I like to post that Elmo from Hell GIF from time to time but I feel it’s exactly how Hughes and co. are feeling this summer.
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Wolves would have to be mad to let him go at this point. They’d have no time to replace him, which is why I’m baffled by our recruitment methods this summer. With regard to whoever we go for, the selling club would similarly have no time to get a replacement in, unless the deal had been in the pipeline for some considerable time. To ‘baffled’, feel free to add ‘appalled’.
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Agreed. Could totally see Madrid grabbing him on a free in the summer, hardly playing him and then flogging him back to an English club the next summer for a big profit. Bastards.
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Brentford buying Carvalho and going all in on Van Den Berg. If they buy one more Liverpool player after that, they get 10% off the new away kit and a free Nat Phillips.
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Nat is the ultimate break-glass backup for us. Unfortunately, he is going to be like one of those rare Star Wars toys from the 1970s that could never find a home and are now sort after in their original packing; the “Nat with a head bandage” figurine. The problem is, he is unlikely to be worth as much as a pristine “Boba Fett with a rocket up his arse”.
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The last statement here is very debatable and we don’t have much if any evidence for it.
This is not to suggest that the scope of his abilities is limited by the position he played as a youth, but as a CB recently having stepped into midfield there is a way that role will be played that is different than what Slot is stressing is important. It is an adaptation far better suited for a Klopp game plan that keeps the game in front of the player as much as possible compared to the more 360 degree perspective Slot is looking for. Sure, he is young and can add that, but it is not something we’ve seen from him yet, and the fact that he had such a limited role even in pre-season and we saw Slot giving him additional work on his own on how to receive the ball suggests Slot isnt seeing it from him yet either.
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I’m thinking they’re more like this…
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Apparently Celta Vigo trying to offload a midfielder so that they can take Bajectic on loan
LFC have insisted his plays Centre Mid and that he starts when fit.
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Huge difference between the former group and the latter. Trent, in particular, needs to be sorted for every reason.
That is true but you’re assuming the club see it the same way, does the model change because of their names? Or do we see Trent as being too demanding and Virgi/Mo as 32-33 year olds we wouldn’t normally hand new deals to?
It is completely unrealistic to expect us signing top players at this time of the window, with a week or so remaining. Teams are reluctant to sell, with no replacements possible and the fees incredibly inflated near the end of the window.
Anyone, coming in now will definitely be a stop gap(panic buy kind of a thing), who is happy to play a squad role. I won’t be surprised by someone from the free transfer list available, like Adrian Horrible Rabiot 
.
For me , the priority this window was always a backup for Mo, a Van djik understudy and probably a young striker, to challenge Nunez and player contracts. And, then with sales, if a decent CDM could be found , then it should have been done.
CDM was never a main priority this summer with Endo settled in the team(Baj gaining fitness again) and us having a dearth of midfielders who can play double pivot.I feel the club got their priorities wrong in this case, if there was already a feeling that Dom/Gravenberch can do the job, then Zubimendi was never a priority !!
May be at the end of the window , it will be better to analyze the performance of Hughes/Edwards, but to this date, anyone believing this has been a great comeback and a masterstroke of a window, then it’s just a positive spin, nothing more.
The reality is , we are no more the top 2 clubs fighting for the league, which we were over the past 4-5 years under Jurgen. We are already the third best team in the league and the way we have shown our inability to stand still , and let other play catch up on us, is only going to hurt us in the long run, if we by any chance miss out on top 4 this season.
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We need to extend Salah on a 3 year contract as his fitness is top notch, Trent on 5 year deal, Van Dyk another 3, Alison 2 years. Salah to Saudi after 3 years for 50-75 million - all will be happy and Alison for say 30 million.
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Thinking in terms of solving everything with big money sales to Saudi doesn’t reflect reality. Saudis have basically stopped spending big money this summer. I don’t think the entire league added together has spent 75 million in this window.
However, to @maxpain17 's comment that nothing will happen now and if it does it will be at inflated prices, I don’t think that reflects the reality of the late-starting 2024 summer transfer window. Every league is well below numbers last year, and I don’t see many indications that that is because their financial or player requirements are gone. On the contrary, Chelsea has a full side plus of surplus players, most of whom would be deemed in the ‘top’ category in almost any league. That is going to have a massive deflationary effect on the market. Why pay a premium this week when you can snap up a Chelsea offload next week? Across the whole market, deals aren’t happening because seller expectations are not being met.
I suspect the last 3-4 days of this market are going to be one of the weirdest we have ever seen.
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Sepp van der Berg has decided to go to Brenford as he accepted their proposal, here we go! Liverpool and Brentford finalising deal for £25m package while player set for medical tests later today. Deal to be sealed in the next 24h.
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And likely we’ll see a cascade of moves that are just waiting for that first one to happen before everyone else in the chain is in a position to push through their move in the sequence.
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I’ll never understand loaning out senior players, first team or not. Usually it’s clubs like Utd or Chelsea who do this when they get all their signings badly, but laughably, wrong. Should be made prohibited.
Good luck to the lad. Brentford play a 3 at the back don’t they? and all very capable defenders who don’t take risks playing out the back. That’ll suit him better.
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Van den Berg has chosen Brentford and the deal is expected to be finalised in the next 24 hours. Not done yet but Brentford can be confident and he is at the training ground ahead of a final agreement.
more money to play with i suppose, this window or the next… another nice thing happening today is jenas being sacked by bbc for conduct