Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

PHB

Personally I don't rate Mancini either. I think there's a serious lack of quality out there this year in the transfer market.

Chardee MacDennis

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote: »

I would prefer having downing in the squad over quaresma and I don't rate downing that much.

PHB wrote: »

Personally I don't rate Mancini either. I think there's a serious lack of quality out there this year in the transfer market.

dont think either would cut it in the EPL. Would absolutely take SD over both of them...

Mr Alan

i'd take Downing over Quaresman tbh, and i'd take Milner over Mancini too.

dont really rate either of them, ****ing hate their attitude

IrishMike

+1 to the last 6 posts.
Dont rate any of the wingers all that highly to be honest and ill throw Riera into that list too.
Surely there are some up and coming prospects in Spain/Italy who have more end product
than the likes of simao or quaresma?
Ill take Danny Murphy back before id sign either of those 2 diving twats

zAbbo

The thing with good young wingers like Diego Capel, Jaime Gavilán or Jesus Nevas, is that the don't offer good value for money as the clubs they're with will hold out for the huge premiership money.

spockety

PHB wrote: »

Personally I don't rate Mancini either. I think there's a serious lack of quality out there this year in the transfer market.

Eh, if you don't rate Mancini, why can't you understand why Liverpool wouldn't move for him at that sort of price...?

MementoMori

DeadSkin wrote: »

Babel is included in the Dutch squad.

BOO :mad:

In other news - saw on a Turkish site that Itandje has agreed terms with Galatasaray. Fingers crossed it will be confirmed tomorrow.

Also there was a rumour on one of the forums that we had a bid involving Pennant and Carson for Downing turned down. Apparently we were going to make a cash offer now. Also a fair bit of talk that the Keane deal was pretty much done :cool:. Setanta Sport reporting that some bookies had stopped taking bets on Keane moving to Liverpool - don't know how reliable an indicator that is.

With Babel off at the Olympics:mad:, we are looking weak on the left side of the pitch. A deal for Downing looks like it would make a lot of sense for Liverpool. Just wonder if we will be held to ransom - i.e. anything above the £12m range. Also if Boro turned down Pennant and Carson, it just confirms my low opinion of Southgate, given their squad at the moment.

Definately doesnt seem to be a lot of value out there with wingers atm e.g. Milner £9m, Riera bid rejected at £9.5m, Bentley £17m - in those terms Mancini does look relatively decent value, but I never saw him as a Rafa type player

I wonder if they sent Parry to Portugal to keep him out of the way to avoid mucking up the other transfers ? "alright Rick you head over to Portugal and have a chat with Ricardo. Don't worry we'll look after things here."

Currently I'm hoping we sign Keane (announce tomorrow;)), Downing and pick Crespo up on a free ( crazy I know but still :rolleyes:) and confirm the sales of Itandje (£2m), Carson (£5m), and Pennant (£5m)

Keeper Itandje follows Kewell to Galatasaray
Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje is finally heading for the Turkcell Super League to tie up a deal with defending champion Galatasaray and follow in the footsteps of striker Harry Kewell.

Galatasaray General Manager Adnan Sezgin said yesterday that the deal with Itandje “has been completed,” but gave no details. Reports said the French international was itching to leave Anfield where he was blamed for their FA Cup defeat by Barnsley. Itandje's departure is expected to pave the way for Scott Carson's departure with Stoke, determined to sign him and Middlesbrough waiting in the wings.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=147211

Blackhorse Slim

Was anyone listening to Off the Ball last night? I caught the end of an item where they were discussing whether Liverpool could afford Aguero's buy-out clause... Is there anything to this? Aguero is top class and would be a great signing, even though he'd be very expensive. It would be nice to think that Rafa was counting his pennies to be able to make one big swoop like that. Although I may have taken them up wrong...

IrishMike

Midfielder Xabi Alonso's failed move to Juventus means Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has abandoned plans to buy David Villa and David Silva from Valencia - and may have to give up hope of signing Tottenham striker Robbie Keane. (Daily Mirror)

Hands up who knew Alonso was worth £60m???
Stupidest story of all time

shotamoose

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has beaten Portsmouth, Sunderland and Benfica to the signature of Pablo Aimar and is set to complete a £7m deal for the Real Zaragoza forward. (Daily Mirror)

That would really depress me, I think he's a very good player and surely worth a punt at £7m. Now he'll probably just wither under Kev's magic crappening spell.

IrishMike

We basically could have sold Pennant for 5-6m and bought Aimar for some lose change.
The only thing i would say is his age and size would mean his large wages are a risk.
Probably a risk Rafa wasnt willing to take.
Downing for 12m is a lot better value than Aimar for 7m when you factor in Aimars wages in comparison to Downings.

shotamoose

IrishMike wrote: »

Downing for 12m is a lot better value than Aimar for 7m when you factor in Aimars wages in comparison to Downings.

Fair enough. I wouldn't be too upset if we got Downing either. In Rafa we trust and in Kev we definitely don't!

dardoz

any1 read arsenal being after alonso? I can't even remember the source, just read it half an hour ago at home before i left for work. My god if we sell xabi to arsenal to play alongside cesc just to get gareth, darren will be a very angry camper

leninbenjamin

dardoz wrote: »

any1 read arsenal being after alonso? I can't even remember the source, just read it half an hour ago at home before i left for work. My god if we sell xabi to arsenal to play alongside cesc just to get gareth, darren will be a very angry camper

nothing but speculation. Alonso imo isn't the type of player Arsenal need.

IrishMike

Arsenal need a defensive midfielder to play beside Fabregas.
Someone in the mould of Makalele or Yaya Toure not an Alonso or a Barry.
Rumours are a bit of a joke to be fair.

IrishMike

Kevin Keegan is in talks to sign versatile Holland midfielder Nigel De Jong in a £3m deal from Hamburg. (The Sun)

Definitely a player we should be looking at if the Barry deal falls though.
Terrific value even as a squad player
Id sell lucas to finance it, mainly due to the fact that i think he is worthless

gixerfixer

IrishMike wrote: »

Kevin Keegan is in talks to sign versatile Holland midfielder Nigel De Jong in a £3m deal from Hamburg. (The Sun)

Definitely a player we should be looking at if the Barry deal falls though.
Terrific value even as a squad player
Id sell lucas to finance it, mainly due to the fact that i think he is worthless

If you are a Liverpool fan you should be ashamed of yourself for putting any stories,rumours etc......up from that rag:mad:

IrishMike

Super, thanks for the input.

Papers Rumour Accuracy For Liverpool
Paper Right Total Num Accuracy
The Guardian 8 19 42.11%
The Independent 12 31 38.71%
The Express 16 42 38.1%
Daily Record 1 3 33.33%
Daily Telegraph 6 22 27.27%
The Sun 30 117 25.64%
Daily Mail 17 72 23.61%
Daily Star 17 74 22.97%
The Times 10 48 20.83%
News Of The World 12 79 15.19%

Most accurate tabloid out there.

IrishMike

Taken from football-rumours.com.
Totally unsubstantiated of course

I work closely with the Liverpool board, So anyway here it goes. To the person who said that a German has been staying at a hotel in Liverpool' It is not Podolski, It is German Youngster Marko Marin, he is an attacking midfielder and Rafa has opted to go for him because he will be much cheaper than the likes of David Silva and Queresma, Plus he should be easy to sign as Liverpool have a good relationship with his team Borussia Monchengladbach. I can also reveal that the Barry deal is very close to collapsing as Martin O Neil and Rafa cannot agree a price for the England international, if the Barry deal falls through expect Rafa to go for Spanish youngster Javi Martinez, Martinez is a central midfielder and Rafa has been watching him for two years know. This means that Alonso will unfortunatly be leaving Anfield in a possible move to Athletico Madrid, possibly as an offer for Argentinian Sergio Aguero, yes it is surprisingly Liverpool who have made an offer for the youngster, he will offer Alonso + £18 million. Thats all the news I have for know,.

Would be one hell of a summer if we got Aguero.
He is a better signing than villa in my opinion as he would fit better into our system.
Dont know anything about the other 2 guys mentioned but ill be glad if the barry deal
doesnt go ahead.

Youtubed Marin and he does look pretty damn good on the ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_9NjVb5Amc
He is also meant to have an excellent delivery from free kicks which is yet another plus.

Aldini98

gixerfixer wrote: »

If you are a Liverpool fan you should be ashamed of yourself for putting any stories,rumours etc......up from that rag:mad:

Well said !

A fella I know swears he is a die hard Liverpool fan. Buys the Sun every day :rolleyes:

Pepe LeFrits

IrishMike wrote: »

Arsenal need a defensive midfielder to play beside Fabregas.
Someone in the mould of Makalele or Yaya Toure not an Alonso or a Barry.
Rumours are a bit of a joke to be fair.

Arsenal should be looking for an energetic, mobile box-to-box midfielder, not a sitter like Makelele (Toure is a different kettle of fish). Gilberto is a sitter and he's being flogged to Pana by the looks of it.

Anyway I'd be extremely surprised if Arsenal went for Alonso.

IrishMike

Ill get lambasted for this but:
It was 15 years ago, time to bury the hatchet perhaps?

Blackhorse Slim

IrishMike wrote: »

Would be one hell of a summer if we got Aguero.
He is a better signing than villa in my opinion as he would fit better into our system.
Dont know anything about the other 2 guys mentioned but ill be glad if the barry deal
doesnt go ahead.

Including Alonso in a deal for Aguero is probably the only way we could afford him - I agree it would be a great deal for us, but it would leave us still needing a midfielder, with Mascherano and Lucas both missing the start of the season.

dardoz

IrishMike wrote: »

Youtubed Marin and he does look pretty damn good on the ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_9NjVb5Amc
He is also meant to have an excellent delivery from free kicks which is yet another plus.

When did Luke Chadwick move to Germany?

mike65

IrishMike wrote: »

Ill get lambasted for this but:
It was 15 years ago, time to bury the hatchet perhaps?

while I'm not going to get into a lather if you quote the Stun, the problem is that Kelvin McKenzie still stands over thatstory.

Mike.

IrishMike

Chadwick ya damn Yokel!

--amadeus--

IrishMike wrote: »

Ill get lambasted for this but:
It was 15 years ago, time to bury the hatchet perhaps?

Posting stories from that paper I can live with. I don't see the point myself but I'm not going to make a song and a dance about it.

Suggesting that we should "bury the hatchet" though is nonsense, is disrespectful of the innocent victims of one of teh worst and most biased, unfactual and cruel press tories of them all and not one that I would reccomend you make around Anfield on match day.

IrishMike

mike65 wrote: »

while I'm not going to get into a lather if you quote the Stun, the problem is that Kelvin McKenzie still stands over thatstory.

Mike.

He hasnt been the editor of the sun since 1993.
Thats 15 years ago which is the point i was making.

MementoMori

Stick me in the prefer Downing for £12m over Aimar for £7m - Given Babel's at the Olympics we need someone for the left-side of the pitch fairly sharpish.

I wish we could give some sort of clue as to whether Leto can play for us - seems such a waste to have him in the squad but not able to play - I remember some comment from Rafa way back indicating he rates him pretty highly. Definately be nice to be able to have him on the seven subs bench at some stage this season. Irritating to think that is Italian bureacracy is holding this up for so long now. Probably Parry keeps telling Rafa he'll look after it, which is why it has dragged on so long.

On the football-rumours thing - I don't believe anything from that site - in most cases I tend to lean towards the opposite of what is posted, but for what its worth I do remember there being talk of Marin maybe two/three months back.

I don't think Aguero is a viable target - I think he falls into the too rich for our blood camp. If it was the case we bid for him at Alonso+18, that would definately mean that we wouldn't be in for Keane and would also desperately need a new midfielder to replace Alonso and would be no better of regarding the wings.

Getting Aguero would mean no Keane and no Alonso plus buying someone cheaply to replace Alonso e.g Marin or Valero

Keane (assume Keane at £20m)
Alonso (cant see him being valued at any more than £14m)
Downing (£12m)
Aguero (£32m)

Aguero(£32m) = Alonso(£14m) plus £18m = £32m
Which means Aguero(£32m) or Keane (£20m) plus Downing (£12m)

It would be nice to get Aguero but I think Keane plus Downing makes a hell of a lot more sense.

Given Hleb has apparently signed for Barca, I think Arsenal do need a mid-fielder but I don't think Arsene would be aiming for Xabi. Stranger things have happened but I would be very surprised.

On the rumours front it has gone very quiet in the papers today with regard to Liverpool rumours - I wonder if there finally might be some news.

Fingers crossed Dossena will have his international clearance for the friendly tonight - bloody Italian paper pushers :rolleyes:

IrishMike

MementoMori wrote: »

Getting Aguero would mean no Keane and no Alonso plus buying someone cheaply to replace Alonso e.g Marin or Valero

Marin is a left winger so he wouldnt really be a replacement for Alonso.
If he was less than £10m and Rafa rates him, would be happy to see him bought over Downing.

MementoMori

IrishMike wrote: »

Marin is a left winger so he wouldnt really be a replacement for Alonso.
If he was less than £10m and Rafa rates him, would be happy to see him bought over Downing.

Oops - for some reason assumed he was a CM - off to investigate what I can about Marin. Valero most likely must be the cheap Alonso replacement so.

PHB

Rafa seems to have messed up a bit this year so far. Wanted to sell Alonso and replace him with Barry . Wanted more for Alonso, pushed the sellers off and they bought someone else. Tried to get Barry but pushed the sellers up too high.

If he still wants to buy Barry, he needs to shift Alonso on (to who I don't know. Can't see any of the top 3 in Italy going for him, nor the top 2 in Spain) or use him as part of an attempt to get a young talent.

IrishMike

PHB wrote: »

Rafa seems to have messed up a bit this year so far. Wanted to sell Alonso and replace him with Gerrard.

Where on earth did you get that from?
He wanted to replace Alonso with Barry not Gerrard

Wanted more for Alonso, pushed the sellers off and they bought someone else. Tried to get Barry but pushed the sellers up too high.

If he still wants to buy Barry, he needs to shift Alonso on (to who I don't know. Can't see any of the top 3 in Italy going for him, nor the top 2 in Spain) or use him as part of an attempt to get a young talent.

If he values Alonso at £15m you consider it bad business not to sell him for £12m
Are you having a laugh?
There will be suitors out there for Alonso, the likes of Atletico, Villareal, Sevilla
etc will all be interested but may not make the interest public
Selling Alonso to Juve for less than its worth and buying Barry for more than
he is worth would be considered good business by you PHB, glad you are
not manager of Liverpool :rolleyes:
You could be the next Souness

PHB

How he managed it is the problem.
The fact that he thought he could buy Barry off the club that is trying to replace them in the top 4 on the cheap, but at the same time trying to shift Alonso to Juve at an inflated price (despite it being clear to the world he has to sell to buy) just completely smacks of a lack of any sort of realism. A month of the transfer season has been wasted on this.

Blackhorse Slim

How he managed it is the problem.
The fact that he thought he could buy Barry off the club that is trying to replace them in the top 4 on the cheap, but at the same time trying to shift Alonso to Juve at an inflated price (despite it being clear to the world he has to sell to buy) just completely smacks of a lack of any sort of realism. A month of the transfer season has been wasted on this.

Villa valued Barry at £18million, Juve valued Alonso at £14million. Rafa disagreed slightly with both valuations, so no deal was done. All part of the normal cut-and-thrust of transfer dealings tbh.

MementoMori

PHB wrote: »

Rafa seems to have messed up a bit this year so far. Wanted to sell Alonso and replace him with Gerrard. Wanted more for Alonso, pushed the sellers off and they bought someone else. Tried to get Barry but pushed the sellers up too high.
If he still wants to buy Barry, he needs to shift Alonso on (to who I don't know. Can't see any of the top 3 in Italy going for him, nor the top 2 in Spain) or use him as part of an attempt to get a young talent.

Huh? Replace Alonso with Gerrard - Care to explain that one? Is it a typo?

On the Barry thing I don't really think you can claim he pushed the buyers too high - from all accounts seems like MON had decided on the £18m valuation from the get-go on - can hardly claim Rafa pushhed Barry's price up?

On the Alonso thing - you could equally claim that Juventus simply weren't willing to match his valuation -it's not like he agreed a deal and then said hold on actually we want another £2m causing the deal to collapse - could also be interpreted as not willing to being bullied into dropping his valuation.

On the plus side he has managed to get a very decent price for Crouch who clearly wanted to move to Porstmouth and only had a year left on his contract.

I think it's a little early to be saying Rafa has messed up in this transfer season - we've managed to acquire Dossena, who seems to have a pretty good reputation, Degen on a free who has potential as well as a reportedly promising enough number two keeper in Cavalieri - Could all turn into world beaters yet, but as they havent even played in a competitive match yet I think it's a little early to be judging whether or not they are good additions to the squad, no?:cool:

Early days yet and the big deal which has been done has turned out better than I hoped - the Crouch deal.

Maybe you could come back in a couple of months and then we could discuss whether or not Rafa has "messed up" in this transfer window?

IrishMike

PHB wrote: »

How he managed it is the problem.
The fact that he thought he could buy Barry off the club that is trying to replace them in the top 4 on the cheap, but at the same time trying to shift Alonso to Juve at an inflated price (despite it being clear to the world he has to sell to buy) just completely smacks of a lack of any sort of realism. A month of the transfer season has been wasted on this.

An inflated price for Alonso?
Rafa valued Alonso at 16m Juve at 14m, how on earth is that inflated can i ask?
And he offered 11m, 12m, 14m and 16m for Barry how is that an attempt to get
him on the cheap?
Villas retort to each bid was no thanks we want 18m each time.
Pretty much the same negotiating tactics that gimp at Lyon uses.
Rafa didnt think he was going to get Barry on the cheap, he also wasnt
expecting MON to bend him over a table, lube him up and screw him for
all the world to see.
In my eyes the person lacking realism is the one who thinks Alonso is worth
12m while Barry is worth 18m

citytillidie

If Alonso is only worth £12m then Barry is only worth £6m

MementoMori

Getting back to more sensible matters - the football-rumours rumour :P:rolleyes:;) about the interest in the boy Marin - had a look at some of his youtube videos (I know - but I am that bored waiting for any decent news) and he does seem to have definite potential.

From what I saw on youtube - Nippy, good close control, likes to hug the touchline, likes to take on (and beat) his man, he seems to be physically brave, only a young fellow (just 20) 5'7 in height but wasnt pushed off the ball by defenders and seemed more than willing to go in for the 50-50. Put a couple of decent balls into the box (particullarly when he space and time), but also sometimes his end product seems a bit iffy when under pressure.


From his stats he has only made the step up to the Bundesliga this season - played 35 games got four goal - from the highlights would imagine a lot of assists esp with regard to putting the ball into the box for strikers to head home. Probably best suited to a situation with the classic big man in the bix scenario.

Overall on what little I've seen to judge I think it would be a case of a buy for the future - seems more like a project to work on - cant really see him fitting into Rafa's plans atm as he seems like a classic chalk on his boots traditional winger.

I'd be more inclinced to buy Downing given Stu's experience in the PL, his goal scoring abilities plus the fact that if we don't sign Barry we could well with doing with an improvement from corners (something I think Downing would give us)

Best complitation of Marko I came across

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h43BSddtfMQ&feature=related

~Rebel~

IrishMike wrote: »

He hasnt been the editor of the sun since 1993.
Thats 15 years ago which is the point i was making.

the fact they rehired him is enough for me, as well as the fact that they didn't fire/discipline him when he brought it all up again while in their employ 2 years ago.


Have heard a bit about Marin before, claiming him to be another wunderkid, seems highly rated alright. As much as we can trust him, those youtubes look good. Never seen him play live myself though so cant really judge..any Borussia Mönchengladbach games coming up perchance?

Blackhorse Slim

From the Echo - Tony Barrett

LIVERPOOL are ready to put their move for Gareth Barry on ice – unless Aston Villa lower their valuation of the player.

The Reds protracted chase for the England international is now reaching epic proportions and with no sign of a deal being done Liverpool are ready to concentrate their efforts on bringing in Rafa Benitez’s remaining summer transfer targets.

With Villa refusing to budge on their £18m valuation of Barry the two clubs have reached stalemate as Liverpool are not prepared to pay that price.

The 27-year-old was today returning to training with Villa as Martin O’Neill softened his previously hardline stance on his wantaway club captain.


But Barry’s desire to quit Villa Park has not lessened, nor has Benitez’s desire to bring him to Anfield – meaning O’Neill will have to decide whether or not he wants to do deal with Liverpool or face the prospect of keeping a player who has already publicly admitted he sees his future elsewhere.

Good to see Rafa finally playing hardball over this. Can't see Arsenal offering £18million either.

LINK

IrishMike

More rumours - source is dodgy though

Liverpool are ready to make a £20 million bid for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane.

Republic of Ireland international Keane is a life-long Liverpool fan and has made it clear he wants to move to Anfield.

Liverpool would be his sixth club with the Kop's £20m capping a series of multi-million pound moves.

Coventry paid £6m to Wolves for Keane in 1999 and subsequent deals have seen him go to Inter Milan for £13m, Leeds for £12m and then Tottenham for £7m in August 2002.

Keane has scored 107 goals in 254 games for Spurs and bagged 33 goals in 80 Irish appearances.

Kop boss Rafa Benitez believes Keane will provide his side with much-needed pace up front alongside main striker and Spanish hero Fernando Torres.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is expected to hold onto young left-back Emiliano Insua.

The Times says Benitez is expected to reject a loan bid from Newcastle for Insua, the Argentina Under-20 full back.

Obviously Rafa must feel he will be making a number of first team appearances this
season if the story is to be believed.

Olympiacos have made a move for Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva.

The Times says the Greek giants have made an approach for the Brazilian, which is likely to be rebuffed by Reds boss Rafa Benitez.

Real Mallorca midfielder Borja Valero has welcomed interest from Liverpool.

"There is no greater club than Liverpool," he stated. "I will remain at Mallorca until they tell me otherwise. If Liverpool say they want me then I am very flattered by it.

"Mallorca would have preferred to keep the bulk of the players that did so well last season but they are a selling club.

"I always want to win things and progress as a footballer."

Levia out and Valero in perhaps?
Lucas for me doesnt look capable to make the step up to be a top notch player
in the premiership as he seems to need far too much time on the ball.

MementoMori

Just a rumour from RAWK but ShanksLegend has previous good form with regard to comings and going. - Was posted on the Keane transfer speculation tread.

I think we might have him, could see Alonso going the other way though, however i doubt he will go to spurs as they dont have CL football and he really wants to stay with us.

There are potentially 2 targets if this falls through, one player who i certainly think will tick all boxes.

Come on announce him already.

As regards the backup target I think Crespo is one - wonder you the other could be?

IrishMike

Crespo is definitely not one imho.
He wages will be astronomical, he doesnt like the PL and he is too slow to play in a counter attacking team.
Not going to happen

~Rebel~

IrishMike wrote: »

Levia out and Valero in perhaps?
Lucas for me doesnt look capable to make the step up to be a top notch player
in the premiership as he seems to need far too much time on the ball.

Id definately prefer to keep Lucas. Has moments of brilliance and has only been here a season having been fantastic for club and country previously. Would def give him another year, see how he does, and then make a decision.

All the same, in the pecking order i wouldn't like him to move up just yet, would like either alonso to stay, or barry to go with Lucas still being the understudy. Really dont like thoughts of Barry not joining and Alonso leaving.

MementoMori

Shanks Legend had ths to say as well regarding the Barry transfer. :eek:

Do we suddenly have a magic pot of gold? Could we possibly see a squad with Alonso and Barry in it? Wonder if the new bis is Finnan plus £16m?

Best bit in bold - thank Fowler

Good day all, had 2 people tell me this now that the only stumbling block today is that both clubs are haggling over the worth of Steve Finnan...............

We have changed a bid which will be forwarded to Villa this morning which will hopefully come a bit closer to their terms.

I am told that this is pretty much our final attempt, as the club feel that we are being put in an awkward situation and dont only want the best for Liverpool but also for Gareth.

Rafa is desperate to have his structures i.e new players for the beginning of next week.

I.e i think we will see quite some activity in the coming days.

wcarey1975

[quote=

Levia out and Valero in perhaps?
Lucas for me doesnt look capable to make the step up to be a top notch player
in the premiership as he seems to need far too much time on the ball.[/quote]

Think it's a little harsh on the chap to want him out after his first season. Similiar was said by some Utd fans after Ronaldo's first season. He's just moved quarter way across the world on his own and had to adapt to that aswell as a differnt football. Only time will tell whether he'll work out or not but I for one will give him the benefit of the doubt for now, especially after the goal that he should had scored in the derby if Neville hadn't made such a sunning save:cool:, Hopefully we'll see more from him this season.

MementoMori

IrishMike wrote: »

Crespo is definitely not one imho.
He wages will be astronomical, he doesnt like the PL and he is too slow to play in a counter attacking team.
Not going to happen

The thing is if it's a short term deal would this wages be astronomical?

I was kinda hoping he wouldnt be looking for exobitant wages as opposed to looking to join a team with a serious chance for CL glory.

Probably a bit daft but I just fancy the notion of him on the bench in a Pool jersey, don't really know why either

Potentially we have/could free up quite a bit on the wages front if Crouch, Kewell, Alonso, Finnan, Riise, Pennant plus Carson and Itandje end up leaving.

I assume we are ahead with Crouch, Riise and Kewell wages easily covering Dossena, Degen and Cavalieri, with a fair bit left over

MementoMori

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Id definately prefer to keep Lucas. Has moments of brilliance and has only been here a season having been fantastic for club and country previously. Would def give him another year, see how he does, and then make a decision.

All the same, in the pecking order i wouldn't like him to move up just yet, would like either alonso to stay, or barry to go with Lucas still being the understudy. Really dont like thoughts of Barry not joining and Alonso leaving.

Agree with this - far too soon to be moving Lucas on but I also wouldnt like to be relying on him full-time yet.

IrishMike

Kewells wages probably covers the new signings wages by himself