Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

Girly Gal

I'd be very surprised if Henderson leaves within the next 2 years. What he brings to the team can't really be measured with stats, his leadership within the squad is priceless and would be very difficult to replace, players like Henderson and Milner before him are getting harder to find, they may not be the most creative or technically gifted players, but, when they are not playing it leaves a big hole in the team, Robertson is of the same mould, you know what you're getting with them, 100% effort, won't shirk responsibility and consistent performances week in, week out.

DrumSteve

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117634988#Comment_117634988

I would have thought this whole thing is really just his agent making some noise about everyone else getting sorted out before Hendo and that this will be sorted shortly.

Cos if its the case we've resigned Adrian and not Hendo there will be war.

Talisman

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117626807#Comment_117626807

It looks like a TikTok dance thing. The kids were watching those videos during lockdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43RV7eZgRmI

LuckyLloyd

How long beyond 33 years old do you guys want to keep an injury prone box to box midfielder who depends on his athleticism to be effective?

The team will turn an age curve corner over the next couple of years lads, that will involve some unpalatable realities.

TitianGerm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117635672#Comment_117635672

Can't wait until we get onto the front three.

Lads will blow their lids when they read that all three of the main guys won't be renewed this time as their current contracts are up in two years and all heading for 30.

Salah needs to be kept and has earned a better contract. I'd imagine that means either Bobby or Mane will be moved on for a fee next summer or they renew on much lower contracts.

Edit: Pearce has spoken already apparently.

https://twitter.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1417391875993001992?s=20

TitianGerm

https://twitter.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1417391130396745730?s=20

First two moving on now.

Riesen_Meal

We apparently paid 6.5 for Grujic, so made about 4 million on that one, I liked him but just didn't think he was suited to our Liverpool team....

Agent Coulson

Grujic was Klopp's first Liverpool signing.

TefalBrain

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117633453#Comment_117633453

He's injury prone i can see the logic behind it tbh. FSG are successful because they are ruthless. I knew that the day they got rid of Kenny.

Fitz*

This was quick. Grujic off to Porto on loan, after his loan spell there last season. Hopefully he can build a good career now, after being on loan for a few years now.

Sounds like a £10.5m fee. The club had pretty much recouped his transfer fee in loans alone & now this a nice profit on him for the balance sheet. They'll also hold a 10% sell on clause.

https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1417424199891705857

LuckyLloyd

You can resign everyone on 3 year extensions and we keep the band together. Starting the 2023 season our age profile will be:

Robertson 29

Virgil 33

Fabinho 30

Henderson 33

Firminho 32

Mane 31

Salah 31

This is likely the last year of this team with its current core. Difficult decisions will come at the end of the year. You can extend all of the above players a couple of years to the right but you end up having a huge wage bill of players past their peak who can’t manage a full schedule of games.

That isn’t an option. A rebuild is coming, in one form or another.

brevity

Need to get a few more trophies before heading into a sort of limbo. Klopp hasn't long left on his contract either.

LuckyLloyd

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117636347#Comment_117636347

Well it’s a balancing act. The longer you wait to move players on the worse the rebuild is. The less money you get back, the more games you pay top dollar for players past their peak.

Keeping everyone, adding Konate, and going again this year makes perfect sense. It’s the right choice. But it most likely won’t be the right choice this time next year.

This team is coming towards the end of a magnificent cycle. That’s okay.

martyos121

There definitely is a need to rebuild as soon as possible, but it doesn't look like it'll happen this summer. I'd be just about okay with selling Mane in this window if it meant future-proofing another position in the team for the next 6-8 years at least (a direct replacement for him, or a young midfielder with leadership qualities and the potential to take on Henderson's role in the team).

Having said that, I'd still rather not see Mane leave but he's the most palatable departure out of all the players we have in the squad who'd go for a decent sum.

ebbsy

If Henderson leaves I am done.

Fowler

Owen

Torres

This would be worse.

Agent Coulson

Henderson still has two years left on his contract so I wouldn't start to worry about it till this time next year really. If he was to leave in the next few months it would be for crazy money.

Bobby, Mane & Salah's renewals will be down to their sell on value to be sold next summer or the summer after.

I would like to see the club try for Harvey Barnes who would also fit the homegrown player need however I doubt that will happen till next summer with the sale of Bobby or Mane funding that one.

Riesen_Meal

https://youtu.be/OI3uxUiCA74

So preseason starts today ladies and gentlemen, anyone who doesn't have LFC TV can get it with a free code on their social media 2122GOFREE so will give everyone access to it, don't forget to cancel or you will be charged for it next month, should see Ibu and a few others playing....

I'm off work myself on holidays, would love a nice beer garden to watch it, if anyone knows anything about Dublin I'm all ears... 😉

Agent Coulson

Just watched today's youtube inside training, Naby & Elliott look jacked as hell both must have been hitting the weights over the summer.

Gbear

Two years leaves plenty of time to sign an extension, but it's pretty much the last chance to make any money selling a player.

Henderson, Firmino or Mane might be worth somewhere between 30 and 80m this summer. It'd drop to 10-30m with another year under their belts and only a year left on their contracts.

Ultimately, they have to be cycled out of the squad at some point. I think Salah is the least likely to leave of the "oldies" but for the others, how good a decision to get rid of them would be, would be directly tied to who replaces them.

Replacing Firmino with a wide forward, for example, would necessitate changing the way we play. Maybe it means Salah goes down the middle, or we go to 2 up top with a diamond. Who knows. If we got a like for like, given how central that position is to our attack, it would likely require some bedding in time.

Mane could probably be replaced in a fairly straightforward way, because his position is probably the least tactically complex of the three. For Henderson and Firmino, you'd probably want to sign their replacements the year before they leave, and give them time to learn the system.

If we want to replace any of them, that player should be signed this summer, unless we plan on them running their contracts down.

rob316

There is tough decisions ahead, I would of thought Henderson's position was secure but the long term needs of the squad are paramount. I don't think that article is a huge worry yet, plenty of time to get a deal done.

Keeping Henderson is a no brainer. Also freshen up the squad if possible with younger players.

In good shape for current season. Team full of winners.

marklazarcovic

hendo has proven to be more than just a player for lfc,he's a icon now,hes going nowhere imo. not this season anyway. the kickback from fans would be catastrophic.

Riesen_Meal

https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1417493057658920960?s=20

Davies finally gets to kick a ball for LFC....

~Rebel~

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117637971#Comment_117637971

Looking forward to getting a bit of a look at Kaide Gordon. Supposed to be another huge young attacking talent that was a big coup to get, beating out Spurs and Utd in the process.

Agent Coulson

Ox has been training for the Bobby role all summer.

~Rebel~

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638041#Comment_117638041

Yeah, sounds like with Bobby missing the first few games, that's the plan. Ox himself said he's still focused on being a midfielder, but that the Bobby role is one he's happy enough to play too.

Fitz*

No Philips in either line up. A transfer must be fairly imminent.

~Rebel~

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638083#Comment_117638083

I wouldn't be surprised if he was leaving, but equally I wouldn't read too much into today... it's only an hour of football in total between the two games.

martyos121

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638057#Comment_117638057

I’m hopeful he’ll make a success of it, but if his body struggles to cope with the rigours of playing in midfield for Liverpool, taking on the Firmino role might just break him completely. I don’t think there’s a more physically demanding job in all of football, Wijnaldum even admitted how big of a step up it was in terms of effort when he filled in for Bobby in the first leg against Barca in 2019.

That’s coming from one of the hardest working midfielders in the world.

I like Ox though, I’d love to see him stay fit for a season and be a big part of a successful campaign for us.

McDermotX

Almost time to put FC Wacker to the sword

~Rebel~

Christ that should've never been a pen to us, incredibly harsh and pointless from the ref so early in a friendly.

None the less, Div off the mark, 1-0 Pool.

Riesen_Meal

Origi scoring as per usual in pre season, insert something about getting value for his transfer fee....

https://tenor.com/view/its-been-84-years-titanic-gif-5372593

McDermotX

Karius picking up where he left off.

Picking the ball out of the net.

~Rebel~

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638459#Comment_117638459

Karius was grand, did nothing wrong in the game. Actually thought he was quite good. Came out well a few times as a sweeper to stop moves before they happened. Good quick distribution to start things moving quickly again too.

Poor auld Owen Beck had a torrid time at left back, everything Innsbruck did came from the gaping chasm of space left in that channel. Goal came from him completely losing his man on the back post and giving him an easy free header. Very harsh to blame Karius on it imo, really excellent header bending right down into the bottom corner.

Good game from Clarkson in midfield, great range of passing. Few wonderful touches from Kaide Gordon too. Could see a lot of the lads were fairly heavy legged after the tough training sessions though, which I'd say we'll see in the second match too.

martingriff

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117637971#Comment_117637971

Did he not play in a cup game

~Rebel~

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638524#Comment_117638524

Nah, we only played one cup game after he joined - Utd - and he wasn't in the squad. <edit> actually, he wasn't officially signed before the Utd game even, so we were out of both cups before he signed up.

He's still yet to make his competitive debut for us.

~Rebel~

Instant and notable increase in quality with more first teamers on the pitch. Mo’s already missed a sitter.

<edit> aaaand we’re 1-0 down. Some lovely play to cut through us, though Milner let the runner go past him to slot home the back-heeled pass.

McDermotX

Definitely ahead of their sharpness in attack, cut us apart

Nice goal

Riesen_Meal

https://twitter.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1417781831848636417?s=20

Sounds like a smokescreen to me....

I don't think we are after him at all....

Agent Coulson

Jim White going with the Jarrod Bowen story now as well.

TitianGerm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117640797#Comment_117640797

I think he'd do quite well as a back up with us. He's been very good anytime I've seen him play and is always full of running and closing players down.

He'd cost to much though.

Riesen_Meal

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117640839#Comment_117640839

He's better than Origi and Minamino as a backup anyway I would say, won't be challenging any of the lads up front though, I still think this could be the Pearce lad putting a diversion out for the club doing other stuff....

Time will tell I suppose 🤷‍♂️

Agent Coulson

He fits the homegrown player need and would be half the price of Harvey Barnes.

Fitz*

Hopefully this is a ploy to get Leicester to reduce their price on Harvey Barnes, or something similar.

I can't believe that Jarrod Bowen is the club's first choice attacker...

I understand the need for a HG player alright, so that does push those type of players further up the chain.

Riesen_Meal

https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1417795487504142337?s=20

Stop this planet, I want to get off....

Agent Coulson

Jaysus If Hendo thinks Arsenal are the club for him if he was to leave Liverpool I'm guessing his drive to win more trophies is gone.

dogbert27

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117641010#Comment_117641010

His agent must be getting desperate. Clearly not up to negotiating with Michael Edwards!! 😀

FFS, seeing as Madrid and Barca are broke journos can't spin the usual summer stories of Mane and Salah leaving!

Talisman

It's surprising how slow the club has been moving players on in this transfer window. I thought that both Origi and Shaqiri would have been at new clubs when preseason began. Whatever about Philips, the trio of Ojo, Wilson and Woodburn are surplus players that don't look anything near their promise of a few years ago and there's little point of keeping them around for another year.

brevity

I get the feeling a club is waiting for bank approval on a loan and once it does then it might kick things off.

TitianGerm

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117641213#Comment_117641213

With a Euros and an Olympics things were always going to be slow.