Traditionally our deals were structured over 3 year periods. Our last major splurges were 2017/18 (£156m) and 2018/19 (£164m) 4 and 3 years ago. As we won the CL and PL in the time since you’d imagine practically all clauses would have probably been met and paid too. Outgoing cash bill is probably set to drop by around £50m from this summer onwards now those two seasons have been accounted for. Over 3 years worth of payment structure that’s £150m (£200m over 4 years like last summers deals) free on the outgoing payments from this summer if we are allowed to keep outgoings as high as they were. Before covid we were probably willing to increase outgoing payments too. Add in anything from sales too. Could still be good.
1 Like
I think Matip will be sold, if anyone will take him. I like him but can’t rely on him to string a few games together so will never have a settled defense with him.
Starting the season with VVD, Gomez, Konate, Kabak looks good to me. Don’t understand the concern. We need 3-4 quality CBs to win the PL
2 Likes
He didn’t play against us.
He’s missed loads of this season and missed loads of last season through injuries.
Has the attributes on paper but was crap the 3 times I’ve seen him.
Hopefully he can stay fit longer than 5 minutes if he signs.
3 Likes
We’ve always played a back three under Klopp, it’s just that Virgil was two of them.
11 Likes
Matip; If here or not next season cannot be relied upon when we need a CB. If he stays he’s a “luxury” allowing us to rotate more when he’s available.
VvD; Will probably be back for start of next season but it’s not guaranteed. May have set backs, may have rustiness issues when he returns. Its not for sure he’ll be ready for a week in week out role from the start or that he’ll instantly be back to his imperious best. Even if he is we already relied on him too much and need to start resting him more.
Gomez; No real way of telling when he will be back. Could be start of the season, could be nothing more than cameos to regain fitness next year.
Phillips; Love what he’s doing for us but let’s face it he’s a sticking plaster not a long term option. If he’s here for next year it’s not good planning on our part.
Davies; Hasn’t been trusted to kick a ball yet. Will be surprised if we want any more than an emergency cover role for him.
Williams; Lots of promise but may never be quick enough, most likely in need of a loan but he may never have a real future on the pitch with us.
Fabinho/Henderson; Please our midfield needs them there unless it’s emergency cover.
We could start the season without a single player we want to use as one of our week in week out starting CBs. If Konate is coming in then at least we will have one. I think we still need another though, Kabak or a cheap, young, player with potential to “fill in” for now but stand a chance of one day being a starter for us.
2 Likes
It’s a financial one. If Matip leaves, he will bring in little to no fee. spending £60m on two new CB’s will possibly mean less money on forwards or midfielders in a summer we may see little money raised from sales of players.
3 of our players are already likely to be unavailable for some of next season because of AFCON. Some reinforcements in midfield or the attack would be useful.
1 Like
Saying that Konate’s only been out for 2 months this season and 5 months last is more than a bit misleading.
He’s been ‘fit’ for almost 2 months now but has been on the bench for all 10 games he’s been available for, totalling 40 minutes of play time. We saw in the two CL games that it’s not quality players (Klostermann and Mukiele) keeping him out the side, Mukiele in particular was a show in both games.
Same last season - misses 5 months, returns on the bench for a game, misses another month, returns on the bench and only starts 1 in 5 he’s available for.
Does he struggle to return from injury?
If Matip stays he’ll bring in less but we will still need to recruit at CB.
I watched him in the second game against Man United - neither him, nor Upamecano impressed me one bit. Both looked pretty rash in challenges, not holding the offside line properly… Though their physical traits make them very much the archetype of a “modern” centre back.
Upamecano then put in two very good performances against us, though, at least in my opinion, and got himself a move to Bayern prior to them. We’re due a good transfer from Germany, Klopp never had much luck with Germany-based players at Liverpool - actually, those he was lucky with were the ones who rejected him (Dembele, Götze, Draxler). Maybe Konate will be a good transfer but the club are buying potential with him, not a finished product. I’d even say that Gomez was a class or two above him at the same age.
3 Likes
Argh, shite. I mixed him up with Upamecano. That lad was definitely impressive against us, but thus, it wasn’t Konaté.
Ok, never saw him play then. But you followed the BL a while ago. Did you see him play?
What do our resident German posters think of him?
1 Like
If he’s got injury issues he’s the last player we should be looking at! Madness.
2 Likes
If we spunk £40m on this lad I take it Mbappe or Harland aren’t coming here.
Matip?
I agree that Konate did not impress me in the limited appearances against stronger opposition. But I can understand the club not wanting to make the same “mistake” again of going into the season with only 1 fit CB in Kabak. I do not see Phillips and R.Williams as long term players under Klopp’s system.
What nationality is he?
I doubt this will go through. It’s not even April.
Ha, that lad is Sevilla is who I confuse with this guy all the time. Konate is the more CBey of the 2 right?
1 Like
Both are CB’s and CB’s only I think.
Kounde is shorter, yeah. He’s been mentioned not long ago on the Athletic as one of United’s CB targets this summer for a new partner for Maguire.
Unlikely yes but Klopp has changed over the years, he went from a pretty sold 4231 at Dortmund to the 433 he currently plays here. As you say though it’s unlikely, but could be a reason why we want 5 centeral defenders (including some who like to bring the ball out of defence).
2 Likes