We aren’t going into the season with VVD and Gomez as our only CB options.
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Yes. So something else would have to be in the works in that direction, which I believe we already are since the club’s known of Konate’s intentions. If a swap deal can get done (which would be financially favourable for both clubs) then that would trigger our CB backup plans I assume.
The Rodrygo thing has nothing to do with Konate and everything to do with a Diaz replacement should he be sold.
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No of course not. But it does give both clubs an opportunity to do a player swap deal is all I’m saying.
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I think it is unlikely unless we fail to get Isak. Our go to guy on the left is going to most likely remain Gakpo.
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My personal feeling is that we’ll get either Isak or Ekitike (and I now feel confident we’ll get one of them) irrespective of anything else. And Rodrygo will be a Diaz replacement if/when he goes.
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Sounds a bit too much, Zibby, doesn’t it? Even if Rodrygo costs as much as Diaz, he’ll surely be on higher wages… And I’m playing devil’s advocate here since I’m almost convinced he won’t join Liverpool.
Just saw something saying Real putting a value of between £50-65m on Rodrygo, which definitely doesn’t sound too ridiculous. Wages, I don’t know lol
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LFC’s gameplan is laid out for all to see and the best part? The rivals to Liverpool cannot control it.
1 for 1. That’s how we roll for most of the time for players not at the world-class level.
So for the 2 players that want to leave i.e Diaz and Nunez. It is a very interesting situation. Hughes and Edwards have played a mad mad 4D chess by using Wirtz with some mad mad luck.
Liverpool winning the premier league with such ease was probably a very pleasant surprise for Hughes and Edwards. That helped to increase the price for those who won a medal with the club.
Diaz and Nunez has 2 main credible suitors. The saudi sides (who were in for both Diaz and Nunez last season) and the European sides ( i.e Bayern for Diaz and Napoli for Nunez)
Napoli has been trying their darnest best to sell off Osimhen and get the money to buy Nunez. Meanwhile, Bayern tried for Wirtz and failed miserably despite offering a huge wad of money ( which everybody knows by now) and lost their best player Musiala through a long term injury right before the new season rolls in.
We all know the Saudi sides has money to burn. I don’t think Diaz and Nunez are adverse with getting too much income as the gulf countries do not impose an income tax at all whereas the European countries has pretty steep income tax rates.
The European suitors for our players are caught in a very bad position. If they dally too long, LFC may just flip the finger to these European teams and accept the massive saudi bids with the players happily accepting crazy salaries for possibly a year or two or possibly 3 ( that sets them and their direct descendants up for life) before returning to Europe.
The money from the Diaz and Nunez sale will subsidise a huge chunk up to probably 70% of the the purchase of the New Number 9 (NN9) or even cover the entire purchase if the players move to the gulf countries.
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It certainly is interesting that the timing of the Isak story follows news that Newcastle have made a bid for Ekitike, almost like our club are saying you can have one but not both of them!
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Yeah, I think it is absolutely this. No coincidence we’ve made a move for Isak within 24 of it being reported they’ve bid for Ekitike imo, it’s forced our hand.
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The pursuit of the NN9 itself is very clever trick by LFC too. By openly pursuing NUFC’s striking target, it forces NUFC into a corner.
If NUFC shuts the door to Isak this season, they are stuck with an unhappy player that wants to spend his prime years winning the PL and/or UCL which is highly unlikely for NUFC in the next 2 years and LFC will just move on to Etitike. Isak will probably wind down his contract and twerk his ass for the white spanish cunts or LFC which nets NUFC absolutely fuck all in any fee or be forced to accept a way lower fee once the final year of the contract for Isak has arrived.
So it makes sense for NUFC to speak with LFC so that other clubs will not fuck them over this season and the subsequent seasons.
As for the rest of the probable out-goings like Elliott and Morton and Konate etc, they might kick off a whole new set of chain reactions that sees Marc Guehi and Rodrygo to LFC.
We do not get our hand forced. This was foretold with the return of Edwards. He was in hiding planning all this out.
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It’s not really a corner if their intention is to have Ekitike and Isak.
Isak has three years on his contract so he’s a way off being able to force anything or sit on his arse waiting for a bosman move.
Bring in Ekitike and they show real ambition to keep making the CL and challenge domestically. They can also tell us they don’t need to sell and set a prohibitive price on Isak (much like we’ve done with Diaz). Worst outcome is Isak has to make himself look the bad guy, they get a huge fee and have a replacement in already.
If they don’t bring in Ekitike that’s probably because we’ve ended our interest in Isak and gone the Ekitike route instead. At which point the real winner is Frankfurt as they’ve had two mega rich English clubs in a bidding war. But Newcastle still have a good chunk of change to strengthen the squad and the pool of Isak suitors is vastly diminished.
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I suspect its more that we were biding our time for this moment to maximise any potential leverage for Isak.
Honestly, I hate RM and never watch them unless they are playing us.
What’s the verdict? Would Rodrygo be an upgrade on Diaz?
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I’m not saying that Gakpo is better than Rodrygo, but it would seem harsh on Gakpo if Diaz were to leave and he was not thought of as being the obvious replacement.
Not only on the left, but with Jota sadly gone and Nunez probably leaving, again Gakpo is overlooked for a CF spot. If all these deals actually come off, I could see someone making a bid for Gakpo. Maybe even Bayern Munich even if they had already bought Diaz.
It seems like a lot is going to happen before the players head off for HK and Japan.
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Rodrygo is an elite talent. He’s got loads of pace and dribbling ability, and he can be a menace when pressing. He’s quite gifted technically as well. Bellingham described him as the most talented and gifted player in the club.
But RM supporters would describe him as inconsistent, disappearing at times and sometimes carrying himself poorly. The challenge for him is that he was often playing with Mbappé and Vicinius and shifted to the RW, which is not his preferred position. He’s probably more of a LW or CF.
I do think he would be an upgrade on Diaz, even without considering that he’s four years younger than Lucho.
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I think over a long season you need multiple options up front. Those are the positions where substitutions are most often made. Gakpo got plenty of playing time with Diaz in the squad and I’m sure he will next season.
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