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

[Legs]

The timing of needing this mini rebuild sucks. Transfers fees are crazy even for non established players and it will be more crazy this summer. A good chance that we won't have a choice but to risk it.

That is why we should have bought from a position of strength we didnt and we will pay for it.

All our laptop boys were too busy stroking their egos and how incredible they are with data ....now its radio silence.

We shouldnt have to sell any first team players to fund signings as what is the point make yourself stronger in one area but weaker in another.

Ive said many times there is plenty of good players with good value out there we chose ARTHUR FUCKING MELO it has been a mare of a season.

[newterp]

That is why we should have bought from a position of strength we didnt and we will pay for it.

All our laptop boys were too busy stroking their egos and how incredible they are with data ....now its radio silence.

We shouldnt have to sell any first team players to fund signings as what is the point make yourself stronger in one area but weaker in another.

Ive said many times there is plenty of good players with good value out there we chose ARTHUR FUCKING MELO it has been a mare of a season.

Pretty sure that wasn't the case. I'd expect it was the owners that said no buying or relatively big spending.

[Hazell]

It is what it is.

[anandg_lfc]

Sell

Gomez - 25 mil
Carvalho - 20 mil
Jones - 10 mil
Phillips - 10 mil
Matip - 10 mil
Fabinho - 25 mil
Morton - 5 mil
Kelleher - 20 mil
Van Den Berg - 5 mil
Ramsay - 5 mil
Rhys Williams - 5 mil

Buy

Ugarte - 52 mil (release clause)
Kone - 30 mil
K. Thuram - 30 mil
Bella Kotchap - 25 mil (there is some relegation clause apparently)
Mount - 35 mil
Kim Min Jae - 42 mil (Release clause)
Livramento - 15 mil

[Stockholm Syndrome]

That is why we should have bought from a position of strength we didnt and we will pay for it.

All our laptop boys were too busy stroking their egos and how incredible they are with data ....now its radio silence.

We shouldnt have to sell any first team players to fund signings as what is the point make yourself stronger in one area but weaker in another.

Ive said many times there is plenty of good players with good value out there we chose ARTHUR FUCKING MELO it has been a mare of a season.

It was quite concerning in that Reddy article that after our title winning season, Covid messed up our spending from a stance that we would have likely sold Salah or Mane for big money for a refresh - the fact that after winning the league the likely source of money to keep us going is by selling our best players, doesn't sound too great honestly

[RedBec1993]

Indykalia News @indykalia

Exclusive: @BellinghamJude first choice is Liverpool Football Club for a summer move.

He had told @LFC to quickly negotiate deal with BVB. Jude Bellingham family is also very keen for him to move to #Liverpool.

Personal terms have been agreed. The final decision is with FSG


Can always rely on Indy to lighten the mood. Even if it complete rubbish 

[HeartAndSoul]

You couldn’t write all this shit. Spend years wasting our time chasing him for him to go away because the stingy bastards won’t put their hands in their own pockets

At least maybe next summer might be the big one 

[Samie]

I love RAWK. 


We move on, we can sign quality midfield players coming into their peak for way less. Go back to finding gems instead of getting ready made ones.

[jizzspunk]

Jurgen won't be pushing Fabinho out the door..nor Henderson more obviously, Milner could yet stay, old news that Keita and Oxlade are leaving along with Bobby

With Diaz and Jota injured pretty much since Gakpo arrived, we haven't really seen a plan of usage around Gakpo and even Nunez.. maybe we get a glimpse if Diaz returns after the Internationals, I'm wondering if Gakpo has a deeper role to play than people think, maybe an 8 if everyone is fit, or are we going to rotate 3 from 5 week on week in the forward line, with Carvalho a 6th option?

Watch this space, I wouldn't be surprised if Gakpo gets some game time in a midfield 3 if we stick @ 4-3-3... maybe we signed a midfielder after all 😉

[Aldo1988]

...

[clinical]

I love RAWK. 


We move on, we can sign quality midfield players coming into their peak for way less. Go back to finding gems instead of getting ready made ones.

He's only 19 tbf.

This is fine but we didn't want to take risks in the market anymore. They can't have it both ways.

[Samie]

Well I'm not going to be bitching and moaning that we can't sign midfielders who are good and will get better. Bellingham would've been nice but he's not the last midfielder on this planet. 

[Samie]

We also need to announce our new Sporting Director as soon as possible. Need to plan ahead in the medium term too.

[Coolie High]

I love RAWK. 


We move on, we can sign quality midfield players coming into their peak for way less. Go back to finding gems instead of getting ready made ones.

Finding gems probably comes with a 50-60m fee nowadays, or talks of loans and a bedding in period like we’ve seen with Carvahlo, not like we’re known to sign players straight from South America either.

[Sharado]

Go back to finding gems instead of getting ready made ones.

We never really left that model anyway. Who have we signed that's 'ready made' in the last few years? Thiago I guess which felt like an enormous outlier. 

[Schmidt]

I love RAWK. 


We move on, we can sign quality midfield players coming into their peak for way less. Go back to finding gems instead of getting ready made ones.

I said a while ago that we've won so much with a more industrious midfield, and started to stutter since trying to get that one big signing.

The worry is that if we really want Bellingham and can't afford him, that implies we won't be able to afford the 2-3 cheaper alternatives we need to compete either. It's also not clear whether the setup we had for finding and targeting those gems is still at the club or has the same authority they did a couple of seasons ago.

A combination of the owners refusing to pay for infrastructure themselves (increasing the value of their assets for free), a ballooning wage budget and the owners rigid approach to not putting money into the club means we could be forced to sit on the sidelines and hope to pick up a bargain or two, which isn't going to cut it.

[Samie]

No it doesn't mean  if we can;t afford Bellingham who Dortmund want 130 million  for that we can;t get cheaper alternatives who we've been inked to as there's 75 million difference at least between Bellingham and the others in Midfield we've been linked to.

[killer-heels]

No it doesn't mean  if we can;t afford Bellingham who Dortmund want 130 million  for that we can;t get cheaper alternatives who we've been inked to as there's 75 million difference at least between Bellingham and the others in Midfield we've been linked to.

Yep. Mount + Nunes > Jude and cheaper.

[BobPaisley3]

Is this also potentially based on the fact that FSG doesn't look like it's able to secure any additional investment in the team (which is hard to believe)?

Not that hard to believe, doubt many are queuing up to pay potentially north of a billion quid for a minority stake.

[clinical]

Yep. Mount + Nunes > Jude and cheaper.

Disagree. Nunes is just a waste of £50m.

[ScouserAtHeart]

So we become so successful that only world class players would improve us, but then because we're so successful our wage bill becomes massive, meaning we can't afford world class payers, so we regress till we get to a point where cheaper players improve us, then we hope to become successful again

[killer-heels]

Disagree. Nunes is just a waste of £50m.

Oh yeah Nunes is fucking dog shit. But multiple midfielders over the cost of one and money to save = smartest guys in the room.

[killer-heels]

So we become so successful that only world class players would improve us, but then because we're so successful our wage bill becomes massive, meaning we can't afford world class payers, so we regress till we get to a point where cheaper players improve us, then we hope to become successful again

I mean, its possible thats what we want to do

[CraigDS]

So we become so successful that only world class players would improve us, but then because we're so successful our wage bill becomes massive, meaning we can't afford world class payers, so we regress till we get to a point where cheaper players improve us, then we hope to become successful again

Only if you buy into the fact only world class players would improve us, which isn't true.

[Samie]

If you dickheads really think only "World Class" midfielders improve our dog shite midfield this season you need to watch other teams play. 

[MJD-L4]

The Journo's that are saying there's a quickly reducing chance of us signing Bellingham are the same ones that were saying we're frontrunners like 3 days ago.

They haven't got a clue & just make shit up for clicks.

[Legs]

Well I'm not going to be bitching and moaning that we can't sign midfielders who are good and will get better. Bellingham would've been nice but he's not the last midfielder on this planet. 

That is correct and has always been my stand.

The issue is why did we not bother signing any last summer or even Jan they have made the job harder for themselves now.

Bellingham numbers were always going to be very high and although its not 100% confirmed its unlikely we get him unless they fancy £40m upfront !

[Schmidt]

No it doesn't mean  if we can;t afford Bellingham who Dortmund want 130 million  for that we can;t get cheaper alternatives who we've been inked to as there's 75 million difference at least between Bellingham and the others in Midfield we've been linked to.

All of the midfielders consistently linked to us have a pricetag of at least £50 million, so 2-3 suggests a £100-150 million expenditure would be needed. So yes if we can't afford Bellingham then getting 2-3 others in his place does seem to be off the cards too.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Yep. Mount + Nunes > Jude and cheaper.

Not a fair comparison I don't think be a use Mount and Nunes probably cost a lot less than Bellingham+ cheaper, but also I think is significantly worse because Nunes is shit, and Mount I am not sure entirely fits what we need.

If you were to say Mount, Nunes, and Ugarte, then yeah sure I see that, but Nunes is still a waste of £50 million.

I can actually very much see us getting Palhinha from Fulham. A very good player, just maybe a bit too old, but yeah I can totally see that

[El Lobo]

I thought indykaila had confirmed Nunes was only costing us £15 million?

[Clint Eastwood]

The Journo's that are saying there's a quickly reducing chance of us signing Bellingham are the same ones that were saying we're frontrunners like 3 days ago.

They haven't got a clue & just make shit up for clicks.

Probably. First thing Monday morning ahead of a two week international break with very little of note happening at the moment. This seems like a pretty easy story to throw out there for clicks.

It’s still only March, a lot will change between now and the Summer. We’re a club who keeps their cards very close to their chest so I doubt that we’re leaking information like this right now. We’ve been chasing him for a year, we’ve clearly done a lot of groundwork, we wouldn’t waste our time if we didn’t know he would cost so much, and the interest from City/Madrid was inevitable. It’s easy to say ‘City and Madrid are in a stronger position because they have more money’ because it’s not exactly wrong, but the article doesn’t read like we’re throwing in the towel. It’s actually just guesswork.

[Jean Girard]

My major concern is we miss out on Bellingham and buy 1 or 2 players, which pessimistically I think is what will happen, we get Nunes and someone else, maybe Mount, and the problems are just not solved at all.

As a general question for the thread, if we have limited funds, who would you be alright with us selling to raise funds for a rebuild?

Agree yeah, only doing half the job isn't going to cut it. So I'm open to sales.

I think you decide who you are definitely keeping first. Personally I think the starting back 5 are safe, but we need to replace a squad CH and Trent needs competition/cover. Midfield - not a single person is safe in there for me. Harvey and the rest of the kids are all maybe fine, but everyone else takes up a pretty sizeable lump of the wage bill for diminishing returns and diminishing availability. I think we all concede it's time for major surgery there. Up front I'd be willing to sell one for a big offer if we have to fund what's needed - but that's risky with Bob going. 

I see 11/12 people in the squad as 100% safe. The rest has to be up for debate, right? And some have been among our greatest ever servants - so it's a very painful debate to have.

The age profile of the squad isn't getting better, we've too many without competition or cover, and it needs fixing. We've fallen a bit foul of the broken windows theory, I'm guilty of it too.  If we haven't the money to do it somebody needs to get creative and it might mean losing someone we'd ideally keep. It's kind of overwhelming that we need to do a summer of rebuild, especially 12 months after nearly doing the whole lot. But we're in a rut - and a one player superstar summer isn't fixing it.

Have we done a summer recently where we've done 4/5?  Fabinho, Ox, Mo summer? Reckon it'll be a mad one myself this year.

[Red-Soldier]

Are we going to continue with the same spending patterns, or do we think we'll have a higher net spend, this summer?

[killer-heels]

Are we going to continue with the same spending patterns, or do we think we'll have a higher net spend, this summer?

I predict we will have a higher net spend of about £30m and Klopp will knock out any journalist who questions whether we can get better midfielders than Morton.

[buttersstotch]

I said it a few days ago, but things are going to turn very bitter with the ownership if we don’t get Bellingham. Regardless of whether he is the right player etc. - we’ve seemingly been focused on him for 2-3 years now and put off investing in midfield for this player. We’ve fallen behind and have a real risk of missing out on the champions league through lack of investment through the owners being tight arses.

Only thing I’d say about the article that makes me hesitant that Ornstein doesn’t actually know is it’s just come out on a Monday during the international break.

[ScouserAtHeart]

Even if the fans turn against them, why would FSG care? We can't force them to sell or invest their own money

[Lone Star Red]

The Athletic are the best sports media platform out there, spend more than anyone on local sports journalism and they're owned by The New York Times. What they do - original reporting - is literally the opposite of clickbait. I'm not sure what making a loss has to do with anything when that describes 99% of all media organisations out there.

I'd say that's more damning of the current state of sports journalism than anything else, to be honest. I've been a subscriber for years, was incredibly excited by the model and writing when it launched. Just cancelled my subscription a couple months back, as the downward trend in quality in writing and the online experience for the last 12-18 months has been alarming.

Having said that, labeling The Athletic as a 'clickbait organization' does seem harsh, but they've absolutely been trending that way for some time now.

[B0151?]

Yeah the idea we make CL places next season is a bit arrogant. I think we will, but there is as much chance we regress even more.

I don't think it's arrogance at all. Its just what the standard should be and has been under Klopp. We have some tremendous players at the club and I believe the only way we don't get top 4 next season is if we really fuck this summer up. I don't think it's arrogant for that to be an expectation at all considering the talent we have and our position as a club.

It's only foolish arrogance if we don't do what we need to do in the summer.  But if the summer goes badly there wont even be that expectation from anyone I suspect

[killer-heels]

I don't think it's arrogance at all. Its just what the standard should be and has been under Klopp. We have some tremendous players at the club and I believe the only way we don't get top 4 next season is if we really fuck this summer up. I don't think it's arrogant for that to be an expectation at all considering the talent we have and our position as a club.

It's only foolish arrogance if we don't do what we need to do in the summer. 

When was the last time we had a good transfer summer?

[clinical]

Even if the fans turn against them, why would FSG care? We can't force them to sell or invest their own money

I doubt they even watch our matches. Probably look out for the scores and that's about it. Too busy watching rounders..