The Unreliable Rumours Discussion Thread (Part 1)

Another one who plays on the left?

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The s** started that one I think.

Has he completed his move to Germany?

Barnes canā€™t even get into a shite Leicester team (unless youā€™re referring to John?)

Would love to see Raphinha under Klopp.


:rofl:

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Heā€™s been injured lol. Dam good player is Barnes, if he recovers from his injury heā€™s going to be a player.

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Bowen has 12 goals in 78 Premier League appearances, Iā€™m not sure what role people want to see him play for us but he canā€™t provide what Mane and Salah do. Heā€™s not even anywhere near their Southampton and Roma form pre-LFC. Heā€™d cost an absolute fortune too as heā€™s an important player for them, young and under long term contract.

Exactly the same with Barnes with 18 goals in 94 games, also an important player for his club, young and under long term contract.

Damsgaard isnā€™t even that type of winger is he? And 2 goals in 42 league games?

Raphina is closest to being a good match here but would need to significantly improve his goal scoring to work out. Can imagine him costing a fortune though unless Leeds are relegated.

Luis Diaz is performing well this year but wasnā€™t really last year so Iā€™d be nervous but like with Jota maybe the ability is there just a young player needing to add consistency to his performances? Donā€™t know much about the player but due to his release clause I think he might be the cheapest listed except maybe Damsgaard. And at least he has shown the kind of goal scoring form we need from our wide options heā€™d just need to transfer it successfully to a higher level and become consistent season after season.

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Where is this being reported?

This is why I think Raphinha would be a better fit. Can play on both wings and as an attacking midfielder. Maybe even play the Firmino role?

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Bowen has exploded this season, Iā€™ve watched him a few times beyond the times weā€™ve played them and he is an extremly busy player who I think matches our team very well. Iā€™m not overly bothered heā€™s not producing Salah/Mane current levels, they werenā€™t at Roma/Southampton, similar Jota at Wolves. 12 G+A in 20 games for West Ham in the league? Add the Liverpool tax to that Iā€™d say heā€™d be doing 15 easily here, and straight away thats more than good enough to contribute, with huge room to improve.

Barnes before he got injured was growing into a very good player, he destroyed us when they beat us 3-1. He cut through us with ease, really stood out. His stats last season was 13 g+a in the league in 25 games, thats a very good return, and again see the Mane/Salah/Jota point.

Damsgaard is different yes, but I think different is good. He was exceptional in the Euros, not seen him beyond that and I know the risk of signing players based on 1 good tournemant. Heā€™d be ideal as a no.8.

Jota for Wolves was 9 in 33 in 18/19 and 7 in 34 games 19/20. So stats donā€™t always tell the full picture of potential. Considering Jota then went on to score 9 in 20 last season for us, and is now at 10 in 19 this season. Heā€™s basicallly doubled his output, why wouldnā€™t others follow a similar explode in actuals?

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Every time I see him play he creates a lot of chances. Misses a lot too but I can see that improving as per post above. Remember he is currently surrounded by average/poor team mates, albeit with a good manager.

Main thing is that he is hard working and could play across the front 3. A mix of the strengths of Bobby and Mane, though obv not there yet

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First and foremost what we need from our wide players is goal threat.

At their current clubs/club before moving to LFC in the league;

Bowen goal every 431.7 minutes.

Barnes goal every 337.9 minutes.

Raphina goal every 271.8 minutes.

Jota goal every 291.7 minutes.

Mane goal every 225.8 minutes.

Salah goal every 180.2 minutes.

Salah and Jota are by far our most successful ā€œleapsā€ in form when it comes to improving their goal scoring with them now being for us (and Jota in particular plays a lot more as a CF now);

Jota goal every 131.2 minutes.

Salah goal every 125.5 minutes.

Itā€™s fine to think that level of improvement MIGHT happen with a signed player but EXPECTING it is a bit of a hesdscratcher for me. Not everyone Klopp has signed has improved anywhere near that much and the targets listed would need to improve FAR more.

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I would say that Salah getting a goal every 180 mins prior to joining Liverpool in Serie A is a figure thatā€™s lowered by the standard of the league. In that sense, the fact that Salah is at 125 per min now just goes to show how class he his.

What Iā€™d also say is that all of those signings (Mane, Jota, Salah), werenā€™t getting us jumping around for joy or being giddy with excitement, say compared to the signings of Virgil, Fab, Ali, Thiago.

Its likely that whatever attacking player(s) is bought in, it will initially split the fanbase as there are clearly 4-5 names being linked, all of which have pros and cons looking at the stats, and everyone wants a specific one - then add all the mad heads that expect us to just run out and spend Ā£100m + on the Halaands and Mbappes. Got to trust the club are doing their business in the usual fashion, and that they will carefully pick the players that fit all of the requirements they seek.

On signings themselves, the biggest one I want is Salah penning his new deal!

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Is that good?

Explosion Fail GIF

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I can see why they would be interested in Origi but 7 million pounds and during the month in which half of the team is out with COVID, injuries and AFCON? I donā€™t think so.

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I get where youā€™re coming from but it is quite a simplistic way to look at it. Thereā€™s all manner of things that influence these numbers beyond just the players ability. The league they play in, the players around them, the system they play in, the manager and managerial changes, when they were bought (Bowen arriving mid season probably impacts his early performances for example).

I donā€™t think anyone was expecting the level of improvement weā€™ve seen from any of Mane, Salah or Jota so whoā€™s to know what to expect of anyone else but you can be pretty confident of an improvement in their stats. The reason our recruitment is so good is they are able to extrapolate that improvement far better than most other clubs do, so if Bowen is the one they think works, theyā€™ve kind of earned my trust on that no matter what his current numbers are.

If you look at some other names around you equally run into the same issues of gauging them based purely on goals per minute. Szoboszlai for example could be a good fit. In Austria his numbers would be in that Salah/Mane range but in the Bundesliga his numbers are closer to Barnes. But he has only been there 6 months so how do you account for that? Danjuma never scored in the Premier League but in La Liga heā€™s going at a rate better than Salah or Mane before they joined. Which set of data do you use in that instance? Not good enough for the PL or a player who is clearly talented but was in a poor team and a manager who failed to get the best from him?

Personally I would be put off Bowen because I think heā€™d cost far more than options that are equal to or better than him based on what iā€™ve seen of him. But that doesnā€™t mean he couldnā€™t come on leaps and bounds under a better manager, surrounded by better players and in a system that would perhaps suit his game even more.

The other consideration is, with change coming in the front three, maybe we arenā€™t looking for exact like for like replacements. Maybe weā€™ll see more of a goal scoring 9 and the wide players becoming less of the goal scoring threat. We sold Coutinho and havenā€™t come close to buying a player like him since. Maybe weā€™re looking at a bit of an evolution coming.

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Liga Portugal Bwin - Transfer records | Transfermarkt

List of highest transfers for players bought from the league in Portugal. Some good transfers and some bad ones. Therefore Diaz might turn out great and then again he might not :grinning:

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His old club retained 20% of his contract when they sold him to Porto

So akin to a sell-on clause? I canā€™t see any issue with that providing his previous club donā€™t maintain any influence over any onward transfer.

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What about Liverpoolā€™s reported interest in Luis Diaz?

Meanwhile, Liverpool are not plotting a move to sign Porto attacker Luis Diaz this month. Reports had suggested that the club were closing in on a deal for the Colombia international whose release clause is understood to be around ā‚¬80 million (Ā£67 million).

However, senior Anfield sources insist heā€™s not on the agenda for January. Diaz is highly-rated having scored 14 goals for Porto so far this season. However, given that he would only be back-up in Jurgen Kloppā€™s squad, the price tag is viewed as prohibitive.

Heā€™s valued at around half of the figure in his release clause.