Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

aramush

Great to hear we are on the verge of singing Mkhitaryan, but for the love of God, please let no one show him our new away kit until after he signs!!

Dickerty

aramush wrote: »

Great to hear we are on the verge of singing Mkhitaryan, but for the love of God, please let no one show him our new away kit until after he signs!!

That's probably trendy in Armenia and Ukraine!



Yeh, I think we are safe...

Phoenix Park

We won't ask what you had to Google to come up with that picture Dickerty.

Dickerty

Morzadec wrote: »

No one will match his valuation, we're not in a position where we have to accept a below valuation offer. All the noises from the club seem to be saying that teams will have to pay top dollar.

No, I think Real will stump up, maybe with a player thrown in to make up the numbers. They really need a poacher, a proper finisher, cause Benzema isn't reliable enough (I'd take him!), and looks like Higuain is leaving. Cavani is a high scorer, but is that easier in Serie A than in the Prem?

Suarez has 59 goals and 30 assists in his last 100 games (2 seasons).
Cavani has 76 goals and 18 assists in his last 111 games.
So over 100 games average, Cavani has about 10 goals more, and Suarez has 14 more assists. But Cavani gets about 1/5th his goals from taking penalties, so it's probably closer to parity on goals.

Dickerty

Phoenix Park wrote: »

We won't ask what you had to Google to come up with that picture Dickerty.

"Armenian Street Style", thank God for SafeSearch!

Luckycharms_74

Reds close in on signing of Sevilla’s Luis Alberto
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fc-close-signing-sevillas-4389079

Alberto set to be LFC's third summer signing
By Neil Jones


Liverpool FC will look to finalise the £6m signing of Sevilla’s Luis Alberto this week.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder is set to become the Reds’ third signing of the summer, though the ECHO understands a fee is yet to be agreed with the Spanish side.

Liverpool have tracked Alberto’s progress closely during a loan spell with Barcelona’s B team last season, and believe his versatility – he can play anywhere across the forward line, or as an advanced midfielder – and potential mark him out as an ideal signing.

The Reds are aware that the player is willing to come to Merseyside, and with Barcelona having passed up the chance to make his loan move a permanent one, are now free to negotiate with Sevilla over the fee.

The Spaniards want around 8m Euros (£6.8m) for the player, but Liverpool anticipate that can be negotiated down to £6m in the next few days. They remain confident a deal will be completed.

Liverpool also believe they are closing in on the signings of Simon Mignolet and Tiago Ilori, with movement expected on both fronts this week.

Sunderland goalkeeper Mignolet has emerged as a major target in recent days, and though the clubs are still some way off in terms of their valuations of the Belgian international, a compromise worth around £9m is expected to be struck.

A similar situation exists with Sporting Lisbon defender Ilori, with the Portuguese side asking for in excess of £6m for the 20-year-old. Liverpool have so far offered around £3m, but expect to make progress on that front, though the player is currently on duty with Portugal’s U20 side at the World Cup in Turkey.

A deal to bring Shakhtar Donetsk star Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Anfield, however, is likely to take a little longer. The ECHO revealed on Monday that the Reds will face a fight to land the Armenian, with a number of top European clubs also monitoring his situation.

Mkhitaryan is valued at £20m, and the initial noises from his camp have been promising. The Reds, though, view the 24-year-old as an “ambitious” target, and hope the absence of European football at Anfield next season will not be a hindrance to any deal. Mkhitaryan is understood to have flown to the Ukraine on Monday to speak with Shakhtar officials about securing a move away from the club.

Liverpool are bemused, meanwhile, by reports suggesting their £7.7m deal to sign striker Aspas from Celta Vigo could be delayed, or even blocked, by a dispute with the Spanish Football Federation over the player’s paperwork. The Reds announced a deal had been agreed in principle for Aspas last week, and are adamant the move will be finalised once both the English and Spanish transfer windows open at the end of the month.

Francie Barrett

opr wrote: »

Pacheco destroyed the reserve league in England for half a season this year. Was probably our best youth player until he went on loan this season to Huesca in the same B league. From what I can gather he didn't really standout while this guy has 11 goals and 17 assists. Playing in the better team obviously helps but I think it shows the kind of level this guy could be at compared to some of our youngsters.

Opr

Yea, under-21 football is unfortunately a very poor barometer of how good a player can be in the real world. Joe Cole looked like friggin' Lionel Messi even though he was clearly unfit when playing at that level. As for Pacheco, I think you're under-playing him a little. Yes, his team did get relegated, but from the matches I saw, Pacheco was probably their standout player most of the time. The team he had around him couldn't even kick a ball straight at times, desperate quality.

LiamoSail

Front The Times re; mkhitaryan (via bbc gossip column)

Liverpool will fund that transfer with the sale of striker Andy Carroll, 24, to West Ham. The Reds have been forced to compromise over the fee for the England international to generate funds for Mkhitaryan.

Would seem to suggest that this is being funded separate to the Suarez deal, hence any fee received for Suarez should still be made available to Rodgers

gafferino

LiamoSail wrote: »

Front The Times re; mkhayran (via bbc gossip column)



Would seem to suggest that this is being funded separate to the Suarez deal, hence any fee received for Suarez should still be made available to Rodgers

I said this a week or so ago. The rumoured Mkhayran came before the Suarez stuff in the press. That doesnt mean of course that the club didnt know he might leave. Seemed to me they were separate though.

klose

With big joe kineer hillariously involved with newcastle again as a dof we might even get a better price kff newcastle now for andy :pac:

Leiva

Does anyone else think that IF we sign the players linked, and move on the players rumored then that could be a big reversing and fix on recent mistakes made on player transfers, and a big step towards solid squad strengthening?

or does it feel a bit like throwing out the baby with the bath water?

edit: Losing Suarez of course would throw this theory right out the door.

Francie Barrett

Rodgers specifically talked about bringing in an attacking midfielder before Suarez started acting the b0ll0x. My only worry is that Mkhitaryan may be viewed as the 'marquee' signing of the Summer. If that's so, then I think we are in trouble. It seems unlikely to me that any of our lads or the new players (Alberto/Aspas) will be able to replace the goals and assists we got from Suarez.

Leiva

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Rodgers specifically talked about bringing in an attacking midfielder before Suarez started acting the b0ll0x. My only worry is that Mkhitaryan may be viewed as the 'marquee' signing of the Summer. If that's so, then I think we are in trouble. It seems unlikely to me that any of our lads or the new players (Alberto/Aspas) will be able to replace the goals and assists we got from Suarez.

I think you're going to be disappointed.

LiamoSail

Leiva wrote: »

Does anyone else think that IF we sign the players linked, and move on the players rumored then that could be a big reversing and fix on recent mistakes made on player transfers, and a big step towards solid squad strengthening?

or does it feel a bit like throwing out the baby with the bath water?

That's obviously the aim, though I suppose like most, I've seen pretty much nothing of the new/rumoured signings, so have to hope Rodgers and he scouts have done their homework

gafferino

Leiva wrote: »

Does anyone else think that IF we sign the players linked, and move on the players rumored then that could be a big reversing and fix on recent mistakes made on player transfers, and solid squad strengthening?

or does it feel a bit like throwing out the baby with the bath water?

I definitely feel that we would have a better squad. If you look at last summers squad going into the start of the league season compared with what we think we are going to get this summer then definitely in better shape this summer. I assume your talking about:

Toure
Aspas
Alberto
Mickey
Papa
Llori

I know there are one or two others but these seem to be the most solid ins at the moment. Then of course Suarez and Reina could go. Suarez is irreplaceable imo but Reina I would be ok with....although GK is notoriously difficult to replace. I would be happy enough with Mignolet.

I still think we could do with cover for Lucas and another starting striker if Suarez goes.

Who else were you including?

LiamoSail

klose wrote: »

With big joe kineer hillariously involved with newcastle again as a dof we might even get a better price kff newcastle now for andy :pac:

Ala John Hartson to Wimbledon? £7m iirc, huge money at the time

Leiva

Nah those names are pretty much those I had in mind, but losing Surarez would be a major blow.

The link with Lamela is interesting but...could he be lined up if Suarez goes?

Not a direct replacement but with the other offensive players rumoured to be joining then it could go a bit of the way to replace Suarez's 20+ league goals.

Papa better be good as it seems him and Kola are seen as the answer to our defensive problems:o

mike65

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Rodgers specifically talked about bringing in an attacking midfielder before Suarez started acting the b0ll0x. My only worry is that Mkhitaryan may be viewed as the 'marquee' signing of the Summer. If that's so, then I think we are in trouble. It seems unlikely to me that any of our lads or the new players (Alberto/Aspas) will be able to replace the goals and assists we got from Suarez.

Which is better 6 players who can average 15 goals each in a season or putting your eggs in two main baskets who you hope can score about 25 each?

Rodgers said he wanted 20 more goals and assembling a squad that can spread the goalscoring between them is the best way to achieve that aim.

I don't think Mkhitaryan is the "marquee" signing either, though he could be the most expensive but that's not how I measure the term (if I did Andy Carroll would have been called such in January 2011 and Stuart Downing in Summer 2011 and neither are anyone idea of a marquee name!).

Dickerty

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Rodgers specifically talked about bringing in an attacking midfielder before Suarez started acting the b0ll0x. My only worry is that Mkhitaryan may be viewed as the 'marquee' signing of the Summer. If that's so, then I think we are in trouble. It seems unlikely to me that any of our lads or the new players (Alberto/Aspas) will be able to replace the goals and assists we got from Suarez.

I'd agree on that, but if we do move Suarez on, I'd be amazed if we didn't bring in another striker. Aspas was never intended to be that player. He says we need 20 more goals, that is from a combination of Aspas, Alberto and MkH, as compared to Downing, Hendo and Sterling last year (13 goals between them). Of course, these are also stronger bench/rotation options. But we'd still need to replace Luis' 30+ goals. Having Sturridge for a full season will bring about 10/15 of those, but we'd still need a starter. I would expect Aspas and Borini to be our alternatives, and Alberto for the longer term, so who would be in now?

Negredo?
Soldado?
Martinez?

Or will he be brave and try David Villa? Last year of his contract.
As is Ménez.....

klose

gafferino wrote: »

I said this a week or so ago. The rumoured Mkhayran came before the Suarez stuff in the press. That doesnt mean of course that the club didnt know he might leave. Seemed to me they were separate though.

Yeah its interesting to look at im looking at it this way rodgers apparently got 20 mill off the bat for signings and andy is certain to go for 15 so now we have 35 mill.

Toure-free
Aspas-7-8 mill
Mick-22 mill
Illori-4-5 mill

So weve used our budget on those 4 already, the 2 other heavily linked are papa and alberto i imagine both will cost 20-25 mill so we have to generate that somehow. Skrtel i reckon wed get 8~ mill. Downing maybe 5 mill, coates 4 mill and shelvey 5 mill ? So we are there or there abouts with funds there, however none of those players have been linked with moves bar shelvey and norwich. The reina one im not sure what to make of, if mignolet is signed id assume reina will be sold and both will balance each other.
Instead of selling those you could alternatively sell suarez for 50 atleast, use half the money to buy the aforementioned players and would have 25-30 left over. The only striker who would guarantee us his goals and is semi available would be soldado as valencia missed on the cl. Then theres your bonys,aubamayang,martinez strikers too. Should be interesting to see how it all pans out

gafferino

Bit of info on work on the pitch during the summer.....for all you grass nerds.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/how-anfield-is-being-prepared-for-2013-14

Leiva

gafferino wrote: »

Bit of info on work on the pitch during the summer.....for all you grass nerds.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/how-anfield-is-being-prepared-for-2013-14

18 months later and still looking for Charlie Adam's ball....

Leiva

Srijandeep Das ‏@LFC_360 10m As suspected, The Echo believes #Jonjo Shelvey will be allowed to leave #Liverpool once a reasonable bid comes in.

Srijandeep Das ‏@LFC_360 3m There's interest from Norwich for Jonjo, a bid of 4million - which was well-documented a couple of weeks ago. LFC want near 6-7m.

As I suspected it seems JonJo is gonna part fund Alberto's signing.

Outkast_IRE

Seems like there is a fair bit of work being done to accommodate 3d cameras and cabling systems.

Does anyone even watch the matches in 3d ?

Grayditch

klose wrote: »

With big joe kineer hillariously involved with newcastle again as a dof we might even get a better price kff newcastle now for andy :pac:

I see he cited the signing and selling John Scales for a 3m profit in his list of honours.



Scalesy. 007. The Scalemeister.

mike65

Its Linda I want to see like that.

Dickerty

Leiva wrote: »

As I suspected it seems JonJo is gonna part fund Alberto's signing.

I'd be very unhappy if we sold Jonjo to fund another young player with potential. After all, he IS a young player with potential! I would much prefer we sent him on loan for the season. He value is very unlikely to decrease, and he seems to blossom when he's getting regular games...

Luckycharms_74

gafferino wrote: »

Bit of info on work on the pitch during the summer.....for all you grass nerds.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/how-anfield-is-being-prepared-for-2013-14

Some quotes from that article.

""We also apply a special material, which is like fibre sand, and it is put into the roots zone when the pitch is reconstructed.

"We've had this system in place for 13 years. It was completed in 1998 - and it normally lasts 10 to 12 years. So we're ready to replace that when we can afford it in the next couple of years."

WTF. Does it cost a Suarez of Carroll to replace it

daithijjj

Leiva wrote: »

Does anyone else think that IF we sign the players linked, and move on the players rumored then that could be a big reversing and fix on recent mistakes made on player transfers, and a big step towards solid squad strengthening?

or does it feel a bit like throwing out the baby with the bath water?

edit: Losing Suarez of course would throw this theory right out the door.

You don't cure perceived mistakes unless you make significant gains on what was achieved prior. The league table and challenging for other trophies decides that, not aesthetics, not wage bills, not stats.

I'd go so far as to say that ending up in 6th would be no progress at all tbh given Everton's situation.

Far too many variables yet though, have to wait until end of August.

Dickerty

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Some quotes from that article.

""We also apply a special material, which is like fibre sand, and it is put into the roots zone when the pitch is reconstructed.

"We've had this system in place for 13 years. It was completed in 1998 - and it normally lasts 10 to 12 years. So we're ready to replace that when we can afford it in the next couple of years."

WTF. Does it cost a Suarez of Carroll to replace it

There is a player budget, and a pitch budget. Sure we'll be playing hoof ball next season anyway!

Turtyturd

Dickerty wrote: »

I'd be very unhappy if we sold Jonjo to fund another young player with potential. After all, he IS a young player with potential! I would much prefer we sent him on loan for the season. He value is very unlikely to decrease, and he seems to blossom when he's getting regular games...

He seems to blossom at a lower level...much like Spearing.

Leiva

daithijjj wrote: »

You don't cure perceived mistakes unless you make significant gains on what was achieved prior. The league table and challenging for other trophies decides that, not aesthetics, not wage bills, not stats.

I'd go so far as to say that ending up in 6th would be no progress at all tbh given Everton's situation.

Far too many variables yet though, have to wait until end of August.

I take your point and you're right it all has to be translated into results at the end of the day.

Maybe a different way of asking it would be that if we sign who we expect, and move on who we think, do people reckon we have a stronger side to get us where we want to be?

gafferino

Leiva wrote: »

I take your point and you're right it all has to be translated into results at the end of the day.

Maybe a different way of asking it would be that if we sign who we expect, and move on who we think, do people reckon we have a stronger side to get us where we want to be?

List who those players are you are talking about as some people might have different ideas.....some think we are likely to sign Cavani

Dickerty

Turtyturd wrote: »

He seems to blossom at a lower level...much like Spearing.

I don't think he needs to drop down. Having said that, if Wigan lose McCarthy, I think he would be a smart replacement, and they could in invest in their defense instead...

Turtyturd

Dickerty wrote: »

I don't think he needs to drop down. Having said that, if Wigan lose McCarthy, I think he would be a smart replacement, and they could in invest in their defense instead...

He'll be a smart replacment for anyone willing to cough up a couple of million imo.

People just seem to rave about his time at Blackpool, which admittedly I havent seen but he hasn't shown anything for Liverpool which makes me think he will amount to much.

I am actually glad the Ince talk has died down because it could be the same situation.

Luckycharms_74

Mistake by the club, a leak or a hoax?

klose

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Website blunder

Dead handy if true

Grayditch

Set up for a day one defeat at the hands of Hull, there. Not even joking.

Outkast_IRE

klose wrote: »

Dead handy if true

It would be odd if true though wouldn't it ? 3 Saturday fixtures in a row all 3pm kick off

GBX

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

It would be odd if true though wouldn't it ? 3 Saturday fixtures in a row all 3pm kick off

All fixtures when first announced are down for 3 till sky get involved

Chucky the tree

Good time to play Everton away with Martinez style going to take a while to bed in.

Luckycharms_74

Very soon this could be a regular thing for him.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Quote Premierleague.com
The fixture list will be confirmed on Wednesday 19 June at 9:00am.

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/fans/faqs/when-are-the-fixtures-compiled.html

So, no. Unless leaked. And if ture that Everton game will definitely not take place on Saturday at 3pm!

EDIT - Website no longer containing potention premier league fixtures.

Luckycharms_74

Hopefully this Carroll saga ends today

Lee Ryder ‏@lee_ryder

Sources close to #whufc say Carroll is now on the way to sign for them . Despite talk of late bid from JK this morning. #nufc #lfc

gafferino

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Hopefully this Carroll saga ends today

well.....would be nice if JK came in and started a bidder war.....35m anyone?

mike65

:eek: Its a message!

Every game will be set to 3pm on Saturday until Sky etc decide on games.

No Uefa cup is good for day trippers as there should be a lot more Saturday 3pm games.

Luckycharms_74

rarnes1 wrote: »

Every game will be set to 3pm on Saturday until Sky etc decide on games.

No Uefa cup is good for day trippers as there should be a lot more Saturday 3pm games.

Yeah that's the benefit for next season plenty more 3:00pm games to go to & easier to book in advance for flights

5live

So it looks like a £20 million loss on Carroll:(

But looking at the bright side, Chelsea are reported to be willing to accept £18million for Torres which, if true, would be a £32million loss:eek:

Suddenly it doesnt look so bad in comparison:)

5live

5live wrote: »

So it looks like a £20 million loss on Carroll:(

But looking at the bright side, Chelsea are reported to be willing to accept £18million for Torres which, if true, would be a £32million loss:eek:

Suddenly it doesnt look so bad in comparison:)

Yeah but it's pocket change to Roman!