REPORTS 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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I’m going to melbourne to see the reds and can’t wait .I think we have a good season ahead,hopefully sign a centre back and midfielder and we will start to be a force again
YNWA- Eriksen
If Suarez stays we may do ok next season. We may even attract a couple of decent players that want to play alongside him. If he goes we will have to spend the money more wisely than we have done before just to stand still.
If we were in a position to buy a couple of top draw players that could really make a difference to our chance of success next season we may just keep Suarez because he would want to stay. but I think we know our owners are not going to do that.
Football people know that he was always on his way out once they got rid of KD because he was his man. It was the same with Torres when they sacked RB. If Br manages to keep Suarez he will have done his best bit of work as our manager and will be worthy of our support. Likewise if he replaces him with equal quality it’s going to be an exciting season.
if he fails they wont need to re-build the stadium because no body will want to watch
Some fans just amuse me. Y’all called for Rafa’s head years back and now you want him back…….really funny. Nice work Rodgers & FSG. I see a great LFC ahead. YNWA
Cut BR some slack… We play good football now all thanx to him. Also about FSG, I think Dalglish killed it with all those extravagant spending… How can someone use over 70M pounds to buy Carroll, Downing and Henderson? Makes me sick to my stomach every time I remember that… Eriksen, Tobi and Xabi (Suarez stays). We are good to go!
All that LFC can and should do now is,do their talking on the field,win games and gat back to the CL. Nothing else will convince us. When this armenians name mentioned nearly months before the transfer window even opened and all the news sbout spotting that guy at london hotel and Ayre cancelling trips are just hoax. Just to seal minor deals when we should have sealed that armenians deal.Make us the supporters look like clowns. Become a joke for other clubs. BR have to show results or he will see a merseyless side comes the end of the season.
Come on guys , no top player us going to come here when we have a manager out his depth , who will probably be sacked in 6 months
We must get a proper top manager to attract top players.
Thanks for that genius… More whining pathetic dribble from another pathetic fair weather supporter…
Sturridge is not a top player? Coutinho not a top player? Think about wha you’re saying before you and your bafoon mates spit out this vomit. Might be time to watch some cricket you flog.
Another childish immature comment proving again that aussies know fk all about football
Total loser ozred
Oh mate do u want some tissues??? Get on with supporting your side… Facts are that rogers had us a top 4 club after the additions of coutinho and sturridge. This year we start with more than 1 striker… Who knows, we might even win a few games before Xmas…
We need to add som world class talent which they r trying to do. Time will tell what comes in. Get behind your team and stop being a whinging sook… Oh and the Aussies comment… Mate get a life.
More lies. Rodgers did not have us top 4 , not even since xmas. Clueless as always
If your going to come on here bleating time and again for people to ‘support’ at least try to get your facts right
Yes lies ozred . No answer ???
Please forget the Armenian.He is business minded & he will be a big treat
to lfc a near future.
No champions league with Rodgers as boss . Not now , not ever. He must go for us to compete at the top again
Who should they get as manager then?
Because if they can’t attract second tier players then they’re hardly going to attract the top managers.
coutinho only played well against low table clubs. remember how he was sustituted against chelsea. not in brazil regular team too. as a lfc supporter i dont rate him high.. last year lost dempsey and this year mktheryan..
stupid rodgers.
welcome back benitez
More dribbles of piss. We have to make do with what we have. We have no CL football to offer so we can’t attract the stellar names. We have to be shrewd & buy up & coming talent like we’ve already done…… Coutinho, Luis Alberto. Also give BR a chance to mould his own team.
To all the day trippers & fair weather fans…. support the manager & fsg or p*** off & support Chelski or Citeh.
Ha ha ha . Another clown telling everyone how to support
If you love Liverpool , get off your ar se and help get the greedy yanks out instead of being a sheep
Max I’m not telling everyone how to support the reds..
I’m just having a go at those who are being negative towards BR.
We have to be patient with this guy.
No. We have been patient. 100 years of patience won’t do any good because he is not a good manager and top players wont come whilst we have Rodgers
One year in charge , get a grip lad we improved dramatically After Xmas, what do u want?
Liverpool should be very serious with the way they scout players and afterwards team they claim they are the best snatch our scouted players.how come dortmond is bigger than lfc *them.BR is a professional coach and i wish God strenthens him throughout next season AMEN?
don’t say stupiep b/c u are more stupied than those
A. Were not going to improve under Brenda , he is poor manager
B. Without some big money spent we won’t ever challenging for title
It’s too early to judge yet, I think we are watching the Suarez situation and when we know we will strike….we should get behind the manager we picked up really well second half of the season so lets hope we can carry on with a couple of good signings also all managers make poor signings look at fergie and Mourinho e.g Veron, bebe, Kezman off top of my head.
We will finish forth
Lol . Says the kid who can’t even spell it.
People in the know say we weren’t interested in Eriksen, he is a creative midfielder whereas Mkhitaryan is a goal scoring midfielder. If we sign Wanyama at the price he’s available at (£12 million) then we’re stupid, even honest Celtic fans say he’s nowhere near being a top 4 EPL player. My main concern is halfway through the window and our net spending is zip if Spearing goes to Blackburn. Meanwhile there are huge questions over Suarez and Reina (I don’t believe Mingolet would unless he was promised he would be 1st choice)., so we’re reducing wages and spending nothing where has the money gone? i believe we only spent in Jan because of the appalling *ups last summer, some of which has to be blamed on the manager. Unless we pull a rabbit out of the hat, I fear the manager and FSG are putting all their chips on Suarez which is stupid. Some questions to consider Who decides transfer policy? How are we meant to compete when we’re penny pinching? Is the managers naivety killing us? Are FSG a slightly better version of the previous muppets? Despite the hype going round does anyone really expect us to be in the top 4 in May 2014, sorry I don’t
firstly , none of the 3 players mentioned will be coming here , FSG only want cheap players on low wages
secondly , why would they want to come here ? we are in a mess at the moment with no chance of top 4 next season
people need to wake up and realize the state we are in , don’t let a few wins against poor teams in meaningless matches at the end of last season disguise, what was a pretty darn disgraceful season
Guys…Lets forget about that Armenian. LFC lost. Thats it and lets move on. Take a look at these players instead- Mateus Biteco, Jorghino, Luciano Vietto and Luis Muriel.
Why re u guys criticising de manager?which manager re u guys exptin? Leave de coach alone ah. Let him build his team for de second season then we can judge him. Question: mourhino has grt achvments, but hw many trophies did he picked for his madrid team dis season yet u guys cal him de special one. See hw he left chelsea inter,and hw de teams were brutalised, chelsea strugled 4 abt 3 to 4 seasons b4 they built dis grt squad, inter is stil strugling, why cant a grt coach build a solid team that even if he’s left, de team will stil be strng like frank rijkaad of barca and de former baryern coach b4 henckenes did,benites received a grt squad in the likes of sissoko,hypia,riise etc, and that made him survived his first 3 seasons,what more did he acheive apart 4rm de champs league and de fa cup? Think guys,trust br, he can do it nd stop criticising ok,YWNWA..
You talk rubbish. BR is a awful manager. Liverpool deserve better
cl,fa cup, european super cup. it wld be easier for you to note if you could make some research.