A growing number of reports are coming in that the Reds are looking to sign the Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman from PSV Eindhoven in the summer.
Strootman, a traditional number 8, has impressed both in his domestic league and in the Dutch national team, with former coach Bert Van Marwijk praising the midfielder for his vision.
Strootman mainly plays centrally but can play anywhere in the midfield if needed as either a defensive midfielder or a deep lying playmaker. At only 22 Strootman has been capped 15 times for the Netherlands where he’s worked effectively with Rafael van der Vaart and is firmly established in the national side.
This news does come as a surprise as Strootman has been a long-term target for Manchester United, but now reports by credible journalists in the Sunday Times are certain that whilst United do still like the player, the Liverpool interest is much stronger.
If Strootman were to sign then this could rule out any move for the much coveted Christian Eriksen, the Danish attacking midfielder.
Eriksen aged just 20 is seen as a realistic target given the fact he’s previously refused offers from both Chelsea and Barcelona and is keen not to rush his career; instead opting to join Ajax in order to develop his play. He’s also friends with Daniel Agger (his national team captain) and his former captain at Ajax, Luis Suarez.
Whilst the two players are very similar it’s thought Strootman is more versatile in midfield, being able to play in a number of roles, whilst Erikesen is limited to the centre of the apex. Tactical flexibility is important to Rodgers who’s said a number of times he likes versatility and people willing to play ‘where needed’ and not necessarily where they want to.
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Whilst no fees have been discussed as yet, Strootman is valued at around £12 million whilst Eriksen is valued at just under £15 million. Both players seem to fit the much reported profile that Liverpool are looking for, although such a profile was recently denied by Managing Director Ian Ayre on Sunday in a live interview with Sky Sports News.
As for January, The Times are also reporting that whilst the conversations with the Blackpool winger Tom Ince seem to have stalled, he is still expected to sign before the end of the month. Whilst rumours over another Reds target Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, the Valenciennes defender, have cooled in recent days, agents in France are said to be working hard to make the deal happen before the end of the window.
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Waiting until the summer will just mean he ends up at Man Utd who have been after for a while as we have but they will get him over as they have more to offer him.
Totally agree mate, seem like we get named with all the big star, knowing they won’t come, but say we are trying
Exactly that mate
Mancs won’t but every player we don’t buy in winter. I don’t see them going after both Eriksen and Strootman and probably neither. We will get one of them..
I would rather have Eriksson myself but both are good players.
I can see Erikkson going to the Chavs once Fat Frank leaves probably for Utd
We really need quality and not quantity in midfield role because teams once dominate on mid the game is easily won
He looks like a Stoke player!
Rodgers cant attract any decent playerz and FSG wont pay top money ….. so no they wont be coming here
Ok, we already have Sneijder, Forran and Ince signed up. How many more guesses will the guessing Media require before they hit the target. A couple of hundred I’d say! We’ll enter February with the squad we have now.
These players are out of Rodgers league , if we want them we need new manager first
rule of thumb: If they are really good we wont buy/get them. thats the way lfc operates these days.
No way those two would come here when we are mid-table with a mickey mouse manager
Lets be honest – Rodgers will probably sign Leon Britton or some such rubbish rather than decent players
This is paper talk nonsense
Sad but true
No way those players would sign for pool the state we are in . Rodgers doesn’t even seem interested in ANY top players , and even if he was interested top players wouldn’t sign for a manager like him
Rodgers doesnt go for experienced players because he cant handle them , and top experienced players wont play for Liverpool while we have a poor manager in place