Why the potential Reina/Mignolet transfer fees make no sense

WE all expect José Manuel “Pepe” Reina Páez to leave. The Arsenal connection has finally died down but the Barcelona connection has gained frantic speed and ferocity.

He has struggled in recent interviews to deny his desire to go to Barcelona. He will go and I for one will not be sad. Don’t get me wrong, I will not be happy (I am so ‘hard to do’).

Reina hasn’t been at his best for a while but maybe that’s because his heart just hasn’t been at LFC.

He has improved recently but still not playing at his best. Reina has seemingly wanted to go for a long time. The murmurings of discontent have been there for a while and I think it is best he starts this new chapter in his life.

In my opinion it is insulting and degrading for Liverpool Football Club to have ‘star’ players talk of leaving. I would go as far as to say it is insulting and disrespectful when they fail to quash rumours of them wanting to play for other teams.

Reina has had sympathetic words for Torres and now Suarez as they have wanted to leave. It doesn’t matter if we are in the Champions League or challenging for titles. All players need to respect the hand that feeds them.

A message to Liverpool FC players:

If you want to go, get your agent to do the talking, talk to the clubs and not the media. If you are good enough then the Barca-City-Oil-Rich-Madrids of this world, who have plenty of money, will make the right offer for LFC to accept. The door will open. We will let you go – for the right price. Everything can happen in a professional and respectful manner.

Life carriers on and as Reina walks out, a new keeper is rumoured to be walking in – Sunderland’s Simon Mignolet. I think it would be crazy for Mignolet to be worth the same in transfer fees to Liverpool as Reina is worth to Barcelona. Only a few years ago Arsenal offered £20 million for Reina.

Mignolet is younger (24 years old) but is an emerging talent who has had an ‘ok’ season for a team who only just avoided relegation. Pepe Reina is a world class keeper who has won two UEFA Intertoto Cups, the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, the World Cup, the European Championships twice, Premier League Golden Glove three times, Liverpool player of the season once, played in the Champions League final and is currently Spain’s number two while still young for a keeper at 30 years of age.

In my opinion LFC must have a transfer fee surplus of at least £5 million in selling Reina and buying Mignolet.
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There should also be a very significant saving in wages. Reina is rumoured to be on £110k a week (basic), that’s £5.72 million a year. Mignolet, when playing for LFC, in my opinion, shouldn’t be on any more than £50k a week (basic). Over the course of a year that’s £2.6 million. This deal should save us at least £3.12 million a year in wages.

Mignolet for £10 million is a concern but maybe Rodgers wants Premier League experience. I’d have preferred a relatively unheard of young keeper for £3 million who turned out to be world class but then again who wouldn’t? Such a gem may be too hard to find and just too much of a gamble to risk. Keepers tend to need that experience and so tend to peak later in their careers.

We have, and are signing, a few players who will be new to the Premiership. Maybe Rodgers feels he needs that bit of experience between the sticks. After all, the position of goalkeeper isn’t a forgiving one. A single small error often will cost you and your team points. Any change in keeper results in questioning the judgement of the manager when the keeper makes an error. A player unknown to the British public and media would only lead to more questions and pressure. Playing for Liverpool has always had its own pressures to add to the mix.

I for one am tired of new players being hyped by all to be ‘the new Messi’ and just ending up to be expensive and untidy! I don’t care who we sign and what others say. Fellow fans and media will be telling us all players are brilliant or terrible in equal conflicting measure. I’ll make up my own mind on how good they are when they wear the red shirt.

One thing I do prejudge on is price. Any player bought for more than £8 million and I will be concerned. Any player paid £60k+ a week (during their first season) and I will be concerned. The more we pay in transfers and the more we pay in wages the bigger risk we are taking. If the signing should fail to be a LFC success then we would find an expensive player harder to move on to another club while still recovering out costs; look at Andy Carroll. If Andy had been bought for £8 million and was on £50k a week then he would have started his post LFC career in stable surroundings having been sold during Rodgers’ first summer.

My fingers, like those of all LFC fans, are crossed, wishing all the signings succeed, but that is statistically very unlikely, so low transfer fees and wages are wise in our crazy money era. I want LFC to be unearthing hidden gems for a few million. I don’t want to see LFC just paying huge transfer fees for players when their clubs have showcased them for a year having bought them for peanuts and now seek a hefty profit.

You can follow me on Twitter @LFCVee
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