I don’t like to field a 19-year-old 30-40 times in our midfield in a season. OTOH, you can do so with someone like Gini without blinking your eyes.
Anw, oher than the starting three (one of them is very injury-prone) plus Elliott, an old man and the mugs are all that left.
Mugs?
Yeah, I made this point in the CP post match thread. His career won’t last very long if we keep doing this
You said a real 4th choice midfielder, where in that is the need to play 40 matches?
We were supposed to have such a midfield in 2020/2021 when Hendo, Gini, Fab and Thiago were present at the same time - before injuries ruined the entire thing.
Others than Hendo, Milner, Fabinho, Thiago and Elliott.
This discussion has been done to death, the problem stems from the fact we have Oxlade and Keita still contracted to the club. Maybe some fans would like us to be like Barca and just keep buying players, try and force out players we no longer want, drop them but continue to pay etc… But not me (nor Klopp I don’t think). This means we do have paper depth which means it’s incredibly hard to strengthen… Imagine the conversation with someone like Nunes…
“Hi yes, so the first choice is Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson”
“So I could play now as Thiago is injured”
“No its unlikely you start for a few months, we’d like you to understand our pressing system, the formations and tactics we use etc.”
“So when I’ve learnt all that Thiago is back he starts?”
“Yes, you would be waiting for another injury and show in training you deserve to be 4th choice ahead of Keita, Elliot and Milner”
…Beeeeeppp…
Your first paragraph is right, the club need to be careful with that. But Klopp has a history of being careful with player development, so he’ll be ok.
The second though? Calling ‘mugs’ a midfield which helped us to reach 92 points last season, a CL final and to win the two domestic cup trophies, being a whisker away from winning the quadruple for the first time in football’s history? That’s beyond ridiculous.
We had a similar situation when it came to Virgil, remember? Klopp wanted Virgil and nobody else. He decided to wait. For emergencies, a loan player came to sit on the bench, or was bought for very little money.
You should know by now how Klopp ticks? If he wants Bellingham (or someone else) he will wait until he is available. Maybe it will be another january transfer, who knows.
I know what you’re saying, but a world class midfielder would get plenty of games for us straight away. As someone said above, if we wanted Nunes he’d be in a red shirt now.
Our process is crystal clear. We play the long game and wait for the right player to become available. It feels frustrating right now, but we just have to trust the team to make the right decisions for long term benefit of the club, not just this autumn/winter
We need at least two, possibly three midfielders.
Ox - won’t get renewed leaving end of season
Milner - shouldn’t get renewed, plus on a modified lower wage anyway
Keita - really should sell. Injured way too often. Also on last year of contract
Henderson - Can’t be doing the role he used to do with the same effectiveness. Running less and at a slower overall pace
Thiago - has he ever completed an entire season injury free in his career?
Correct, but that type of player is what 2-3 at best? With Bellingham not moving this window and us missing out on Touchemani. Anyone else I don’t see being better than Elliot.
I thought Keita was on his last year as well?
Neves on a free + Bellingham
Would that make sense?
What do people honestly rate our chances of getting Bellingham at?
It seems a lot of people are already counting him for next season but he’s going to cost a bomb and we’re not likely to have a free run at him. Then there’s the option he chooses to stay at Dortmund or they simply refuse to sell again.
Anything above 50% seems incredibly ambitious to me.
Well, you are right! It is gonna cost us a bomb!
You make a fair point about not getting a free run at him, but I disagree with Dortmund refusing to sell. They will always sell for the right price, unless they already have major outgoings already done.
They refused to sell him this window, having already sold Haaland, but next summer they will listen to offers, and as long as someone matches their fee, then they will sell
Would it surprise anyone to find out that we’ve already quietly convinced Bellingham to play for us and no one else?
65% chances of getting him atm.
I am actually hopeful that Dortmund will sell for less than £85m (which is still a lot). We are not afraid of huge fees - but we don’t like young players who are greedy.
The fact that Klopp extended his contract will help to land him.
Nunes going to Wolves it seems. At a decent price too. Will be interesting to see how he does