THE transfer window is getting ready to slide open and we haven’t had to wait even that long for the “silly season” to get into full effect.
The internet and the papers are full of gossip surrounding every Premier League club and, in particular, Liverpool FC.
Mirror Online, ESPN and Sky Sports have all reported that Liverpool could be interested in signing Juan Manuel Vargas from Fiorentina.
The Peruvian international arrived in Florence for €12 million in 2008 but is keen to leave La Viola with his agent, as discussed on L4L earlier, touting Liverpool as a possible destination.
Vargas can play at left back but he is far more comfortable playing as an attacking midfielder. Alberto Gilardino played with Vargas at Fiorentina for four and a half seasons and described him as the best crosser he has played with. At 28, Vargas seems a little old to fit with Brendan Rodgers player profile but, with just one year left on the Peruvian’s contract and a stated desire to leave the club, a cut-price deal may be on the cards. Malaga are also believed to be interested in the player.
Yesterday TalkSport and John Fogarty of the Irish Examiner reported that Bologna have invited Liverpool and Manchester City to bid for Uruguayan attacker Gaston Ramirez. Ramirez netted 8 times for for his club last season, grabbing 4 assists too. Bologna are thought to be willing to listen to offers of around €15 million for Ramirez with Sky Italia and Gazzetta dello Sport claiming that LFC are in pole position in the race for his signature, having made a bid in that region.
Fogarty went one further, suggesting that Ramirez’s representatives would be on Merseyside today for discussions with the Reds. How much truth is in this rumour remains to be seen.
Also yesterday, numerous unconfirmed reports surfaced linking Liverpool with a £17.5 million for Manchester City’s Adam Johnson. These reports seem to back up previous information, which I reported on this site a couple of weeks ago, linking the Reds with a move for the former Sunderland player but not until Euro 2012 drew to a close. The continuous nature of the link leads me to think that there is more than just bluster to this one, although £17.5 seems a little steep for a player City signed for £7 million and then hardly used. There is little doubt though, that at the right price, Johnson would be a great addition to the squad.
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Finally, “the elephant in the room”, so to speak, this morning is Gylfi Sigurdsson. Having looked like it was a ‘done deal’ that the Icelander would be donning the famous Red next season, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, known for his wiliness in transfer dealings, has attempted to scupper the signing by trying to tempt Sigurdsson to London. Spurs are believed to have offered the midfielder a deal worth in the region of £65,000 a week in a bold move to try to turn the player’s head towards the capital.
Liverpool, believed to only have offered wages of £35,000 a week initially,were involved in frantic negotiations with the player’s representatives yesterday evening. Sigurdsson says he will announce his decision at the weekend and Neil Jones in the Liverpool Echo says that, while the club haven’t given up hope on the deal, it is now entirely down to Gylfi himself.
It would appear from reports that Spurs are in the driving seat to land Sigurdsson’s signature, however, with Brendan Rodgers’s close relationship with the player, the heavy Anfield connection at his parent club Hoffenheim (Markus Babbel being their manager) and a likely improvement in the pay packet offered by the Reds, I personally feel that Sigurdsson will sign for Liverpool.
To me, it would make little sense for a young player such as Sigurdsson to opt to sign for a club with whom he has no relationship, that has no manager, where he doesn’t know if he’ll be in the new boss’s plans and, league positions over the last three seasons notwithstanding, that can only dream of the success and glory which has been a tangible reality at Anfield down the years. In short, if Sigurdsson chooses to go to Spurs, for what will boil down to an extra £10-15 grand a week, then he’s not the player or the man, that Brendan Rodgers believes him to be.
These are the latest rumours on 27/06/12 as usual we will have to wait and see if some or any of them materialise into actual business. Watch this space!
You can catch Neil on Twitter @Neil1980 or on his blog http://itsallinthegameblog.wordpress.com/
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Plz rodgers 4get sigurdson we hav alberto aquillani…..we need ramirez nd vegas,adam johnsn am hapi 2 hear we ar close 2 them…..lets try nd sign only 2 of them 4 dis tranfer window
Your English is awful!!
Obviously, going to a managerless club for better money is more important to Sigurdsson than playing in the famous red shirt for a team with a manager who knows him. F**k off then, you greedy c**t.
I think that if any of the wingers that we’re currently being linked with choose to move to us then it would be a real coup. However, unless we’re intending on player two out and out wingers in the starting 11, would that spell the end for Downing? One can hope.
The owners need to back B Rogers heavily this summer with £90-£100M Transfer War Chest as the £35M net spend last year didn’t make a huge difference. As players brought last season was £115M AND players sold money brought into club: £78-£80M(Torres,Bennayoun,Babel, Koncheskey,Poulsen,Meireles and Ngog) so net spend was £37-£35M Last season.
Then B Rodgers needs to ship out/clear out 7 players:
1: J Carragher: Should retire CB
2: Doni:should be sold for £1-£2M GK
3: Flanagan: Should be sold for £500,000 RB
4: C Adams: Should be sold for £4-£8M CM/DM
5: J Spearing: Should be sold for £3-£5M DM
6: J Cole: Should be sold for £2-£5M AM/RW/LW
7: M Rodriguez: Should be sold for £2-£5M AM/LW/RW
Then nine/9 players should be brought to club this summer:
1: S Kjaer Of Wolfsburg: Should be brought for £7-£11M to compete with Agger, Coates and Skrtel for the centre back position. CB
2: A Cissokho Of Lyon: Should be brought for £4-£9M to cover and compete with Enrique for Left Back position. LB
3: B Matuidi Of PSG: Should be brought for £6-£12M to cover and compete with LUCAS for the Defensive Midfield position. DM
4: Coutinho Of Inter Milan Or G Sigurdsson Of Hoffenheim, one of these players should be brought for £7-£10M to compete with Aquilani and Shelvey for the AM position. AM
5: A Lennon Of Tottenham should be brought for £10-£15M to play on right wing. RW
6: D Capel Of S Clube De Portugal should be brought for £7-£12M to cover and compete with Downing for Left wing position. LW
7: M Susaeta Of A Bilbao Or J Montero Of Villareal, One of these should be brought for £5-£10M to compete with Lennon for Right wing position. RW
8: G Rossi Of Villareal: Should be brought for £8-£12M to compete with Bellamy, Carroll and Suarez For forward role. FD
9: L Castagnios: Should be brought from Inter Milan for £4-£6M to compete with Bellamy,Carroll and Suarez for FD Position/Role. FD
As our club slacks class and quality competition for places within the squad. And the club needs huge surgery completed to the club.