Topic: ALL Liverpool transfer targets and discussion here - LEARN THE RULES THOUGH - IV

[Number 7]

Surely we can still start bidding and negotiating before actually paying the full amount.

Yeah, but by the sounds of it we need to get players off the books first. To obtain wage space and funds. I'm sure we've sounded out our targets and approached those clubs. They might just be deals dependent on players from our club leaving first.

Who knows. It looks like the money we had to spend without selling, we spent on Borini. Which was £11 million. I could be talking rubbish of course but that is what Barrett made it sound like.

[smicer07]

Minimal investment again for FSG then.
Great.

Exactly. Hardly splashing the cash are we? Same old story.

[shelovesyou]

Exactly. Hardly splashing the cash are we? Same old story.

I base that on what Barrett has said, along with other reliables , but best wait and see cos you never know, but I cant help but feel our owners are more interested in Commercial activities.

[Number 7]

Massive contradiction from the Rodgers there isn't there?
I'm confused with this Dempsey situation, Rodgers has stressed that we're not talking about speculation but do you think he's been forced to spill the Dempsey beans? Seems a ridiculous situation..

Not really sure. Everyone knew we were interested in Dempsey, but you're right, we don't speculate on players. As mentioned earlier the error from the web site may have had an impact. He may have been told to put it that way. I'm not sure what context in the conversation Dempsey came up in. Maybe he was asked and he answered, but that's still a change from last week when we weren't commenting on any speculation.

[Vidocq]

No direct link to any club yet but Nzonzi has put in a transfer request & been left out of their pre season training camp, if we are after a center mid may be an option.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18885096

you want that twat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4grGuNz265g

[hide5seek]

Probably hard not talking about other players when you keep getting asked about them. Of course you could just smile and say no comment but not sure thats Rodgers style.

[mysterio_86]

Minimal investment again for FSG then.
Great.

There are no oil wells in their backyard. Money wasted last summer - its coming to bite us back now

[Saint Kopite™]

There are no oil wells in their backyard. Money wasted last summer - its coming to bite us back now

How much do have they spent?

[Discipline]

How much do have they spent?

They've spent atleast 60m last season and we finished 8th. You could see why they wouldn't want to spend a lot this window too. 

[Enders]

Sell to buy again then according to Barrett - never going to get anywhere near CL with the current state of the squad employing that modus operandi.

Spurs, Chelsea, Man City all likely to spend/already spent big money on top drawer players whilst we scrabble round hawking our limited but ridiculously expensive striker around so that we can buy Joe Allen and/or Dempsey. With all due respect to those players, it shows where we are, but its not exactly confidence inspiring.

[Discipline]

Well parhaps it's time people get on the same page as others.

We're still recovering from the G+H and Hodgson era, and to an extent... Commolli's and Kenny's.

[Saint Kopite™]

They've spent atleast 60m last season and we finished 8th. You could see why they wouldn't want to spend a lot this window too. 

Since buying us, they've spent £35 Million. Rest of the money we recouped from the sales. Considering it was their decision to sack Kenny and bring in a manager of their chance, its absolutely mental that they won't be backing him up in the transfer window. We surely need more than the rumoured £20 Million transfer kitty.

[shelovesyou]

Think its an idea to wait and see this summer before we start dusting off our banners etc.

[Saint Kopite™]

Think its an idea to wait and see this summer before we start dusting off our banners etc.

Yes.

But, The reports of £20 Million Transfer-Kitty is very underwhelming to say the least. Anyway, Like you said its better to judge on September 1st.

[Discipline]

Since buying us, they've spent £35 Million. Rest of the money we recouped from the sales. Considering it was their decision to sack Kenny and bring in a manager of their chance, its absolutely mental that they won't be backing him up in the transfer window. We surely need more than the rumoured £20 Million transfer kitty.

20m is enough considering how much we've spent in the last decade with Champions League.

Also, we spent a lot more than 35m last season.

[shelovesyou]

20m is enough considering how much we've spent in the last decade with Champions League.

Also, we spent a lot more than 35m last season.

Not sure if serious.

[Discipline]

Not sure if serious.

On what?

[Acaustiq]

We surely need more than the rumoured £20 Million transfer kitty.

We don't need anything, in fact we can save quite a bit, we just need to get rid of the other ten-ish players who can go in addition to the five who already have, the manager insisting on assessing everyone is possibly holding things up.

Thus far we've spent nothing, Borini for Kuyt is basically a straight financial swap if the wage figures banded around for both are to believed. What I suspect is happening is that they're not giving license to buy before selling like they were last season, it's possible they doubt our ability to shift Cole and Aqua, which is fair enough.

However, it would obviously be quite perverse if after the events of last five years and all the increases in revenue, we were basically in the same situation as we were under Moores.

[Cadno]

Since buying us, they've spent £35 Million. Rest of the money we recouped from the sales. Considering it was their decision to sack Kenny and bring in a manager of their chance, its absolutely mental that they won't be backing him up in the transfer window. We surely need more than the rumoured £20 Million transfer kitty.

I think that FSG are more interested in wages than transfer fees.  After the last few years we have a load of players being paid crazy money for what they are worth to our team.  I think it has little to do without reluctance to spend on transfer fees and everything to do with getting the wage structure sorted first.

[shelovesyou]

I think that FSG are more interested in wages than transfer fees.  After the last few years we have a load of players being paid crazy money for what they are worth to our team.  I think it has little to do without reluctance to spend on transfer fees and everything to do with getting the wage structure sorted first.

Defo an element of this, wages are a large focus for FSG, and when talking about signings we must include them on top of any mooted fee, not something that was on the agenda a few yrs back, it was never really discussed, that goes for the fee either, but with FFP supposedly coming in, its an important factor.
Look at the Downing and Young signings last summer, on paper Young looked the cheaper deal but in reality he'll cost Utd far more in the long run.

[robbie keane]

20m is enough considering how much we've spent in the last decade with Champions League.

Also, we spent a lot more than 35m last season.

Depends where we want to take the club. Our rivals are pulling away from us all the time, it was the owners ambition to turn back into one of the worlds elite clubs. They won't do that with a sell before buy policy.

[Vidocq]

How much do have they spent?

cleaning debts, hiring staff & firing staff, structure, youths, senior players etc

probaby a lot of money they spent

[CraigDS]

Don't forget the came in saying the club will only spend what it makes. Now considering it isn't making a profit so to speak we could well be in a position where we can only currently sell to spend - especially given they invested above profits last year also.

[Acaustiq]

They won't do that with a sell before buy policy.

As ever it comes back to FFP - If we went out and committed ourselves to £30m a year in new expenditure in fees and wages with the intention of clearing it off the wage bill in August the world and his mum would know we need to sell, not 'would like to sell' but 'quite literally have no choice but to get this player out the door'.

And largely what we've got to sell isn't particularly desirable, buying big before selling would put us right over the barrel.

[HiroProtagonist]

£20 million and using player sales to strengthen is pretty average. IMO, don't expect us to be going anywhere fast, not with how the teams above us are strengthening their squad while we improve marginally every year.

[SP]

Minimal investment again for FSG then.
Great.

FSG are doing exactly what they promised to do with investment. They removed the H&G acquisition debt freeing up £30M or so a year to invest in the playing side. If you are having a whinge about it now, you just have not been paying attention.

[nocturnalvin]

20m is enough considering how much we've spent in the last decade with Champions League.

Also, we spent a lot more than 35m last season.

did we spend a lot more than 35m ?

[didi]

SWANSEA City are closing in on a double swoop for Michu and Miku — but fears are growing that Joe Allen could be prised away by Liverpool.

Swansea hope to have midfielder Michu and striker Miku on board when they fly out to America on pre-season tour this Sunday.

​Swansea are hopeful of landing midfielder Michu.
.But there are increasing doubts over whether Allen will still be part of the Swansea squad come the start of the new Premier League campaign amid suggestions that Liverpool are about to weigh in with a megamoney bid.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins stressed last night that there has still been no contact from the Reds over Allen and insisted he was focusing on concluding deals for two more new faces.

But there is mounting speculation that Brendan Rodgers’s Liverpool are set to firm up their interest in Allen by tabling an offer.

Former Swansea boss Rodgers is a huge admirer of Allen, who he rated as the Liberty club’s top performer last season.

And the Northern Irishman is keen to strengthen Liverpool’s midfield after quitting SA1 to take over at Anfield earlier this summer.

Swansea would be loath to lose Allen, but will be forced to consider selling if Rodgers comes calling with a bid of £15 million-plus for the Welsh international star.

Jenkins, meanwhile, is aiming to secure two more signings new boss Michael Laudrup has requested.

The Michu deal is the closer of the two to completion, with Swansea expected to pay something in the region of £2 million for the Rayo Vallecano star.

The goalscoring midfielder is available for a bargain price because Rayo are currently in administration.

Swansea are also likely to have to pay a significant sum for Miku, who finished as 12-goal top-scorer for another La Liga side, Getafe, last season.

“We are looking to finalise a couple of things and hopefully get the players on board before we go to America,” Jenkins explained.

“Whether we will be able to get everything done in time is another thing, but it is our aim to do that so the players have the chance to come in and integrate with the rest of the squad.”

Jenkins joked that the similar names of the two players Swansea “could make things interesting”.

Laudrup has targeted the Spanish market as he believes there is better value on offer there than can be found on these shores.

He has already signed Villarreal midfielder Jonathan de Guzman and Chico Flores, who was on loan at Real Mallorca last season.

“Our first objective this week is to get the midfielder in and we are looking to finalise something over the next 24 hours,” Jenkins added.

“That needs to be completed first and then we will look to complete the second one.”

Swansea are set to head out to the USA with a squad of 23 players, though none of the club’s senior men is expected to be left behind.

The club’s first pre-season friendly takes place at Port Talbot on Saturday, but Swansea are unlikely to field any of the men who are travelling the following day.

South Wales Evening Post

[swordfishtrombone]

Exactly. Hardly splashing the cash are we? Same old story.

Were you bitching and moaning like this when FSG saved us from the possibility of going into administration? When they cleared the debt and saved us £20m+ each season in interest payments? I remember most people being delighted with their promises that we'd be able to spend whatever revenue we generated, and that's what we're doing. People really need to get a grip.

If it really was the "same old story" we'd have fuck all money to spend. We'd need to sell players every season to keep the banks happy. We'd sell Skrtel and replace him with Kyrgiakos, or whoever the current equivalent is. Lucas would be on his way out, and Lee Cattermole would be taking his place.

That'd be great wouldn't it? No one is saying FSG are perfect, but we also need to be realistic.

[Tarantino Red]

Do people really not remember the mess that we were in?!

How short some of your memories are, seriously. Take a look back through the threads & posts we had on here not so long ago. Fuck me.

Anyway, this a transfer thread - sorry.

[mightymoose1972]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9409346/Jamie-Carragher-invigorated-and-ready-for-new-semester-under-Brendan-Rogers-as-Liverpool-train-at-Harvard.html
-
Football’s buzz phrase is ‘tiki-taka’ but Carragher believes Liverpool will combine various assets.

“You can’t say we’re going to play like Spain or Barcelona,” he said. “We haven’t got the players so there’s no point us saying we want to do exactly what they do, but you want to incorporate some of it with some of your own style.

"We’ll be playing a similar system to Barcelona, that’s true, but we don’t have Xavi and Iniesta. There’s nothing wrong with trying incorporate what the best teams do, though. But we have different ideas and we’re in a different league.

Sounds like Messi is on his way... 

[mactifosi]

We are trying to get value for money, I don't see what the problem is with that.
Chasing quality younger players or quality older players whose contracts have run down - that's just being smart isn't it?
Dempsey, Kuba, Walcott - they would all improve our team, without over spending like we did with Downing.

We are trying to reduce the wage bill and replace with new players without paying them excessive wages - again the right thing to do.

And then we have a raft of younger players who should be looking to break into the first team on a consistent basis.
Should we spend big and block their progress or give them a chance, for example:
I am sure we would all like to see Sterling get games rather than bring in an expensive replacement for Maxi.

To hell with the fantasy managers, PR and the soundbites, I want to see a team being built and it won't happen overnight.

How much we spend this summer is less important than bringing in the right players to strengthen the team.
2-3 signings should be enough to see an improvement and that should not cost more than 25-30m.

We have started off well on paper at least, I'm excited about Borini, can't wait to see him play.

[.adam]

A couple of non-related points. Firstly, our transfer budget. When we sign a player, we all bang on these days about how much he costs over the life of his contract. If he's a £10m player with a £2m signing on bonus and £50k a week for four years then he's costing the club just over £22m over the course of his contract. This was the justification for signing Carroll over Aguero (ignoring the fact that he wouldn't sign for us in a millions years).

So why is it we've managed to shift three players, all on big contracts (Kuyt - £70k p/w, Maxi - £90k p/w & Aurelio - £40k p/w) yet the money that would have been allocated to their contracts is now not available in the pot to spend?

Dirk and Maxi both had a year left, if I recall correctly, so that leaves £4.68m saved on Maxi's and £3.64m on Kuyt's. Admittedly Aurelio's had expired. Rumours are that Bellamy (£80k p/w) and Carroll (£70k p/w) are off soon as well.

All I see is this "cost over the life of the contract" argument used to justify the non-signing of a player but when money should, theoretically, become available, it disappears. All these sales are a cost-cutting exercise designed to make the P&L look a lot healthier. Overall I have no doubt that the Americans will have spent a lot less than they've saved in this transfer window.

Secondly is this endless pursuit of Allen which I'm not too comfortable with. Rodgers signed an agreement not to bid for any Swansea players fully knowing that it wasn't in any way legally enforceable. I don't really agree with that and think it was pretty poor form and kind of shits all over the decent things he said about them before he left. If I were a Swansea fan I'd be livid.

Also, we have a young lad who (aside from a poor patch a season ago) has absolutely bossed the reserves for a couple of years and has just gone over to the Euro U-19 Championships which he helped his team win and looked absolutely class throughout. Yet here we are suposedly weighing up a £15m bid for Allen who plays in his exact position.

Lucas is a guaranteed starter, Allen will be alongside him and then Gerrard, Suso, Shelvey and Henderson all competing for the other position. On a limited budget, this obsession with Allen is completely unnecessary in my opinion. We have other areas in more need of strengthening.

It all strikes me as similar to the Charlie Adam saga last January & Summer. It was so obvious that he was Kenny's golden boy and he'd stop at nothing to get him. He came in and was always one of the manager's favourites despite looking out of his depth at times. I can see the same thing happening with Allen when we have a top-class prospect playing for peanuts at the moment and with only a year left on his contract.

My only hope is that Suso has a cracking pre-season and convinces Rodgers that there's no need to bid for Allen.

[L666KOP]

Well parhaps it's time people get on the same page as others.

We're still recovering from the G+H and Hodgson era, and to an extent... Commolli's and Kenny's.

In a nutshell, the accounts are available for all to see, we've made fuck all.
We should just be exiting the G&H debacle, unfortunately we careered straight into a free spending Comolli one.

I'd rather we spent what we make. The time to worry is if the accounts show that we're making a lot more than we spend, and no reason is forthcoming.
Until that day I'll extend a little bit trust their way. I'm pretty sure they want to nurture the club back to financial health, it's the only way they'll make serious dough out of us.
Exit strategy would I imagine be firmly in place, and will have been since they bought the club as a distressed asset. It makes no sense to either bleed the club dry, nor borrow beyond your means, we've all seen how that turns out, running the business along the likes of a financially viable model is the only way they'll be able to maximise their returns.

So, if we have to cut our cloth accordingly this summer whilst we recover from the 100+m that left the bank last year, with little benefit to our club I'm happy with that.

[SP]

So why is it we've managed to shift three players, all on big contracts (Kuyt - £70k p/w, Maxi - £90k p/w & Aurelio - £40k p/w) yet the money that would have been allocated to their contracts is now not available in the pot to spend?

How do you know that?

[The Flying Pig]

According to the accounts,FSG have put £30 million,in the form of a loan,into the club since their takeover.

[And CouldHe Play!]

Borini won't be on low wages. His contract at Roma averaged out at 50k p/w, and I doubt we undercut that. Kuyt's wages going have hardly paid for Borini

[Melbred]

Too many on here are making their judgements about FSG far too early. There's still over a month to go in this transfer window.

And it's not like they're doing something other than what they told us from the start.

[ashleyrose-66]

So why is it we've managed to shift three players, all on big contracts (Kuyt - £70k p/w, Maxi - £90k p/w & Aurelio - £40k p/w) yet the money that would have been allocated to their contracts is now not available in the pot to spend?

Firstly how do we know what Dirk, Maxi and Fabio were earning?

And secondly, the wages of Cole, Aquilani, Pacheco and Wilson all back on the payroll, in full!

[exiledinyorkshire]

£20 million and using player sales to strengthen is pretty average. IMO, don't expect us to be going anywhere fast, not with how the teams above us are strengthening their squad while we improve marginally every year.

What planet are you on. £20 million a year average? fucking hell. Like it or not and FSG have never said otherwise, in fact implicitly stated it, we are going to be run as a break even football club. And thats the right way to run a football club. AS a BRAND we generate a profit every year. That will be reinvested into the club. Its up tpo them in that case to maximise that profit in order to take the club forward. Its perfectly sensible. What they didnt have at first was the correct set up on the footballing side of things. Remains to be seen if they now do, but to sniff at a Club generated £20 million a year for a Non champions league team, with a wage bill like ours is just stupid.

I for one am happy if every year the profit generated by the football club is spent on player recruitment. I would mauch rather that than see a rich oil man come in and spunk 200 million on buying the league. Antything we do from now on in, we can rightly be very very proud of. And lets not forget that if its all working to plan, then 20-30 million is a world class 22 year old every fucking year! not many clubs can bank on that kind of power in the market place.