Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

We have no idea what is going on, neither does the journalists I think. They are reacting like us to information they get from sources, and like us they put their own slant on the information with their preconceived biases we have about the club.

Anyway, latest news seems to be we are waiting to see what Chelsea does with Caicedo and if the player gives up positive noises in regards to a move to us,

Fairly **** attitude from a player to clear out his locker and not turn up to training for five days to force a move. Do we need someone with that sort of attitude in the club?

If Klopp wants him to come to Liverpool then that's good enough for me

All down to Klopp's belief system, he believes far too much in his players to the point it becomes detrimental to the team, it's a little fault of his, his loyalty and positive belief that everything will turn out okay, no one stopped him buying a midfielder when Gini left, he chose not to

Gomez is awful.

Matip is injured alot and didn't look great last season.

VVD looked average last season.

Konate is ok.

Only reason Philips is still there is we are short homegrown,no lavia probably means his transfer out won't go through

Konate, who played in a World Cup final (albeit as a late substitute) is "ok" 😂 😂 😂

Some seriously inflated expectations around here these days!!

Gomez hasn't recovered form since his injury.

VVD too, but not to the same level.

Matip looks like he's in decline.

Konate gets injured.

We've a new system that requires the RCB to be omnipresent.

Just copy the link and hit enter. One of the better things about vanilla is its link embedding. Only better thing...? 🤔

Billy Hogan interview: Anfield delays, and why Liverpool need Taylor Swift to pull up her socks and play the No6 role if push comes to shove.

If you have ad blockers or social media tracker blockers installed the twitter link might not display properly

After six successive years of Champions League football, Liverpool find themselves on the outside looking in.

With owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) sticking to its self-sustaining business model, dropping out of Europe’s elite leaves a financial hole.

Liverpool received around £106million ($135m) in prize money from their run to the Champions League final in 2021-22 and around £70m for reaching the last 16 last season.

Life in the 2023-24 Europa League will be considerably less lucrative, not to mention less glamorous. Even if Jurgen Klopp’s side go all the way to the final next May, the club will be fortunate to pocket more than £35million.

It is a painful point and its impact is not lost on Billy Hogan, Liverpool’s chief executive.

“Obviously, it creates a difference from a revenue standpoint, and we have to operate accordingly,” Hogan admits. “Our goal is to run the club sustainably. When you are missing revenue from the Champions League, you have to react accordingly — and we’ve done that.”

It is not simply the absence of Champions League football this season that has sparked frustration among sections of fans. The slow progress on making new signings this summer – particularly in the context of a raft of summer departures – has also irked many.

Transfers, however, are not part of Hogan’s job description, although plenty else is.

During an exclusive interview with The Athletic, he is happy to confront many of them, from delays to the new Anfield Road Stand opening to the kit deal with Nike, the club’s link-up with basketball icon LeBron James and pre-season tour plans for 2024.

With no fresh developments on FSG’s ongoing search for investment as it considers selling a minority stake – Hogan simply says “those conversations continue” – it’s his job to ensure Liverpool keep growing off the pitch in order to fund what manager Klopp is trying to achieve on it.

The latest accounts, published for 2021-22, showed Liverpool generated club-record revenues of £594million, putting them third in the Deloitte Football Money League, but spiralling costs meant they made a small pre-tax profit of just £7.5m.

The wage bill, which rocketed to £366million during that challenge for glory on all fronts, has been significantly reduced since then. James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Roberto Firmino, Arthur Melo, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, who all left the club this summer, earned in excess of £1m per week combined.

Matchday revenue, which stood at £86million for 2021-22, will receive a sizeable shot in the arm this season — but not as quickly as anticipated given the delays to the completion of the Anfield Road Stand redevelopment.

The £80million project, which will add 7,000 extra seats and increase capacity to 61,000, was due to be finished in time for the opening home game against Bournemouth on August 19.

However, with the work undertaken by contractor Buckingham Group so far behind schedule, Liverpool recently announced they will start the campaign with only the stand’s lower tier open and a reduced capacity of around 51,000. There will be a phased opening process for the upper tier, with it expected to be fully operational by October.

What went wrong?

“We need to sit down and look at it,” says Hogan. “We started this project in the middle of the pandemic. It was widely discussed then about supply-chain issues and resource issues.

“I think the fact we’re pretty close to opening is a good thing.

“Anyone who has been through any type of construction project knows these things are fluid. We will work with Buckingham and Liverpool City Council to make sure it opens incrementally and appropriately. It will be similar to how the Main Stand opened in stages in 2016. Back then, we had to move our second game, so we opened that season with three away games. We haven’t had to do that this time.

“We would have hoped to be fully open by Bournemouth, but it’s been a complex project. It should be fully completed by October and off we go.

“I think everyone would agree that the Main Stand added to the atmosphere, and this is a similar design.

“I’m just really excited about the fact we’re going to have 7,000 extra supporters inside Anfield. It’s the next step in the evolution of Anfield. The atmosphere is going to be incredible.”

The decision to return to Singapore just 12 months after their last visit was influenced by Klopp’s desire to leave the overseas tour until later in the pre-season schedule this time around.

“We go through a similar process each year. It always starts around a year in advance, looking at various options,” Hogan says. “There is a real collaboration between the commercial side and the football side of the club to assess what the schedule looks like. Last year, we were out on tour early, when we went to

Bangkok (Thailand) and Singapore. Then the team went to a training camp in Austria.

“This year, the coaching staff and Jurgen wanted to flip that, with the training camp first; then we looked at what our options were.

“Singapore was the best one for a number of reasons. We had a great experience there last year and the facilities are terrific. It’s one of the major headquarters for Standard Chartered and we have hundreds of millions of fans across south-east Asia. It was a position where it made sense both football-wise and commercially.”

Liverpool haven’t toured North America since 2019, when they played matches in Indiana, Boston (where FSG is based) and New York. It’s highly likely the U.S. will be their destination of choice in 2024. “It’s not set yet, but it’s definitely on the table,” Hogan says.

America has become a potentially even more attractive option now the country is in the grip of Lionel Messi hysteria, the Argentinian having moved to MLS club Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer.

“He’s got off to a very good start and that can only be good for the game and for the growth of the game globally,” says Hogan, a native of Cleveland, Ohio.

“Ultimately, that will benefit the Premier League as well. It’s the most competitive league in the world with most of the best players and best managers in the world. That’s compelling.

“The popularity of the Premier League has been growing massively in the U.S. over several years. The partnership with (TV network) NBC has been really beneficial. Liverpool has always had a significant fanbase there and we know it continues to grow.”

Another part of the club’s business plan involves making Anfield a year-round venue.

Taylor Swift will play three concerts at the stadium next June, and further artists are set to be added to its summer schedule.

“Taylor Swift is arguably the biggest artist in the world right now – she’s a force of nature; so that’s exciting,” Hogan says. “We also have the option of hosting other sports, but we have to be protective of the playing surface, so we’re focused on the (football) close-season. We replaced the pitch last summer with a hybrid carpet that allows us a bit more time in the summer as it doesn’t take as long to regrow.

“We have a license to host up to six non-football major events each year and we’re working on additional opportunities.”

Everton stadium probably more suitable for that stuff...

Going to be an exciting few days anyways. Hoping to wake up tomorrow to read that Caicedo signed and Liverpool are now title contenders.

Is there any actual Caicedo bid or is it just Brighton trying to drum up a bidding war?

Credit where it’s due, she strikes the ball cleaner than our captain.

Be still my beating heart, what if we had the cash all along and the fabendo money can go on Lavia as well.....

That won't happen ,one or the other, consequence is that Phillips might be staying as budget won't allow to buy a homegrown alternative,I always liked him anyway, but I do wonder if Lavia deal price was right what CB we were getting,all well and good saying pay an extra few million but it affects the next transfer , there is a limit and the shrewd buys pay for the expensive,Robertson is a good example.

Good lord

Well that was an interesting day!!!

I knew it . Would ya look at that

Definitely not……..Caicedo has had one pretty good season in the Premier League………transfer fees have lost all sensible meaning at this stage.Am a Utd fan and we have spent upwards of 80 million on Hoyland depending on how he performs.

Imo Caicedo has a higher ceiling than Rice so is a good signing,but probably 20 m too expensive.