The Unreliable Rumours Discussion Thread (Part 1)

I’d guess so yeah. I think Klopp will feel he needs to address the issue of injury prone players in the squad after this year, so Keita and Chamberlain will be up for sale if the right offer arrives.

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Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, new player (someone with the hard working qualities Gini provided in the last 3 years), Jones, one of Keita/Chamberlain and Milner.

7 players instead of 6, but we have some versatility there with a few players, Millie covers a lot of positions and will be in his final season (as things stand!).

Maybe, just maybe without both Keita and Ox, but I doubt we can pull that off this summer on our terms. And I even don’t guarantee that Klopp would want to do that yet.

That’s it, how I see our CM arsenal for next season.

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:+1:

Pretty much how I see things developing. Additionally, I see Curtis asked to fill the void left by Keita & AOC as being the more progressive and goal-scoring midfielder.

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To be honest I kind of feel like Jones may be ahead of both Ox and Keita now in the pecking order for midfield now anyway.

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Is Keita even in the pecking order anymore? 120 minutes in the last ten league games when he’s supposedly been fit. Six of those he’s started on the bench and not even come on with the likes of Shaqiri, Jones and Milner coming on ahead of him.

Might be completely wide of the mark here but I wonder if there’s a possibility he could be lined up to go back to RB Leipzig in the summer. If rumours are to be believed then we’ve been discussions with them over Konate so there’s been the chance for us to raise the idea. Neither Keita nor Konate are seeing game time, perhaps a gentleman’s agreement not to risk them getting injured and throwing a spanner in any deals. Sabitzer likely off in the summer so they’ll be looking for a replacement and they know what he can do.

Probably just wishful thinking but in terms of clubs that might take a punt on him and pay a reasonable fee then Leipzig might be one of the few we could hope to have an interest.

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Interesting theory that could work, the two clubs can also effectively price fix to help their books. We pay them £35m cash all up front for Konate for instance and they pay £30m all up front straight back on Keita. Both clubs get the accounting bounce of incoming money to help with the profit and loss, we still see a book value profit on Keita, both clubs get an on paper good value on injury hit players who are still good on the pitch but might not fetch what they would otherwise on the open market. Both clubs get players they actually need whilst losing players they no longer need to rely on. Much better than us say selling Keita for £25m in drawn out payment structures elsewhere and paying them £30m for Konate under the same payment structures.

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Don’t use that word, it could injure him.

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@rab but do they need Keita??? Why should they pay £30 million when they know we are stuck with him???

If they were an Italian club I could see them offering a loan deal with an option to buy. Maybe that’s where he would be heading.

Interesting.

Bissouma’s character was also a point of highlight in The Athletic piece. Aside from having difficulty grasping and trusting tactics and what’s specifically asked of him, he’s been known to do things his own way which at times grates the nerves of his teammates. His older teammates have pulled him aside to wok with him. He’s calmed his temper down over the last couple seasons but at times can be an emotional wildcard.

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I wouldn’t know but if Sabitzer moves then they’ll need a centre mid. As @AnfieldRdDreamer points out, there are some accounting benefits to a player going each way. Think Barca and Juve swapping Pjanic and Artur last summer but with players the clubs might actually want.

Was just a thought when it was pointed out how little playing time both are getting despite both supposedly being fit and better than those keeping them on the bench.

Or it could just be Klopp has decided he can’t trust him.

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Probably help with a Fabinho or Hendo next to him, I think Thiago benefits from Fabinho

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If konate is injured a lot it seems madness we are buying him.
Have we not learned with ox and keita and matip,?

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He hasn’t actually had a lot of injuries just one was a big long one. The flip side of that is he hasn’t actually had long periods of fitness to pick up injuries in. Can’t really be injury prone if you’ve only had a couple but can’t really have loads of injuries if you’re never fit to pick them up.

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You called?

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BBC rumours page …
Paris St-Germain will look to sign Liverpool’s Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, 28, if their 22-year-old France striker Kylian Mbappe does not renew his contract at the Ligue 1 club. (Mirror)

Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma, 24, has asked that he be allowed to leave the club in the summer. Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, as well as French club Marseille , have shown interest in the Mali midfielder. (Times, subscription required)

Having watched Bissouma in the game against Wolves, it seems that him doing his own thing involves playing in every area of the pitch except in goal. That could be a good thing but I can see how that might piss off some of his teammates, particularly if his ‘industry’ leads him to fuck up in a place where he shouldn’t be.

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Doesnt understand tactics and has a temperament issue. Can’t say I’ve noticed these problems on the pitch, I’m almost tempted to say The Athletic sound like they’re repeating lazy stereotypes of young black players.

He’s been Brighton’s best player for a long time, he’s been one of the best midfielders in the league since 2019 and he’ll be an instant upgrade to any PL midfield.

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One would think if these problems were true then we wouldn’t have an interest…

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His average position against Wolves was pretty deep and slightly towards the left, basically in line with Brighton’s CB’s. Brighton and Liverpool are also pretty different. He’s another one who was a failed offensive midfielder signing, or maybe he was wrongly used under Hughton (in also a pretty defensive style of play). But Potter saw potential in him as a deeper, more active in both ways midfielder. Similar to Gini’s evolution here, who couldn’t really replicate his Holland/Newcastle stuff (Bissouma wasn’t as successful playing as a #10 at Brighton as Gini was for a season at Newcastle, though also scoring 4 of his 11 goals against Norwich at home) by playing more advanced. Klopp probably did his extra homework on the guy, that recent evolution suggests he’s tactically open, now it was to check how he is as a character. Maybe he contacted Lallana.

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The long game. Maybe Lallana was sent to Brighton for this purpose :wink:

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Why is no one connecting the Salah to PSG rumours with Mbappe coming the other way! Come on people, it’s there for everyone to see.

For the record, I’d rather have both.

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