WITH the summer sales in full swing, Brendan Rodgers has been working hard to identify transfer targets with the aim of ensuring that Liverpool Football Club will be a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League next season.
Euro 2012 has been occupying the minds, and airwaves, over the last fortnight or so but, even with several LFC star names participating, the new boss at Anfield admits that he has not had time to take in too much of the action himself, although he is keen to stress that LFC has a team of scouts at the tournament. In an interview given to Liverpoolfc.tv Rodgers said:
“I’ve watched a bit of it but I can’t say I’ve watched every single game because I’ve been working here at Melwood until late at night and trying to throw every second of my time into looking at ways for us to move forward.
“I’ve obviously taken an interest in England and particularly our boys who are involved.
“A club like this, the network of scouts has to cover the big tournaments and other games, so there’ll be extensive coverage out there on behalf of the club.”
While the man from Carnlough is keen to play his cards close to his chest regarding potential targets for this summer, he is clear about wishing to bring in some new faces to strengthen the squad.
“I like to very much keep my counsel on potential targets.
“I know the types of player I need to bring here to make us function well and that’s something myself, the club and the board will look at. I know what we’ve got, more or less, in the squad, but I also know there are a couple of signings that could really improve what we do.”
One man who seems certain to be joining the ranks at Anfield this window is Icelandic midfielder, Gylfi Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson was all set to join Rodgers at Swansea after a successful loan spell at the club in the second half of last season, however, Rodgers’ departure put the move on ice. Since then Liverpool has emerged as the midfield man’s preferred destination, with his parent club Hoffenheim setting the player a June 30th deadline to conclude the deal. Reports in various newspapers and online suggest that Sigurdsson, 22, is ready to put pen to paper on a deal at Anfield which will see the Merseyside outfit stump up £8 million for his services.
Meanwhile, Talksport and other, more reliable, online sources claim that Rodgers is making a move to bring 21 year old Italian Starlet Fabio Borini to the North West. Borini, who was on-loan at Roma from Parma last season, scored 9 league goals in 24 games in the “Eternal City” and is reportedly keen to link-up with his former Chelsea youth coach once more.
Borini also played a key part in Swansea’s rise to the Premier League under Rodgers, scoring 6 goals in 9 games whilst on-loan at the club in 2010, and winning the crucial penalty in the Swans’ Championship play-off final victory. Although Borini’s parent club Parma are said to have a slight interest in retaining the services of the Italian international, a sizeable bid would be hard to resist. Some reports online claim that a bid of €12 million to €15 million has already been tabled, however these reports are, as yet, unconfirmed.
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Finally, another player that has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool during the closed season is Adam Johnson. The Manchester City forward/wide man has fallen out of favour with Roberto Mancini and his current employers are known to be keen to listen to offers. Rodgers is known to be an admirer of the England international and an attempt to get a deal done may not be far away. Some online reports over the last few days had claimed that a £15 million offer had been launched, however, so far these would appear to be wide of the mark.
Should these players arrive at Anfield then Rodgers would have identified and addressed three main problem areas which were clearly visible at LFC last season, namely: the need for more options up front, the need for a better, more decisive wide player and the need for more creativity in central-midfield. Given that these positions topped the poll on live4liverpool.com for things that needed fixing urgently, it would seem that Rodgers has been quick to isolate and try to strengthen problem areas.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts as to whether or not you would be pleased with these signings.
You can catch up with Neil on Twitter @Neil1980 or on his blog http://itsallinthegameblog.wordpress.com/
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Johnson? – A big big big mistake! Other peoples’s left overs is all.
Are you mad Adam Johnson is a good player who will come back to bite
Man city
adam johnson will never be signd by rodgers.
he is not an interlinking player, he is a player that can beat his man then whip in a cross or cut inside and have a pop. his attributes do not work in a team that want to control the game and ball.
any one that thinks we need him does not know how this game works.
Carl, think about it, if Johnson is so good, why would MC willing to sell? Are they willing to sell Aguero?
Man City can afford and attract better. We can’t.
Adam Johnson + Daniel Sturride + a good defensive midfielder as back up is all that we need
what more crap, englihs players that are not wanted at other clubs.
for the price of Adam johnson –
Gaston Ramirez is better
for the price of Daniel Sturridge – Luuk de jong is better.
Gylfi sigurdsson is ok but we still need more, fsg have to wake up and smell the coffe we need 5 quality investments or we may as well pack up.
borini is not good enough,this shoulw be our side
reina
johnson skrtel agger cissokho
gerrard lucus banega
Sigurdsson
suarez carroll
what r u on about?!
daniel sturridge is a quality player and was scoring all chelseas goals till di matteo took over and adam johnson was setting the premier league alight untill he fell out wiv mancini.
and saying we need 5 quality investments or pack up is laughable
A. we cannot afford 5 big purchesses, the two mentioned wud be cheap, i dunno if u remember but we soent big last year n that diddnt work so we dont have the funds after not qualifying for C.L and those players only go to clubs wiv C.L football.
B. we could get into top 4 with less additions as last seasons perfornences show we lacked cutting edge otherwise we were solid at the back dominated possesion and created bags full of chances.
so in conclusion you need to watch more football or at least pay more attention to the football you watch that way u wont look like such a bell- end when you start commenting on forums
Get Higuain and the problem is solved… Kenny did bring the passing to LFC but failed to make passing game effective, as kenny always want players to get behind the ball, but Brendan can instill the zonal marking and midfield press to LFC and the problems are solved with Higuain Banging goals from everywhere…
and tbh, Sturidge and Johnson can come in and run the flanks
Well said but it’s not that easy
liverpool should bring adam johnson and fabio
Adam Johnson? Is a world class player…
We need decent pacy wingers,an attacking midfielder and a striker who can score goals.
If we got Sturridge and Adam Johnson in and cover for Lucas as well as competition for Enrique, I would take that all day long. We aren’t in a position to attract big names IMO and as we are now trying to balance value vs ability we can’t expect higuain and huntelaar, realistically- and unfortunately.
Sturridge and Johnson are good players and certainly improve our attacking options. Sturridge is a striker and can play wide forward and Johnson can play both wide forward positions if we go 4-3-3. Suarez would prob relish being the creator in the wide forward positions as this is where he has done most his damage so far. His agility and bamboozling dribbling skills, nutmegs and determination is a joy to watch and if we expose the opponents full back one on one, then they are going to have a tough game against him.
Carroll isn’t as bad as a lot of people make out with his feet- however he doesn’t look completely comfortable with the ball on the deck. He is a good player and im optimistic he can adapt his game.
Don’t know much about borini but this reported fee is too much of another risk, surely?
Gylfi is someone who knows the way BR wants his team to play, so he would help the tactical message get across- and he is good and good value. Anyhow, Sturridge, Adam Johnson, gylfi, left back and a strong, athletic defensive central mid would certainly improve our squad and give plays vital competition.
i would love to see talented players on our squad whiche are adam jhonson ,sturidg,tiote,kalue,fabio,tevez thise all pplayers are beast and thir price is fair please try to get some of them realy my choice is beast not only my choice its all kops fun choice .thanks GOD bless LFC.
Adam Johnson is tactically indisciplined! He is a flair player who has no team spirit – working hard for the team in retrieving the ball when they don’t have it!
Say it as much as you can but defending is a part of football and its a skill liverpool under Queen Kenny didn’t have in the forward players. Hence the lose to Fulham H n A; QPR A; swansea A; Sunderland A etc!
Very astute trio of targets. Low wages too . (comparitively)Huge resale value these tick all boxes. Two already know how Rodgers works so there is an advantage there.
All 3 are good players and will cost something like £30m. For the same price my choice would be Matias Suarez and Gaston Ramirez – that would be a forward line to really make them quiver: Ramirez-Suarez-Suarez. Forget the rest that would transform us!
hey man rodgers pls i will urge u to go for players like(Ad
DAMS JOHNSON), CARLOS TEVES, KRASIC, SIGURSSON, and DOSANTOS
i wud prefer gylfi, higuain or fabio and then munain
All thats said here are advice. All we can do as a true fan is to hope and pray that lfc gets those who will be able to turn the game around 4 lfc. Ynwa
For me buy:
Glyfi £8m
Johnson £12m
Borini (Loan first with view to sign)
Sturridge £12m
Ramirez £15m
Sell:
Adam £5m
Spearing £2m
Kuyt £2m
Maxi £2m
Aquilani £5m
Cole £5m
This would make us a stronger outfit, with goals and more quality.
What do u think?????
First I want to say that we should not sell anyone now, let the time to Rodgers to judge everyone and after that decide if a player have to go or not.
We all know that a player could be really different in a different environment.
My thoughts about those players : it would be perfect for us, .
With Sturridge and a central defender it would be perfect, it would make 7 players more in the team : that’s enough to start with a new manager
What about a backup left back or holding midfielder?! Why would we need another central defender unless one leaves?
Redsimm622 Says:
June 21st, 2012 at 9:07 pm
All 3 are good players and will cost something like £30m. For the same price my choice would be Matias Suarez and Gaston Ramirez – that would be a forward line to really make them quiver: Ramirez-Suarez-Suarez. Forget the rest that would transform us!
As belgian, I could say to you that suarez at anfield would be another jovanovic, he’s really over-over-over rated
Why is Borini eating his own hand in that picture?
Apparently, it’s from the Italian expression ‘to play with the knife between your teeth’ – it means you do whatever it takes to win and shows that he was always hungry for more goals/success. That’s what I’ve been told anyway!
Eating his finger means he will behave like his countryman Balloteli. Another mafia coming to epl?
Owners need to give B Rodgers £85-£90M to bring in these 7 players:
1: B Matuidi Of PSG for £6-£12M DM
2: A Cissokho Of Lyon for £4-£9M LB
3: G Sigurdsson Of Hoffenheim for £7-£9M AM
4: A Lennon Of Tottenham for £10-£15M FD
5: D Capel Of S Clube De Portugal for £7-£14M LW
6: M Susaeta Of A Bilbao for £8-£12M RW
7: L Castaignos Of Inter Milan Or G Agbonglahor of A Villa for £5-£15M FD
As last season club spent £83M on Adams,Carroll,Downing and Henderson. Club spent £115M on players brought into club last year, but club brought back £80M plus on players sold: Torres, Babel, Bennayoun, Koncheskey, Poulsen, Ngog and Meireles. So owners should back B Rodgers with £85-£90M Transfer money.
As even the likes of West Ham and A Villa, have transfer funds of £30M to spend and we are aiming to compete with Arsenal,Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham for the 3rd and 4th position in the premier league.
And 7 players need and should be shipped out this summer for sure:
1: Doni: should be sold for £1-£2M GK
2: J Carragher should retire and do coaching badges. CB
3: Flanagan: should be sold for £1-£2M RB
4: J Spearing : Should be sold for £3-£5M DM/CM
5: C Adams: should be sold for £4-£8M CM/DM
6: J Cole: should be sold for £2-£5M AM/RW/LW
7: M Rodriguez: should be sold for £2-£4M AM/LW/RW
Rodgers already have been shown all the existing deadwoods and knew most of them before taking the contract. My advise is: flush all of them and buy players not dancers.