With less than a week of the January Transfer Window passing us by, Liverpool have already been strongly linked with an extensive amount of players, with some rumours more active than others. One of the strongest links to the Reds so far is Hamburg’s Dutch winger Eljero Elia. According to a number of particular media outlets, most notably a German newspaper closely linked to Hamburger SV, Liverpool have tabled a bid of around £13 million for Elia, a member of the Netherlands’ World Cup squad that finished as runner-up at the 2010 World Cup. One or two newspapers have even suggested that Elia has agreed personal terms with the Reds.
It is exciting for us fans to see that Roy Hodgson is apparently addressing the obvious problem we have in terms of wingers, however, that excitement is somewhat subdued when, unsurprisingly, the 23 year old Ajax youth product is being compared to our own Ryan Babel; a player whom, after three and a half years at the club, is still proving himself to be the player we expected him to be when he arrived on the shores of Merseyside in July 2007.
Similarly to Babel, Elia had reasonable success in Holland. Initially for Den Haag and then under the guidance of Steve McClaren at FC Twente, Elia impressed enough in the Eredivisie to earn himself a big money move to Hamburg in the summer of 2009. His first season in Germany was impressive, earning himself plenty of plaudits and being touted as one of the most exciting players in the Bundesliga. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, after a falling out with Hamburg’s manager Armin Veh, Elia has been out of form and has suffered a lack of playing time this season, which will be a concern for Red’s fans as they would, first and foremost, want a player to arrive on the top of his form.
If the mooted fee of £13 million is in fact correct, then Liverpool fans, although renowned to be a patient bunch, will be expecting Elia, if he does indeed complete a move to Anfield, to impress as soon as possible. There would be a massive opportunity for Elia to become a star at Liverpool due to the worrying lack of quality on the wings over the past few years. There is nothing concrete on this potential transfer, however, there are mixed opinions in and around the club as to whether Eljero Elia would be the answer to our wide problems. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure; a quality winger is desperately needed in order for Liverpool and Roy Hodgson to make the step up from mid-table fodder to Champions League challengers.
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This week it is former Liverpool WAG Gisela Molinero!
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this guy is useless.
Turan Gala captainn available for same price??
I’d take him over sod all, anyday of the week.
We could do with Honda, Suarez and Elia i think, give everyone a bit more compretition for places and finally get a winger on the pitch.
Would’nt touch him with a 10 foot barge pole the guy is d*****t!! Had one good year but now starting to show his true colours. Arda Turan all the way!!!
Elia is a quality winger, speedy and skillful, no doubt about that but we’ve already got a similar player in Ryan Babel who I think is a fantastic player when he’s in form. I would prefer we go for a left footed winger like Charles N’Zogbia who would add something different to our team.