Topic: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD - 2023 (FSG posts = get muted)

[DiggerJohn]

Koopomeiners is a biggest pressing machine I've seen in a long while.

If he's a press machine where you going to play him we have enough no8s already? Dcm hold back and protects the back 4 read the play, won't want him running around leaving space in behind

[Phineus]

Lookman then

I mean… is he always like this? If so yeah, please.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

I mean… is he always like this? If so yeah, please.

He's has a good couple of seasons to be fair. 13 in the league last year and 9 this.

[PeterTheRed ...]

If he's a press machine where you going to play him we have enough no8s already? Dcm hold back and protects the back 4 read the play, won't want him running around leaving space in behind

From what I have seen of Feyenoord recently, Koopomeiners would probably be the perfect 3rd starting midfielder in Slot's setup, next to Mac Allister and Szoboszlai (or Jones), with Endo, Elliott, Gravenberch and Bajcetic providing additional depth to our midfield ...

[Stockholm Syndrome]

He's has a good couple of seasons to be fair. 13 in the league last year and 9 this.

He is also 27 now and had a long run of bad seasons before that

He looks good at Atalanta but any calls to sign Lookman comes from the most reactionary bollocks you can imagine

[rafathegaffa83]

Koopomeiners is a biggest pressing machine I've seen in a long while.

We've been linked with him every summer for ages

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

He is also 27 now and had a long run of bad seasons before that

He looks good at Atalanta but any calls to sign Lookman comes from the most reactionary bollocks you can imagine

Yeah if he was 23/24 there would be a case that he's just developed and turned into a great player. At 26/27 though it wouldn't be worth it the risk.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

We've been linked with him every summer for ages

Probably tells you that we aren't actually that interested - if we wanted him we would have got him

Having said that I wouldn't be completely against getting him

Yeah if he was 23/24 there would be a case that he's just developed and turned into a great player. At 26/27 though it wouldn't be worth it the risk.

At 26/27 being a 3 in 1 winger for Atalanta after being mediocre everywhere else tells you it is likely he is good at Atalanta and probation anywhere else. And his rate is good but not amazing but he is unlikely to get better.

Would be like signing Adam Traore after he played well against City those couple of times

[SerbianScouser]

If he's a press machine where you going to play him we have enough no8s already? Dcm hold back and protects the back 4 read the play, won't want him running around leaving space in behind

Come to think of it in theory he might be a great solution to provide legs for Macca in a double pivot if we're gonna go with 4231.

I haven't seen that much of him so don't know if he's good enough for us but this final and games against us I've been really, really impressed.

And let's not forget we really need to add few great athletes to get our pressing back.

[MonsLibpool]

Atalanta have shown the importance of a team unit that's greater than the sum of its parts.

[Garlic Red]

Atalanta have shown the importance of a team unit that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Show the importance of being well drilled defensively and every single player being switched on without the ball. They taught us a lesson at Anfield. We’ve slacked off massively in our organisation since last season. A 6 won’t fix everything.

[Phineus]

Atalanta have shown the importance of a team unit that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Showed importance of physical monsters who can cover a lot of ground.

Ederson is class, we should be all over that.

[MonsLibpool]

Showed importance of physical monsters who can cover a lot of ground.

Ederson is class, we should be all over that.

Every single player to a man puts in a shift. If not, it's not effective.

Individually, they are not the best.

[RedG13]

The forward situation is a tricky one. With Salah talking about next season already, will we buy another forward without selling, say, Diaz?

I say Diaz because the articles around Slot's confirmation name-checked Nunez as one player he said he can improve, so he's clearly staying put.

Unless Diaz is sold, can't see us spending much money on a forward. Actually, if no forward is sold, I'd be surprised if we brought in a new one. Where & when would he play?

Salah, Diaz, Nunez, Jota, Gakpo, & Danns is pretty stacked. Not to mention Gordon & Doak who, if not loaned, will be in the frame for at least the Cup games.

BUT: if Gakpo or Diaz is sold, then a starting-calibre forward would have to be bought.

And a right-sided leftie would make more sense.

(Seen some analysis of Slot's forward play indicate that Szobo would be an ideal fit for the left-sided forward role, mostly cutting in to his right to use his considerable shooting powers & or create from those "Coutinho" zones. If Diaz were sold, Szobo as starting left-winger, like he was for RB at times, wouldn't be a bad guess)

Even if Salah stays next season, the club will want his replacement to have as much time apprenticing as possible.

One thing that strengthens Bakayoko link to us is that he fits the bill (style-wise) of Yankuba Minteh, who played as RW for Slot last season, & whose role was pivotal in the attacking phases of Feyenoord's game. The 2 wingers share traits like pace, good dribbling ability, very direct when attacking their full back, are creative, & are starting to score goals.

Bakayoko is more physical & athletic, which is ideal for PL.

Yes, buying from the Dutch league has not proven gold for PL teams, & that might be the reason for Edwards swerving Bakayoko. But the player's age, skill-set, his recent season numbers, his suitability for Slot system, & his potential shows a player whose price could double in a few years' time.

And THAT might be the reason Edwards goes for him now.

Wasn't Edwards famed for signing players just before they hit world-class level, & while they were still relatively low-priced?

From a squad building POV selling pre peak age or Peak age Attackers replacing with pre peak age is not smart. Salah technically should be the one most likely to go with age and picking up more injuries but i get why he staying. Jota is Peak Age but really struggles to stay fit.

[RedG13]

If you like heading stats check out Riccardo Calafiori's. Mama mia

I would love to know how tall he actually his transmarket has him 1.88 and fb has him 1.83. 1.9 normally what been looked with Klopp with the elite heading but if they just under and fit everything would be fine.

[RedG13]

Through a work colleague I knew someone at a high level position of a big PL team (not Liverpool).

Heard a few stories about transfers and football finances that were mind blowing. Staff and player bonuses were astronomical. Not just coaching staff. Academy staff for example received bonuses for 1st team winning a trophy. It was hinted to me that clubs with incentivised contracts had even bigger bonuses associated with their overall compensation.


I won’t go into details but was told that buying players attached to certain agents was extremely difficult for some clubs versus others. Vice versa in other cases. Sometimes due to a club not wanting to work with certain agents or the player agent having other clubs where they’d preferably land their client. Things like South American market were a minefield due to 3rd party ownership, multiple agents etc. Executing deals with the right people was said to be hugely challenging.

I think we as supporters view the transfer market and its potential as being 100% available in theory. Reality is that it’s likely a lot less. Clubs can’t scout every league and region extensively. Clubs don’t have networks for brokering deals in every region. Certain relationships with agents will make deals more difficult. Some players you like won’t be allowed to move. Some won’t want to.


It’s a really complex situation from what I was told. Doing deals is really complex and 1 of the reasons why clubs don’t necessarily negotiate hard for multiple transfers in parallel.

There agency Liverpool has really stayed away from overall expect for one signing(Gravenberch).
Also Liverpool Management likely alreadyt has 2025, 2026 targets too. It probably a bigger range for that etc but squad stuff is planned for years in advance too.
It why Liverpool didnt sign a CB last summer partly. They had targets for this summer, then Quansah pre season was so impressive they where good with the numbers.
Like Tsimikas extension randomly last season was probably because they have LB target for this summer or next or really like the Young players there but they need some time.

[red mongoose]

Koopomeiners is 26, nearly as ancient as Lookman. Swerve, please.

[Gifted Right Foot]

Ederson and Scalvini please barkeep

[smicer07]

Ederson and Scalvini please barkeep

Nothing like a RAWK kneejerk 😂

[PeterTheRed ...]

Koopomeiners is 26, nearly as ancient as Lookman. Swerve, please.

Koopmeiners has been performing really well at AZ and Atalanta for 6 years. Lookman has failed at both Everton and Leipzig. Some English club will be stupid enough to risk money on him this summer, but that club won't be us ...

[Gifted Right Foot]

Nothing like a RAWK kneejerk 😂

I only watched about 10 mins of it as well 

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Nothing like a RAWK kneejerk 😂

Type of scouting that had people asking for Amrabat. I thought that was nuts and then Lookman gets discussed for a few post which takes the cake

[Garlic Red]

I would love to know how tall he actually his transmarket has him 1.88 and fb has him 1.83. 1.9 normally what been looked with Klopp with the elite heading but if they just under and fit everything would be fine.

With Ibou, Quansah and Virgil at the club, could we afford to go for one that may be more dominant on the ground, or more dominant in counter attacking situations? Centre back for me was always about the partnership, we just so happened to get pretty much the only centre back outside of Nesta who was both the best in the world on the deck and in the air, as well as 6ft4, technically good and exceptionally calm.

We aren’t finding another Virgil, or if we are, we aren’t getting one perfectly primed like the player we signed from Southampton. I understand the importance of aerial ability and how key it is, I just feel like I watch plenty of centre halves who aren’t that dominant in the air but dominate on the ground, in duels and offer things like better ball playing ability. We’ve been linked with quite a few centre backs who aren’t that dominant in the air, Pacho is one, Guehi’s another, Yoro too (v young though). You could also make a pretty decent argument that our most dominant defensive form under Klopp came when we had Gomez at his physical peak with Virgil in 19-20, Gomez was never aerially dominant but was very good on the deck for a while.

Without knowing what the statistical trends are with outcomes etc but what if, for argument’s sake, it’s seen as more important if a player can prevent an attack on the halfway line in a ground duel than win a header? What if it’s more important that they can step up aggressively and recover within so many seconds? Just seems mad that we seem to think we won’t look at some potentially brilliant defenders because their heading % isn’t top percentile.

[RedG13]

With Ibou, Quansah and Virgil at the club, could we afford to go for one that may be more dominant on the ground, or more dominant in counter attacking situations? Centre back for me was always about the partnership, we just so happened to get pretty much the only centre back outside of Nesta who was both the best in the world on the deck and in the air, as well as 6ft4, technically good and exceptionally calm.

We aren’t finding another Virgil, or if we are, we aren’t getting one perfectly primed like the player we signed from Southampton. I understand the importance of aerial ability and how key it is, I just feel like I watch plenty of centre halves who aren’t that dominant in the air but dominate on the ground, in duels and offer things like better ball playing ability. We’ve been linked with quite a few centre backs who aren’t that dominant in the air, Pacho is one, Guehi’s another, Yoro too (v young though). You could also make a pretty decent argument that our most dominant defensive form under Klopp came when we had Gomez at his physical peak with Virgil in 19-20, Gomez was never aerially dominant but was very good on the deck for a while.

Without knowing what the statistical trends are with outcomes etc but what if, for argument’s sake, it’s seen as more important if a player can prevent an attack on the halfway line in a ground duel than win a header? What if it’s more important that they can step up aggressively and recover within so many seconds? Just seems mad that we seem to think we won’t look at some potentially brilliant defenders because their heading % isn’t top percentile.

Because Cbs are not in Ground duels as much. Your looking for interceptions and aerial Duel % considering you want to prevent the route 1 football vs you and cut off the balls behind you. Tackle % also.
Gomez-Virgil stat wise the best Partner side under Klopp. You need to be very good at other stuff or be able to compensate on set pieces with not having an strong Aerial Duel cb. Gomez was not brought by Klopp when he was here. Gomez is also the best passing CB at the Club too that really helps with it.
I would think data wise they going keep going after Klopp style cbs.

[Kopenhagen]

I thought Koopmeiners wanted to stay in Italy?

Looks like a system player to me. It's like Gini looking a shadow of himself when he left us. I'm sure he'd be good here, but his fee will be inflated now. We've been linked with players of his ilk for years - Zielinski being one - and I'm sure we can find someone younger and cheaper with a similar statistical profile.

[RayPhilAlan]

A chance he might see the 4 cb's as Virgil, Konate, Gomez & Quansah and look to bring in a couple of full backs, especially if Kostas goes. Still think Gomez is best at centre half.

That emphasises how good any new centreback has to be to be worth bringing in.

We have four excellent cb's, and from what others have said on here Van Den Berg has had a good season in Germany too. I think we should only bring in a cb if he's at least as good as peak-Konate, but with better fitness, or if we're really really confident he's someone who will be ready to step into Virgil's place in a couple of years.

If we can't find either of those players, I'd be happy to go with the same four centrebacks as we had for most of this year.

[RayPhilAlan]

Between the 100M we still have from our Caciedo bid, the money we just added from making the Champions league again, and the Taylor Swift/swifities bonus we should be strolling into the summer transfer period with an easy 200m-300m to spend! 

Jurgen spent all that on his farewell bash and his screen-printed tops, mate.

[Bobinhood]

Charlie Adam in yet?

https://youtu.be/8Qyu5KGYt5E?t=4

[lamonti]

Mo Stewart on TAW was singing Scalvini's praises yesterday before the final. Looks very decent. Definitely need a centre back next season considering we basically had a rotation of three for the last seven months, which is untenable. Needs to be four senior CBs, and Joe Gomez doesn't seem to be one any more. Konaté has been extremely disappointing second half of the season. Form abysmal last couple of months, but also not able to play enough games in general. Quansah a huge blessing last season.


I think we shouldbe after Aït-Nouri as the short term replacement for Kostas, long-term replace ment for Robbo. Only 22 bags of experience. Fast, well rounded footballer, used to the physicality of the league.

Hope the nerds can find a big upgrade on Endo. Someone who plays a bit like Palhinha but the profile we're willing to buy (young, improving, undervalued).

Other big job is figuring out how best to use our forward resources. Assume we back Darwin to stay, figure out the roles of the rest of them and trade up where appropriate.

Loads of good players in the squad. I'm sure some will be even better next season. Think we should push the boat out on a real banger either in CM or up front. I'd love Isak but doubt it would be possible.

[Garlic Red]

Because Cbs are not in Ground duels as much. Your looking for interceptions and aerial Duel % considering you want to prevent the route 1 football vs you and cut off the balls behind you. Tackle % also.
Gomez-Virgil stat wise the best Partner side under Klopp. You need to be very good at other stuff or be able to compensate on set pieces with not having an strong Aerial Duel cb. Gomez was not brought by Klopp when he was here. Gomez is also the best passing CB at the Club too that really helps with it.
I would think data wise they going keep going after Klopp style cbs.

I know why aerial duels/success % is important, I get what it can mean, I suppose what I’m trying to say is it may no longer be that important compared to other metrics, ie recovery pace, agility, ability to step out of the back line to challenge false 9s etc

Like, how many counter attacks are we conceding because we weren’t successful in the air? We concede shit loads of counter attacks most games despite having aerial monsters at the back, yet some of our rivals are conceding loads fewer with average players in the air.

For me set piece defending is coaching. I can see why the club are recruiting a proper set piece coach. The standard in England is ridiculous and just having someone who’s good in the air is a too simplistic way of looking at it when clubs will find ways to get the ball away from them and onto other players. Take the goal we conceded against Arsenal at home this season, Konate’s dominant in the air but he switched off due to the confusion Arsenal created on the set piece. Better coaching prepares for that and probably prevents the goal.

I’m not saying success in the air isn’t important, I’m just saying I think there are tons of other qualities a defender can do to a really high level that can be more important to the function of the team. We want to play a high risk style of defending, stepping up on the halfway line and leaving half of the pitch for teams to attack. Maybe we’re thinking we need someone that can do the recovery stuff really well is the most important attribute. For me Virgil’s the best defender the league’s ever seen, but his aerial dominance was probably the cherry on top compared to all of his other qualities, ie pace, agility, ability to turn people away from goal, ability to stay on his feet, strength, passing ability etc

[Draex]

I know why aerial duels/success % is important, I get what it can mean, I suppose what I’m trying to say is it may no longer be that important compared to other metrics, ie recovery pace, agility, ability to step out of the back line to challenge false 9s etc

Like, how many counter attacks are we conceding because we weren’t successful in the air? We concede shit loads of counter attacks most games despite having aerial monsters at the back, yet some of our rivals are conceding loads fewer with average players in the air.

For me set piece defending is coaching. I can see why the club are recruiting a proper set piece coach. The standard in England is ridiculous and just having someone who’s good in the air is a too simplistic way of looking at it when clubs will find ways to get the ball away from them and onto other players. Take the goal we conceded against Arsenal at home this season, Konate’s dominant in the air but he switched off due to the confusion Arsenal created on the set piece. Better coaching prepares for that and probably prevents the goal.

I’m not saying success in the air isn’t important, I’m just saying I think there are tons of other qualities a defender can do to a really high level that can be more important to the function of the team. We want to play a high risk style of defending, stepping up on the halfway line and leaving half of the pitch for teams to attack. Maybe we’re thinking we need someone that can do the recovery stuff really well is the most important attribute. For me Virgil’s the best defender the league’s ever seen, but his aerial dominance was probably the cherry on top compared to all of his other qualities, ie pace, agility, ability to turn people away from goal, ability to stay on his feet, strength, passing ability etc

I don’t agree, one of the first things Klopp did was get height and aerial dominance into his team. He’s never had a central, defender who doesn’t win over 70% of his aerial duels.

It gives you solidity in defence and a bigger threat on offensive set pieces, how many games did we score first from a Van Dijk headed corner to get a win?

The Premiership is full of grock teams whose main offensive threat is set pieces so you have to counter that.

Not that you don’t need all the attributes you mention, you do, hence why it’s incredibly hard for us to find the right center half.. it’s incredibly fortunate Quansah who has them all has taken his chance, he’s a bit raw yes but has everything you need to be a quality center back for us.

[jepovic]

Recruiting players based off a good EL cup run seems a bit like recruiting based off a world cup performance.

[Draex]

Recruiting players based off a good EL cup run seems a bit like recruiting based off a world cup performance.

We love a signing after they battered us personally no?

[spider-neil]

To be fair, Atalanta faced a knackered and injury-hit side. They faced us when we were on our knees.

[jepovic]

We clearly need a CB, but other than that I think we should focus our efforts on continuing the midfield rebuild. It's just not good enough.

I think we have one top CM, Mac, and one with potential to become one (Szobo).

[RedG13]

I don’t agree, one of the first things Klopp did was get height and aerial dominance into his team. He’s never had a central, defender who doesn’t win over 70% of his aerial duels.

It gives you solidity in defence and a bigger threat on offensive set pieces, how many games did we score first from a Van Dijk headed corner to get a win?

The Premiership is full of grock teams whose main offensive threat is set pieces so you have to counter that.

Not that you don’t need all the attributes you mention, you do, hence why it’s incredibly hard for us to find the right center half.. it’s incredibly fortunate Quansah who has them all has taken his chance, he’s a bit raw yes but has everything you need to be a quality center back for us.

He never brought one in that wasnt aerial dominant at least prior. Same thing with 6. Gomez  has not been aerial dominate at Liverpool but even when he first choice he got rotated out vs teams that would target him
Klavan aerial numbers where not good his 2nd season at Liverpool but he was a short term solution 

[Garlic Red]

I don’t agree, one of the first things Klopp did was get height and aerial dominance into his team. He’s never had a central, defender who doesn’t win over 70% of his aerial duels.

It gives you solidity in defence and a bigger threat on offensive set pieces, how many games did we score first from a Van Dijk headed corner to get a win?

The Premiership is full of grock teams whose main offensive threat is set pieces so you have to counter that.

Not that you don’t need all the attributes you mention, you do, hence why it’s incredibly hard for us to find the right center half.. it’s incredibly fortunate Quansah who has them all has taken his chance, he’s a bit raw yes but has everything you need to be a quality center back for us.

I know why it’s important and you’d rather have it than not, but with three really good aerial players already at the club, maybe we can look to a different type of player for our fourth option.

Look at some of the best clubs in the league for set piece goals conceded, they aren’t all aerially dominant. Arsenal and City have led the way, part of that might be because they simply concede fewer set pieces, but Arsenal also score the most from set plays and it’s been well documented that they’ve been using a proper set piece coach.

Gabriel, Saliba, Dias, Akanji, Torres and Diego Carlos are all under 60% for aerial success %, that’s just briefly looking at other top 4 sides. City’s most aerially dominant defender is Stones and he’s played less than half of their games this season.

As I said, I know why the trait is wanted and you’d rather have it than not. But let’s say the club are looking at Pacho and thinking he’s everything we want in a defender apart from his aerial dominance, surely we wouldn’t look away because he falls short in one area given how difficult it is to find defenders that are brilliant at all the other things? We played some of our best stuff with Gomez at centre back before his injuries, he’s pretty much a career 50-60% player when it comes success in the air, we can cope if we have one of our centre halves around 50-60% providing the other one is 70%+, in my opinion.

[clinical]

Show the importance of being well drilled defensively and every single player being switched on without the ball. They taught us a lesson at Anfield. We’ve slacked off massively in our organisation since last season. A 6 won’t fix everything.

A 6 won't fix everything. But a 6 will make it so much better. When Endo plays we're better even if he's a bit off it.

[Jookie]

We clearly need a CB, but other than that I think we should focus our efforts on continuing the midfield rebuild. It's just not good enough.

I think we have one top CM, Mac, and one with potential to become one (Szobo).

I agree that we have 1 top level, consistent midfielder currently.

I do think Jones, Elliott, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Bajcetic all have potential to become really high class midfield options.


A couple of issues though. Is it realistic to develop 5 midfielders who all need game time to develop? It’s going to be a challenge for Slot to balance development of 5 players who occupy similar positions.

I think Elliott ended the season as easily the best option out of those 5 players. He’s got a ridicolous ceiling when you consider his current creativity and age. However Elliott and MacAlister doesn’t seem the ideal combination in a 3 man midfield. Physicality, speed, ability to cover ground, aerial presence are all lacking. I think you need a change in shape to accommodate them both. Equally having those 2 plus Diaz, Salah and potentially Endo as the 3rd midfielder leaves you massively exposed onset pieces.

So whilst I really like our midfield options I don’t see all 6 of the midfielders under 30 as long term options. I just don’t see how you manage their development and have all of them progress. In addition I’m not sure balance of midfield is correct. I’d like 1 less 8 and another 6 personally. You could do this by playing Szobiszlai in a more advanced position.

Be interesting to see how it all plays out in next 12-18 months. Even more so if Trent is considered as a midfielder also.

[clinical]

If Pacho comes in I think it will be because he can play cb and lb and height is a little less important. Still he's 6ft2. I think it will Pacho in and Tsimikas out personally.