I wish they would flipping well hurry up 
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Yeah, really surprised about that. Maybe everyone is just behaving like adults?
It seems like Mike Gordon is keeping an eye on him though.
How about we spare a moment, just a little moment to enjoy this…
And perhaps commend the SD for pulling off arguably the most difficult transfer of the summer…
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How exactly was it the most difficult transfer of the summer? They get £120m for a player not in their first 11, and have already used the money to buy 3 new attackers
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We would have, except it became so drawn out and protracted that all the joy has been extinguished from it…and other areas of the squad that need possibly more attention have been neglected. So there’s that.
And unlike the other two £100M plus signings, this one seems actually suited both to our team tactics and the league.
Hughes and Co look to have got this over the line, and while it’s frustrating it’s taken so long, the negotiation had to happen.
I don’t know what is to criticise here? Should we have just given PSG the €170m they wanted at the start of the window?
When transfers end up costing as much as this, it’s going to takes ages because the difference is now tens of millions, and that’s not ‘fuck it just get it done’ money. And it was always going to get done late because both parties are using the end of the window as a leverage point - Liverpool don’t want to not get the winger they want, and PSG don’t want to get stuck with a player they have already replaced.
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There is understandable anxiety and frustration that such a seemingly vital piece is coming in so late, such that we might not reasonably see the best of him until October or so. Other than paying 10s of millions over what we’ve seemingly landed on, I dont know there was an alternative to this once we’d landed on him as our priority, which seemingly we were able to do very quickly after Diomande fell through. Which again points to some very joined up thinking that we could pivot so confidently so quickly.
What I think people will be left questioning now is the strategy that this signing was a central piece of. And ultimately that is what Hughes is responsible for - not just getting the deals done, because as we’ve seen Gordon has repeatedly stepped in to help with that over the years on difficult ones. But it’s the overall strategy of which positions get prioritized, and how that changes given the players we can target and their availability. It becomes a big prioritization exercise, and that’s where I think people will be asking questions.
What it looks like we’re doing is acknowledging that Mo was not just a RW, but an impact. And our best avenue for replacing the latter was to target someone who plays LW and rejig the front line to accommodate it. What does that mean?
- Barcola in for Mo
- Cody having to make way to financially accommodate that - not because we couldnt afford it per se, but because we cannot have two of our most highly paid players competing for the same role.
- We then have Cody’s exit and the preexisting gap at wing that we dealt with last season filled by Munoz and the one other we are seemingly still looking for. Presumably both of whom will be primarily earmarked to play from the right.
I dont like the idea of moving on Cody this summer. I’ve always thought he was better than given credit for. And I also just have a general bias against moving out players of a known quantity on the assumption your new guy will be better. But maybe when you consider the challenge of replacing a unicorn like Mo then maybe normal business just isnt possible?
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Smells of Mike Gordon striding in like a boss to get shit done.
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We don’t really know the restrictions or issues we are dealing with especially financially. We’ve got the price down on this as much as we possibly could, if that means we have flexibility to go and bring in another winger and a depth piece in midfield now that Jones left it is fine business.
If we are done for the summer it feels like we’ve left ourselves short by going for this guy alone.
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Get Camarra and either of Pardo/Fofana/Mbaye/Minteh, without selling Gakpo and I’ll forgive you Richard twat Hughes😁 !!
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Nah, not for me. He’s left us in the lurch with a Wirtz and Isak-shaped problem and is now swanning off to Al Hilal. Zero consequences for him.
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I should have mentioned that forgiveness was only for this transfer window and not the last year’s one .
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Not going to call him just yet… We might want him to take a couple of players off our hands in a season or two…
Because its not like buying groceries! And you can sit in front of your computer and determine its as easy as going to the store..
The overall strategy was always there. You can see it from the moves we’ve made or not made.
Did anyone say it was?
Because PSG have the propensity to be a stubborn club to deal with, as their owners always want to get their own way because that is what they are used to.
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He did just get us one of the fastest and most talented wingers in the world though. Will be nice for Wirtz to finally have someone with a bit of mobility to pass to.
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My problem is, where do we play Wirtz so he’s not a defensive liability.