The Unreliable Rumours Discussion Thread (Part 1)

3rd option would be for Rhys Williams to stay while Nat leaves. I don’t see Nat turning down moves away as he will be 5th choice, and I don’t see us turning down serious offers of £12m-15m for him, particularly if we are not getting the prices we hoped for on other sales.

I would have thought that the plan for him would be independent of the plan for the other two, simply because he’s so much younger that for him, going out to get more gametime in a way that allows him to work on his weaknesses would be more appropriate. If I recall correctly, that’s why we sent him out specifically to Kidderminster, that it wasn’t so much his lack of ability just that we wanted him to actually develop the physical side of his game and it was felt that the National League would have been a good place to do that.

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He is a year further down the line and the cash factor may be a factor in the club’s decisions. I can’t see how it can be a decision independent from the other two.

We’re not expecting our 5th choice to play that often, we’re awarding significantly improved deals to several key players while perhaps looking to raise money for other areas of the squad to be strengthened.

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Yes they did. Its OK to thank limited players and sell them on to seek improvement even if they have won stuff with us. Otherwise we don’t get better.

Yes because we have 4 players for 2 slots. It would be negligence to not try to improve what options we had for those two slots (Elliott is actually already an improvement in my eyes) but we still need to get rid of players before we can make that happen. No way Klopp will add without departures even if able to. Just not his style so it is pointless to discuss that options merits it’s not realistic.

You literally just posted before this post how those players were hardly used and that was your argument as to why we don’t need a recruit in this area. I don’t understand your argument, do we have players literally doing nothing or not?

It is okay to do so, but to insinuate that they are incapable of what they already have done, which is what you did, is completely wrong.

That is not what you said. You said that it would be negligent to not add forwards because of AFCON, yet you’re willing to let those we already do have, and who already have played significant roles in winning multiple major trophies, go. That is the contradiction I’m pointing out.

I did not claim that’s why we don’t need a recruit in this area. I was specifically refuting your suggestion that

I specifically pointed out that they were indeed good enough at some point to play significant minutes in winning multiple major trophies, making several valuable contributions along the way, and not just the classic arguments of Everton, Barcelona and Madrid, but other goals and assists that helped us win matches, points, and keep momentum.

Again, I refer everyone else to the Shaqiri and Origi threads, in which I have already argued that they did nothing because it was a shite season that we cannot really judge anyone negatively about. There’s next to no noise about Minamino leaving now, and yet we loaned him out during that season. Does that mean he’s not good enough? Or does it simply mean that it was a disastrous context that required adjustments?

Part of the reason why Mané, Firmino, and Salah are world-class is that they’re not just great at creating goals, but they’re also amazing at holding a defensive shape that allows us to win the ball back quickly, and start meaningful attacks right after winning the ball back. By definition, any other player would either be starting over them, or be significantly wasted on our bench, or just simply rather far behind them in standard. In the case of Origi specifically, it’s quite clear that he is terrible with moving fast enough between the positions he is required to take up in order to press. He can do one or the other, either position himself to be open for the counterattack, or be involved in the pressing. In the past season, when he has played, it has more often than not been the latter. However, we have seen in the previous seasons that he is capable of playing an important role in our attack. Yet you seem to want to completely ignore that, and suggest that despite our unique requirements last season, his not playing just means he isn’t good enough to be a part of this team.

Your specific words in fact, which I have comprehensively rebutted, were:

I’ll leave it at that.

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Yeah think that’s for the best.

Antonio Guterres GIF by GIPHY News

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Take the 10M for Origi and move on - if that is the plan. Not a chance we’re getting 20M, surely not…

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Need Bournemouth to help us out if we want 20mp.

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Palace have a soft spot for our rejects.

And Vieira speaks French, like Big Div…

:thinking:

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They still have Big Ben though :wink:

10 with a 20% sell on clause seems fair and reasonable to me.

Scored some greatly important goals for the club which will never be forgotten but it is time to move Origi on and get a player more suited to how we play who can really add value to the squad and not just be an emergency option.

There is alot of hype around Kaide Gordon it looks like he might get some first team minutes this season too league/fa cup games perhaps. He and Elliott between them can take some of Origi’s minutes.

Still can’t help thinking a veteran style forward option like a Suarez type, good pedigree proven performer at a high level, who we can make good contributions from the bench and still manage their minutes so we dont burn them out before they take a more
prominent role during Afcon would be a better option than another up and comer. Cost a bit more in wages but would be worth it if they can hit the ground running.

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I thought he was one of the players who was out of contract this summer? Is that not the case, or did they re-sign him?

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Remember Kaide Gordon is still only 16 years old.

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Danny Ings Football GIF by Southampton FC

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Love Danny Ings but I don’t see a way back here for him. Good player, definitely, but the record of serious injuries under his belt is surely too risky? Then after that he will recognize that his own star has risen, to the point that he will want to weigh if at his age he wants to play regularly for an upper mid team, or maybe a lower top team; OR be a bench option for us?

I like him a lot, but I don’t see it.

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You are probably right, particularly given his age. I just threw his name in for a laugh as I like him and wouldn’t be against him coming back.

However what made me think of him is his refusing a new contract at Southampton that would have made him their highest paid player and his recent comments about wanting to play for a team at the top of the league. I can’t see many of them taking him and he knows that it is unlikely. He appears to be still popular with staff & players at this club.

His contract expires next summer and we have a sell on clause that could help us negotiate a discount. Or Saints may be interested in taking Minamino for example in return if we have no plans for him.

Injuries are a risk, and may be a reason for the club to pass on offering a deal but the club would probably know his body as well as anybody. He played 29 league games last season with 12 goals and 4 assists, and 38 league games the season before with 22 goals and 2 assists. His playing time can probably be managed to maximise both his impact and his fitness.

Throw in @AnfieldRdDreamer 's old argument of Nike giving a player more money if they join us because they are sponsored by Nike, and maybe we don’t have to pay him anything! :rofl:

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@redfanman I certainly wouldn’t mind Ings coming back. Wish he never left, great backup, but he needed more starts than we could give him. And I think that, along with his age, makes a return unlikely. He would walk into an almost identical situation to the one that made him leave in the first place.

Although, for the sake of the discussion, maybe he has realised he perhaps isn’t a regular starter for a title challenger but wants the experience of fighting for the big trophies? That’s a difference between the situation now and the one he left.

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We’ve got Big Div for that.

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Villa have just announced they’ve signed him on twitter - and not a single mention or even link anywhere on the internet.

What a sad day for ITKs.

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