BRENDAN Rodgers had of course has made four signings for the start of the season which has now begun.
But what is distinctively lacking is a marquee signing which would excite the fans and in the process send out a message to the rest of the Premier League that Liverpool are taking it serious in their quest to try and reach the top four and qualify for the Champions League.
“The great name of Liverpool as a club and the history of the club dictate that we should be in the Champions League. There’s no other measure for us.” – Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers has seen moves for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa fail to materialize this summer with Henrik joining Borussia Dortmund and Costa signing a new contract till 2018.
Will it be third time lucky? Anzhi Makhachkala’s Willian is the latest name to be linked with a move to Anfield, with the Reds rumoured to be bidding £30 million for the Samba star.
Background
Willian Borges Da Silva was born in Ribeirão Pires, a little town in São Paulo. The 25 year old started his career with Corinthians and played with Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez and Nilmar during his time with Timao.
Following internal strife at the club and eventual relegation Willian signed for Shakhtar Donetsk in 2007 for €14 million joining compatriots Fernandinho, Brandao and Jadson at the Brazilian revolution in Donetsk.
During his time with the Ukrainian side he won four Ukrainian Premier League titles, three Ukrainian Cups, three Ukrainian Super Cups and one UEFA Cup. Playing out on the wing, Willian was an integral part of the Shakhtar side that won their first European silverware in 2009 after defeating Werder Bremen in the last ever UEFA Cup format final.
This January Willian joined the money revolution at Anzhi Makhachkala for a whopping €35 million, however the billionaire owner of the football club, Suleyman Kerimov, has embarked on a huge cost-cutting exercise with all of Anzhi’s squad, including Samuel Eto’o, effectively put up for sale.
Willian has played over 300 career games scoring 40 goals.
Style of play
He is?an attacking midfielder who offers strong passing and a goal threat coming in from the left hand side, occasionally he also plays as an out-and-out winger. Willian is relatively slight and small at 5-foot-8, but he has won fans for his two-footed ability, quick dribbling and occasional goal – remember the two he scored against Chelsea in the Champions League?
While researching I came across some very interesting statistics via transfermarkt.co.uk, Willian was involved in a goal (assisted or scored from) for the Russian side every 120 minutes. However his Champions League statistics make more impressive reading by being involved in a goal of every 75 minutes.
Final thoughts
The capture of Willian would represent the eye-catching signing Rodgers has been seeking to make and his ability to play on either flank behind a main striker fits in with the manager’s blueprint.
Rodgers said at the weekend after the pre-season defeat to Celtic he wanted someone to play “top left” that would enable him to move Coutinho into a No.10 role behind Sturridge.
“Every time I get the chance I watch Liverpool. They are a very important club and a lot of players would jump at the chance to play for them.
“Despite all their problems they have a great chance to get back to the top of English football again.
“I remember watching their midfielder Lucas doing an interview for Sport TV in Brazil and he was showing a camera crew around.
“He spoke so highly about Anfield and we saw that the facilities behind the scenes are fantastic.” – Willian 2012
Could Willian be the final piece in Brendan’s jigsaw for 2013/2014 season?
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Willian is a very good player , but 30 mil ?? No. I think we could do better for that money. His goals per game is very poor and I’m not sure we need another player in his position , surely a CM is more important .
Hey Geoff…….try reading the article.
Willian perfect as allows Phil to move inside !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well according to the goal scored stats he gets one in every 6+ games… in Russia. That’s Downing levels…
from last year…
He is a quality creator, who can chip in with the odd goal.
You don’t see Downing getting an assist every 1.33 league games or every 5/6th of a CL game though.. Plus, this doesn’t take into consideration occasions where he was a part of build-up play.. Scoring isn’t everything…
Of course, it’s just the stat in the article included goal scoring and assisting. I thought it was a bit misleading when really he’s all about the assists. Assists are a hard thing to rate creative players on, if Andy carroll and Luis hadn’t squandered 564,218* chances Stewie made for them in his first season, well maybe Downing wouldn’t have been regarded as such a flop 😉
*conservative estimate
—————–mignolet——————–
jonson—–toure——-agger—–cissokho
————gerrard——–lucas————
——————-coutinho——————
suarez———-sturridge————willian
looks very strong ,but will they get Willian ,i for one hope so,
YNWA
Willian is the right signing 2 take LFC 2 CL. He will take off pressure from Coutinho in the cr8tive department as opposition will hav 2 guard 2.
His exploits against Chelsea in CL r evidence that he’s worth £30m as he works up in attack while offering something tracking back. His goal scoring ability is among the best from midfield which LFC is gonna need during strikers dry spells in order 2 achieve CL @ Anfield again.
Willian is head & shoulders above Downing as he cn operate well in both flanks. Usage of both feet @ all times is a plus on his side as he goes past players & assist with them equally.
His signing will send shivers down opposition spine. YNWA
Rodgers says he wants hungry players and from what this Willian guy says he certainly seems keen on a move to LFC. £30m is a lot to spend although he is cheaper than Andy Carroll was. Might score more goals too.
Ma plea is we must sign willian for d title dis yr
Brilliant player he is, I pray to god for Brendan to sign him and a good central defender. Enrique is a better lb that aly fr Valencia
Seems a complete waste of money to me. We have two very talented lads in ibe and sterling who will do very well if given the opportunity. Are we just signing this bloke to make a statement or do we actually need him? The former I think. Also squeezes hendo out of the picture which is disappointing as he is getting better all the time. Rodgers is clearly losing his nerve when it comes to playing our talented young englishmen. Like most other managers in the top 8 teams
This guy is a step above Sterling and Ibe, has played at the highest level. Sterling nearly cost us the game yesterday giving away a very stupid free kick, which resulted in the penalty. The young Jamaican Sterling, and Ibe are full of potential, but they have not reached their potential yet.
sterling an ibe are young so willian has 7 or 8 years on them. given the opportunity they will be top players for us. didn’t you do stupid things when you were young? he’ll learn. if we haven’t got the patience to stick by these players and give them games why have a youth system? sterling has spent most of his life here and has chosen to play for england. be grateful he has. they won’t reach their potential watching willian run around in front of them. play them. best way to learn
I think £30mil is too much and I think we trying to get him cheaper that’s y its taking time… I think 27mill will be the fee. But I’d really preffer we signed Erriksen(15mil) and Bernard(18mil). That would be 2 great signings for us! Or if Bale is sold to Madrid I’d like us to try for Di Maria. We could get him for like 25mil…
I think £30mil is too much and I think we trying to get him cheaper that’s y its taking time… I think 27mill will be the fee. But I’d really preffer we signed Erriksen(15mil) and Bernard(18mil). That would be 2 great signings for us! Or if Bale is sold to Madrid I’d like us to try for Di Maria. We could get him for like 25mil…Even Jackson Martinez would be a better buy than Willian in my opinion.. If we do get Willian though
Mignolet
Johnson – Sakho -Agger – Cissokho
Lucas – Gerrard
Countinho
Suarez – Sturridge- Willian
Depth: Borini-Aspas-Sterling-iBE-Alberto-Henderson-Allen-Scott Sinclair(hoping we get him on loan)-Kelly-Enrique-Toure-Wisdom and our talented youth squad we have a good team to challenge, esp with no European football
Or instead of Willian if we bought Erriksen and Bernard
Mignolet
Johnson – Sakho – Agger – Cissokho
Lucas/Diame – Gerrard/Erriksen
Countinho
Suarez – Sturridge – Bernard
Dept: Erriksen-Borini-Aspas-Sterling-iBE-Henderson-Allen-(Diame to compete with Lucas)-(Scott Sinclair on loan)-Enrique-Kelly-Toure-Wisdom
Doo… you’re funny mate! Enrique isn’t better than Aly Cissokho.. if you’ve followed both through their careers it’s a no brainer who is more beneficial. To add to that “Dood” Downing was never good enough to wear the Lpool shirt lets be honest! Stevie mate to touch on the above u mentioned. .Hendo isn’t a top 4 middle man.. He’s just above average at best he shouldn’t be a starter.. if it’s trophies and CL we want????! Willian comes in..Allen and Hendo officially bench! Ibe better than Sterling but again ..these should be impact players ..im tired of teams like Spurs and Everton being able to finish above us! Time to get serious! ! Play the Ball players. . Bench the average and just above average players.
I disagree with you there, jose enrique is the far superior players out of him and cissokho! If am honest cissokho is absolutely garbage and I hope back up is all he is then I dont mind that at all.
We realy need this guy.
This guy is Perfect for the Epl!
And phil is a better player but we need a player like him lets be honest we not gettin any silverware until we have proper players and back up btw hendo is like downing waste of money shelvey was much better player than Allen. If we keep Suarez and buy 2 good players we will be in the top 4. Ibe and raheem need to go out on loan
Willian is a world class player and the club should do everything to bring him there, plus one more attacking class player should be brought in also( B Arfa Of Newcastle.
Willian(25) Should be brought to the club for £22-£27M
B Arfa(26) Should be brought to club for £10-£15M
Those two players would make our attack deadly, who ever plays in between those two in a front three would cause damage and problems to any team in world football.
Willian Sturridge Arfa
OR
Willian Suarez Arfa
Pls sign william and leanandro dimaio dats will be the best,and if we cn get a left back and a central defender is done.thanks
Really hope we sign willian ……YNWA
Spurs are also interested in him.
I am Scared because we lack good CB and CDM Backup.. Rodgers should get a Willian, but the fee is hyped