The Unreliable Rumours Discussion Thread (Part 1)

Agree with all the above.

We need a top midfielder in the summer, someone who has every chance to be a fixture in the side for many years to come. Not an attacking midfielder, but a 6 or an 8, depending on who we are talking about.

:heart_eyes:

Firmino isnā€™t even a full year older than Danny Ings who quite possibly has the worst knees of any active player whilst Firmino has a great injury record. Danny Ings cost Villa Ā£28m. Firmino has a goal contribution every 86 minutes in the league this season heā€™s hardly useless. Thatā€™s better than Ings this season or last by the way. Fucking hell Chris Wood cost Ā£27m and if it wasnā€™t a clause theyā€™d have rejected that!

Think you are vastly under estimating how good Firmino is and the shit out there other clubs have to settle for. Think we will get at least Ā£35m for him if sold. Possibly higher depending on which club it is that take a liking to him.

Used to be a case that a player no longer being good enough for Liverpool was alarm bells and clubs wouldnā€™t be interested but we are one of the top sides again now but with a brutally demanding style in possibly the most physically demanding league. Someone being judged as getting too old for a starting role for us and too expensive to extend as a back up player here isnā€™t exactly a red flag. Heā€™d walk most other leagues with his fitness.

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Letā€™s first see if we do an Elliott with Elliott himself, before jumping even faster to doing an Elliott with Carvalho.

:joy:

For me, there could be room for a player not too young, but with best years ahead, someone with already some quality experience. Sort of older than Jones but younger than Keita.

All those individual cases of young playersā€¦ time will tell. We canā€™t guarantee them anything, the chances of all of them making it here are not high. Itā€™s just normal life of what we should remain: a top club and a successful side.

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With a year left on his contract? We wonā€™t yā€™know.

The thing with Firmino is that his is perfect for us, but this means he is caught between stools for almost anyone else. If you are after a striker there are better options than Bobby. If you want a number ten there are better options.

Itā€™s only if you want a weird, unorthodox defensive, pressing number nine, who doesnā€™t score many, drops deep to become a fourth midfielder and creates space for our real, wide goal threats that Bobby makes sense. Not many teams play like that

Edit: and before you say Iā€™m underrating him, Iā€™m not. I love him. Heā€™s brilliant, but itā€™s undeniable weā€™ve shaped him to fit our team and demands. He isnā€™t the same footballer as the number 10 we signed.

Iā€™d guess Salah gets renewed, Mane gets sold and Firmino sticks around for another year and then either goes on a free or agrees to a similar or reduced contract based on being more of a squad type player.

Diaz replaces Mane. Jota and Carvalho are options out on the left. Jota, Firmino, Salah and Minamino are the options down the middle. Salah, Elliott, and Gordon cover the left hand side, Diaz and Jota in a real push.

Milner goes, probably Ox too and we get a big signing for the centre of midfield.

If a left footed wide forward type who could also play down the middle became available at a decent price then maybe weā€™ll be opportunistic with Minamino then heading out too. Feel like it might be a bit too soon for Gordon and Elliott is seen as a midfield option ideally.

Makes for a decent sized window of Diaz (a couple months earlier than planned), Carvalho for about Ā£8m-Ā£10m, a CM in the Ā£35m-Ā£50m ballpark and at a push the leftie for circa Ā£20m or below.

Mane, Ox, Phillips, Neco, Minamino, Milner, Adrian, and Origi all off to raise some funds and make space on the wage bill.

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Ings had a year left, Wood had 18 months left. Firmino is better, much better than both. Much much better availability than Ings, younger than Wood. Much much higher international profile.

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Youā€™re over stating his uniqueness. Heā€™d be perfectly fine as a 9 or 10 at most sides, not elite level, but still best they could hope to sign. Iā€™d play Firmino as a number 9 over Ings or Wood who you think are worth more.

At this stage his skillset is almost uniquely tuned to the very unorthodox way we set up our forward line. For 99% of clubs it wouldnā€™t work. He isnā€™t quite a goalscorer. He isnā€™t quite an AM. He definitely isnā€™t a wide player, and heā€™s not quite a midfielder.

You are over selling this so much. Heā€™s played a lot more like Jota recently and even as he would heā€™d still be great for many clubs, Atletico Madrid for one.

Bobby would do very well in MLS in my opinion, but itā€™s all down to how he sees the end of his career playing out. Big payday, experience of another big league like La Liga or back to Brazil.

Either way I think we see him just seeing out his contract and going with our best wishes.

Unless he loves it here so much that he extends on the same or reduced terms with the understanding that heā€™s no longer a guaranteed starter.

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No, I donā€™t think I am.

But irrespective of this, I donā€™t think Bobby is going anywhere. Of the front three, Sadio is the most vulnerable, having just spent Ā£40m on a lad who plays in his position. But it would be a big mistake to lose any of them in my view. They are all still great, with plenty of life in them.

If the club renew Sadio, Mo and Bobby this summer, and buy a midfielder that would do me.

By the way, Klopp had a long look at Bobby in midfield on Sunday. Donā€™t know if that means anything.

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I think you need to give over with Chris Wood. That was a bit of a weird one as it was Newcastle Utd meeting a clause and simultaneously address a need while fucking over a direct rival. Normal rules donā€™t apply to that one.

Ingsy, fuck knows. Insane business IMO.

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He scores goals and that can be difference between staying in this league or not. That translates far more directly to value for money than a cheaper player who is arguably as good but doesnā€™t himself score those goals.

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Nah, I donā€™t think it means anything. He played it perhaps 2-3 times for us, only for a short period. Thereā€™s a certain point where it starts to be questionable how good is it to have him so deep, both for him and the team. Heā€™s best where he usually plays. Either a false #9 or single #10/second striker.

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Lfc twitter admin liked a photo of saka in a Liverpool kit. Must be some kinda insider info and definitely not the admin forgetting which account he was using :wink::sweat_smile::joy:

Mane has struggled this and last I did I expect us to carry one over and then sell but I doubt those current comments even as a joke would have gone down with Klopp.

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He did start his career as a DM though :wink:

We might see elliot as a right winger as well. I think the only left footer who can play convincingly as a deputy to Salah right now is Harvey.

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I get what your saying but 5-6 years ago Raheem was more or less our focal point. Back then central strikers where the primary goal scorers