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The three signings that would soften Mkhitaryan blow

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Liverpool targetsREPORTS begun to surface towards the end of last week that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be heading to Anfield after all, but instead looks likely to join Champions League finalists, Borussia Dortmund.

The Guardian, The Daily Mail, and Mirror have all come out with stories about how the Westphalian club have seemingly beaten Liverpool FC to the signature of the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder. Although these reports could be further speculation in the on-going saga that has surrounded Mkhitaryan, if true they would be a serious blow.

Much had already been made about the abilities of the Armenian midfielder and Liverpool fans had long been awaiting his arrival as a marquee signing. If Brendan Rodgers and management at Anfield had secured the signature of the Shakhtar player then it could have been a clear sign of the direction in which the club was headed.

With the uncertainty surrounded the future of Luis Suarez, the need for Liverpool to prepare for the loss of the Uruguayan was never more immediate. Although it remains uncertain if Suarez will stay or go, a player of Mkhitaryan’s calibre would have been a welcome addition to the team no matter when he was added.

At times last season Liverpool’s attack was void of bite and their play lacked a creative spark but Mkhitaryan could have possibly provided some remedy to this situation. If the reports of his signing with Borussia Dortmund prove to be true then Liverpool will need to look in another direction.

Brendan Rodgers has hinted that he is not done strengthening his squad this summer and has implied that he may look to add a creative, attacking option, as well as, an additional player to slot in at centre-back. For some these are necessities, as is the signing of a physical, defensive midfielder who can distribute the ball and orchestrate the attack from behind.

As far as an attacking midfielder is concerned, Liverpool may once again turn their gaze to Christian Eriksen. The Danish youngster from Ajax certainly has plenty of potential and his best years ahead of him. Indeed, there may have been some who would have rated him above Mkhitaryan except that the Dane is not quite as experienced.

Sticking with Ajax, Liverpool have long been rumoured with Toby Alderweireld, Eriksen’s teammate at the Dutch club. Alderweireld would add youth to the back line and potential. He would also challenge for a spot at the centre-back position and would be more than capable of earning a starting spot outright.

As for a defensive midfielder, a man high on many a list is Celtic’s Victor Wanyama. At only 22 the Kenyan has impressed for the Scottish champions and has made a move to the Premier League likely. However, Liverpool may need to act fast to sign Wanyama as both Southampton and Cardiff are circling.

The loss of Mkhitaryan’s signature, if proven to be true, could be a serious blow to Liverpool’s aspirations. Luckily for the Merseyside club the summer is far from over and there is plenty of talent left on the table.
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179 comments

  • Cuthbert tapgun says:

    Y ar dis lfc fans tolkin 2 mch abt mis signg n coah BR, ar u d coah alwed him do his wok pls.

  • liverpool says:

    We will get eriksen

  • Cromby says:

    We won’t sign any of them, we are bargain bin buyers now, its why we didn’t have a chance with HM, we never actually bid. We are following the Arsenal model, you all heard FSG praise their way of doing things. Its all big talk, let rumours out about big signings, have the fans worked up and excited, allow the rumours drag on and then when it comes to the crunch, its derisory bids or no bids at all, and in the end the player will go elsewhere. I’m already sick of been scammed by this carry on at our club, but I imagine it must be ten times worse for Arsenal fans where this charade has been going on for years now.

    • Harlan says:

      Good comment

      • Marshall says:

        Yeap good comment unfortunately suarez is at it again giving interviews today.wish even the big spending russian or chinese clubs make a decent offer at least he wont have problems with the media there…and he wil get to win trophies…

    • David K says:

      At least Arsenal do enough to qualify for the Champions League, its looks like we are settling for top six and becoming a selling club to make profit. Good comment.

    • O'kay says:

      whyner. You are so wrong.

    • Andre says:

      Your 100% right Crosby

  • Tunji says:

    I don’t like d way FSG are runnin our club,let push em yanks out.

  • Livmad says:

    Agreed…Liverpool will be a bottom 10 team. FSG out!

  • John says:

    I think Liverpool can no longer be the title contender because they dont want to spend big on players. They keep talking about the future but most fans want the present celebrations. Liverpool is very fast in signing young and old players but very slow in signing big names to the club. You can see that while other clubs spend big money on big name players but Liverpool has nothing. The fact is that you cannot win the title with mediocre players. It is very idiotic of Liverpool who sign average players but expect to win the trophies. No Champion League football; no much money on players. Who will come then? The club has to be fully aware of its stupidity in order to move on.

  • Denis D says:

    The owners need to back B Rodgers properly with £30-£40M on top of whatever money B Rodgers can bring into club on player sales out wards: And then hopefully club can get back amongst top 4 as we have now not been in the champions league for five years/seasons and we have become a top 6-10 side in the last five years/season as at the moment there are 6 clubs with alot better equipped squads than us that have finished above us in last two seasons: Both Manchester Clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea , Everton and Tottenham and all those clubs are strengthening this year.

    So owners need to back B Rodgers well as even the likes of Norwich, Swansea are spending more on players than us nowadays:

    Rodgers has sold Shelvey for £5-£6m and Carroll for £15.5M-£16M, when T Ince is sold to either Cardiff or Swansea the club will receive £2-£4M of the fee.

    That in itself should cover the 3 buys brought to club Alberto, Aspas and Mignolet.
    K Toure was free transfer

    Rodgers needs to ship out the other 8 dead wood average hard working players and re couperate: £20-£27M

    1: GK: B Jones 2: RB: Flanagan 3: CB: Coates 4: Spearing

    5: AM: Pacheco 6: RW / RWF: Assaidi 7: LW / LWF: Borini 8: FD: Borini

    Then Rodgers needs to find out if P Reina and L Suarez plan to be around and fully committed to the cause for next 2-4 years: If Not, then both should be shipped out as soon as possible

    Reina should be sold in swap deal with C Tello(21) Of Barcelona and £2M Cash Or he should be sold for £10-£14M with Arsenal and Napoli fans of his also

    L Suarez should be sold for no less than £55M, he is currently the 3rd best player in the world behind Messi and Ronaldo. Neymar went to Barcelona for £61m including add ons and Real Madrid offered £65M+ in their opening bid for Bale, Cavani has buy out clause of £54M and Suarez is better than Bale, Cavani and Neymar so the owners and B Rodgers should stand firm and should not listen to no offers under £55M.

    If anyone wants him, that is the minimum club should accept for Suarez, Suarez is and was a better player than Torres and club got £50M out of Torres sale, so club expect to get more from better player.

    Then if the 8 dead wood players are sold and the two world class players we have are sold: 10 players in total:

    Along with C Tello(21) in swap deal with P Reina.

    Then 9 other players need to be brought to club: Five Defensive players and 4 Attacking Players: To bring more class, quality, quality competition for places and DEPTH to SQUAD:

    And then we could have squad capable of competing with one another on all fronts all over the course of season:

    Five/5: Defensive players: That should be brought in to bring more stability, competition, mobilty, power and Strength to Squad: Cost =£30-£50M

    1: GK: A Mccarthy(23) Of Reading for £4-£7M to compete with Mignolet(25) for the next 3-8 years at club

    2:CB: K Papadopolous(21) Of Schalke for £10-£16M to compete with Skrtel(28) for next 2 years. And then to take over from Skrtel

    3:CB: Toby Alderweireld(24) Of Ajax for £7-£10M to compete with Agger(28) and Toure(32) for next 2-4 years and then to take over the mantle with K Papadopolous

    4: LB: A Cissoko(25) Of Valencia for £2-£6M to compete with Enrique(26) For next two to three seasons.

    5: DM: E Capoue(23) Of Toulouse for £7-£11M to compete with LUCAS(26) for the next 3- 5 years.

    Four/4 Attacking players: Cost= £42-£62M

    1: AM: I Munian(20) Of A Bilbao for £10-£15M to compete with Alberto(20) and Coutinho(20) for the next 5-10 seasons at club

    2: LW/ LWF: D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal / Lisbon or B Arfa(26) Of Newcastle for £4-£10M to compete with Aspas and IBE for next 3- 4 seasons

    3: FD: C Benteke(21) Of A Villa for £18-£22M to compete with Sturridge for the next 5-8 years at club

    4: FD: L Muriel(23) Of Udinese for £10-£15M to compete with Benteke and Sturridge for the next 5-8 years at club.

    These players would all bring more class, quality, quality competition and depth to squad: Only one player would cost over £20M but Goalscorers are worth their money

    Rodgers is assembling a good side, but what the club does need that we currently lack within Squad is power, size, steel, strength and pace and speed. And the players I have mentioned we should bring to club would rectify all that

    In Mccarthy(23) You have young hungry Gk who will want to compete and become No1 at club competing with Mignolet week in week out and both keeping one another on their toes.

    In K Papadopolous(21), T Alderwierld(24), A Cissokho(25) and E Capoue(23), You have class, quality, qulaity competiton for places mobility, pace, power, speed, strength brought to Defensive side in Squad.

    In Munian(20), You have another classy, creative magician in the Cazorla, Coutinho, Iniesta, Mata, Oscar, Sliva Mould with pace and speed in his locker who will compete with Alberto(20) and Coutinho(20) for that AM Role, these players will unlock the best teams in world. But they need mobility, movement pace and speed in front of them for their passing skills to be regularly shown.

    In Arfa(26) OR Cape(25)l and Tello(21), Club would have two classy quick pacey direct wingers who the likes of Alberto, Coutinho and Munian would look to find at will with their pace, speed on break. These wingers have the pace and speed to trouble any side in world football and when we played the teams competing with us: Man United, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham: The likes of Raphael, Evra, Zabaleta, Clichy, Sagna, Gibbs, Coleman, Baines, Walker and Essou – Ekotto will not be galavanting forward at will if we had these wingers on either wing against them, they would be forced to do more defending than attacking. And no matter how quick those full backs are: They will no the pace, speed they are up against would cause them problems all game and would have to be very cautious coming forward. Rogers should bring Capel and Tello to Anfield, both would keep teams stretched with their directness, movement, pace and speed. And Ibe and Sterling would learn their trade from two very direct lively class quality spanish wingers

    In Benteke(21) and Muriel(23), club would have two powerful, mobile strikers, one has pace and speed( Muriel) The other is average speed and runs channels well with good movement but is a bully, good in the air and is a handful for any defender in world football(Benteke) both competing with D Sturridge(23) for the next 5-8 years. And all the three strikers would offer the club something different in attack

  • Abdul'azeez says:

    We need to b patient with br cause he will surely develop lfc to good

  • joel says:

    you need to more time to think about it Denis..
    Rogers is going ok give him time..
    Stability is what we need..
    Counthio is the next super star.. just watch… Suarez one more year then you can leave..if we don’t make it..
    He will stay for years… Watch
    Come on REDS… there coming to the MCG.. greatest stadium in the world..

    • Denis D says:

      Joel,
      I play and watch football regularly and for the last 4 years i have regularly mentioned players the club should have gone for on forums and they end up at either chelsea or Man City, Only Coutinho is the only player i talked about 3-4 years ago like Diego Capel and Jesus Navas who were both at Seville. But Capel is now at Sporting Clube De Portugal/ Lisbon and is available for £4-£7M

      Navas is at Manchester City and in all honesty when we play them i hope he is out injured or not fully fit as J Navas was the fastest player in spain for last 5 seasons but due to some serious injuries the last two seasons he was struggled to get back to his maximum.

      Every top full back in spain got anielated one vs one with Navas and if he is fully fit and injury free, every full back in premier league will see first hand how pacey, quick and dangerous the player is.

      Capel is similar but left footed not as fast or as quick as Navas but very quick and pacey in his own right and he may have more skill than Navas.

      It is not rocket science to see why we haven’t won a league title in over 20 years and why Manchester United have consistantly dominated premiership in last 20 years, becuase of their squad class, quality and depth.

      The great Liverpools off old always had two to three good class quality players competing for a position at club. But over the last two decades we have substituted class and quality for more average dead wood hardworking players.

      The 7 dead wood average players still at club we should get rid of:

      GK: Jones RW/ RWF: Assaidi
      RB:Flanagan LW / LWF: Downing
      CB:Coates FD: Borini
      AM: Pacheco

      If and when the club sell these players on none of them will solely be missed because they offer very little to the club and to their position rivals at the club its that simple.

      The 11 players i have said we should bring to club are all cheap bargain buys: Only one player would cost between £18-£23M the rest would cost between £3-£15M

      And all the players i mentioned would bring more class, quality, quality competition to squad:

      The 5 Defensive players would be for now and future:

      In : GK: A Mccarthy(23) Of Reading CB: K Papadopolous(21) Of Schalke
      CB: T Alderwierld(24) Of Ajax LB: A Cissokho(25) Of Valencia
      DM: E Capoue(24) Of Toulouse

      The brings more class, quality, mobility, power, steel, strength to defensive side of Squad, good Class, Quality Competition all across the defensive positions, there is also good cover for any suspensions or injuries.

      As currently if Agger Skrtel Enrique Lucas for some reason were all out injured or suspended during the same time our team would be screwed defensively as there is no real class or quality on bench to cover that class and quality when it is not there.

      But if we had the five defensive players at club and those 4 players were out injured or suspended, there would be similar or better class and quality there in reserve to step in : Alderwierld, Papadopolous, Cissokho and Capoue.

      Same could be said with attack: Our main threats last season were Coutinho, Gerrard, Sturridge, Sterling and Suarez is sold.

      If for some reason all those four players are out injured or suspended and Suarez has been sold and during course of season the 4 of them are off together then our club would struggle immensely, we would have to rely on Allen, Henderson, Assaidi, Downing and Borini for creativity and goals and in whole season how many goals did those players have between them?And in Alberto and Aspas if they do not hit the ground running straight away they may struggle to get grips and take time to adapt to league

      But if the 5 attacking players i mentioned are brought to club in THIS summer:

      1: AM: I Munian(20) Of A Bilbao, Munian is in the same calibre and class of Coutinho, he just has more pace and speed than Coutinho. Munian and Coutinho are both far better players than Alberto

      2: RW / RWF: C Tello(21) Of Barcelona in swap deal with P Reina(30) and £2M Cash:
      Tello is better than any winger we currently have at club and he is currently Barcelona’s quickest player and is a very good winger with goals in his locker, but he struggled to cement first team spot last season and with £61M Capture of Neymar i do not think he will be getting much game time at Nou Camp this year either. Tello would stretch teams at will, week in week out.

      3: LW /LWF: D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal /Lisbon: Is also better than any winger we currently have at club and is also blessed with lightning pace and speed and has skill and trickery to match. Capel is a confidence player but one vs one against any full back he is very direct and exciting to watch. Capel has good delivery into box and has an eye for goal also. Capel would stretch teams at will, game in game out

      4: FD: C Benteke(21) Of A Villa: Last year he was the main reason A Villa avoided being relegated and he was a handful for any premiership defender, he is mobile, powerful, strong, runs channels, good at holding ball up, good finisher and awesome in the air. If Suarez is sold this summer , Benteke and Muriel should replace him

      5: FD: L Muriel(23) Of Udinesse: The Old Ronaldo lookalike who plays similar to him, Direct, Skillful, Mobile, Pacey and Quick with good finish and creates chances for others also.

      Then the club would have 5 class quality players of similar class and calibre able to step IN: And the level class and quality of team would still be the same

      As if the five players i mentioned were out now, we’d have these 5 replacing them: Allen, Henderson, Downing, Alberto and Aspas.

      Is that similar class and quality to : Coutinho, Gerrard, Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez

      Or is this more similar class and quality: Benteke, Capel, Munian, Muriel and Tello?

      PLEASE SAY AND BE HONEST

    • Ozred says:

      Joel, you will be rewarded for your loyalty… Dennis the menis is just bitter about Ashton Agar taking his pethetic cricket team to all corners of the park last night. No idea dennis.

      • Denis D says:

        Ozred i have been supporting Liverpool since i was 5 years of age you clown and i will always support them, but i am not blind fan and if you knew anything about modern day football you would know you don’t win trophies spending peanuts.

        Our club will not be challenging for the title until we have more class quality players in our squad that would be able to compete and play in the top 6 sides we are competing with:

        Apart from Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Enrique, Lucas, Coutinho, Gerrard, Sturridge and Suarez.

        Who else in our current 25 man squad would have the class and quality get into any of these 6 teams first 11:
        Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham?

        The answer is no one , only the 10 players mentioned above would be able to make the grade in the teams we are competing with for a top 4 position in league and hopefully one day we will be competing for the league again.

        But to do that the owners need to invest heavily in the side, how can the likes of Norwich and Swansea be spending more money on signings than us?

        Ozred you haven’t got a clue, i love my team and always will do but the owners need to take their fingers out their arses and back the manager with at least £30-££40M this season. And then whatever B Rodgers can bring in on selling dead weight players and any players who want out he should be allowed to use.

        And the players i mentioned we should bring to club are better than what we have in reserve the other 15 players and would offer the same class and quality that we currently have in 10 players out of 25 man squad.

        I am loyal, just real and blunt. The longer it is taking us to get back in champions league, United are winning leagues/ Titles and we need to be competing with them again year in year out simple.

        If the owners want success and stability back B Rodgers well and heavily and then in next 2-4 years we will be competing with United again.

        As the likes Of Mccarthy(23) GK, K Papadopolous(21) , Alderwierld(24), Cissokho(25), Capoue(23), Capel(25), Tello(21), Munian(20), Benteke(21) and Muriel(23) are all players who have the class and quality to play for any of the teams we are competing with for a top 4 position in league.

        • Ozred says:

          So we need to bring in more quality? Really? Thanks for clearing that up. I thought we had reached the top already.

          Unfortunately apart from tello, there is a serious lack of world class talent. No point bringing in 8 people who don’t help our best 11.

  • Samuel Charles Evans says:

    sell coates, spearing, assaidi, then get the ince sell on mney and we will be hardly spending anything!!! that does seem to be FSG – John W Henry’s plan, its ok being good with resources but its time now for Liverpool to get on and buy better players to go into 1st team!!!

    Id like us to do Alonso + 40 mill = suarez
    Id like us to then buy –

    Aly cissokho, Toby Alderweireld, C.Eriksen, jackson martinez with the money left form real for suarez.

    • Ozred says:

      Correct. Buy players that are going to be in our 1st 11. That’s the only way we will get better. Sturridge and coutinho prove that. So far We’ve brought in 4 fringe players – maybe harsh on mignolet and aspas. The like of eriksen, alonso, higuain etc would all come in and immediately make us a force. Buying 8 fringe players won’t help. Sorry Dennis.

      • Denis D says:

        Ozred, you do not nothing about football.

        Do you think If P Reina(30) does get shipped out and sold as planned, A Mccarthy(23) Of Reading should be brought in for £4-£7M and he is as good as Mignolet now and Younger, so they would compete for the No 1 Position at club for next 5-10 years.

        All the players i mentioned are for direction competition for first team places:
        If Capel and Tello are brought to club, they would be in first 11 ahead of any wingers we have at current club. As they are both better than any of the wingers we have at club

        Munian is in same calibre as Coutinho with more pace and speed, Young Iniesta in the making and would compete with Alberto and Coutinho for the attacking midfield role.

        Every good football club needs at least three good quality strikers at club, we currently have two in first team : Sturridge and Suarez

        Yet one may be sold as he won’t shut up or stop promoting that he wants to leave the club and he is great and currently third best player in world football but if owners and rodgers stand firm and do not budge. Only if £55M offer and over is matched then he should be sold,Then with that £55M at least £38M of it should be spent on bringing in two class qualitu strikers for now and future of club

        Alonso was great servant to club, but we are in new Era. Capel, Munian and Tello are the way forward. Three mobile quick pacey technically gifted Spanish players in the class and quality of Isco, Alcantra, Cazorla, Fabregas, Mata and Silva who would make you eat your words.

  • Samuel Charles Evans says:

    reina
    johnson agger skrtel enrique

    gerrard lucus alonso
    eriksen
    coutinho martinez

  • Gharib says:

    Bernard is the best option

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