Yeah he has got away with being Spain’s next big thing for a long time now, but is already older than Stevie was in Istanbul.
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Van Dijk , Matip and Alisson were 24-25 when they joined us. Gini 25 perhaps.
There are exceptions but we haven’t made a considerable outlay on players more than 25 years of age.
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This is actually the guy I was hoping we were going in for when the rumour we were trying to bring in a new CM first broke
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Sell him, he’s too old!
Seems like Leverkusen will be having a New Year sale and we’re already camped out in the car park.
Liverpool are preparing to raid Bayer Leverkusen for their Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz, 21, Netherlands defender Jeremie Frimpong, 23, and Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios, 25. (CaughtOffside)
And not forgetting you-know-who …
The Reds also remain interested in signing Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi, 25, from Real Sociedad in the January window. (Fabrizio Romano, via TeamTalk)
And there’s this, which I cannot see happening in January as we might just need him.
Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez, 27, is wanted by Aston Villa and Newcastle . (Football Insider)
Football Insider with the obvious guesswork again …
Liverpool will open talks with Colombia winger Luis Diaz, 27, over extending his deal beyond its current expiration in 2027 following his impressive start to the season. (Football Insider)
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Three very good players there. Put me down for yes, yes and yes. £200M+ worth though.
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I wouldn’t worry about anything in the football insider.
I think they’ve got a 100% record of being wrong.
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So what you’re saying is… They’re football outsiders?
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It’s the media version of @aussielad
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Their latest hold-the-back-page scoop is that we have “identified” Guehi as the “long-term successor” to Virgil.
I wonder if there was a line-up and who did the identifying for us?
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On TAW podcast this week they were arguing that Virg is best CB of all time. One was making the case for Virg being the best player ever, in relation to being the most complete in his position.
They were highlighting how Konate has been brilliant this season, playing at 100% and throwing himself at everything. But Virg matching him while playing at 60%.
In short, he’s irreplaceable
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VVD is one of the best ever. But he has that vibe that goes beyond his skills. You might find another CB who could be as good as him but the leadership is going to be hard to replace.
I bet they mentioned Yeats and Hansen, but did they discuss Alex Raisbeck or Tiny Bradshaw?
Virgil is certainly in the discussion for the best central defender (and, I would agree, overall player) of modern times.
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…finally it worked lads…
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He was approaching that level for a couple of seasons but I don’t think he’s been there long enough, or been successful enough - CF to the likes of Baresi, Maldini, Nesta, Beckenbauer etc - for that title.
I think so too. I have been guilty of recency bias but none of the older generation defenders have had to deal with the high defensive lines etc as well.
I think pique or someone made that point too. Saying that he was better than Puyol etc etc too.
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They didn’t have to deal with the high defensive line that the defenders of today have to deal with.
I’ll put it another way. The defenders of the past don’t have anywhere close to the recovery speed that Virgil has. And Virgil does the stuff Baresi ,Nesta, Maldini do at their level as well.
Ive been guilty of recency bias in the past but as far as Virgil is concerned, I wouldn’t be guilty.
He did lose a step after the prickford incident but he’s still comfortably ahead of all defenders(even ones younger than him)