What type of player is he??? Will he be a Wijnaldum replacement? I think we are pretty well covered in other areas.
How much of our summer transfer spending is dependent on finishing in the Top 4? All of these rumors - Haaland, Barella, Mbappe, etc - seem highly unlikely absent the guaranteed revenue from a UCL run, especially with the losses of gate revenue from empty stadiums.
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The summer comes under the accounts for the following year. As would the revenue of next season in the CL if we qualify for it. Its likely fans will be back in grounds by then so most if not all of that years match day revenue should be coming in again. What we need FSG/the Red Bird deal to do is cover this years possible losses from the pandemic so we donāt have that as a financial hangover going into next season. If we miss out on top 4 we need them to cover that lost revenue too. If that happens we can potentially still have a reasonable year. There might be a lot of room in the squad costs as we are currently carrying a larger than normal squad and some of it is quite expensive to keep on the books. I know some people donāt agree but I think there will be a lot of sales even with devalued prices. That incoming cash flow will be needed.
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Neil Jones mentioned 3 names for midfield yesterday - Bissouma, Auoar, Neuhaus. Bissouma is the obvious pick to replace Gini.
Pearce again said that Jonathan David and Sarr were looked at when we signed Jota. Whether that means theyāre off the list now or not weāll see. Raphinha seems to keep getting linked too, and he looks very good.
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Agree with you. Does anyone know if weāve been linked to Neto? Sorry if Iāve missed it. He looks like a good player in the making.
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Soā¦ none of them are likely to be our actual targets then? We seem to leak a public alternative or two these days who we make a big show in the media over before quietly signing someone nobody has linked till the day before itās announced.
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Not that Iāve seen, not enough to even say unreliably.
Agree though, fantastic player. Very quick, beats players for fun, good technique, can play both sides. Would be a no brainer if available.
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Kabak and Thiago were heavily linked for months before signing. Thereās no hard and fast rule to it.
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Thiago was being denied as anything but an interesting player but who we had no room for by āourā journos still the week he ended up signing. The links were on the other side. Kabak was after about two million other CBs were tried for those final couple of days I wouldnāt say thatās usual. Itās like the Jamaal Lewis/Kostas Tsimikas situation. Everyone knew about Lewis but it turned out weād been negotiating and making offers on Tsimikas since before the Lewis thing went public. Seems the Jota move was in the works a lot longer than realised too but Sarr was the name everyone knew. We could well have ended up with Sarr and Lewis but Jota and Tsimikas seemed the real priorities and there were probably other unknown options too that never got revealed. We could end up signing one of the ones Jones has listed but to me itās more likely itāll be someone he doesnāt know of. Maybe someone linked to us by the journalists in whatever country that player is currently in. Sorry didnāt mean initial post to sound funny if it came across that way.
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I wonder if Ndidi will ask to leave Leicester regardless of Champions League qualification - Bissouma would be his natural replacement in that case. Iām mightily impressed with Bissouma but I think heād be best in a role similar to the one Fabinho played before this season. A lot of things are going through my mind here, whether midfield should be 1-2 or 2-1, whether Fabinho should be playing in midfield again, would Alcantara be at his best when heās the deepest of the three midfieldersā¦ Aouar seems a logical option to me for multiple reasons but someone like Bissouma would be an extremely effective safety blanket for two creative midfielders. A lot of questions about the futures of some current players would have to be answered first, starting with Keita and AOC.
Surprisingly, Iām yet to see even the most unreliable reports linking him to Liverpool. Itās all too logical: young, huge potential, driven, cocky character, plays without fear, regardless of opposition, Liverpool seem to have a good relatioship with Liverpoolā¦ That said, heās only just signed a new contract with Wolves, heās not going anywhere for a while, at least not for something less than 50 million pounds, Iād say. Besides, while heās older and more experienced than Elliott, I think Klopp wants to get the most out of Elliott, rather than buy another young player in that role.
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For the time being Mo >>> Haaland
But maybe we can look at the young man in summer 2022. That will of course require a fully operative football economy again.
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Are you sure?
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Head to head right now, you may be right. Or maybe not! Thereās a fair argument to be had Mo v Haaland right now. Iām happy to keep Mo. Not pushing him out the door at all. Heās a great player and our most reliable goal scorer.
Ideally we get someone like Haaland in addition to Mo, but just postulating what we would be willing to do, if we had to sell to generate the cash to buy Haaland.
Obviously we would all shift the dead weight, or players less valuable to us. But in this economy maybe we canāt. So we may have to look at doing something we donāt really want to do, in order to secure a longer term solution. At that point I would bring Haaland in, even if it meant losing Mo, as and when we were able to do it. 2021, 2022, donāt mind. Both are very good players right now. One of them has a much longer future, and would also give us a different, physical focal point, to go with Mane and Jota, not forgetting Bobby either.
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Brighton rarely play with a single pivot holding midfielder.
Bissouma is most often one of the two, but the deepest one. Heās had an interesting path, because if you go back when they bought him under Hughton, he played him a lot as the #10 or more advanced #8 in a midfield two. Wasnāt really a great success initially, but Potter obviously raised his level in a different way. Not too dissimilar to Klopp with Gini (Giniās importance in his first 2 seasons which was so-so and his importance in his last 3, including this one obviously).
I think weād simply look for a more responsible central midfielder who mainly plays as an #8, but can potentially do a job at #6 (I still think if all fit and available our first two options for that role are simply Fabinho and Henderson, who Klopp now views as a #8, or since spring of 2019 and our path to Madrid).
Thiago for me remains best as the LCM in a midfield 3 or the LCM in a midfield two. As a single pivotā¦ yeah, he can potentially do a job, maybe in smaller games, if heās surrounded by energy (sort of like Pirlo at Juve, sort ofā¦). But itās not his best role. Maybe with more time and later in his contract we might see that evolution. But I very much doubt it for now under Klopp. Heās not a #6 and heās not a #10. Heās not a box-to-box #8, but a controlling #8 (so a bit deeper one of the two #8ās, allowing the other one to be more dynamic, box-to-box and a goal threat). And we donāt play really with two identical #8ās. One stays more, one goes forward more.
A few of those names are all a bit different to each other so weāll see what happens there.
Seems like itās not Pearceās āwishā anymore but our actual plan to get a central midfielder in to replace Gini (doesnāt mean heād play as much, but we need a serious body in and then it depends on merit, form, etc.).
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Have these rumours sprung up because of the Chinese investor hitting financial problems?
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He also has a release clause that activates in 2022. It was initially thought to be 75m, but recent suggestions are that it is even higher than that.
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Whatever the release fee may be, we arenāt getting him.
Numerous clubs will meet that fee, so then it comes down to wages and bonuses. We simply canāt compete on that front; the only way he (or any player) comes to us in such circumstances is if he wants to be a Red and nothing else.
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Fanning the Mbappe flames of hopeā¦
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Not happening. Sorry @cynicaloldgit
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Lebron James needs to have a word. And Nike. Just get it done. Kylian Mbappe at Liverpool. Surely a pipe dream, but until it is settled, Iām not giving up hope!
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