I’m pretty sure Klopp would read nothing into Mane having a laugh with a mate.
In fact, if I were Klopp I’d tell Sadio there was a massive bid from Marseille and to get packed. Before then bursting out laughing.
You’re assuming that Bobby couldn’t play a different role for another team than that which he plays for us. I think he’d still be a better striker or no 10 than most teams in the world have.
I also don’t think he’ll leave. Hopeful that we hold on to Mane, Mo and Bobby until they no longer have something to offer. Don’t really care about their cash value
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The problem with that being that we’re a club that runs on its own means. Yes we do spend but invariably we’re selling someone to make that happen. Bobby is not going to get all that much, as much as others here may disagree. I love Mane and Mo but I’d prefer Mo to stay to be completely honest and with the arrival of Diaz I think Mane might be the one to get the okay to leave.
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I get all that and we pay people a lot of money to make those difficult decisions. I’m just a fan that wants to keep them all at LFC until they’re no longer contributing
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I think we will see a cross over season. I don’t think Diaz was expected this winter and I think it would have always been Klopp’s idea to have that season.
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Sincerely hope your right, they are all legends of the club and we shouldn’t be rushing to push them out the door at all.
Guess it boils down to wages and what we can afford to pay vs their demands personally i’d like all 3 resigned. 3 year deals for Sad and Bobby and a 5 year deal for Mo
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The simple fact is that even with our fantastic recruitment team we still have to spend significant money on our “bargain” signings like Diaz and Jota. If the likes of Mane, Firmino and Salah leave without money coming in I’m not sure how thats supposed to work when it comes to bringing in replacements? Are we going to take two steps back and have 3 starters in Diaz (who hopefully is as good as it looks), Jota (who will hopefully/probably remain this good) and Salah with nothing but cheap and academy developed youngsters backing our main 3 up once again? I’m finally happy we have real depth and options up front in 5 players seemingly good enough to start for us I’d like to keep it at least 4 plus a 5th who could be a high potential type. Have a feeling Mane was set to move on this summer and Diaz was always meant as his replacement but with Carvalho potentially coming in and maybe being used in attack that might be ok. This summer or next summer I see a number 9/classic centre forward coming in to be back up/alternative to Jota. If Firmino is still around it might be a potential signing like Carvalho if Firmino goes it might be more a Diaz style signing of someone ready to step up.
If we let them run down their contract their leaving is 2 summers away, by that point Gordon will be 18, nearly 19 and part of the main squad, getting proper minutes.
Although I highly doubt all 3 leave together, I actually expect at least 2 to sign new contracts but who is dependant on Salah signing or not. Doesn’t mean we won’t replace who signs a new contract in a few years though.
I also think Carvalho will be trained to be a left sided center midfielder, exactly how Elliot was moved back.
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Quick answer - Yes
I would have thought the Brewster lesson would have been learnt by now. No matter how talented a youth prospect seems in youth matches/preseason friendlies and how frequently they are in the training squad/on the bench we shouldn’t place expectations. First season or two they’ll have a handful of appearances mostly from the bench. With many thats as far as it gets. After that they may kick on but we can’t plan the squad around an expectation that they will. This was how Joneses, Elliotts and Trents progression happened and so far they’re the most successful under Klopp so don’t think we should be assuming or planning around Gordon being a fully integrated member of the senior team by the end of next season, if he is of course its great and plans can change. But with Mane and Firmino if we are talking them leaving they need replacing by players ready to play straight off.
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Yeah hopefully Gordon progresses to a higher level that Brewster, but he still looks way off when put in the first team
Absolutely ARN. Dias should be replacing Divock and/or Taki so we have 5 strong options up top. Then when Sadio, Bobby and Mo leave they are replaced by another strong forward option, not a youth prospect. For this reason, I’m in favour of cashing in on Bobby or Sadio this summer with Mo and other other signing a 3 year extension and perhaps Sadio, Mo or Bobby going in 2023. Financially we need to bring in fees - even if it’s only 30m this summer - to facilitate signing a strong replacement. We also have to add in midfield so, having spent on Luis, our forward recycling needs to be mostly self funding. We had previously hoped we’d get 10-20m fees for Taki and Divock but this now looks unlikely so we can’t really afford to let Sadio (or even Bobby) and absolutely not Mo go for free in 2023. To lose 2 of them for free in 2023 would put a big hole in our transfer budget and would mean we’d really have to do some amazing dealing and/or really see Carvalho or the like absolutely blow away any possible expectations.
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Why is Brewster anything to do with Gordon?
Brewster was a great goal scorer for the youth set up but his all round game when he got 1st team chances was very poor, so he never looked ready to play a part.
Gordon bar lacking a bit of physicality looks ready, exactly like Elliot before him. His in the box movement is pretty special for his age, and you simply can’t teach that instinct.
He will get next season to prove himself fully (loan or here), and then if one of the front 3 leaves at the end of their contract we either promote Gordon full time or sign a player.
My point is he isn’t stepping up to be a starting first team player at that point, you still have Mane / Salah / Bobby (2 of the 3) + Diaz + Jota, so he’s 5th choice. Klopp is clear if a young player has what it takes he won’t block their path to the first team.
Because Brewster was the last player that people thought would go straight from the under 23s to a main role up top. To compare to Elliott lil Harvey had already played senior football at Fulham before then having sporadic appearances here for a season followed by a season on loan playing week in week out as a star player in the Championship. 3 preseasons in amongst the senior side under Klopp and that loan probably shaved a year off his development time frame. Trent is our most successful youth graduate under Klopp and had become a contender for best in the world in his position by the time he was 21. But you’re talking an expectation to be planned on of Gordon having an even shorter development timeframe than Elliott or Trent. I just think its unrealistic. Gordon will be fine to be our 6th attacking option at best but probably 7th or 8th for a season or two yet. If he progresses quicker it’ll be great and Klopp will find a way to make room for him. But we need to make sure we have 5-7 options we know we can rely on first. Currently that’s (possibly falsely strong if Diaz was a Mane replacement) Salah, Jota, Mane, Diaz, Firmino, Origi and Minamino. I’d prefer it to be something more balanced like Salah, Jota, Diaz, young CF, versatile young attacker, Carvalho/Xavi Simons sharing an attacking role and a midfield role between them, Minamino.
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You may have thought that, when I saw him play for the 1st team he was clearly miles away from being ready. He spent most of the game not involved.
Compare that to Gordon who is always involved, he links with the midfield and fullback, he has shots, he makes space in the box and scores…
Look with youth players there is no hard and fast rule, no-one not even Klopp could say if/when/how Gordon steps up, so rather than go round the houses on this we can agree to disagree on how/when Gordon will be ready.
Origi is 100% going in the summer, I’d bet Taki moves on also. I think we then move for Raphina or Bowen.
My utter guess is - Salah or Mane, Jota, Diaz is our starting 3 next year… With Firmino, Bowen, Gordon as the rotation.
p.s. Please try and use some paragraphs 
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For the record I repeatedly said that I thought Brewster wouldn’t make it here.
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I doubt anyone categorically stated Brewster would make it here. But you always should want and hope that youth players who reach that level of involvement will push on and take that next step.
I haven’t seen anything that suggest Gordon will, but I absolutely hope that he does.
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What’s the likelihood of both Mane and Firmino leaving in the summer, though? I hope Mane stays and rediscovers his form, though, I think that he’s much more likely to achieve that than Firmino, who seems to be in irreversible decline, at least when it comes to playing for Liverpool.
I could live with Firmino, Origi and Minamino leaving this summer and being replaced by one attacking player (if Salah stays and Gordon continues his progress, I doubt that player will be Bowen or Raphinha, though). That way, Klopp would have five senior options plus Gordon for three positions. We still don’t know if Carvalho is seen as a midfielder or a forward, his probable arrival and progress could play a major part in shaping Klopp’s plans.
All this said, I’m a bit worried about all these players who have their contracts expiring in 2023. A part of me still hopes that Keita will make a miraculous recovery, extend his contract and finally fulfil his incredible potential over the next five years. I’m ready to get hurt again, though.
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If someone offers us £25m for Gordon after he sits out half a season with a pretty serious injury that stunts his development then for sure he won’t make it here.
We’ll never know what Brewster could have been had he not had that injury or had he stayed here. We do know £25m was too good to turn down but we rated him enough to include a buy back option too. The fact he’s struggled at Sheff United doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have made it here, just that £25m was more valuable to us than he was at that time.
I think you’ve got to have a pathway mapped out for these young kids that is flexible either way depending on their development. I’m not sure the plan would have been to have Trent in the side so early but circumstances meant he got a chance sooner rather than later. I’m sure they’d have liked to get Brewster more game time but the injury got in the way. So there’s no harm in projecting forward a couple of years to see where these guys might fit into the squad (plenty have been doing that with Morton already) but we also need to be realistic that most won’t make it as far as we think.
Rumours are that Firmino will be offered an extension and we know negotiations have been happening with Mo. What we haven’t heard a lot about is an extension for Sadio and we just spent a good chunk of cash on a lad who plays in his position. A lad we were so keen to have in the squad we moved a window earlier than planned to stop him going somewhere else. I think that is probably the writing on the wall for Mane. Only question is whether it’s this summer for a fee or next summer on a free.
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