macherano, Barry and Alonso on the pitch together.

The 3 of them would rotate depending on the opposition in my opinion. It would also tie in with a previous suggestion that Gerard is no longer considered to be part of the midfield and is now effectively seen as one of the forwards.

Also, as I said before, I would have no problem with Downing been taken in. I would also really like Keane to be signed.