Michael Edwards

What’s being said about him?

Nothing, just an excuse for a tweet.

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Big summer for this guy and his team.

Pennies are not in plenty, but he has to bring in some key players. Then he has to offload a bunch of players who aren’t very attractive propositions in a rather depressed market.

No pressure, Mikey :pray: :muscle:

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There should be a TV series made about it: Mikey Under The Microscope.

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Under the Mikeyscope

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Every summer is.

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He has already started using his slight of hand by buying a CH even before the transfer window is opened!

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He is so much a part of our success over the last few years. :ok_hand:

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When does his contract expires???

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Yeah Edwards leaving would be almost as concerning as Klopp.

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Interesting article talking about the process of signing a young player.

Apparently in this case we missed out thanks to Romelu Lukaku

Liverpool get the big guns out to convince a young, pacy winger from Anderlecht to move to Merseyside. They invite him for an introduction to the club. Doku flies in with his parents, David, a Ghanaian immigrant who moved to Belgium in 1993, and Belinda.

A club representative gives the Antwerp-born kid a tour around Anfield. Their next stop is Melwood. It is there that the stars come out. Jürgen Klopp has a chat with player and parents. Dad David says: “He explained to us that Jérémy could replace Mané in a few years.”

Steven Gerrard, Liverpool Under-19s manager at the time, calls them into his office and shows him some video footage. Mo Salah hands him a shirt. Sadio Mané, Georginio Wijnaldum and Doku’s countryman Simon Mignolet walk by and have a few words with him.

His parents are shown around a school. They visit a house where they could possibly live. They negotiate the salary they have in mind. They are overwhelmed. Everything is in place at Liverpool, from the football project to the financial side. They see their kid as a future Red.

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It was the right move for him, and it’s impressive how he resisted to being blinded by the glittery seduction of a big club. And he was right, here he would just have been another hopeful lad who first plays with the youngsters and then gets eventually loaned out, with almost zero hope to ever play for our first team (see Ojo or Wilson, among many, many others).

Barring an extraordinary set of circumstances, he never would have made it with us, whereas at Anderlecht, he became a star, and then got a record move to Rennes where he again did well considering his age. Always playing in the first team, that’s how you become a really good player. Lukaku was right to advise him to stay in a lesser, yet truly competitive league for a little while longer.

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I think that is very harsh, and probably not true. Given how highly this youngster is rated, I think it is unlikely we have had many players come to us with his ability and not made it. Particularly with Klopp being here, there is always a way to the first team.

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I’m especially interested in how Harvey’s development will go. Highly rated, and did exceptionally well in the Championship this season. One could argue that he’s maybe already too good for that level. So, where does he go from here? If he stays with us, he’ll not play week-in week-out, but not playing regularly will stop his development.

So, a new loan to a lower-level PL club for instance, would be ok for one year. But then, he has to cut it with the first team, or he’ll never make it with bus. Being loaned out from club to club isn’t the best either and hinders development too over time (ie. Wilson).

There are enough examples of highly-rated youngsters who never could make that step up at a big club. Even Salah failed to make it at Chelsea when he moved there, and he was 22. Fortunately, he chose his loan clubs very carefully and could then come to us and reach his full potential. But he’s a bit of an exception.

In Harvey’s case, being English could help him, we’ll see. But generally, I think that youngsters, especially from abroad, should be very patient before making their move to England.

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I think Harvey goes on loan to Norwich (particularly if they sell Buendia) or stays with us.

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That would certainly be a good move for him, providing he then gets played regularly by their manager.

Wilson isn’t going to make it here because he isn’t good enough, it’s got nothing to do with having been loaned out.

Sure, but that is Chelsea - how many top youngsters have failed to make it here, and how often has that been our fault? In recent years we’ve brought Sterling, Arnold and Jones through to play regularly in the first team, with Neco providing back up. Elliot looks an excellent prospect. There are others at the club that will hopefully break through too over the next couple of years.

As for Salah at Chelsea, that is a totally different scenario. He came in and wasn’t supported by the manager because he was raw and Mourinho likes to work with the finished article. Was probably only signed to be flipped for a profit after the deal with us fell through. I’m sure had he come here, he would have been given the time and support to fulfill his potential (he has a fantastic work ethic).

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We don’t seem to manage to ever make loan spells work for us. When you think about the ‘recent’ youngsters that have made it here from the academy; Owen, Gerrard, Carra, Sterling, Trent, Jones(?)

Is that it? None of them went on loan that I can think of and either made it through unignorable talent, or luck of circumstance with injuries clearing a path to the first team.

Elliot may yet prove me wrong, but more often than not, going out on loan is the first step to leaving permanently.

Oh just remembered Nat and Rhys, but it seems a lot of people are quite eager to get rid of them at the first opportunity. But for the injuries, Nat would already have been loaned again or sold. Again, only ‘made it’ for now because of an injury crisis.

For that reason I hope Elliott is considered ready to stay in the squad next year. I fear another loan means he’ll be following the same path as Grujic, Woodburn and Wilson.

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If you define “work” as having them come back and make a significant impact in the senior side, probably no one in the prem does. It’s simply hard to get kids through your academy into the senior side at the prem level. What we have going for us is an attraction that can land the top kids who develop quickly enough that they can break through without needing to spend time in the lower levels, which is why we have a 20 year track record that includes Owen, Gerrard, Carra, Sterling, Trent and Jones, a production line that is pretty fucking good by itself.

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beach boys relax GIF

Come on Mikey, get busy, chop, chop

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