Topic: Diogo Jota (Diogo José Teixeira da Silva)

[Zizou]

Well he is better than Figo, after all.

[royhendo]

Nice bit of news.

[Ray K]

It’s a great way of doing things. You sign up on a realistic wage, work your arse off, improve every day, show what a valuable player you are for the team, and within a couple seasons you get rewarded with a far better wage structure and a long term deal which of course is benefitial to the club. 

 

Oh I know and not for a minute am I criticising it at all. It protects his value for us and rewards him so everyone's happy.

Actually had a look at the contract situation generally, and for the guys in the first 11 + regular subs, the only upcoming expiring contracts are Naby and Bobby in 2023, and Thiago and Matip in 2024. (I don't expect AOC, Milly or Adrian to be offered new deals).  That's it - everyone else is 2025.  So I suppose may as well get started on the guys with 3 years left on their deals. The guys in the front office have nothing else to do 

[thaddeus]

It’s a great way of doing things. You sign up on a realistic wage, work your arse off, improve every day, show what a valuable player you are for the team, and within a couple seasons you get rewarded with a far better wage structure and a long term deal which of course is benefitial to the club. 

 

Not every contract extension needs to get to the point of brinksmanship.  Jota has played well enough to deserve a better contract and it means his contract won't be winding down at the same time as Salah's so one less drama.

[Fordy]

Buzzing. Fully deserved. Class act.

[Hazell]

Great news!

It’s a great way of doing things. You sign up on a realistic wage, work your arse off, improve every day, show what a valuable player you are for the team, and within a couple seasons you get rewarded with a far better wage structure and a long term deal which of course is benefitial to the club. 

 

Chimes in with what was written about Nunez's wage being relatively low despite the high fee and how the club position themselves to new signings. So it's no surprise that top performers are getting rewarded well before their contract is due to expire (which is something we've been doing for a while, IIRC Salah had the same thing happen to him, a year or two after he initially signed).

[tunred]

Brilliant. Bobby next

[BigCDump]

Seems pretty unusual to be offering a new contract when there's still 3 years left on his existing one, but I guess it's a measure of how valuable he is and to reward him for his performances up to now.

I was thinking that. The club is obviously number/stat crunching. If Jota turns out phenomenal in the next two years his agents would (rightly) demand an astronomical salary. Currently, I'm sure he has only been given a 'decent' rise with lots of incentives.

So in two+ years if he's the dog's bollocks we're well under paying him. And if he's not great then we can sell him for a decent fee as he's not on a crazy salary.

[Dim Glas]

Great news!

Chimes in with what was written about Nunez's wage being relatively low despite the high fee and how the club position themselves to new signings. So it's surprise that top performers are getting rewarded well before their contract is due to expire (which is something we've been doing for a while, IIRC Salah had the same thing happen to him, a year or two after he initially signed).

and it’s a great contract negotiating tool to these new players too (and future players who see how the club works) - they can just point to many examples of how the club initiates new contracts with their players when they progress. 

I’m all for Liverpool committing more money to players at the club like this, sets a great foundation for present and future. Also, the talk of players maybe being put out by Salah’s new deal, not happening imo. What would put players out is if a new signing arrives and they find out he’s already getting the top wages at the club. But when it’s one of your star players who’s been at the club 5 years already, have at it.

[Jookie]

and it’s a great contract negotiating tool to these new players too (and future players who see how the club works) - they can just point to many examples of how the club initiates new contracts with their players when they progress. 

I’m all for Liverpool committing more money to players at the club like this, sets a great foundation for present and future. Also, the talk of players maybe being put out by Salah’s new deal, not happening imo. What would put players out is if a new signing arrives and they find out he’s already getting the top wages at the club. But when it’s one of your star players who’s been at the club 5 years already, have at it.

Got to agree with all of this.

You are basically not over paying players when they join but saying to them that they'll be generously rewarded when they deliver in a consistent basis for this football club. This isn't a new thing but something we've done for the last 4-5 years. The players who've come in and made an impact have all been offered contracts extension with increased compensation within 2-3 years max.

Great to see continued investment in the squad and brilliant to know we now have 4 forwards (Salah, Jota, Diaz, and Nunez) secured on contracts for at least 3 seasons.

[jepovic]

Got to agree with all of this.

You are basically not over paying players when they join but saying to them that they'll be generously rewarded when they deliver in a consistent basis for this football club. This isn't a new thing but something we've done for the last 4-5 years. The players who've come in and made an impact have all been offered contracts extension with increased compensation within 2-3 years max.

Great to see continued investment in the squad and brilliant to know we now have 4 forwards (Salah, Jota, Diaz, and Nunez) secured on contracts for at least 3 seasons.

This only works if you recruit players who still havent established themselves as stars, when you have scouting and coaching that makes it possible to find and develop the future stars. Established stars wouldnt settle for working themselves up to a top salary.

[Jookie]

This only works if you recruit players who still havent established themselves as stars, when you have scouting and coaching that makes it possible to find and develop the future stars. Established stars wouldnt settle for working themselves up to a top salary.

Developing our own star players has always been our MO.

That was the same in the 70's and 80's as well.

Very, very few examples of Liverpool buying ready-made bonafide established stars. We spend money. We try to buy with the aim of improving players. Most players who became renowned stars at Liverpool over the last 60 years, weren't at that level of ability or fame when we bought them.

[Qston]

Great stuff. A really good player for the role that the boss wants who has already proven his work rate and attitude. Long may it continue.

Been a good news summer on the player front

[jepovic]

Developing our own star players has always been our MO.

That was the same in the 70's and 80's as well.

Very, very few examples of Liverpool buying ready-made bonafide established stars. We spend money. We try to buy with the aim of improving players. Most players who became renowned stars at Liverpool over the last 60 years, weren't at that level of ability or fame when we bought them.

Yup. I would say Becker was already a star, or at least generally considered a top-5 keeper in the world. We couldn't have afforded a striker at that level, but keepers are for some reason never that expensive.

Maybe Van Dijk too, but he actually didn't have much experience from the very top level.

[rob1966]

Developing our own star players has always been our MO.

That was the same in the 70's and 80's as well.

Very, very few examples of Liverpool buying ready-made bonafide established stars. We spend money. We try to buy with the aim of improving players. Most players who became renowned stars at Liverpool over the last 60 years, weren't at that level of ability or fame when we bought them.

I'm struggling to think of the last one. Virgil was chased by a few, but wasn't a household name, Alisson wasn't talked about that much in the media from what I remember, Suarez was more known for his handball. Torres was pretty well talked about, but again not established. I remember the Mancs wanted Collymore.

[Jookie]

Yup. I would say Becker was already a star, or at least generally considered a top-5 keeper in the world. We couldn't have afforded a striker at that level, but keepers are for some reason never that expensive.

Maybe Van Dijk too, but he actually didn't have much experience from the very top level.

Alisson or van Dijk weren't world stars when we bought them.

Alisson had 1 full season as a starter in European football.

van Dijk had played for Southampton and Celtic. At 26 he had won a total of 16 international caps for the Netherlands when he joined Liverpool.

Both were very good players, on the brink of their big breakthrough. I'd say similar position to what Keita was. Arguably even Salah, Mane and Firmino. None of them were bonafide star players who could come in and break your wage structure.

Maybe our definition of a 'star player' is different. Current day and age, very, very few star players don't play for teams outside of the Top 10 biggest clubs in Europe. Doesn't mean there are no good players outside these 10 teams but there's very few who could be classed as players at the top of their game who could demand contracts that would put them at the top of our current wage structure. Haaland is probably a good recent example of a 'star' player playing outside a big club.

[Coolie High]

Alisson or van Dijk weren't world stars when we bought them.

Alisson had 1 full season as a starter in European football.

van Dijk had played for Southampton and Celtic. At 26 he had won a total of 16 international caps for the Netherlands when he joined Liverpool.

Both were very good players, on the brink of their big breakthrough. I'd say similar position to what Keita was. Arguably even Salah, Mane and Firmino. None of them were bonafide star players who could come in and break your wage structure.

Maybe our definition of a 'star player' is different. Current day and age, very, very few star players don't play for teams outside of the Top 10 biggest clubs in Europe. Doesn't mean there are no good players outside these 10 teams but there's very few who could be classed as players at the top of their game who could demand contracts that would put them at the top of our current wage structure. Haaland is probably a good recent example of a 'star' player playing outside a big club.

VVD was already the best CB in the league at Southampton, and Alisson was one of the handful of world class goalkeepers at Roma, both were obvious world class players by the time we even signed them.

[Ghost Town]

VVD was already the best CB in the league at Southampton, and Alisson was one of the handful of world class goalkeepers at Roma, both were obvious world class players by the time we even signed them.

Whether or not their talent was world class I agree with Jookie and Rob that they were not big name players in the accepted sense at that time. Liverpool have never gone for the Kluivert or the Shevchenko or the Figo or the Zidane (despite his buying a house on Merseyside) level players.

But we've made plenty of them.

[Jookie]

VVD was already the best CB in the league at Southampton, and Alisson was one of the handful of world class goalkeepers at Roma, both were obvious world class players by the time we even signed them.

Like I said I think people are viewing what I define as a 'star' player as different. In my mind a 'star' player almost means a household name. Someone most casual football fans would identify as top of the tree in terms of football players. That's a bit different to identifying someone as a world class talent. Completely correct to say that van Dijk and Alisson were World class or on the brink of it. Same for Salah and Mane. We gave them that extra push (through coaching and playing with better players) and the platform that playing for a top club provides.

Buying a star player in the past would mean buying Figo, Ronaldo, Zidane, Nedved, Cannavaro, Buffon, Casillas, Raul type level players.

Nowadays it would probably be Haaland, Mbappe, De Bruyne, van Dijk, Salah, Lewandowski, Neymar, etc..

As an example I wouldn't label Jude Bellingham or Dusan Vlahovic type players as 'star' players despite both having world class level ability/potential.

The only star player I think we've signed in the last 20 years is probably Thaigo.

[Jookie]

I'm struggling to think of the last one. Virgil was chased by a few, but wasn't a household name, Alisson wasn't talked about that much in the media from what I remember, Suarez was more known for his handball. Torres was pretty well talked about, but again not established. I remember the Mancs wanted Collymore.

Thiago potentially.


It's all semantics though.

The reason I did mention it is that as a club Liverpool has never been after the ready made stars. Even when we were successful we didn't go for the splashy big signings very often. I think we tried a few times in the 80's to do so (e.g. Laudrup) but it's not been the way we've operated as a club on a regular basis.

Not necessarily on here but I often read younger Liverpool supporters moaning about us not shopping in that top talent pool (i.e. they mean star players like Mbappe and Haaland) despite having one of the biggest revenues in World football). But it's not something we've ever done with great regularity. We aren't the same as United, Real, Barcelona, Juventus, even in the past the 2 Milan clubs. Those clubs have relatively consistently been able to buy the established stars. That's supplemented nowadays by City and PSG.

That's were I find it interesting. Fans moaning on occasions about the club not doing something it's ever done before despite all the success over the last 60 years. A lot of the time the moaning is coming from fans who've made a relatively arbitrary choice to support the club. Surely it was obvious that Liverpool were not going to be massive spenders in the transfer market based on the historical context of how the club operates.

The Jota signing and subsequent extension is a good example of what this club has done well in terms of recruitment, reward and investment over the last 5 or so years. It harks back to what we did well when we dominated football. Not splashy. Not going for the headliners. Smart, sensible, team orientated decisions in terms of player recruitment and player retention. I suspect some view it as a bit boring. Even cheap. But doing it this way is how we compete and how we eventually put ourselves on the same financial playing field as some of the biggest clubs.

[Dim Glas]

Like I said I think people are viewing what I define as a 'star' player as different. In my mind a 'star' player almost means a household name. Someone most casual football fans would identify as top of the tree in terms of football players. That's a bit different to identifying someone as a world class talent. Completely correct to say that van Dijk and Alisson were World class or on the brink of it. Same for Salah and Mane. We gave them that extra push (through coaching and playing with better players) and the platform that playing for a top club provides.

Buying a star player in the past would mean buying Figo, Ronaldo, Zidane, Nedved, Cannavaro, Buffon, Casillas, Raul type level players.

Nowadays it would probably be Haaland, Mbappe, De Bruyne, van Dijk, Salah, Lewandowski, Neymar, etc..

As an example I wouldn't label Jude Bellingham or Dusan Vlahovic type players as 'star' players despite both having world class level ability/potential.

The only star player I think we've signed in the last 20 years is probably Thaigo.

I agree.

No way was Ali seen as a star when he came here, so many (including many LFC fans) where dumfounded at the fee for a player who’d spent 1 season as a first choice goalie in one of the European top 5 leagues.  Unless people followed Brazilian football closely before that, he’d have not been the biggest known quantity for many, only reason many where familiar was because of Roma’s CL run (or they where Roma/Serie A fans).  I think there’s a bit of revisionism about people’s goalie experiece after the fact here with claiming he was a big star already 

Virg is an interesting one, hard to quantify a player playing for a middling PL team, and who’s only CL experience was a few games with Celtic as being a star too! But I guess he was a PL and Dutch star.
 

[redbyrdz]

Thiago potentially.


It's all semantics though.

The reason I did mention it is that as a club Liverpool has never been after the ready made stars. Even when we were successful we didn't go for the splashy big signings very often. I think we tried a few times in the 80's to do so (e.g. Laudrup) but it's not been the way we've operated as a club on a regular basis.

Not necessarily on here but I often read younger Liverpool supporters moaning about us not shopping in that top talent pool (i.e. they mean star players like Mbappe and Haaland) despite having one of the biggest revenues in World football). But it's not something we've ever done with great regularity. We aren't the same as United, Real, Barcelona, Juventus, even in the past the 2 Milan clubs. Those clubs have relatively consistently been able to buy the established stars. That's supplemented nowadays by City and PSG.

That's were I find it interesting. Fans moaning on occasions about the club not doing something it's ever done before despite all the success over the last 60 years. A lot of the time the moaning is coming from fans who've made a relatively arbitrary choice to support the club. Surely it was obvious that Liverpool were not going to be massive spenders in the transfer market based on the historical context of how the club operates.

The Jota signing and subsequent extension is a good example of what this club has done well in terms of recruitment, reward and investment over the last 5 or so years. It harks back to what we did well when we dominated football. Not splashy. Not going for the headliners. Smart, sensible, team orientated decisions in terms of player recruitment and player retention. I suspect some view it as a bit boring. Even cheap. But doing it this way is how we compete and how we eventually put ourselves on the same financial playing field as some of the biggest clubs.

Probably also to do with having an actual scouting department, as opposed to doing the scouting on MOTD.

[Jookie]

There would be a nice symmetry to Timo Werner going back to RB Leipzig on loan in the same week Diogo Jota signs a new 5 year deal at Liverpool.

No doubt that Werner would have been a better player at Liverpool but hard to argue that the club didn't make the right call when walking away from the Werner deal and signing Jota instead.

[Samie]

They call it the "Sliding Doors" moment.

[Sheer Magnetism]

Alisson and Van Dijk were regarded as among the very best players in the world in their position when we bought them, which is why we paid world record fees for them. They have nothing to do with a discovery like Jota and pretending otherwise is like claiming Man United were taking punts on relative unknowns when they were spending record fees on the likes of Robson, Pallister, Ferdinand and Rooney.

[Coolie High]

Whether or not their talent was world class I agree with Jookie and Rob that they were not big name players in the accepted sense at that time. Liverpool have never gone for the Kluivert or the Shevchenko or the Figo or the Zidane (despite his buying a house on Merseyside) level players.

But we've made plenty of them.

VVD was a big name for me, both us and City were after him and he had been profiling as the best CB in the league before we even signed him, only thing missing was Cl experience, but they weren’t household names or anything I can agree with that.

[Linudden]

Can play across all three spots in the front three and do it really good so it's a no-brainer really. The craziest part is that a player of his calibre is not a guaranteed starter. Definitely a situation with five proven high-quality guys vying for three spots that the club has never been before in terms of strength of depth.

Any word on whether it's a five-year contract given the length his previous one had left? Would make sense given his age

[ScouserAtHeart]

It's till 2027 so yeah 5 more years

[Jookie]

They call it the "Sliding Doors" moment.

Nice one. the whole concept sounds like a great idea for a potential film.

[rob1966]

Thiago potentially.


It's all semantics though.

The reason I did mention it is that as a club Liverpool has never been after the ready made stars. Even when we were successful we didn't go for the splashy big signings very often. I think we tried a few times in the 80's to do so (e.g. Laudrup) but it's not been the way we've operated as a club on a regular basis.

Not necessarily on here but I often read younger Liverpool supporters moaning about us not shopping in that top talent pool (i.e. they mean star players like Mbappe and Haaland) despite having one of the biggest revenues in World football). But it's not something we've ever done with great regularity. We aren't the same as United, Real, Barcelona, Juventus, even in the past the 2 Milan clubs. Those clubs have relatively consistently been able to buy the established stars. That's supplemented nowadays by City and PSG.

That's were I find it interesting. Fans moaning on occasions about the club not doing something it's ever done before despite all the success over the last 60 years. A lot of the time the moaning is coming from fans who've made a relatively arbitrary choice to support the club. Surely it was obvious that Liverpool were not going to be massive spenders in the transfer market based on the historical context of how the club operates.

The Jota signing and subsequent extension is a good example of what this club has done well in terms of recruitment, reward and investment over the last 5 or so years. It harks back to what we did well when we dominated football. Not splashy. Not going for the headliners. Smart, sensible, team orientated decisions in terms of player recruitment and player retention. I suspect some view it as a bit boring. Even cheap. But doing it this way is how we compete and how we eventually put ourselves on the same financial playing field as some of the biggest clubs.

Could you imagine if we bought a University graduate playing non league and a player from Scunthorpe and had them both in the first team almost immediately

My kids are Liverpool supporters due to me and I try to get them to follow the club in the same way I was brought up, trust the manager, accept that we will buy and develop players that aren't "big stars" and give them time to settle.

Made up that Jota has extended, gives us a lot of stability knowing our players are all committed to long term contracts.

[scutty]

Obviously this is great news OBVIOUSLY!!!

[TAA66]

Excellent news.  Means we have Diaz, Jota, Carvalho and Nunez tied up for the next 5 years at least, plus Salah for 3.  Will give us consistency in attack for years to come.

[classycarra]

Excellent news.  Means we have Diaz, Jota, Carvalho and Nunez tied up for the next 5 years at least, plus Salah for 3.  Will give us consistency in attack for years to come.

On the verge of needing to find out if Portugal has a similar song to La Bamba

[newterp]

On the verge of needing to find out if Portugal has a similar song to La Bamba

Nunez the Uruguayanese-traitor.

[xbugawugax]

Well that came out of nowhere literally. just a few hours of news leaking of him signing and the sudden post from the official site and the interview of him grinning and being settled here for the best years of his life.

no king is back post. no laughing emojis by his agent. no walking out on the team while still playing pre season. Just purely business done behind closed doors.

everything about him is just low key. remember our hyped up yearly scouting report for werner only to end up with an inconsistent wolves reject.

think last year we have already seen some improvements in his game. Him stepping up during afcon when most of us and twatter were bedwetting missing our main 2 forwards. and being a bit of a threat in the air despite his size. I think he might just surprise us this season with his development. Didn't realize he is only 25.

amazing that the renewal of our front line have gone rather without much drama.

[afc tukrish]

and being a bit of a threat in the air despite his size.

In a praiseworthy post, you have massively undersold him, there.

He's far more than a bit of a threat in the air.

He's wicked at attacking crosses with his head, timing impeccable, placement deadly, snide in the subsequent celebrations unmatched...

[markmywords]

VVD was already the best CB in the league at Southampton, and Alisson was one of the handful of world class goalkeepers at Roma, both were obvious world class players by the time we even signed them.

He may have been the best CB, but he didn't appear to considered as such generally, which is what the conversation seems to focus on

Otamendi and vertongen were in the PL team of the season in 2017/8 ahead of him and Cahill and Luiz in 2016/7

In the Guardian top 100 players compiled a few days before we signed him, VVD wasn't in the top 100, but Luiz and Alderweireld were.

We cant laugh at the guardian list and Pfa team of the yr, but overall it suggests people weren't sold on VVD yet, our scout team were predictably ahead of the curve

[[new username under construction]]

How good must that feel? Injured, missed pre season, new striker arrives at the club

BAM! new contract

Love it, will score a crap load for us, ball sticks to his feet like he's John Barnes

[Red Bird]

VVD was already the best CB in the league at Southampton, and Alisson was one of the handful of world class goalkeepers at Roma, both were obvious world class players by the time we even signed them.

Not many people seemed to think so, at least at that time, and there was general bemusement when we paid all that money for him. Heck, he wasn’t even in the premier league team of the season.

Back to the topic. Jota himself [modestly] seems to think he’s not that much better, at least last year he didn’t think he was, but he was in a team full of superior players.

[El Lobo]

Yeah Allison a little more, since he was playing in the latter stages of the CL for Roma. But there's no way VVD was 'considered one of the best CBs in the world' at Southampton.