They always tell Pearce and the others it’s too early then give them the heads up it’s happening a day before it’s completed. Then it later turns out the deal has been in the works for months maybe even a whole year.
With Wijnaldum staying and Alcantara going, I think the club made the conscious decision not to pursue a centre back because Fabinho was then able to provide cover. Not selling unwanted players also played a part, perhaps. I’m convinced that they’ve known who they want for a while, it’s probably just a matter of finances and timing. I have a feeling it’s Kabak but we’ll see.
I hope not
Yep and next they’ll probably do similar with Kabak or someone else coming in ready for Matip to move on later. Like with Thiago now and Wijnaldum later. In the CB case it’s helped/facilitated numbers wise by VvD being injured so we aren’t carrying to many players. If it is Kabak the spitting incident may have thrown up a red flag and we might have just wanted to reassure ourselves a bit more on his personality. Combined with the timing no longer being urgent for the reasons you described it allowed us to just take that bit longer before we had to move or walk away.
Former Brighton defender turned BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson says White could follow in his footsteps by moving to Liverpool , but does not think the Premier League champions will complete a deal in the next transfer window. (Argus)
Brighton boss Graham Potter has dismissed speculation linking English defender Ben White, 23, with a move to Liverpool as “football noise”
So we’ve got rumours from Sunday World,Twitter and Argos.
Argos selling rumours?
It depends whether you’re buying Fact or click bait variety? Fact is never in stock but the latter is available in abundance you buy one and get millions free.
Upamecano is levels of class,skill and attitude above Kabak mate,with twice as much playing time experience aswell.If you’ve watched any of Kabak’s games this season before he got a 5 game ban for spitting on an oppositions player,the guy is nowhere near good enough to get into our team next summer,let alone this January.
This senario is similar to the VVD one a few years back,instead of wasting cash on a 3rd/4th choice CB,we are suposed to be buying a CB in the summer,so all we are doing now is bringing the deal forward a transfer window to cover for VVD atm,so we need a player who’ll get straight into our team and hit the ground running,then when VVD gets back,we’d have a great fight between say Gomez/Upamecano to play alongside him and create better CB depth for a few years.
For me Kabak would need atleast another 2 season’s of experience/training to be given a shot anywhere near our first team and even then,from what i’ve seen of him,i just don’t rate him,he’s not an intelligent player at all,positionally he’s poor,he acts before he thinks which gets him sent off or into a lot of shit,we need players on the pitch not suspended or banned.
If Klopp buys Kabak,i’ll happily sit back and let him work his magic,change his attitude and whole style of play,plus see if he can take him to another level,but in my opinion right now,i’d be pissed off if we could get Upamecano in January for £40/50mill (or £38mill release clause in the summer) but didn’t and blew £30mill on Kabak instead.
It was reported that Upamecano has a release clause for next summer similar to the one Timo Werner had this year. How much did Chelsea pay for Werner in the end?
And if we want Upa in January it probably would cost around £65m.
Does this guy fit Klopp’s no dickheads policy? The recent spitting incident suggests maybe not.
Can’t say I’ve seen a huge amount of him. Schalke are fucking awful so it’s hard to say how good he potentially is given the shite he’s surrounded by. Would prefer if we paid a bit more for Koundé or Upamecano.
The actual Werner transfer fee cost Chelsea £47.5mill in the end.The summer clause for Upamecano is £38mill (42mill euros) I’d be suprised if it was as much as £65mill for Upamecano,unless loads of top clubs came in for him and started a bidding war but even then,i’d pay it as he’d be coming in as first choice,the backbone of our defence for years to come.
upacameno isn’t nearly as good in the air as vvd or matip, unfortunately, that’s definitely a valid concern
has rhys williams moved ahead of koumetio strictly based on performance or has there been a fitness issue with koumetio as well? there doesn’t seem to be a baby melwood forum for the youth players, so i figured i’d ask here
Allegedly, Koumetio is in self-isolation. That said, Rhys Williams has at least some first team experience, even if it was in non-league football, whereas Koumetio has none so far and spent the majority of last season injured as well.
Upamecano reminds me of Gomez, who, while very good indeed, is not stellar in the air.
I’ve a feeling we might go for the cheaper fella who was mid-late 20s to tide us over - name escapes me now, but I think he was Algerian.
Then we give some time to see who emerges out of Williams, Koumetia and Van.
@CymruRed I’m not denying Upamecano has quality and skills but I’m just not sure I believe we will move for a CB who is neither that tall or that great in the air. It’s one thing already having a CB who is potentially amazing at everything else but not great in the air (Gomez) and certainly whilst we only have one such CB we wouldn’t cast him aside. But I just don’t think I agree with the logic of specifically buying one like that. With Klopp and the recruitment team it’s always about skills, attributes and capabilities. Never about reputation, standing, fame etc. and for me Upamecano would be the exact opposite of how we act. Getting Upamecano would be getting the famous big name at the peak of his fame, in top form and valuation despite not being the perfect fit. We are much more likely to get the perfect fit regardless of fame and form when they are, if anything, below peak value. The only times we go peak value are when it’s for the absolute perfect fits for our way of playing like VvD, Alisson and (in theory anyway) Keita.
We should try and get Lovren back on loan,he’s added scoring goals to his game.
Mandi…
upacameno is similar to gomez but more incisive & confident on the ball, i think
aissa mandi is 29 and plays for betis–he’s the french/algerian guy, as the previous post says
wish we were still in the dumb ass league cup, just for rhys williams
Upacameno maybe a good player and most people’s choice. But there’s another important factor to consider before we sign him, probably THE most important.
Will his name fit on the back of a shirt?.?