With Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson confirming that midfielder Javier Mascherano wants to leave the club, I thought it might be interesting to look at some possible replacements for the Argentine.
Lassana Diarra – The former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder’s future at Real Madrid looks uncertain. Jose Mourinho has an array of midfield talent at his disposal and it is questionable whether Diarra features in his plans. He spent the second half of last season mainly on the bench, and although there is a possibility that he will recover his first team place under Mourinho, it is likely that Real will listen to offers. Out of the five listed here, he would be my favourite to replace Mascherano if he was available. Firstly, he is 25 and has many years left ahead of him, and secondly, most importantly, he has abilities in both the attacking and defensive third. A solid tackler, Diarra also has a range of passing that will benefit any midfield. With the sale of Mascherano for a sizeable amount, Diarra’s transfer fee should not be a problem. The only small problem could be the revelation that he possesses asthenic syndrome, a type of sickle-cell anaemia which affects the shape of red blood cells. It was only discovered during altitude training for this year’s World Cup and he had to miss out on the tournament to recover. It shouldn’t have any long term affect on his career though.
Esteban Cambiasso – This is certainly a long shot this one, but if we were to do a deal with Inter Milan for Javier Mascherano, I don’t think it would hurt if Liverpool asked whether Cambiasso could be added as part of any deal. Although he wasn’t picked for the World Cup by Diego Maradona, the 29 year old had a superb campaign last season helping Inter to the treble. Like Diarra, he can be just as affective in the final third as in his defensive duties, tackling well in his holding midfield role while scoring a few important goals for his team. Most likely Inter will refuse to sell the player but it would be an excellent addition to the squad, if a deal was possible.
Ever Banega – The young Argentine has emerged to be a very effective midfielder over the past year for Valencia. Bought for a hefty €18million back in January 2008, the young player failed to settle in Spain in his first year and half, and became somewhat of a rebel with his constant breaches of discipline. He was loaned to Atletico Madrid for the 2008/09 season with an option to buy, but his indiscipline meant the Madrid declined to take up their option to purchase the player. Last summer was make or break for the player, and it was rumoured that he was to be loaned out to Everton. The player however knuckled down for pre-season training and proceeded to impress coach Unai Emery who included him in a Europa League match which made him cup tied for any other club. He became an important member of Valencia’s starting eleven last season, impressing greatly in a holding midfield. The player is however more similar to Xabi Alonso than Mascherano with his raking long diagonal balls and his ability to control the pace of play with his passing. He could be available quite cheaply though because of Valencia’s financial situation.
Scott Parker – The English option on the list, Roy Hodgson may opt for an Englishman to replace Mascherano in the squad and improve the squad’s home grown quota for the forthcoming season. Parker had an impressive season for West Ham last season as the London club struggled and Hammers co-chairman David Sullivan has said he would be the only player not up for sale this summer. It hasn’t stopped speculation that Roy maybe interested in the player. Like Banega though, Parker would not be a like for like replacement for Mascherano; he can play the holding midfield role but his strengths lie in passing and creating chances for others. He can tackle but he would not be a player who would solely be there to protect the back four from opposition attacks.
Christian Poulsen – Certainly the cheapest option on the list, Poulsen would be best described as solid if not spectacular. The central lynchpin of Sevilla’s two UEFA Cup triumphs, the Danish midfielder was transferred to Juventus two years ago. He has however struggled to hold down a first team place at the Italian club though as former red Momo Sissoko has more often than not taken his place. Recent speculation has suggested that Juve are prepared to offer cash plus Poulsen for Daniel Agger, but any such deal should be rejected in favour of a direct cash deal for Poulsen. Most likely available for £6million, Poulsen would be the option to go for if Roy is looking for a short term fix; somebody who is solid, reliable and could do a job for the team.
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in this order:
1.defour 2. lassana diarra 3. banega
line up 2010/11 i think
Reina
Johnson,Skrtel,Agger,Figueroa
Poulsen,Aquilani,Gerrard
Torres,Cole,Kuyt
I think it will be Poulsen, Hodgson got him
through the ranks at FC Copenhagen, and is a
huge admirer … and dont forget Xavi from
Barca spoke highly of Poulsen during the WC, calling him one of the best defensive midfielder he ever played against. Poulsen was a huge hit at schalke 04 and Sevilla, however he has strugled at juve, But so did Ian Rush and Thierry Henry 🙂
Banega for me,
reina
johnson,carra,agger,Figueroa
lucas,gerrard
maxi,aquilani,cole
torres
forgot banega in place of lucas
Out-San Jose£2.7m,Benayoun£5.5m,Riera£4.2m,Plessis£750,000,Degen£1m,Aurelio-free,Martin-free,Itandje-free,El Zhar£1.5m,Mascherano£25m,Babel£8.5m,Krygiakos£3.5m,Ayala£2.5m,Nemeth£2m,Cavalieri£2.5m Total-£60m Insua could add another £5m to this but from what I hear that deal is dead. In-Jonjo Shelvey£1.7m, Milan Jovanovic-free, Joe Cole-free,Danny Wilson£2m, Maynor Figueroa£5.8m, Scott Parker£12m, Ashley Young£20m, Alex Smithies£1.3m, Gary Cahill£12m, Total-£55m Roy Hodgson is not looking for another striker he thinks that in Kuyt,Jovanovic,N’gog and young Pacheco he has enough back up for Torres. Squad GK-25-Reina/1-Smithies/30-Gulasci/43-Bouzanis RB-2-Johnson/32-Darby CB-5-Agger/6-Cahill/23-Carragher/37-Skrtel/31-Wilson/34-Kelly LB-3-Figueroa/22-Insua RW-10-Cole/17-Rodriguez CM-Gerrard/11-Parker/4-Aquilani/21-Lucas/12-Shelvey/26-Spearing LW-7-Young/14-Jovanovic ST-9-Torres/18-Kuyt/24-N’gog/20-Pacheco/36-Eccelston —Starting XI— 4-3-3 Reina-Johnson-Cahill-Agger-Figueroa-Gerrard-Parker-Aquilani-Cole-Torres-Young
Lass Diarra – unlikely Madrid will let him go. He played 30 games for Madrid last season, but is the sort of aggressive player that Mourinho likes.
Cambiasso – has consistently been one of the best midfielders in Europe for the past 5 years. I doubt that Inter would let him go, but I would love to see him at Anfield. World class, and a much more complete player than Masch.
Banega – was Gago’s replacement at Boca, and after a rough patch is now valued at Valencia, where he played very well last season with 37 appearances. Less aggressive than Masch and a poorer tackler, but much better on the ball. Alonsoesque, but do we need that rather than a holding mid given Aqua and Gerrard’s presence?
Parker – always underrated in my view, and should have been in England’s WC XI ahead of Barry. However, WH will want silly money (12M+) for a player who will by 30 in October.
Poulsen – will be 31 in Feb and has not been a regular first team player for Juve (25 games last season). He is big, aggressive and excellent in the air (something that will surely be a key quality for whoever we sign), with good feet and passing too. Speaks English and, as a Dane, would adapt easily to the culture. As a short term solution, he would fit the bill.
plenty of options really, parker,diarra and flamini would all help the Home grown rule also.
id also throw miguel veloso, jeremy toulalon and Anthony Annan in there
We need:
2 LBs (unless the Insúa deal falls through, but he should be 2nd choice if he stays).
1 DM
1 RB
LB: 1. Figueroa (6-7M)
2. Salcido (3M)
DM:
Mahamdou Diarra (Real Madrid, 6-10M) since the arrival of Xabi and Lass Diara at Madrid, he hasn’t played that much, but was a key player in the last 2 Madrid league titles under Capello and Schuster.
Toulalan (Lyon, 10-15M) almost 27, he is possibly approaching the peak of his career. Tall, good on the floor and in the air, good tackler and tactically astute. Lyon are notoriously tough negotiators, so price would be high.
Gago (Real Madrid, 15-20M), classy defensive mid in the Redondo mode (although not THAT good), it remains to be seen how compatible Xabi and Gago are at Madrid, with Alonso being the better player. A long shot for LFC, and perhaps not aggressive or quick enough for the Prem.
Alou Diarra (Bordeaux, (12M+) LFC old boy who never played for the club, but has made a big name in France. Captain of his club, and laso captained France at the WC after Evra was dropped.
Poulsen (Juventus,6M) – he was at the heart of that fantastic Sevilla team 3 years ago, and is a good, cheap option. Aslo good in the air, unlike Lucas, Aqua, Spearing.
RB
Kelly made a few very promising appearances at RB last season, but given Johnson’s injury troubles in the past, and the fact that it is a post WC season, it seems very risky to have only Kelly as cover for RB. Also, it means that Johnson knows he is virtually guaranteed a place, which is never a good thing.
Annan in Norwegian Rosenborg that played brilliantly 4 Ghana in the WC is a GOOD option…..
Swap deal :
Huntelaar – Babel+4m
Sell:
Masch – 25m++
Kuyt – 20m++
Kyrgiakos – 2m
Insua – 5m
Albert Riera – 4m(DONE)
Plesis + El Zhar = 1.4m
Phillip Degen – 4m
Total = 61m++
Bring in :
Drenthe – 8m++
Salcido – 3m
Banega & Mata – 30m (Value buy. Valencia need the funds so they’ll come in on the cheap.)
Ryan Shawcross – 10m (To replace Kyrgiakos)
Gary Cahill – 7m (Should have gotten Gosling on a free)
Tiago Mendes – Free agent
Total = 58m++
Starting XI :
Reina
Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Drenthe
Cole, Gerrard, Banega, Mata
Torres, Huntelaar.
Subs : Cavalieri, Carragher, Salcido, Lucas, Aquilani, Maxi, Jovanovic
We should sell Mascherano for No cheaper than £35M and the only swap deal Hodgson should consider with inter Milan is £25M and E Cambiasso for Mascherano.
Otherwise get the full whack of £35M, Then with that bring in 3 players who will strengthen the squad and make the centre of our midfield solid, compact, creative and a match for any side in the world.
With £35M
Bring back M Sissoko of Juventus for £12M
Bring in M Flamini Of A.C Milan for £12M
And Bring in E Banega Of Valencia for £8-£11M
And then hodgson needs to sell the rest of the dead wood at club: Itandje GK, Cavalieri GK, Degan RB,Krygiakos CB, Insua LB, LUCAS CM, El Zhar RW, Ngog FD and lastly Kuyt FD.
And then bring in:
GK: W Hennessey Of Wolves
RB: M Richards Of Man City to compete with G Johnson
CB: S Taylor Of Newcastle Or G Cahill Of Bolton
LB: M Figueora Of Wigan Or Taiwo Of Marseille.
LB: 2nd choice : P Konchesky Of Fulham Or A Dawson Of Hull.
RW: A Sanchez Of Udinese Or A Turan Of Galatassary
LW: R Drenthe Of Real Madrid Or Diego Capel Of Seville
FD: Bring back P Crouch Of Tottenham
FD: Bring in L Podolski Of Cologne
And imagine this side:
Reina
Johnson Cahill Agger Figueora/Taiwo
Sissoko
Aquilani Gerrard
Cole Podolski
Torres
Subs: Hennessey, Carragher, Richards, Konchesky, Flamini, Banega, Jovanovic, Drenthe, Maxi and Babel.
what planet are you on dennis?
De Jong is the best option and city need to sell and have loads of def mids
Apart from Poulsen, I like the options in the article. Like some others, I’d add Defour onto the options list. At 22 he’d give us many years of service, although you’d have to be a bit wary after he missed most of last season with injury.
Spearing all the way
mike oxbig, you must be related to spearing because only family would consider him good enough for Lfc, he’s championship level, at best!
It’s lucky it’s Roy and not Dennis that manages lfc, and to all the others as well who have a never ending number of players we should sign. We need to compliment not revolutionise. If I remember correctly Momo couldn’t pass the ball 5 yards just before he left and Spearing oh please
do your homework, mourinho sold diarra when at chelsea cos he never rated him so there is no chance of him getting a place in the real madrid starting XI, he will be one of the players that RM look to offload this summer and he would be an ideal replacement for javier the little mercenary!
give lucas a run & spend masc money on forlan to help fernando still have money left over to buy g barry
@ ROGUE – what’s the point in paying £10m for Shawcross and then not even putting him in your team?