That’s the only thing I think is rather irrelevant. Sure, it’s arguable that no one would have paid for them, but as long as they could find somewhere they would have moved to and terminate their contracts that would have been fine.
Given how willing we were to shed a reported £155m at the end of that transfer window, I think the transfer fees wouldn’t have been the problem as much as the wages and the squad space.
True. But who hasn’t had their boss step in on something critical before. Doesn’t mean you’re elbowed out the way or offended to the point of leaving
Maybe he’s got a good relationship with the agents and they’ve wanted him in the mix? Maybe Hughes is working in a couple incomings and new contracts and time is of the essence. Maybe Edwards feels like the job isn’t getting done as well as it should.
All that really matters is that Liverpool get the best outcome. The rest is of it is details we needn’t be concerned about. And if course, all of this is almost certainly made up rubbish anyway so why worry.
You’re the one getting your knickers in a twist.
I’m pointing out that considering that Michael Edwards is an employee of FSG not of Liverpool FC, he has no role in transfer negotiations at all. It undermines/makes a mockery of the whole structure they’ve been at pains to create if they do that.
No one has said that but you.
Do you genuinely believe that?
Then he needs to look for a new DoF not interfere directly. Job scopes and all that.
And the best outcome isn’t abandoning the structure they identified and built willy-nilly.
Anyone else thing that it looks like Arnie dosnt like small and slight players?
Endo hasnt had much game time and in the summer he got rid of a lot of our kids who played in the cup final. Now Harvey is being touted with a move away as well as other young players (Doak, Morton and Ramsey - who has just gone on loan).
The lads we are being linked with all seem tall blokes.
Yep, really harsh. Professional football at this level is really harsh.
It doesn’t have to be, does it?
That it is, but I don’t think it’s the case that his opportunity here has passed.
I think this is a rather odd statement to be making considering that this is literally our standard pathway. A season with the first team, then loans to get them regular playing time.
Ngumoha has had 45 minutes with us, which came because Chiesa was recovering from an illness.
Danns himself is 3 months younger than Doak, and if not for his own injury, would have been playing for Wayne Rooney this season. Even in his latest press conference, Arne left it open as to whether he’ll remain with us for the rest of the season.
We’re literally less than two seasons away from us having signed a highly rated 18 year old while sending out another 18 year old on loan to League One, with fans calling the former the future and saying the latter’s time with us is up. Now fans are saying that we can sell Alexander-Arnold this window because the latter upended Mbappé in a game while the former’s struggling with injuries and has seen 3 unsuccessful loans because of that, including to the club the former succeeded at.
Not all players can get the same amount of time, not all players (very few, in fact) will end up being Liverpool players.
It’s called selection and decision making, in which you naturally make some mistakes, but being professionals and doing what you think is best for the club.
There’s also the player side, perhaps Doak doesn’t want to wait a bit more to get his chance at Liverpool, if he can be a PL player “tomorrow” for a Palace or Brighton.
It seems a bit futile to argue about it given how little we see of these kids. The staff watching them every day in training (or on loan), and the stat nerds, will be well placed to decide who has potential to make it
Not sure about the Nunez rumour but it certainly qualifies as an unreliable rumour of the highest quality.
.
As if he would waste his career in an over 35 league.
The people behind Anfield Watch (x.com and x.com) are adamant that Liverpool are working on signing of that Greek lad and that that Liverpool are looking to extract the highest possible price for Nunez from Saudis. I really, really hope that the second part is true and that it will come through. I don’t want to see Nunez toiling in a Liverpool shirt anymore.
They can be adamant as they want they are bullshitters even if it happens.
If you follow the Greek rumour you will probably find it pops up somewhere else as for Nunez we will get 700 posts about how we didn’t take 70m now even though it was never offered.
Ben Bocsak is cool but I’m not so sure about McGuire. I remember his name but I don’t remember the reason why I unfollowed the guy. It probably had something to do with him breaking some info that turned out to be false but it likely happened ages ago, so that’s why I’m taking this with a bag full of salt.
A rumour linking a 19 year old on loan to a 2nd div German club is all greek to me
I think there needs to be a realism that very, very few academy players are ever going to make it at Liverpool.
What’s the going rate for a youngster going on to make 100 first team appearances at Liverpool? One in a hundred? Less than that? You have to be really good to knock on the door, but you also have to be lucky.
Ben Doak has been knocking about Liverpool for a few years now, always looked bright in pre-season (if without much end product), always hyped as the next big thing, but has never quite managed to translate that into a first team sniff, and yes, injuries have played a part in that.
I said I had the sense that the window to come in and establish himself around the squad, much as Bradley or Quansah, or even to a lesser extent Morton, may have passed.
That window I think was around the 2023/24 season. He made a couple sub appearances at the end of the 22/23 season, had a decent preseason for the 23/24, and then came off the bench in the opener against Chelsea. He made a few appearances in the Europa League, and seemed to be ticking along nicely, but got a season ending injury in December.
This where the vast majority of young players are going to come unstuck. A badly timed injury, a loss of form or some set back at a key time is all it takes.
I remember Rhian Brewster looking like an absolute certainty around 19/20. He was really pushed by the club, embraced by Klopp, put front and centre to the extent of going on bus parades and being pictured with big trophies. Struggled with injury. A couple of months later he was sold to Sheffield Utd for £30m.
There is loads of buzz at the minute about Danns, Nyoni and Ngumoha but the reality is that none of them are likely to make it here (although everything I’ve heard about Nyoni suggests that he has been on an elite pathway for a while). The odds are always stacked against kids making it at LFC.
Liverpool won’t sell cheap, because he is a long way from being finished - there is obviously still a chance that a successful loan can be built on, and he comes back stronger - but if someone gives us £25m, he’s gone. I can see him turning up in a couple of years at somewhere like Forest or Bournemouth terrorising teams on the counter.
Absolutely
Don’t think he ever showed that in the pitch for us. Hype sure but he never did anything to show he was good enough (like Solanke) before the injury. Both were good sales and I expect that the club will be pleased to see our current crop end up as likewise. Getting an academy player through and established in the team is something rare - if we can have it happen once every 3-4 years when we are competing for trophies thats doing very well.
That’s fine and all, but declaring that Doak has missed his chance is premature any way you cut it.
I agree, but I was talking more about how the club profiled him. It seemed like the club were really hyping him as the next big thing.
I remember him being front and centre of all the celebrations in the champions league and premier league wins. I remember thinking that the club must really think the kid is special.
Maybe, and let’s hope so. To be fair, I said I sensed he may have missed his chance. I didn’t declare anything.
But to put it another way, it turned out Bobby Clark didn’t have a future at LFC and he contributed a lot more to LFC than Doak ever has, including playing a key role role in winning a league cup. Both are 19 years old.
The reason why there are clubs sniffing round Doak is because Liverpool are open to a sale.
While the probability is low, it’s far from impossible. Look at the squads that Slot has been selecting this season (and Klopp over the previous two seasons), you’ll find a lot of Liverpool youth players being given a fair crack of the whip. Not everyone is Trent but I think it’s safe to say that the likes of Kelleher, Jones and even Bradley have cut it - even if they are no more than able back-ups, at least at this point of their respective careers.
I admit that I was worried about Jones because of all the injuries he’s been having since breaking through. However, I can’t remember him having an injury when he was about to break through, which is what happened to Brewster, Gordon, Doak… That’s why I’m a bit worried about Danns and Bajčetić - the talent is there, I hope their bodies and their minds rise up to the task.
As for Doak specifically, I’d be reluctant to sell him now unless the offer is an extraordinary one.