Topic: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD 2023 - archived discussions about what’s offensive

[Aldo1988]

Nunes would be a strange signing.

I could understand us signing him last year, after impressing in Portugal. But we let him wait to have a PL audition before signing him. He's failed that audition, and now we're going to sign him for an increased fee based on his form in Portugal? Why didn't we sign him last summer then?

Make it make sense.

Thing is, you never know.  Masch was rather poor for West Ham and struggled to get into their team but became a beast when he signed for us.  If Jun wants him, then we have to keep the faith and support him.

[Kopenhagen]

Thing is, you never know.  Masch was rather poor for West Ham and struggled to get into their team but became a beast when he signed for us.  If Jun wants him, then we have to keep the faith and support him.

Yes, fair enough, but why didn't we sign him last summer then? Also, why would we let Wolves make a profit on a player whose stock has fallen?

[Aldo1988]

I mean sure but remember when Gerrard was the greatest young English midfielder ever only to become Engalnds greatest midfielder ever

The thing with Bellingham is if he doesn't improve at all from here and just replicates his current level AND he burns out from 25 (so worse case scenario on level and longevity) - we'd still get 5 years of one of the best CM's in Europe for about 20 million a year ... (and he is still improving fwiw)

I get where you are coming from, but I don't want us to spend/risk all our money on one player when we clearly need around 3 quality midfielders to come in.

[amir87]

We're trying to sign both though it's not one or the other. I think Nunes could be that belated, solid-but-unspectacular Wijnaldum replacement (Wijnaldum got a lot of stick at Newcastle). Mount is more likely linked as a Bellingham alternative.

If we wanted Nunes it seems nonsensical that we didn't just sign him last summer rather than pay more a year later, when he hasn't done particularly well.

Getting both would mean we’d spend over £150m and still not address one of our most concerning positions which is defensive midfield. Seems madness to me.

And if the plan was to pay a premium by allowing Nunes to gain some premier league experience for a season, it’s clearly not looking like he’s shown to be worth that value. Granted, he’s playing for a crap side, but you’d still expect to see some real moments of quality over the course of the season.

[Aldo1988]

Yes, fair enough, but why didn't we sign him last summer then? Also, why would we let Wolves make a profit on a player whose stock has fallen?

I have no idea, the same might be said about Joao Gomes if he comes good.  Last season was the time to bring in some untested promising midfielders as we still had enough senior ones in our squad.  This summer, we need to bring in some proven quality.  I'd still prefer that in the future we went down the route of buying potential, rather than over spending too much on players we could have had (and were linked to previously).

[Kopenhagen]

Getting both would mean we’d spend over £150m and still not address one of our most concerning positions which is defensive midfield. Seems madness to me.

And if the plan was to pay a premium by allowing Nunes to gain some premier league experience for a season, it’s clearly not looking like he’s shown to be worth that value. Granted, he’s playing for a crap side, but you’d still expect to see some real moments of quality over the course of the season. I have a mate who’s a Wolves fan and he’s said he looks tidy on the ball but hasn’t offered much else in a defensive or attacking sense.

Exactly. Why would we pay a premium for someone who hasn't impressed at all? If anything, £5-10m should be shaved off the already inflated fee, based on his uninspiring performances this season.

I'm not dead set against signing him, but the numbers bandied about are absolutely laughable.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Thing is, you never know.  Masch was rather poor for West Ham and struggled to get into their team but became a beast when he signed for us.  If Jun wants him, then we have to keep the faith and support him.

Masch I think is a bit of an exception because while not used at West Ham, when he was used for Argentina and prior to the move to West Ham, he was always something special.

[JackWard33]

Exactly. Why would we pay a premium for someone who hasn't impressed at all? If anything, £5-10m should be shaved off the already inflated fee, based on his uninspiring performances this season.

I'm not dead set against signing him, but the numbers bandied about are absolutely laughable.

The thing with him is he doesn't look like h'es close to elite at anything apart from carrying the ball.
Stats aren't everything, especially defensive stats for midfielders (it sucks fbref doesn't have pressures / pressure regains) but he's just never 'popped' in anything apart from being dribbly including when he was in Portugal. His passing is really difficult to defend for a player whose supposed to be a 50 million quid top 4 potential type
This is backed up with the eye test where he's pretty anonymous until he does his 1 or 2 carries a game through midfield which are really attention grabbing - he's the sort of player a bad scout would get excited about (tall, moves really well, can beat a man etc)
Maybe he's being totally misused at Wolves somehow but as it stands if you were to look at our squad and write down what our midfield needs then go and look for players that could fit the bill I don't see how he'd be anywhere near it

[Caston]

Adrien Rabiot, potential free agent in June: “I loved Liverpool a lot because I was a bit fan of Steven Gerrard, who made me dream… and so therefore I followed the Reds”, told Tuttosport

“My other idol was Zinedine Zidane”.

[Sheer Magnetism]

I feel largely the same about Nunes, couldn't really understand the fuss when he went to Wolves outside of Pep lauding him (while making no effort to sign him). Just seems like an okay player who's fine at everything but isn't especially quick and doesn't stick out. Signing him as a squad option is fine but at £50 million I'd rather just give Curtis Jones or even Tyler Morton more game time to develop and spend the money elsewhere.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Adrien Rabiot, potential free agent in June: “I loved Liverpool a lot because I was a bit fan of Steven Gerrard, who made me dream… and so therefore I followed the Reds”, told Tuttosport

“My other idol was Zinedine Zidane”.

He's fucking shite, thinks he is the best player in the world despite being shite and will expect treatment and pay in line with his incorrect assumptions of himself, and his agent/mum is a pain in the arse as well

Did I mention he was fucking shite at all as well?

[MD1990]

He's fucking shite, thinks he is the best player in the world despite being shite and will expect treatment and pay in line with his incorrect assumptions of himself, and his agent/mum is a pain in the arse as well

Did I mention he was fucking shite at all as well?

He is actually a decent player
Probably more goals combined than all our midfielders this season.

So if he is shit as you say he is then our midfielders bar Thiago are now at a worse level.

[Sheer Magnetism]

He's fucking shite, thinks he is the best player in the world despite being shite and will expect treatment and pay in line with his incorrect assumptions of himself, and his agent/mum is a pain in the arse as well

Did I mention he was fucking shite at all as well?

He obviously isn't shite - he just started a World Cup final, he's been playing well for Juventus this season and would probably walk into our current midfield in terms of form and ability. But the drama and baggage that comes along with him makes it a non-starter.

[DelTrotter]

He's been brilliant this season to be fair, carrying Juve. But obviously a no for us given his lack of career consistency and don't really need to add what will be a 28 year old on a massive deal to the old guys that will still be here.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

He is actually a decent player
Probably more goals combined than all our midfielders this season.

So if he is shit as you say he is then our midfielders bar Thiago are now at a worse level.

Yeah our midfield is shit. Rabiot still isn't the level that we want in a midfielder. Also we talk about Mount wanting high wages, Rabiot would want stupid money

He obviously isn't shite - he just started a World Cup final, he's been playing well for Juventus this season and would probably walk into our current midfield in terms of form and ability. But the drama and baggage that comes along with him makes it a non-starter.

I do genuinely think he is bad, not at top 4 premier league level. Yeah he walks into our midfield but our midfield is shocking. He is not the level we want.

He seems like a signing Barcelona would make; mediocre and high wages. To be honest I actually wouldn't be shocked if he ends up there

[Fromola]

Yeah our midfield is shit. Rabiot still isn't the level that we want in a midfielder. Also we talk about Mount wanting high wages, Rabiot would want stupid money

I do genuinely think he is bad, not at top 4 premier league level. Yeah he walks into our midfield but our midfield is shocking. He is not the level we want.

He seems like a signing Barcelona would make; mediocre and high wages. To be honest I actually wouldn't be shocked if he ends up there

He's crap, you may as well keep Arthur. Huge stepdown from the likes of Kante, France having him playing in midfield at the World Cup. Got overrun in midfield a few times as a result.

[Jookie]

Ox and Keita should not have been allowed to play out their last year, if we weren't going to try hard enough to keep them (or try at all) then move them on. If they were valued enough then they'd have been offered the deals, they're at a prime age, therefore sell them on. I

It's not solely the clubs decision if a player leaves.

The leverage the club have when a player is down to 12 months on his contracts lessens. Even more so when the player the manager still rates them and they may get chances of game time in that final 12 months.

Klopp is never going to freeze out a player for not leaving. He hasn't done that once in his Liverpool career unless there has been a disciplinary reason. When team spirit and culture are a key identity you can't be discarding players or freezing them out and not expect it to impact negatively.

[killer-heels]

It's not solely the clubs decision if a player leaves.

The leverage the club have when a player is down to 12 months on his contracts lessens. Even more so when the player the manager still rates them and they may get chances of game time in that final 12 months.

Klopp is never going to freeze out a player for not leaving. He hasn't done that once in his Liverpool career unless there has been a disciplinary reason. When team spirit and culture are a key identity you can't be discarding players or freezing them out and not expect it to impact negatively.

I totally understand that and its been discussed before. However, are we not going to struggle if we are in a position where we struggle to get some players off the books, considering the importance of incoming money to our transfer budget, which appears to be one of the primary ways we amass our budget?

[Historical Fool]

Remains to be seen how Bellingham will play in a system where he is second fiddle to the more established stars in attack and right back. The days of a Coutinho or a Gerrard whereby inspiration comes from midfield for goals and assists aren’t as prevalent anymore and regimented template seems to be how Klopp operates.

[Crosby Nick]

Thing is, you never know.  Masch was rather poor for West Ham and struggled to get into their team but became a beast when he signed for us.  If Jun wants him, then we have to keep the faith and support him.

Was he poor for West Ham? Think it was always clear he was a great player but combination of Pardew being manager and him maybe not wanting to be there/the murky ownership situation just meant he didn’t get used much.

[ScouserAtHeart]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2023/mar/22/liverpool-midfielders-sign-summer-jurgen-klopp

Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund
Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich
Gabri Veiga, Celta Vigo
Otávio, Porto
Youri Tielemans, Leicester
Orkun Kokcu, Feyenoord
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
Youssouf Fofana, Monaco

[killer-heels]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2023/mar/22/liverpool-midfielders-sign-summer-jurgen-klopp

Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund
Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich
Gabri Veiga, Celta Vigo
Otávio, Porto
Youri Tielemans, Leicester
Orkun Kokcu, Feyenoord
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
Youssouf Fofana, Monaco

Fofana got shot down as shite on this forum but I watched a random game involving Monaco and I thought he stood out quite well.

[AndyMuller]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2023/mar/22/liverpool-midfielders-sign-summer-jurgen-klopp

Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund
Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich
Gabri Veiga, Celta Vigo
Otávio, Porto
Youri Tielemans, Leicester
Orkun Kokcu, Feyenoord
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
Youssouf Fofana, Monaco

Sign them all.

[FlashGordon]

Still no designated 6 there, although it seems Fofana can play there but it doesn't seem to be his main position.

It's actually quite an impressively terrible list 

[killer-heels]

Still no designated 6 there, although it seems Fofana can play there but it doesn't seem to be his main position.

Declan Rice. Pair him up with his cockney mate (via Portsmouth), Mason Mount.

[Samie]

Get me Wirtz!

[Aldo1988]

Yeah, Wirtz over Mount any day of the week.

[killer-heels]

Didnt he suffer an ACL rupture recently?

[FlashGordon]

He's also less of a midfielder than Mount is.

[[new username under construction]]

Didnt he suffer an ACL rupture recently?

Seems the question nowadays should be, who hasn't

[MD1990]

I think we dont need an attacking midfield player. So I am unsure about these Mount links.

We have Eliott,Carvalho & even Gakpo who can play in that position but we wont be playing 4-2-3-1 very much
We know Mount can play in a midfield 3 but he isn't really what we need

[amir87]

Didnt he suffer an ACL rupture recently?

Yes but he's only 19 so what's the Wirtz that could happen?

[MJD-L4]

Adrien Rabiot, potential free agent in June: “I loved Liverpool a lot because I was a bit fan of Steven Gerrard, who made me dream… and so therefore I followed the Reds”, told Tuttosport

“My other idol was Zinedine Zidane”.

Manchester United signing all over, that is.

[A Red Abroad]

Didnt he suffer an ACL rupture recently?

Probably because he was linked with LFC. 

[Stockholm Syndrome]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2023/mar/22/liverpool-midfielders-sign-summer-jurgen-klopp

Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund
Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich
Gabri Veiga, Celta Vigo
Otávio, Porto
Youri Tielemans, Leicester
Orkun Kokcu, Feyenoord
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
Youssouf Fofana, Monaco

Just so there isn't confusion, we aren't actually being linked with these players, it is just some guy saying "Liverpool should be looking at these players"

So this isn't a transfer list of options, it's just some guys opinion

[killer-heels]

Bellingham signs a Liverpool shirt for a young fan and Liverpool.com write a whole article about it. Football media is such a state of shite.

These dickheads have made Bellingham bigger than the club. Utterly desperate.

[RedBec1993]

Bellingham signs a Liverpool shirt for a young fan and Liverpool.com write a whole article about it. Football media is such a state of shite.

These dickheads have made Bellingham bigger than the club. Utterly desperate.

 

 I seen that, people raving about it.

[ScouserAtHeart]

Bellingham signs a Liverpool shirt for a young fan and Liverpool.com write a whole article about it. Football media is such a state of shite.

These dickheads have made Bellingham bigger than the club. Utterly desperate.

Thought that was the official site for a second

[Samie]

Didnt he suffer an ACL rupture recently?

Not recently but he's come back and playing really well.

[Samie]

Just so there isn't confusion, we aren't actually being linked with these players, it is just some guy saying "Liverpool should be looking at these players"

So this isn't a transfer list of options, it's just some guys opinion

Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund
Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich
Gabri Veiga, Celta Vigo
Otávio, Porto
Youri Tielemans, Leicester
Orkun Kokcu, Feyenoord
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
Youssouf Fofana, Monaco

Linked to in bold.