https://www.theguardian.com/footbal…ced-for-barcelona-bid-for-georginio-wijnaldum
Well, I suppose this had to happen eventually. At least all the transfer speculation / discussion about Gini now has a home.
According to the Guardian’s Andy Hunter:
No bid has been received from Barcelona but the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, which has close links with Koeman, claims the former Netherlands manager wants to pair Wijnaldum with his international teammate Frenkie de Jong in midfield.
Barcelona’s interest in Wijnaldum could have implications for Klopp’s attempts to sign Thiago Alcântara from Bayern Munich. Liverpool have a longstanding interest in Thiago, who is expected to leave the European champions, but are likely to have to sell a midfielder before finalising a deal for the 29-year-old. A Wijnaldum exit would clear the way for Thiago’s arrival.
So although there has not yet been a bid made, if one of the Guardian’s leading lights is bothering to write about the likelihood of a bid it would seem that one is imminent.
That Fabrizo has said that Barca want Thiago but Koeman wants Gini.
Guess we will find out soon enough if Koeman is allowed to sign the players he wants rather than the club - never works out well signing players the coach doesnt really want.
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And if Thiago is willing to return there. The whole basis of his rumoured exit was him wanting to come to a new league to add a new league title to his collection. This would be his last realistic chance to do that with the Premier League and he had supposedly picked us based on that (along with an apparent reluctance to work with Pep again). Going back to Barca involves going to a club in worse condition than when he left to compete for trophies he’s already won.
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According to yesterday’s Mirror, “Liverpool have told Barcelona it will cost them £15million to land Gini Wijnaldum.”
I really cannot believe that we would let him go for so little, seeing as how Thiago would probably cost about double that.
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Genuine question;
If Gini is worth £15m and Thiago is worth £30m, is that a reflection of their current contracts? Is it simply that Gini earns significantly less than Thiago, so in essence, he costs less also?
Like others, I think £15m is too low (media BS I suspect) and if the price is right, we’d be better of keeping him another season and letting him go for free next.
I think, should both deals get done, the different between them will end up closer to £5m than £15m.
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Barca will tell the world Gini will cost them £15-20m we will tell the world we got £35-40m. Truth will be the Barca price will be guaranteed and the LFC price will be if all the clauses are hit. Just PR media nonsense. Same will happen with Bayern over Thiago with roles reversed.
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With, I suspect, Gini being the more expensive of the two by a little bit. Providing all clauses end up hit on both deals of course, something that never seems to get talked about but makes huge differences years later.
I Thiago is worth 26m Gini is worth 24m.
Borh same age Thiago has better stats in easier league.
I don’t think we’ll be too bothered with actual amount we get, as long as Thiago is similarly priced.
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Don’t think he’ll spend too much time crying into his bocadillo about having to settle for Thiago.
https://www.goal.com/en/news/liverpool-loss-barcelona-gain-klopp-would-miss-comfort/1ve7depnrz2021p2at1bgq9mzb
A very interesting article by Neil Jones. Judging by the sound Klopp really wanted to keep Wijnaldum, but Edwards was not on the same opinion.
‘’ Liverpool have allowed players to leave for nothing in the past. Emre Can ran down his contract and joined in 2018, while the Reds drained the last drop out of Alberto Moreno and Daniel Sturridge before wishing them well and sending them on their way.
Even this summer, Adam Lallana walked away on a free after six years of service, Nathaniel Clyne did likewise, though with rather less publicity.
Wijnaldum’s case is different, though. This is a starter, one of the club’s vice-captains. He is a leader, an example, a dressing room voice, someone who is completely tuned into Klopp’s way – technically, tactically and physically.’’
Not sure how you’ve reached that conclusion.
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This makes some sense. As the Swiss Ramble tweet makes clear, our club doesn’t really generate enough profits without players leaving to fund much buying of new players. Add in future squad rebuild and likely fall in income, there is sense in trying to avoid any players leaving for free (especially if they bring in a significant chunk of money - No one really wanted Moreno and Studge enough to pay us anything so, there wasn’t much cost from keeping them).
I do wonder how easily Klopp will find it to rebuild the squad, he’s never previously been in the position where once his team has been built outgoings are virtually all of his making.
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You’re right. I hadn’t read the article before my earlier post. What @MarcusBerglund has stated can’t really be inferred from what Neil Jones has written.
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Clyne, Lallana, Moreno and Sturridge were all worth less than 10 million when they had 12 months left to go. All would have only been attractive to clubs that would have needed them to take pay cuts to join. Those pay cuts would have needed to come out of whatever fee was paid to persuade them to take early departure. There really wasn’t much choice to make in those cases. Can was different but we still would have needed to take a vastly lower than value deal to get something from his leaving and would have struggled, a lot, without either him or appropriate replacements (would have been difficult finding one player suitable enough in all the roles Klopp used him in). With Wijnaldum, as great as he is, the squad could, if absolutely necessary, cope without him. But as we can replace him for a similar cost for a player who would arguably be an upgrade I don’t see us repeating the Can decision.
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Agreed. Especially as I think we need to freshen up the squad with another 1-2 to keep the hunger. Gini seems to be a popular lad but I’m not sure another year of his on and off field presence - cf. a new similarly high quality signing like Thiago - is what we need to really get everyone pushing hard again.
Massive error in that article.
It should read; “while Alberto Moreno, Daniel Sturridge, and Clyne drained the reds from every last drop” I’m confident that had those players kept fit (particularly Sturridge and Clyne), decent offers would have come in - but as they were always injured, they couldn’t be offloaded.
Also it is entirely expected that Edwards may have a different view to Klopp on keeping Gini, given Edwards job is to manage the money, and Klopp’s to manage the team, which naturally means that their judgement’s would differ.
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In the healthy collegiate environment we have behind the scenes, I’m glad if we have a slight difference of opinion. Both viewpoints will be valid, and it will all be discussed professionally, respectfully, and the best outcome for the club will be found.
Back in the day we had a slightly trumped up Brendan saying my way or the highway, an old school sort of manager in that regard. Now we have the much more capable Klopp, possibly being challenged by another viewpoint, and allowing himself to be challenged, because he is comfortable in his skin and he sees the merit in the excellent recruitment team around him.
Bring it on.
Where the press is trying to maybe see mischief, I see a picture of health.
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This take is genuinely bizarre. The very next paragraph (that you left out) says,
Losing a player like that on a Bosman is an absolute last resort for an operator as shrewd as Michael Edwards, the Reds’ sporting director.
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