Keane completes Liverpool Move

estebancambias

Invincible wrote: »

Torres was a prolific scorer before he came to liverpool,so I think Benitiz is'nt deserving all the credit.

Torres was certainly not prolific by any standards, well maby to Ade Akinbiyi.

Karmafaerie

shane86 wrote: »

Right, Im going to bed before I start talking about the time David O`Learys header helped beat the English 5-2 in Stuttgart and won us the 1994 Mexico world cup.

Best......day........ever!!!!!!!!!:D

Boggles

I honestly think it is an excellent signing for Liverpool. Will be interesting to see where Gerrard is predominately played next season.

It suits Keane too, prospect of Champions League football, he just got married so London life not important anymore, raise family, etc.

Keane for me thou has always been a poor finisher, that's not to say he does not finish the goals he gets very well, but he is very frustrating to watch sometimes, when he has time to make a decision it usually goes pair shaped, very much like Rooney.

---

Spurs in my opinon are doing some great business, with Berbatov more than likely going somewhere they could well generate over 60 million in sales. Be interesting to see who else Ramos brings, they have a history of big named centre forwards. Eto or Villa I'd maybe?

zAbbo

Invincible wrote: »

Torres was a prolific scorer before he came to liverpool,so I think Benitiz is'nt deserving all the credit.

Not to the level he achieved last year. (33 goals in 46 games)

Here's a couple of articles where FT praises RB

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=764118
http://kop-tv.com/go/torres-rafa-is-obsessed-with-details/
http://www.anfieldred.co.uk/2008/04/28/torres-rafa-makes-crazy-demands

Mr Alan

Invincible wrote: »

Torres was a prolific scorer before he came to liverpool,so I think Benitiz is'nt deserving all the credit.

Seasons

---

apps-goals
2003-2003----31---14
2003-2004 ---40---21
2004-2005----49---20
2005-2006----40---13
2006-2007----40---15
2007-2008----46---33

Quite the difference since his arrival at Liverpool.

Rafa does not deserve all the credit, but a massive chunk of it, which is why Fernando has given a massive amount of it to him.

~Rebel~

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Apologise ....:pac:
For £20m I'd expect one of the top ten strikers in the world.

For 20million you will not get any of the top 10 strikers in the world unless they're old (Van Nist) or in the last year of their contract or something. Under normal circumstances, you just wont get them for that price. The market has simply shifted, players are more expensive at the moment. For christ sakes, we got 11million for crouch who was begging to leave and had only 1 year left on his contract! really think 9 more would net a top 10 striker?!

Eto'o, Villa, Torres, Drogba, Benzema, Ibrahimovic, Totti, Aguero, Messi, Tevez, Rooney.

There's 11 strikers for you. Not even probably the definitive top ones, just 11 i thought of off the bat. Which do you think we would have a chance at getting for 20million? Totti in theory might, but he'll never leave that club, and would only be cheaper as he's pushing on and has passed his peak

Keane doesnt belong in that category ,he simply isnt clinical enough in my opinion.

Whatever anyone says about him being clinical, the fact remains that he has a record of 1 goal in every 2 starts. He might miss chances, but he scores plenty of them.


All in all, a silly post imo.

Dont be at yourself

Good move for everyone.

Keane gets CL football at his boyhood favourites.
Liverpool get a proven Premier League scorer who suits their system.
Ireland get their best player playing for a top club and playing in a similar system that Trap is likely to employ.
Spurs gets a bagload of cash that Ramos can use to bring in his own players.

I've wondered for a few years why a Top 4 club never took a chance on Keane. I always thought that he'd do well at Man Utd, but never really saw him in a Liverpool shirt. I'm delighted that he's signed though. Torres and Keane are a mouth-watering strike force.

LuckyLloyd

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Whatever anyone says about him being clinical, the fact remains that he has a record of 1 goal in every 2 starts. He might miss chances, but he scores plenty of them.

The crucial point!!

I am over the moon at this news. Genuinely think it is a great bit of business for us. Can't wait to see what Benitez will do with him and how he will link up with Torres and Gerrard. Exciting times ahead!!

Xavi6

therecklessone wrote: »

I'm very happy with the price tag...:D

Lol I bloody well bet you are!

£20.3 million for Robbie feckin Keane? The transfer market really is crazy.

Decent player, not great by any means, frustrates the hell out of me, and Spurs have done well to take advantage of the lack of good strikers currently available.

Keane is in the same bracket as Andy Johnson who is being sold for £13 million.

Dont be at yourself

Didn't Man City just spend a similar amount on Jo?

I don't want to start an argument, but I know which one I'd rather have at Liverpool.

One Cold Hand

I'm delighted for Robbie and hope it works out for him.

Just wonder about his role in the Liverpool team. A good few people mentions variations on the the
Keane - Gerrard - Babel
Torres
formation, saying Keane would be awesome. Whenever I've seen him at his best, it's as an out and out striker, running in behind the defence. He never seems to be that effective with his back to goal, receiving the ball. I think that's why he hasn't been that effective for Ireland. He's starved of possession and drops deep to pick up the ball, but he's not as effective in that position.
They're just my observations on him! But what would I know! Don't get me wrong think it's a great signing for pool, and I definately think him and Torres up front together will be really good, but I'm not sure about him in a wide right position.

LuckyLloyd

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Didn't Man City just spend a similar amount on Jo?

I don't want to start an argument, but I know which one I'd rather have at Liverpool.

lol. On your bicycle Xavi.

One Cold Hand

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

I know which one I'd rather have at Liverpool.

Jo?

Xavi6

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Didn't Man City just spend a similar amount on Jo?

I don't want to start an argument, but I know which one I'd rather have at Liverpool.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

lol. On your bicycle Xavi.

Lol I was actually waiting on that comeback.

And FWIW that price tag has left me dumbfounded as well because there's a strong chance he'll flop and be back in Russia on loan by January. That fee is also scandalous.

On Keane, there is absolutely no way he is worth that much money imo, and Spurs definitely got the best out of the deal.

LuckyLloyd

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Jo?

Dont be at yourself

At the end of the day, the market dictates the value.

Darren Bent, 12 months ago, cost 16 million.
David Nugent, a Championship striker, cost 8 million, and sat on the bench all season.
Peter Crouch, with one year on his contract, moved for 11 million.
Andy Johnson is being bought my relegation strugglers for 13 million.
Man City have bought an unproven import from Eastern Europe in Jo for 18 million.
Arsenal supposedly want 35 million for Adebayour.
Man Utd may have to pay 35 million for Berbatov, and a similar fee to sign Tevez.

Robbie Keane for 20 million is a great piece of business, considering these factors:
He has been one of the most consistant scorers in the Premiership
He's the captain of both club and country.
He was not nearing the end of his contract.
The club didn't want to sell.

So, I think 20 million is a great price. Can you suggest any other players of a similar price tag that would be ready to slot into Liverpool's side and aid a title challenge?

Xavi6

Well Jo has good Champions League experience at least.........

Plus he's 7 years younger.

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Man City have bought an unproven in the Premiership import from Eastern Europe in Jo for 18 million.

Now hold on there, I had to fix that post. There are other leagues outside the Premiership you know. He's also scored goals in the Champions League and at international level for Brazil. Hardly totally unproven.

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

So, I think 20 million is a great price. Can you suggest any other players of a similar price tag that would be ready to slot into Liverpool's side and aid a title challenge?

I never said there was. Re-read my earlier post. It says -

Spurs have done well to take advantage of the lack of good strikers currently available

Dont be at yourself

Yeah, fair enough.

Sadly, Liverpool don't have the funds to take 20 million gambles on young brazillians. We're not going to win the league if we spunk our whole budget on a couple of expensive foreign imports.

Besides, there's plenty of potential and youth in the Liverpool squad. We need some proven Premiership experience, someone who is mobile, versatile and hungry to win. As such, Keane is a much better fit for the Liverpool squad than the likes of Jo, Vagner Love, Milito or any other striker I can think of who'd be available for a similar fee.

Xavi6

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Yeah, fair enough.

Sadly, Liverpool don't have the funds to take 20 million gambles on young brazillians. We're not going to win the league if we spunk our whole budget on a couple of expensive foreign imports.

But wasting it on Robbie Keane is somehow ok?

Besides, there's plenty of potential and youth in the Liverpool squad.

Is there really? Where are all the players who won the FA Youth Cup less than two years ago? How many of them have even gotten a whiff of first team action? IMO good youngsters is something Liverpool haven't produced in a long time.

We need some proven Premiership experience, someone who is mobile, versatile and hungry to win. As such, Keane is a much better fit for the Liverpool squad than the likes of Jo, Vagner Love, Milito or any other striker I can think of who'd be available for a similar fee.

Milito would only cost about 6 million.

Dont be at yourself

But wasting it on Robbie Keane is somehow ok?

It's not a waste. In Keane, you're getting a proven, consistant Premier League performer. You can't argue with his record.

Is there really? Where are all the players who won the FA Youth Cup less than two years ago? How many of them have even gotten a whiff of first team action? IMO good youngsters is something Liverpool haven't produced in a long time.

Plessis and Insua are on the verge of first-team football. Rafa blooded a lot of players towards the end of the season, and during pre-season the likes of Pacheco have been getting a run-out. We've sold on Dannie Guthrie to Bolton, and more will be going out on loan this year. Rafa has completely overhauled out youth system, and it will be a few years before we see the fruits of this. I do expect a youth-led league cup run though.

Coupled to this, we have Babel (21), Lucas (21), Agger (23), Mascherano (24) and Torres (24), who are all first-team players and all have plenty of years left in them before they 'peak'.

Honestly, youth is the least of Liverpool's problems.

Milito would only cost about 6 million.

We can argue figures until the cows come home, but my point still stands that there are no strikers on the market for the price we paid for Keano that would suit Liverpool's current system, playing style and priorities as well as he does. Or can you name any?

Xavi6

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

It's not a waste. In Keane, you're getting a proven, consistant Premier League performer. You can't argue with his record.

I still think the amount spent is very much OTT.

Plessis and Insua are on the verge of first-team football. Rafa blooded a lot of players towards the end of the season, and during pre-season the likes of Pacheco have been getting a run-out. We've sold on Dannie Guthrie to Bolton, and more will be going out on loan this year. Rafa has completely overhauled out youth system, and it will be a few years before we see the fruits of this. I do expect a youth-led league cup run though.

Coupled to this, we have Babel (21), Lucas (21), Agger (23), Mascherano (24) and Torres (24), who are all first-team players and all have plenty of years left in them before they 'peak'.

Honestly, youth is the least of Liverpool's problems.

Fair enough, though that doesn't really answer my question about the homegrown talent that did so well in 2007. Where are they now?

We can argue figures until the cows come home, but my point still stands that there are no strikers on the market for the price we paid for Keano that would suit Liverpool's current system, playing style and priorities as well as he does. Or can you name any?

Again, I did say that there aren't many players on the market at the moment and that's why Spurs have done well out of the deal. They have gotten a higher fee than they deserve for such a player.

RasTa

You are seriously deluded if you don't think £20 million is overpriced for Robbie Keane. Prices don't really bother me though; he will be a good addition to your squad. Good deal for both parties imo.

Fratton Fred

I like Keane, I would have liked to see us break the bank and sign him in January when i think he and Benjani would have made an awesome pairing.

However, we got Defoe and crouch for the same amount of money Liverpool just paid for him.

As much as I like Keane, £20m, your're avin a laugh.

Fratton Fred

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

At the end of the day, the market dictates the value.

Darren Bent, 12 months ago, cost 16 million.

Madness

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

David Nugent, a Championship striker, cost 8 million, and sat on the bench all season.

nearer £4m I think

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Peter Crouch, with one year on his contract, moved for 11 million.

is Keane twice the player crouch is then?

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

Robbie Keane for 20 million is a great piece of business, considering these factors:
He has been one of the most consistant scorers in the Premiership
He's the captain of both club and country.
He was not nearing the end of his contract.
The club didn't want to sell.

Dejan Stefanovich was captain of club and country, we sold him for £1m to Fulham

I don't think the point is about Tottenham not wanting to sell, its more about why Liverpool were so desperate to sign him. do they really need to sell more shirts in Ireland;)

therecklessone

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Rafa simply stated, when asked directly, after two official bids had been made to Spurs, that he he had inquired about Keane, and that he was one of a number of players Liverpool were looking at.

And you have official confirmation from either Liverpool or Spurs that bids had been submitted (and crucially accepted) so that it was ok for Rafa to declare his interest in a player under contract at another club in such a public way?

If the rules of the transfer market were followed to the letter, Robbie Keane should not have been aware of any bid from Liverpool unless Spurs made him aware of such a bid. It is not Rafa Benitez's role to inform the media (and by extension Keane himself) that he has Robbie Keane in his targets. That is the Liverpool Echo's job...

Therefore a comment like Rafa's is a breach of rule Q2.

Now I know that Keane was aware of Rafa's interest long before the comment appeared, indeed I suspect Keane was aware of the interest before any approach was made to Spurs. As I've said a long time ago, I don't see the comments by Rafa or Fergie as any great deal, but in the case of Liverpool it is a breach of the rule, however minor.

spockety

I think at this stage we can probably all accept that people who think 20m quid is too much for Keane and everyone else is deluded are not going to be moved from that position. People who think that 20m is a fair reflection of the current market and represents a good buy for Liverpool will not be moved from their position.

One of those groups of people will have to move from their position when Keane's Liverpool contract ends. Until then, agree to disagree? ..

PHB

Robbie Keane should not have been aware of any bid from Liverpool unless Spurs made him aware of such a bid.

Really? I couldn't believe that's true?

Dave!

Newstalk say he'll be #7

rosboy

spockety wrote: »

I think at this stage we can probably all accept that people who think 20m quid is too much for Keane and everyone else is deluded are not going to be moved from that position. People who think that 20m is a fair reflection of the current market and represents a good buy for Liverpool will not be moved from their position.

One of those groups of people will have to move from their position when Keane's Liverpool contract ends. Until then, agree to disagree? ..

The man speaks sense people.

rosboy

Dave! wrote: »

Newstalk say he'll be #7

I saw that somewhere too.

Think he'll be playing in the Villareal game tomorrow. Its on Sky Sports 1.

therecklessone

PHB wrote: »

Really? I couldn't believe that's true?

Lowest form of wit...

If the rules of the transfer market were followed to the letter

gixerfixer

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

£20m ,crazy money for Keane,he isnt worth half that.
Think of who you could buy with that money .
What is it with Liverpool over the last few years ?
Spending huge amounts of money on overpriced players with very limited footballing ability .

Em Torres,Masherano,Babel,Skrtel to name a few....sure what a waste of money right :rolleyes:

gixerfixer

19 million aint cheap alright but if it brings us the league next season (which i think it wont) then it's value for money.With the exception of Wenger all the big clubs overpay for players...Carrick,SWP,Bent,Hargreaves the list goes on.Sad as i talked to some Man U and arsenal fans yesterday and to a man they all think it's a bad signing and every Liverpool fan thinks it's a good signing.Some even went as far as to say they wouldnt be cheering for him when he's playing for Ireland.Pathetic really.

Sherifu

Good to have him onboard at last.

_blank_

gixerfixer wrote: »

Some even went as far as to say they wouldnt be cheering for him when he's playing for Ireland.Pathetic really.

This is why I hate going to Oirland matches.

Full of gobshítes like that.

Clowns.

Xavi6

gixerfixer wrote: »

19 million aint cheap alright but if it brings us the league next season (which i think it wont) then it's value for money.With the exception of Wenger all the big clubs overpay for players...Carrick,SWP,Bent,Hargreaves the list goes on.Sad as i talked to some Man U and arsenal fans yesterday and to a man they all think it's a bad signing and every Liverpool fan thinks it's a good signing.Some even went as far as to say they wouldnt be cheering for him when he's playing for Ireland.Pathetic really.

So you're saying it would be good value if you won the league but then say you won't win it so does that make it a rip off?

pvt.joker

gixerfixer wrote: »

Babel....sure what a waste of money right :rolleyes:

Correct

Karmafaerie

therecklessone wrote: »

And you have official confirmation from either Liverpool or Spurs that bids had been submitted (and crucially accepted) so that it was ok for Rafa to declare his interest in a player under contract at another club in such a public way?

If the rules of the transfer market were followed to the letter, Robbie Keane should not have been aware of any bid from Liverpool unless Spurs made him aware of such a bid. It is not Rafa Benitez's role to inform the media (and by extension Keane himself) that he has Robbie Keane in his targets. That is the Liverpool Echo's job...

Therefore a comment like Rafa's is a breach of rule Q2.

Now I know that Keane was aware of Rafa's interest long before the comment appeared, indeed I suspect Keane was aware of the interest before any approach was made to Spurs. As I've said a long time ago, I don't see the comments by Rafa or Fergie as any great deal, but in the case of Liverpool it is a breach of the rule, however minor.

You really are just grasping at straws.

You smugly posted an article of premiership law, that had nothing to do with what you're talking about.

It's over.
Move on.

And just so you know, Robbie Keane handed in a transfer request.
Both Robbie and Tottenham have come out and said this.
A club is obliged to inform a player of any official bids for him.
Robbie said that as soon as he was made aware of Liverpools offer he said he wanted to go.
Rafas first mentioning of Keane stated that he had made an offer including players that had been refused, and that he then made a cash offer.
Therefore Spurs were obliged to inform their player of the offer before Rafa said anyhing to the media.

Unless you're suggesting that Spurs were in talks with Liverpool, no matter how advanced or the intentions of Spurs at the time, and didn't tell their player, which is a breach of contract laws, as no club may speak to another club regarding a contracted player without informing the player.

Allow me to put this in the simplist possible English for you.

Spurs never acused Liverpool of breaking any rules.
They reported Liverpool for their "handling" of the transfer.

The timeline is as follows.

Liverpool made initial offer.
Spurs said no.
Spurs informed Keane as they are obliged to do.
Keane said that he wanted to go to Liverpool.
Liverpool made a new offer.
Rafa answered a reporters question about Keane.
Spurs and Liverpool came to an agreement.
Spurs "reported" Liverpool.
A week passed.
Keane agreed terms with Liverpool.
Keane signed.

Simple.

You obviously know nothing about the legal aspects of football transfers, as you've tried to use one article copletely unrelated to prove your point, and when I corrected you, inadvertantly implied that Tottenham had broken the rules by not informing Keane of the bid!
Forget it TRO.
You're wrong.

What it boils down to is this.

Tottenham never accused Liverpool of breaing any laws.
They accused them of a breach of etiquite.
The only people you think that Liverpool broke the rules are the delusional Spurs supporters like you.

I don't want your hearsay or conjecture.

Either post a quote from Spurs accusing Liverpool.
Or post proof of Liverpool breaking any rules.
Or move on.

Cause I'm fed up of helping you make a fool of yourself!


Edit: And for the last time (hopefully)
Q2 is in regards to making offers to the player himself before agreeing terms with the club!
It has nothing to do with this.
Take that article and throw it away.
It won't help you!!!

rosboy

gixerfixer wrote: »

Em Torres,Masherano,Babel,Skrtel to name a few....sure what a waste of money right :rolleyes:

Don't forget Agger......another waste of money probably:rolleyes:

People should really think before they hit that "Post Reply" button. In the past Liverpool have had limited funds and Rafa has had to take a gamle on certain players at time. When given money to spend (the past eighteen months) look at the players he's brought in (gixerfixers post above).

Look at mormanks post from the Liverpool thread. Everyteam, no matter who they are, have brought in foverpriced players in the last few year, some of which haven't performed to their best in the premiership.

mormank wrote: »

Forget what you or I or Karma think he is worth. It's so irrelevant. Tell me honestly who is the last player that Utd or Chelsea signed who at the time people really thought was worth the price thet paid for them..Rooney-30m Ferdinand 30m. carrick-18m. Hargreaves-18m. Tevez-over20m at least. Nani-18m. Anderson-18m. Sheva-30m. SWP 18m+. Veron30m + 20m. Boswinga ffs-17m. Carvalho-20m. Ferreira-15m+. Cole-Gallas + 5m...

These are just the names off the top of my head. Who honestly thought these players were worth this at the time(hand on heart)?? But this is what you need to do to win the prem these days im afraid unless your name is Arsene Wenger(pure genius imo btw). Chelsea spend as much on right backs as we just have on keane ffs...

I hope you see where I am coming from with this post. Plus one thing I have noticed about Fergie down through the years is that he always has signed the majority of his strikers from within the premiership...Rooney, Teddy, Saha, Tevez, Cantona are but a few that spring to mind. This is something that has not been reproduced by any of the other 3 of the Big 4. Alex knows what he is doing.

So guys, before making broad, sweeping statements, why not use the bit of grey matter between your ears.:rolleyes:

Edit: took me a while type the response, and gixerfixer posted some of my points before me. Damn you to hell:mad:;)

Karmafaerie

Xavi6 wrote: »

Fair enough, though that doesn't really answer my question about the homegrown talent that did so well in 2007. Where are they now?

They won the reserve championship last year.
Players don't go from under 18's to the first team in a year or two.

Players come through the ranks, up to the reserves, usually go on loan for a few seasons, then try and make an impact.
The obvious exceptions being with lower clubs with less first team talent, and with world class players.

DeadSkin

IMO, I think deep down Levy is rubbing his hands with glee, £20m is a lotta cash.
Levy coming out and criticising the move, could it be a front for the Spurs fans? Ramos has been very quiet over the transfer.
Anywho, it's a good deal for both clubs.

Xavi6

Karmafaerie wrote: »

They won the reserve championship last year.
Players don't go from under 18's to the first team in a year or two.

Players come through the ranks, up to the reserves, usually go on loan for a few seasons, then try and make an impact.
The obvious exceptions being with lower clubs with less first team talent, and with world class players.

So who has come through the system in that way since Gerrard?

rosboy

Karmafaerie wrote: »

They won the reserve championship last year.
Players don't go from under 18's to the first team in a year or two.

Players come through the ranks, up to the reserves, usually go on loan for a few seasons, then try and make an impact.
The obvious exceptions being with lower clubs with less first team talent, and with world class players.

And the 2006 and 2007 youth FA cups. The guys involved those campaigns graduated to the reserve team and then won the reserve league, as Karmafaerie said.

Xavi, you might want to read this interview with Eduardo Marcia, Liverpools chief scout. It shows Rafa's plan for the youth teams, and how they will integrate in future.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/featu...80724-1204.htm

Here's a relevant quote:

Now we are building for the future here. We've brought in a lot of young players in the last few years. Guys who are 16, 17, 18 years old and they all have the mentality we want. That's why they won the reserve league last season. We know they can still improve as players, but they have the right mentality. Guys like Nemeth, San Jose, Bruna, Spearing, Darby, Insua, Gulacsi... Now we are hoping to add more players to that quality. It's a young side, in Spain it would be described as a B team. The idea is to provide first team players for the future so that when they are 20, 21, 22 they are ready for the Premier League. Another type of player we are bringing in is someone like Lucas Leiva who was one of the best young players in Brazil and then there's Ryan Babel. Both of them are in their early 20s and are players for the future. On the next level it's Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger. They are still young, but have lots of experience and can go straight into the first team and should be here for many years. The idea is that in the future we will be bringing through enough players for the first team that the manager might only need to buy one or two players every summer. He won't need to go out and sign four or five. Steven Gerrard, Carra, Sami Hyypia and Finnan are all fantastic veterans. And we've tried to add to that with guys like Kuyt, Alonso, Reina and tried to unite the team. It's not possible to spend £200m to win the Premier League. We can't do that so we have another way. Now Rafa is happy with the young players we have and wants to continue improving the senior squad.

Karmafaerie

DeadSkin wrote: »

IMO, I think deep down Levy is rubbing his hands with glee, £20m is a lotta cash.
Levy coming out and criticising the move, could it be a front for the Spurs fans? Ramos has been very quiet over the transfer.
Anywho, it's a good deal for both clubs.

No Ramos came out and said that it's Spurs policy to sell players like Robbie Keane and that their fans should accept it.
The fans (or some of them) just aren't listening.
They're too busy making up new premiership laws, and disregarding the old ones!;)

Tottenham manager Juande Ramos has given a realistic overview of the transfer talk with key attacking pair of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov at the centre of the speculation.

The Republic of Ireland ace Keane, who is reported to be valued at £20m, is a top target for Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool, while classy Bulgarian international Berbatov has been for a long-time linked with Manchester United with recent reports even suggesting a £28m deal has been agreed.

Ramos, who has taken the squad to his homeland Spain for pre-season training camp, told AS: "We're going to see how this ends, but we're speaking about two very important footballers.

"For the moment they are with us but, whatever happens, our plan is to have a good squad with a potential that helps us to do better than last year.

"We have to be realistic, see where we start from and who are going to compete with us. Important clubs have been spending a lot of money for years and have a certain advantage, that's why they say they want to sign our players.

"Obviously we understand there's a top four composed of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, who are the ones that qualified for the Champions League in the last few years and challenging them is very complicated.

"Our aim is to finish in this top four, but we are aware of the fact it's difficult and that other teams will fight for the same goal.

"At Tottenham we have had a clear philosophy regarding buying and selling for years. You need to understand that this club is in the transfer market, a company that needs to debrief at the end of the financial year.

"The idea is signing young players, promising and talented ones and, if important offers for older players are made, studying it to see what is the best for the club."

Xavi6

rosboy wrote: »

Xavi, you might want to read this interview with Eduardo Marcia, Liverpools chief scout. It shows Rafa's plan for the youth teams, and how they will integrate in future.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/featu...80724-1204.htm

Here's a relevant quote:

Ok I picked up on this -

Guys like Nemeth, San Jose, Bruna, Spearing, Darby, Insua, Gulacsi... Now we are hoping to add more players to that quality.

Now the highlighted guys to me don't demonstrate a good youth system. They represent a good buying system as I doubt they came from the streets of Toxteth. I'm sure some of them even commanded a transfer fee. Two (imo) homegrown players out of seven isn't great.

rosboy

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ok I picked up on this -



Now the highlighted guys to me don't demonstrate a good youth system. They represent a good buying system as I doubt they came from the streets of Toxteth. I'm sure some of them even commanded a transfer fee. Two (imo) homegrown players out of seven isn't great.

Guthrie has just been sold.

Hobbs has just gone out on loan.

Hammill has just gone out on loan.

You might find some more English names here: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/youth/

Rafa has only been at Liverpool a few years. He can't exactly be blamed for not having brought in 12 year olds that haven't made it to the first team yet:rolleyes:.

Besides, if you look at the other big four teams, how many young player have they brought through recently?

Karmafaerie

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ok I picked up on this -



Now the highlighted guys to me don't demonstrate a good youth system. They represent a good buying system as I doubt they came from the streets of Toxteth. I'm sure some of them even commanded a transfer fee. Two (imo) homegrown players out of seven isn't great.

All the players you highlighted were 16 when they came to Liverpool IIRC.
Seeing as the plan is for them to break into the first team around the age of 21-22, that's 5 to 6 years in the youth reserve set-up.
As far as I'm concerned, that's coming through the system at the club.

Melion

Whats all this got to do with Robbie Keane signing for us?

sweetie

Xavi6 wrote: »

So who has come through the system in that way since Gerrard?

whatabout Warnock and Guthrie. They seem to be highly regarded amongst clubs outside the top 4.

event

glad for keane, its a good move and i hope he does very well.
he never got a chance at us and he was one of my favourite players for his brief time with us.

its always great to see irish players at bit clubs, so hopefully this can impriove him. I hope now with rafa and trappatoni, they can help him to cut out the moaning in his play.

all in all a good move. Probably a bit over priced, but generally when top players move from club to club in england, the price is always over the top.