I read today that John Arne Riise has denied rumours in Italy that he will make a very shocking return to Anfield during the summer. He has been quoted as saying that he talks about Liverpool a lot in interviews because he has fond memories of his time here and all of his successful years at the club but at the same time, that doesn’t mean he is planning a return any time soon.
However, despite this I think John Arne would be more than up for a return; he should still feel that he has a point to prove after the way he was hounded out of Anfield a few years ago, after years of faithful service. I wrote about 3-4 months back that I would welcome him back and these supposed rumours have only strengthened my belief that it would be stupid of us not to get him back. As things stand, he has had a very successful time with Roma, personally, playing over 120 matches for the capital’s side and scoring 9 goals from the left-back position over the past seasons. He has been a very important player for Roma since joining them and is due to be offered a new 4-5 year contract once the new America owners have settled in. Now would be a great time to get Riise back, before that could happen, as while the likes of Newcastle United’s Enrique are interesting prospects for the club, they are likely to cost a handsome sum. At the age of 30, Riise on the other hand could probably be prised from Roma’s hands for slightly less than we sold him for. With well over 300 games in a Red shirt under his belt already he would need no time to bed in to the team either.
With that in mind though, it would be wise to keep hold of Fabio Aurelio. He may be just about the most injury prone player to ever wear the shirt (Redknapp aside) but he is an top player and given that we’ve managed to snap him up on a free transfer twice, we’d be stupid to let him go a second time.
During the summer, it would be wise for the club to look into solving Aurelio’s injury problems once and for all by perhaps sending him to a specialist to try and get to the bottom of them. Though at the age of 31 – and with a 15 year career that has seen him play little over 300 games – the time may have passed to be able to find an answer. But either way, if he can prove his fitness consistently, he should be kept at the club to see out the rest of his career. And by that I’m not saying ‘sign him up for life’, that would be too great a risk financially but with 12 months left on his current contract (by which time he will be almost 33) he probably won’t have much left in his fragile body. As much as I would love Aurelio to be able to finish his career fully-fit and as our first-choice left back, I just can’t see that happening. So my preference would be to bring back our old Norwegian friend and have the immensely handy Brazilian as his under study.
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Wise up, that would be a step backwards, too many Liverpool fans are far to sentimental living in the past, Riise was not good enough when he left and is even worse now, who cares if he loves the club he’s not good enough
Thank you! At least somebody sees sense.
A way past it Riise and a specialist for the 31 year old Aurelio to solve our left back issues!? Ridiculous
a very average one footed player who cost us a champions league place, he was targeted rightfully by opposing teams as our biggest weakness.
Age will be a problem as FSG / LFC looking for younger players but experience is invaluable. Had good seasons with us but behind the scenes issues and Rafa affected his form.
Another one to consider for a comeback – Alonso ?
No thanks. He’s a club legend and was a faithful servant but his defensive games has slipped dramatically and considering that he was never a good defender in the first place, he’d be a train wreck. I’ll be happy if we get Enrique. He’s one of the more balanced left backs in the league. We’ll him get for under 10 million, not 15 million.
Websites such as this one are a joke, run by idiotic so called Liverpool fans who have probably never played the game.
Riise was a liability in his latter Anfield years and to suggest a return is simply wrong.
You are a moron for jumping on the bandwagon like so many Liverpool fans who are still looking to the past. Move on FFS.
Are you sure your not a closit united fan or maybe just frequenting tabloid papers too much? It’s quite clear F.S.G. are targeting players under 25, plus F.S.G are far too shrewd to buy players on sentiment alone. Your opinion on Aurelio is extremely naive!!!! Comolli said only a few day ago that injury history was going to play a big part on who they would sign because it costs too much to hold on to players who can’t play!! It’s forward we want to go, not backwards!!!