Topic: General Transfer Discussion v2 (READ THE RULES OR SAY GOODBYE)

[Frank.]

The Rules.
UNLESS FROM THE BELOW SOURCES, NO TWITTER SHITE.
Journalists from - The Times, The Liverpool Echo, The Liverpool Daily Post, The Guardian, The Torygraph, The Independent & The BBC.
Duncan Jenkins, Scott, Guillem Ballague, Gabriel Marcotti, Martin Charquero, Steven Goff, Grant Wahl, Ives Galarcep, Beau Dure, (Basically any respected foreign journalists) & any of the Anfield Wrap lads.
(If you think someone should be on the above list then PM me and I'll add them on once I've checked them out or missed them out.)

Please only discuss LFC related transfer moves. No 'Oh I see Spurs have signed Vertoghen thats depressing' As it ends up sparking a discussion about how far LFC have fell, why aren't we buying him now, blah, blah, blah. It's boring a tedious, leave it out.

Abuse any LFC Playing & None Playing staff will not be tolerated.

If a players' thread becomes locked for a reason other than arguments/going off topic don't come in here to start posting the views you would have posted in there.

If anyone breaks these rules persistently they will be muted or possibly banned. If you don't like it then sorry there's plenty of other places were you can discuss things.

Oh yeh, and no complaining about the rules either.

Have fun

[CraigDS]

Should put those rules in the sticky in here too to make sure everyone has seen them!

[Frank.]

BBC reporting Sigurdsson close to joining Spurs.

Would be a blow after what Duncan Jenkins had been saying that he was coming here.

This is related to LFC, as we are potentially missing out on one rodgers top targets this summer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18599310

That's fine but just no 'SHOWS HOW FAR WE'VE DROPPED' etc please lads and lasses.

[Cadno]

I think it has little to do with how far we have dropped and everything to do with poor work in the transfer market over the past few years, we have overspent on wages on mediocre players.  We are now in a position where we cannot get rid of high earners that need to go so it impacts on how much is available for incoming players.  I think Siggurson was a luxury player, a player who Brendan would have loved to come in because he knows the way we are probably going play but I dont think that we ever considered breaking the bank for him.   There might be some scope for negotiation and we could still see him coming here but I dont think that its a massive loss when/if we have Aquilani and Cole staying.  The wings is where we are really lacking and a CM who can play alongside or deputise for Lucas and Gerrard

[mb1111]

I think it has little to do with how far we have dropped and everything to do with poor work in the transfer market over the past few years, we have overspent on wages on mediocre players.

Yep, this is the worry, 3 years and 3 managers and the same mistakes. Desperately needs to change, the quality of the squad is awful compared to the wage bill, will take a while to sort. Hopefully starting this summer.

[G1 Jockey 4(betfair)]

Yep, this is the worry, 3 years and 3 managers and the same mistakes. Desperately needs to change, the quality of the squad is awful compared to the wage bill, will take a while to sort. Hopefully starting this summer.

the mistakes we made were signing the players we did
not signing the likes of falcao are not really mistakes as we never realistically had a chance

[Cadno]

Yep, this is the worry, 3 years and 3 managers and the same mistakes. Desperately needs to change, the quality of the squad is awful compared to the wage bill, will take a while to sort. Hopefully starting this summer.

The problem with this is that we are going to need to be more ruthless in the market and with players.  This will mean, and I think we might have already seen it with Siggurson, that we may miss out on first choice players in the short term whilst we restucture the wage system and get a reputation for only paying a players worth.  Any player who is thinking of coming now will look at Joe Cole for example and say if he is worth that much then so am I

[tamadic]

I think it has little to do with how far we have dropped and everything to do with poor work in the transfer market over the past few years, we have overspent on wages on mediocre players.  We are now in a position where we cannot get rid of high earners that need to go so it impacts on how much is available for incoming players.  I think Siggurson was a luxury player, a player who Brendan would have loved to come in because he knows the way we are probably going play but I dont think that we ever considered breaking the bank for him.   There might be some scope for negotiation and we could still see him coming here but I dont think that its a massive loss when/if we have Aquilani and Cole staying.  The wings is where we are really lacking and a CM who can play alongside or deputise for Lucas and Gerrard

Yes, I guess the owners see the next 2 seasons as a wash to be honest. It would be the time we have to spend to let the last batch of the high/old earners to be written off. I don't think we can let Aqua and Cole go reasonbly (ie sell them even with a relatively low price). As a result, I guess it is a task for Rodgers to utilize them and it was one of the requirement that the owners enforced before Rodgers agreed to become the manager. It might be also the reason why Kenny part way with FSG.

Of course, just assume, if Skrtel gone, I believe Rodgers would have the fund to buy a replacement. But gut feeling tells me that we won't have much to spend this coming 2 yrs unless there are some drastic turns (Cole and Aqua willing to retire and terminate the contract or mysterically that we win the league).

[Carlito Roberto]

the mistakes we made were signing the players we did
not signing the likes of falcao are not really mistakes as we never realistically had a chance

Know the point you're trying to make but think Rafa was quite close to signing Falcao before he went to Porto.

[lfcmaster]

Says a lot about Sigurdsson that he is considering going to Spurs, who have no manager only because they will give him more money.  When Hoffenheim changed their manager Sigurdsson wasn't in his plans, hence going to Swansea.  I am surprised he is joining a club who don't have a manager and he might not be in his plans.  Maybe Sigurdsson isn't the most loyal of char

acters, hence snubbing Swansea, now Rodgers, for more money. 

We are being prudent with our finances, given we have some high earners who can't be shifted and we want to comply with the FFP rules - which I think is right.

We are strong in that area of the pitch anyway with Gerrard, Aquilani, maybe Cole, Shelvey, Suso etc.  Not a disaster if he doesn't come and we have other areas which need strengthening, such as back up to Lucas, getting a clinical striker and improving our attacking wide players.

My priority for the summer would be a striker and a top class winger

[the_red_pill]

I've got no qualms with the club taking there time, assessing targets. Even if Rodgers didn't come out publicly saying he was interested nearly everyone else linked us especially when his transfer to Swansea stalled.

Me neither mate and a lot of posters on here as well, since we've been banging the "closed doors policy" drum for years.

[Red Genius]

Other than Sigurdsson, do we have any other strong links to possible targets?

[the_red_pill]

You don't know what's going on though, his agent may be that confident that Rodgers wants him that he's gambling big by indicating he's interested in Spurs or he may genuinely be that much of a United fan that he's hell bent on taking any route to get there. I'm not fussed either way, I'd rather we didn't get bent over a barrel just because Spurs have shown an interest, I'd prefer us to know how much we value a player and not continue to be stupid in the transfer market especially for players who are (as mentioned by others) coming in to positions where we already have quality.

Edit sorry managed to miss everything after your first paragraph!

And in 2 season still complain(as we have done in this thread) about not being able to shake off big earners because we offered them stupid wages to begin with, due to our "inept" transfer dealings. No one knows for sure, but if this is about wages and we believe it's not worth matching those "demands", I'm all for it, since we'll be doing something differently than we have recently done and that shows "lessons were learned".

[Tarantino Red]

I expect Rodgers to adopt a very similar shape to his Swansea side - so Sigurdsson or not, we will have a midfielder who can get forward without worrying about any duties behind him.

I'm curious regarding Aquilani, especially as he would suit Rodgers' system & apparently isn't staying in Italy.

[TomDcs]

What we dont know though is if Rodgers  rates him but the money will not be made available for the wages due to a decicion by someone else at the club.  Of course if thats the case we are truely fooked

We've already been told signings will involve more than one person. If Brendan think he's worth outplaying more money on then fine, but if that's not in line with what Spurs value him at then we shouldn't get into bidding war for his services. The last thing we need is to take unnecessary risks, easy enough to see where that's got us in recent times. Gylfi looks a good player, absolutely, is he worth anything near what Suarez is on though (not really appt to talk abou anyone else who is on a contract pre-dating the owners coming here)? We aren't in the champions league, we aren't able to take silly risks to get back their either though or we'll condem ourselves to mediocrity for years to come. There's value in other leagues in Europe both in terms of transfer fees and what they're currently being paid.

[rob1408]

He may choose Spurs for a variety of reasons. Money may well be one of them but there are other considerations. Spurs new training ground is possibly the best in in the world, a new stadium is in the offing (demolition of other buildings around WHL already underway, new supermarket construction due to commence at one end of the ground) and the club is on the cusp of receiving substantial investment from one or more parties. The new manager is known and will be announced soon, Bale is apparently signing a new contract, VDV is going nowhere and if Modric leaves he will provide extra funding for new signings.

The player was apparently at Spurs last Friday for a quick physical check and he would be aware of some of the above. If he signs for Spurs you will bag someone similar or vice versa.

Van Der Vaart was in the press just yesterday saying how he's be interested in Hamburg.

[iVapor]

Scott posting our problem is our wage bill. How are we going to go about fixing this though? Pity if we can afford top players but just not there wage

[peachybum]

Scott posting our problem is our wage bill. How are we going to go about fixing this though? Pity if we can afford top players but just not there wage

If we can't sell high earners like Cole or AA we will have to wait until their deals expire.

I'm sure we can still do business as Kuyt and Fabio have left.

[Number 7]

Scott posting our problem is our wage bill. How are we going to go about fixing this though? Pity if we can afford top players but just not there wage

We reduced the wage bill considerably last year, didn't we? The players we signed last summer were mostly on long term contracts but lower wages. We shifted Meireles, Poulsen, Konchesky, El Zhar, Kyrgiakos, Jovanovic and a few others last summer, Wasn't it widely reported that our wage bill had been reduced. Where have all these wage bill problems emerged from now?

I don't think it's that. I think it's the fact that we will pay Sigurdsson what we think he's worth.

[Tonyh]

Scott posting our problem is our wage bill. How are we going to go about fixing this though? Pity if we can afford top players but just not there wage

We can afford to pay top players but unfortunately two of our highest earners Cole and Aquilani are coming back to us with no guarantee of first team football thereby reducing the money available for other players salaries.

[the_red_pill]

Scott posting our problem is our wage bill. How are we going to go about fixing this though? Pity if we can afford top players but just not there wage

Doesn't make sense to me that. If we can afford top players and pay the amount of money their clubs are asking(the afford top players bit), why is it that we can afford their wages if 80K p/wk truns out to around 4mil per year?

Also- the owners have clearly said high wages are not a problem. It may be a concern, since it doesn't equate to the output we get, but it's not a concern to them. Werner has even said, he wants to increase wages, since in higher wages- for the right players- equal higher positions in the league, relatively speaking.

[BigSmooth]

Is Gylfi the only player we're linked with?

[SP]

The Rules.
UNLESS FROM THE BELOW SOURCES, NO TWITTER SHITE.
Journalists from - The Times, The Liverpool Echo, The Liverpool Daily Post, The Guardian, The Torygraph, The Independent & The BBC.
Duncan Jenkins, Guillem Ballague, Gabriel Marcotti (Basically any respected foreign journalists) & any of the Anfield Wrap lads.
(If you think someone should be on the above list then PM me and I'll add them on once I've checked them out or missed them out.)

Please only discuss LFC related transfer moves. No 'Oh I see Spurs have signed Vertoghen thats depressing' As it ends up sparking a discussion about how far LFC have fell, why aren't we buying him now, blah, blah, blah. It's boring a tedious, leave it out.

Abuse any LFC Playing & None Playing staff will not be tolerated.

If a players' thread becomes locked for a reason other than arguments/going off topic don't come in here to start posting the views you would have posted in there.

If anyone breaks these rules persistently they will be muted or possibly banned. If you don't like it then sorry there's plenty of other places were you can discuss things.

Oh yeh, and no complaining about the rules either.

Have fun

[Tepid water]

Ok


We need a right winger.....

It seems we're still interested in Gaston Ramierez, who else can REALISITCALLY be a target for us in that position?

[Discipline]

Ok


We need a right winger.....

It seems we're still interested in Gaston Ramierez, who else can REALISITCALLY be a target for us in that position?

To be honest, I'd stick Suarez there and go for a left winger. 

[Tepid water]

To be honest, I'd stick Suarez there and go for a left winger. 

But unless we sell downing, we've got one.....


Play downing right then?


I still think Suarez is best on the left of a three anyway

[stardorman]

Ok


We need a right winger.....

It seems we're still interested in Gaston Ramierez, who else can REALISITCALLY be a target for us in that position?

Raheem Sterling

[Koplord]

Ok


We need a right winger.....

It seems we're still interested in Gaston Ramierez, who else can REALISITCALLY be a target for us in that position?

Except he isn't a winger

[Aido LFC]

Except he isn't a winger

Except he plays on the right for Bologna.

[Tepid water]

Except he isn't a winger

But he can play right side if we have inverted wingers Bar็a style no?

[Camarero25]

But unless we sell downing, we've got one.....


Play downing right then?


I still think Suarez is best on the left of a three anyway

Downing shouldn't be starting for us next season.

[Drake31]

is there anyone at rangers worth having while there all trying to jump ship, anyone watch  them on a regular basis

[andymanlfc]

What about Junior Hoilett? Yet to sign for a club so is free.

[Discipline]

But unless we sell downing, we've got one.....


Play downing right then?


I still think Suarez is best on the left of a three anyway

Trust me mate, he's an absolute beast on the right hand side. He does some great stuff on the left, but he won me over as a "RF" (sorry to use a Fifa/FM term) at Ajax.

If we can get an offer of around 15m for Downing I'd get rid. If not, he can stay as a back-up. I'd buy a left wing regardless. We lack width and it's been a problem since 2008. 

Not sure who yet. But it's an area we need to improve on. Can't remember any stand-out genuine winger at Liverpool. (I only started watching football in '98.) 

[stardorman]

Is Pacheco not gonna be back with the squad for pre-season?
Id like to think at 22 that this kid could possibly do a job. Be interesting
to see what BR makes of him. Could potentially be like a new signing
if he was to come good.

[Discipline]

Raheem Sterling

He's too young to be a regular. 5-10 games off the bench with 5 starts tops. 

[Number 7]

What about Junior Hoilett? Yet to sign for a club so is free.

He signed for Borussia Monchengladbach.

[stardorman]

is there anyone at rangers worth having while there all trying to jump ship, anyone watch  them on a regular basis

Steve Davis wouldnt be bad on a free..

[Tepid water]

Steve Davis wouldnt be bad on a free..

Good for the tricky ball with a lot of swerve needed on the edge of the D I suppose, but maybe a bit past it now.

[Drake31]

Steve Davis wouldnt be bad on a free..

what position does he play