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Is there sense in the Toure deal?

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Kolo Toure Liverpool FC AnfieldSO it would appear that, for once, the collective press got this one right – Liverpool were, in fact, in talks with the former Arsenal and Man City captain.

It’s a rare thing these days for anybody in the sporting press to get a transfer story almost out of thin air and then have it materialize in reality a few days later, so hats off to them there.

What it means for Liverpool though remains to be seen, as Toure would be unlikely to be top of any Reds fans’ defensive wish-list, least of all mine.

I wrote last week that I felt that Toure should be no more than a squad or backup player should we sign him but that was when I was a little sceptical myself as to whether the rumours were true.

I also wrote that Kyrgiakos Papadopoulos should remain our primary target in that area and I can’t see much changing in that regard, as it appears that we may be needing more than just one new defender in this close season.

With that in mind, it will be interesting to see now what happens with the likes of Coates and Skrtel, given that the now retired Carragher became the preferred partner for Dan Agger in the second half of last season.

What is somewhat concerning is that, in my opinion, Skrtel remains a much stronger central defensive option to Toure and after having already spoken about the possibility of moving on after what Martin considers his worst ever season, Toure’s signing (not to mention the prospect of signing another on to go along with him) is likely to be the final straw for the man who seems to have fallen from grace with many fans for having had one poor half-season.

The lack of a fee in Toure’s case is a bonus, and the Ivorian international is reported to have agreed to take a £50,000 a week pay-cut for the prospect of first team football. That still means the player is on around £70,000 a week, if the reports of him signing on at City in 2009 for £120,000 a week are to be believed.

Wages aside, the fact that Kolo was willing to take a near 50% pay-cut for the prospect of more games is promising and provided his contract isn’t too lengthy, it could turn out to be a bit of shrewd business by the Reds.
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With over 400 games played for both Arsenal and City since 2002 (over 300 of those in the Premier League) Toure has real Premier League quality and experience and should slip right into the gap left by Jamie Carragher.

As I mentioned earlier though, it is likely that at least one more defender will be joining up with him in the coming weeks and that raises doubts over the future of both Coates and Skrtel and while neither may have had a great season, it is a worry that Liverpool are prepared to let two high-quality central defenders leave without much of a fight.

However, it would be hard to say that we haven’t been building up to both players leaving all season and it has appeared from the very beginning that Rodgers didn’t rate Coates and was just looking for a reason to let him go.

I’d be the first to say that neither has been overly impressive this season but then, neither has really had a fair chance to turn it around and my real concern is that Rodgers played Jamie Carragher so much after December in a desperate attempt to try to get him to stay.

But, what’s done is done. If Kolo Toure’s signing is to signal the end of both Coates and Skrtel’s Liverpool careers then so be it; I’ve seen enough of my favourite players come and go now to not be hardened to it and there’s worse players we could’ve signed.

The main positive from Tuesday’s news regarding this signing of course, is that we will no longer be chasing an ‘experienced Premier League’ defender which of course means that all rumours regarding Swansea City’s Ashley Williams can happily disappear and we can welcome our first new signing of the summer.

Welcome to Anfield, Kolo.
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I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

23 comments

  • Freddie says:

    We need Papadopoulos. He is class.

    Im not happy that Liverpool have signed a drug cheat. There are many other question marks over Toures character or lack of it

    Should Liverpool be signing a person like this ?

    • Cou says:

      He’s not exactly a “drug cheat”. He was using his girlfriends weight loss tablets and this is why he got such a small suspension. There was nothing “performance enhancing” about it.

      • Freddie says:

        Why was he using a substance not obtained through proper Channels ?

        Why did he lie about the club doctor saying he gave the pills the ok ?

        And in a way , weight loss is of course performance enhancing . You wont play well if you are overweight

        There is no need to be totally biased just because he has signed for Liverpool

        And what about all his extra marital affairs and the lies he has told about them , tricking a girl into bed by lying etcetera etcetera

      • Freddie says:

        Why was he using a substance not obtained through proper Channels ?

        Why did he lie about the club doctor saying he gave the pills the ok ?

        And in a way , weight loss is of course performance enhancing . You wont play well if you are overweight

        There is no need to be totally biased just because he has signed for Liverpool

        And what about all his extra marital affairs and the li es he has told about them , tricking a girl into bed by ly ing etcetera etcetera

        • TaintlessRed says:

          Giggs, Beckham, Cole have all cheated on their other halves. They are/were still great players.

          • Freddie says:

            Yes . Who cares about that . The point I was making is that Toure is not a decent character. Not the type of player Liverpool should be signing

            A drug cheat
            A liar
            A mercenary
            Not the type of man I want to see grace a Liverpool shirt

          • Freddie says:

            Yes . Who cares about that . The point I was making is that Toure is not a decent character. Not the type of player Liverpool should be signing

            A drug cheat
            A li ar
            A mercenary.
            Not the type of man I want to see grace a Liverpool shirt

      • bluemoon70 says:

        He was cheating by trying to enhance his performance through weight loss. A top level athlete has other means to lose weight if he needs to without sneaking his wife’s diet pills. So, yes, Kolo Toure was a “drug cheat.”

  • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

    That BR for felt this was the rumour of the century till i saw it on our official site………….speechlessss………wont be surprised if he beats arsenal to sign williams or even sell reina for tello without getting a replacement. hoping YNWA

  • CHUKWUEMEKA says:

    That ‘s BR for you felt this was the rumour of the century till i saw it on our official site………….speechlessss………wont be surprised if he beats arsenal to sign williams or even sell reina for tello without getting a replacement. hoping YNWA

  • Tim K says:

    I’m not happy that our club has signed a cheat. Where are our standards gone ?

  • Steven B. says:

    Hummmmm……..SPEECHLESS……..a renowned club like Liverpool has been turned to an average club by buying those average player. Just a pity for being a liverpool fans.

  • erin says:

    Look, i am no fan or Rogers but this transfer makes perfect sense. We need an experienced defender to cover for the next two years, 2 regulars and a youngster. We dont have 20 million to spend on defenders. So far, so good.
    Oh, and Papadopulos is no better than Martin Skertl who coincidentally is being linked with a top 4 club this morning…..Makes you wonder how on earth if he is not good enough for BR.

    I would be happy to just leave the defense as we are. Sell Carrol, Downing and find GOOD replacements. We saw the impact of Coutinho. We need a couple more players of that talent. I believe we will be 10 points or more better off.

    Worse thing we can do is sell Reina, Skertel. If Begovic was so good, Barca would have signed him. I think his rise is down to Tony’s defensive tactics. Oh, if Williams replaces Skertel, we are stuffed.
    WNWA

    • stevieG says:

      I agree he is a decent player , but he is a drug cheat. We shouldn’t be signing a player like him

      • Erin says:

        He will be the forth choice. Short term contract. If he does it again, get shot of him. Simples. Our club comes out smelling of roses for dismissing a cheat. We give him a chance…that’s it. As cover and some cup ties, I think he wil be fine. That’s just my opinion.

        On a positive note, the club are not waiting till August to make a bid . Move fast or risk paying over the odds and being held hostage for average players. .

    • TaintlessRed says:

      Well said. Toure is a good backup and we will sign another centre back + Kelly can also play in that position. Hopefully no Williams now.

  • stevieG says:

    I really hope Toure is not carra’s replacement , a back up player only I hope . I don’t like the guy , a cheat and a money grabber

  • shibashis says:

    Every major site is reporting we have signed Papas, anyone know how good he is? Looks like Suarez could be leaving, sad day it will be. But if he does then perhaps we could include Benzema in the deal?

    In any so very glad to see that business is being done early, lessons learnt I hope.

    • shibashis says:

      Oops…I am dreaming, it is of course Aspas and not papas. Do not follow the La Liga so no clue if he is any good or not.

      • kav says:

        I watch a good bit of Spanish football and I’ve never seen or heard of aspas . No idea if he is good. No ddoubt all the clowns will be on in a while proclaiming how fantastic he is after seeing a few of his goals on YouTube

        • Ibrahim says:

          Aspas scored about 11 or 12 goals and assisted about 5 for Celta Vigo, a team that I believe got relegated and in total managed to scored 36 goals in the season. That is a good return for a player playing in a relegation battling team. The PL is more physical and if we really do get him I think he is more a replacement for Downing.

        • TaintlessRed says:

          Aspas is a good versatile forward who can play anywhere along the front line but is no world beater. Decent value for price and good backup with the ‘possibility’ he becomes even better if he settles quickly.
          He’s a fast, tricky left footed forward who can beat a man. Scored a goal every 3 this season, scored a lot more before but generally hasn’t been prolific all his career. Not tall but has a good leap and is a good header of the ball. Decsion making needs improvement. Sometimes tries to beat his man when a pass or shot is the better option. Works hard but has mire freedom at Celta than he’ll have here. Not at Sturridge’s level. Would be comfortable playing wide (unlike Borini). Okay squad player signing with possible high upside if he settles. Guess Carroll is going then.

  • Viewpoint X says:

    God, the amount of dopes commenting on this site is beyond belief! So, Manure shouldn’t have played Ferdinand. Argentina shouldn’t have played Maradona. Get a grip!!

Comments are closed.