WITH the disappointment of the derby out of the way, further frustration followed with news that our captain, Mr. Gerrard, is out for the season (add to that list, Daniel Agger too). It’s a clear sign that the season is officially, 100% over.
We’d all suspected this for months, if we’re honest, but the Scouse optimism wouldn’t let us admit it until recently. With that in mind, it’s time to look to the summer and to where – or on whom – we need to place all of our attention.
A quick glance at the papers every morning for the past 3 months will have told you that we’re more-or-less chasing every player in Europe and one or two in South America/Asia/Australasia.
If our scouting network was truly that extensive, then there’d be serious questions to be asked of why our transfer policy hasn’t been all that impressive in recent years.
So, to make things easier I’m going to break things down and pick out who I believe are likely to be some of our top transfer targets over the summer, based on word of mouth, gossip and what many consider to be ‘reliable’ sources.
5. Ashley Williams – It is actually beginning to scare me how frequently and how seriously we’re being linked with the Swansea captain. Williams who turns 29 this year has been at Swansea for the best years of his career but only two of those have been spent in the Premier League.
There is no denying that Williams is one of the better defenders outside of the top 4-5 clubs, and while he’s a good, solid defender there are serious doubts that he has what it takes to step up to play for a top club in big games and at the highest level, in European football.
A few years younger and the Welshman may well be worth investing in, as defenders generally don’t reach their peak until past 27 but I would probably have to defer to FSG’s judgement that this isn’t a player we should be looking at.
Central defence is a position we need to add to during the summer but the likes of Stefan de Vrij and Douglas would be much more suitable options, and anybody that means we’re not signing yet another of Brendan’s former Swansea players can only really be a good thing.
4. Loic Remy – The Frenchman who opted to sign for QPR in the January transfer window hasn’t done what you would call ‘setting the world alight’ since he signed for the newly relegated side but he’s shown enough glimpses of quality both in France and in his brief spell in the Premier League to perhaps be worth a shot.
5 goals in 11 games for a side that has proved to be even more miserable since Harry Redknapp took over is nothing to sniff at and with a bit more quality around him he may well be a decent backup to the likes of Suarez and Sturridge. Provided the price is right. There are almost certainly better options around but given that we have no European football next season, we can’t really start being too choosey at this stage in our ‘development’.
For many, a better option would be to bring Andy Carroll back and see what we can get out of him for a season before committing to signing another striker and, personally, unless Remy could be signed on the cheap and at least half of what we paid for Carroll recouped, I would have to agree.
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3. Christian Eriksen – The Danish Ajax midfielder has been a long-term link for Liverpool and has often been linked with rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City.
Rumours are however, that the Reds have already got a deal in place for the player in the summer. It’s one of those that just refuses to go away and, in many ways, it’s one of the more welcome long-term rumours.
With over 45 assists and 21 goals in the past two seasons for Ajax, the 21 year old is a prospect that will excite many a Red and his international experience coupled to his club he would easily be a ‘pass’ when tallied up against FSG’s ‘buy young, with sell-on value’ that we’re led to believe has blocked one or two transfers over the past few years.
At a reported £15-£17 million, he wouldn’t come cheap, by any means, but he would certainly be an exciting addition to any Liverpool XI.
While there are many midfield options available these days, I doubt we’d find many better (or likely to get even better) than the young Danish maestro.
2. Xabi Alonso – The former Red is a great hero of mine so this entry is perhaps a bit biased. The rumours may also have quietened down in the past few weeks but given that Alonso’s future was intimately tied to Jose Mourinho’s, it will be interested to see these rumours reach a crescendo again in the coming weeks, as it has now become obvious that the Madrid manager is odds on to return to his former club, Chelsea.
If the 31 year old Spanish midfielder was to return to Liverpool it would be the biggest coup the club have pulled off since Fernando Torres signed for the club. Many would argue that Luis Suarez was a bigger signing but Suarez was merely considered a top striker when the club signed him, while Alonso is one of the top 5 midfielders in Europe; a bonified world-class performer.
At this stage, nothing is clear about the future of Xabi and that is why there is still hope that he may well return. His class and experience would add something we’ve missed since he left and he would hopefully rub off on some of the younger midfielders at the club.
Mark this down as a ‘one can only hope’ but it may be a case of ‘you will never know until you try’. We probably wouldn’t make a single better signing this summer.
1. Hatem Ben Arfa – This is a strange one. The Frenchman had been linked to the club some time before he signed for Newcastle United but he is the one that just won’t seem to go away, in terms of constantly being linked with the club.
And while he wouldn’t be a particularly bad signing, there are doubts over his consistency and injury track-record but the Frenchman clearly has talent.
The one concern for me is that Ben Arfa is meant to be a creative element and yet his track-record for goals and assists is hardly impressive. With the likes of Downing already at the club and contributing little in that regard, it would probably not be wise to splash out big on another ‘proven’ Premier League wide-man.
As with Loic Remy, the 26 year old would be an option, given our current predicament but he wouldn’t come cheap and Newcastle have a proven record of being able to rinse us, so we would perhaps be best avoiding Ben Arfa and ploughing those funds into a genuine marquee signing.
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the only one on the list that we might be interested in is 3. Christian Eriksen
Alex Pearce (Free),Ashley Williams (8 Million), Mohammed Diame (3.5Million),
Tom Ince (6 Million), Loic Remy (6 Million) & Ben Arfa (7.5 Million).
Eriksen would be a great signing. Williams is too old for the money being asked.
erkisen maybe remy but he others are wasting of money
the others
eriksen is a must
benteke would also be nice
and Lukaku as well, and its CL guaranteed
Get us De Guzman.. Give Ngoo a starting shirt. Tom ince will be great. And the young feryoond captain. Cool huh?
i think our club need agood manager and more player none of this 5 playre is good
I would love to see Christian Eriksen signed as a long term replacement for Gerard!
eriksen max 17m, douglas free, de vrij max 10m, (keep carroll for one more seaon)to cover suarez……sell coates, will we get 5m and 20m kitty, kinda balances out…..
NO to Williams..he is a idiot and is not welcome at Anfield for leathe says about Suarez
NO to Ben arfa good player but injury prone
NO to Remy . Just not good enough
Well said mate
Yes .I dont want Ashley Williams at our club . No way .
Ben Arfa is a possibility. But Alonso and Eriksson are not realistic targets
why isn’t eriksson a realistic target?
Erecksen, Alonso nd jackson Matinez of FC porto will be good addition.
eriksen (ajax) creative AM, aldeweld (ajax) CB to replace cara, wanyama (celtic) DM back up for lucas, loic remy (qpr) or a better striker available at reasonable price.
We would required World Class Defender like Matt Hammel type…. if not we have plenty back up Skertel is good enough, then we have coates quite decent defender then we have 3 hungry youngsters Kelly, Wisdom & Coady. we would required defensive midfield like Yann M’Vila type to cover & competition to Lucas. Then we would require goal scoring winger like tom Ince & 1 prolific goal scorer.
WE have 20M to spend…. In this scenario i will sell some players
1. Carrol – 10M (No one will give more than 12 for him)
2. Downing – 10M (Playing well but not scoring or creating enough)
3. Spearing – 3M (not worth keeping him)
4. Assaidi – 5M (Not playing enough)
It will take our kitty to around 45-50M… then i will buy….
1. gonzalo higuain from Real 12-15M (not playing enough for real will come cheap & he is willing to quit Real)
2. Yann M’Vila for 15M Exact valuation.
3. Tom Ince for 10M (40% liverpool stake means he will coast 6M)
4. Matt Hummels for 15-20M (Not realistic though)
hey man. i like ur optimism but there is no way higuain is comming to liverpool, (at least not for that money).
The owners are comical, the teams that are above us in league have much better squads than us. The premiership is now divided in : The Two Manchester clubs are ahead with the two best squads in league.
Then Chelsea have the third best squad in league, Followed by Arsenal and then Tottenham.
For our club to get back amongst the top 4, we do not have to spend £200M like G MCcallister recently claimed, but the owners will need to spend between £100-£120M to get our club back amongst the top. And to get club back competing with Manchester United for the league year in year out.
As there is no real class,quality competition for places in the squad: And that needs to be addressed as soon: The owners need to give B Rodgers £100-£120M between the summer and January to bring in 11 players for now and future of club and to change whole dimesnion of squad and to have all the players kept on their toes and no ones position or starting place in the first 11 should or will be guaranteed. ( Reina, Johnson, Agger,Lucas, Enrique, Coutinho, Gerrard, Sturridge,)
But first and foremost Rodgers needs to ship out , some of the dead weight/wood players we still have at club and stop bringing in any more average hard working players. Club need more players of Coutinho, Gerrard, Sturridge and Suarez calibre at club.
Since B Rodgers reign at club last year he has shipped out 12 players (Adams,Aurelio,Aquilani, Bellamy,Carroll,Cole, Doni, Kuyt,Ngoo, Rodriguez,Spearing and Wilson) Four of them are out on loan though, but Rodgers has only been allowed to replace five of them( Allen,Assaidi, Borini, Coutinho and Sturridge)
Rodgers needs to ship out these players this summer :
1: GK: B Jones for £1-£2M 2:RB: Flanagan for £500,000-£1M 3:CB: Coates for £5-£8M 4:CB: Wilson for £1-2M 5:DM: Spearing for £3-£5M 6:FD: Borini for £7-£9M 7:FD : Pacheco for £1-£2m
And then A Carroll(23) should be given fair chance at club and given opportunity to be Clubs Plan B option in attack.
Then these 11 players between the summer and January transfer window should be brought to the club:
Six Defensive players: Cost: £32-£46M
1:GK: A Pearce(23) Of Reading for £2-£5M to compete with Reina.
2:CB: M Richards(25) Of Manchester City for £10-£14M to compete with Skrtel
3:CB: A Pearce(24) Of Reading on Free Transfer to compete with every CB at club
4:CB:A Williams(28) Of Swansea for £8-£11M to compete with Agger
5:LB: S Umtiti (19) Of Lyon for £5-£7M to compete with Enrique and Robinson
6:DM: E Capoue(24) Of Toulouse for £7-£9M to compete and cover Lucas
Five Attacking players: Cost: £32-£46M
7: CM: De Guzman Of Villareal for £4-£6M to compete with Allen, Gerrard And Henderson.
8:AM: Isco(20) Of Malaga for £16-£20m to compete with Coutinho, Shelvey and Suso
9:RW / RWF: J Montero(23) Of Monarcas Morelia in Mexico for £3-£7M to compete with Assiadi and Sterling
10:LW / LWF: D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal/ Sporting Lisbon for £5-£7M to compete with Downing
11: FD: L Remy(26) Of QPR for £4-£6M to compete with Carroll, Sturridge and Suarez
Those 11 players would cost club combined total of £64-£92M
Yet then there would be real class quality and competition all over squad like the great Liverpool sides of old that used to dominate in the 1980’s:
Squad with the 7 players shipped out and 11 players mentioned shipped in:
GK: MCCarthy and Reina competing for the No 1 position in first 11
RB: Johnson, Kelly and Wisdom competing for the RB Position in first 11
CB: Agger, Pearce, Richards, Skrtel and williams woula all be competing for CB position in team
LB: Enrique and Umtiti would be competing for the left back position
DM: Capoue and Lucas would compete for DM Position
CM: Allen, De Guzman, Gerrard and Henderson would all be competing for the CM position
AM: Coutinho, Isco, Shelvey and Suso would all compete for the AM Position
RW / RWF : Assaidi, Montero and Sterling would all compete for Right side in attack
LW / LWF: Capel and Downing would both compete for Left side in attack
FD: Carroll, Remy, Sturridge and Suarez would all compete for the forward role/s
i think adding miroslav klose to our squad will be a perfect addition and then dede ayew from lazio and marcelle respectively
A new manager should be our only priority
Amen to that
It’s not gonna happen… deal with it
I know many think BR is not the right man for the job, so what do they expect? someone like Benitez, Anceloti, etc, well regardless of what manager we get the reality is we do not have the resources in terms of finances, footballing position by means of CL football and squad to compete with the top teams. No matter what manager comes in we will need to spend over 100mil to compete for the top four on a consistant basis in the short term. Until the fans wake and see this reality we need to accept we need consistency long term and BR could provide that; the signings under his reign so far overall have been better than most of our recent managers and time will only tell if he can develop himself and Liverpool into position and rank we want to be.
I hope we get of rid/sell the following players to raise funds:
Assaidi – 3m
Coates – 5m
Downing – 7m
D Wilson – 1m
Skrtel – 10m
Caroll – 13m
Pacheco – 1m
Spearing – 2m
This gives us about 42m on top of the 20m being reportedly that will be available in the summer. I would also let the Suarez go if we can get 45m+ and Reina for 18m+ and the likes of Borini and Allen should a decent offer come in.
Hope to get in:
Keisuke Honda – Free (Bosman) – Will helps us get into the Asian market, also he is a decent player providing quality and depth to the squad
Heung Son Min, 12m – is a sound player and returns from Asia help our finances.
Erikson – 16m – Could be the creative player we in the CM.
De Vrij – 7m – Has been captain for his team playing well and could be what we need at CB.
Tiago Illori – 4m
Wanyama – 8m
Alex Pearce – Free (Bossman)
Dejan Lovren – 10m
Just get rid of them but only for the right price:
Reina – 15m
Enrique – 7m
Coates – 5m
Skrtel – 12m
G Johnson – 12m
Downing – 8m
Wilson – 1m
Pacheco – 1m
Spearing – 2m
Caroll – 14m
Assaidi – 2m
Suarez – 40m
+ the 20m we already have that gives us of kitty of 139m
Get in:
Ter Stegan – 12m
De Vrij – 8m
D Lovren – 13m
Luke Shaw – 10m
Keisuke Honda – Bossman
Wanyama – 8m
Tiago Illori – 3m
Erkison – 15
Son Heung Min – 12m
Benteke – 16m
Jovetic – 20m
Being serious rather then a waist of space as above!
If any Liverpool Fan thinks we can sell half the squad and replace all for better and then further add much better quality on top to add to depth and in just one window then they need to go and learn the game?
We have some very good players and some young great young players that could become just that – great.
We have some players that are good squad players and some that need to go.
With Carragher going we need to keep Reina because with Carragher gone and Reina if he goes would be huge for communication and the relationship across back line, we must keep Reina and add better defenders to help with quality and depth across the back line.
Players to sell that are just not good enough and are not going to help bridge that gap to even start thinking of top 4 are-
CARROLL 12 MILL – no one is going to pay much more of that
SPEARING 3.5 MILL – good player for the right level but that’s that for him
ASSAIDI 3.0 MILL – very odd deal to bring him in
PACHECO – UNDER 0.5 MILL at best he is just not progressing, cant keep going on loan
WILSON – END OF CONTRACT – crap player, just plain rubbish
FLANAGAN – over rated and would be better getting regular footie else where
NGOO 1.7- 2.0 MILL AT BEST, young effective for right team but just not good enough
SHELVEY 4.5 MILL has some good things but is just not the quality we need to push us forward, Allen, Henderson, Lucus, Gerrard are all ahead of him, why not use the cash to help bring in a much better player for the present.
Say we get around just under 24- 25 mill.
we add x2 center backs
we add x1 left back
we add x1 center mid
we add x1 striker
we add x1 winger