I still feel that selling Brewster at this time would be a mistake. He may not be the quickest player but is obviously quick of thought because he has the knack of popping up in the right place at the right time. Most of his goals have been one touch , just getting a foot in front of a defender at the last moment and managing to direct that touch onto goal.I thought he was actually looking a bit chunky and could be a bit leaner and meaner. Pity he is not a couple of inches taller but not much anyone can do about that. It is said we are asking 20 mill for him which means that if he stays we have signed a 20 mill player for free 
A season of fitness training and coaching with the first team could improve him possibly considerably . Another point is that he is a different type of striker to what we have. How often do we say when a game not going well " we need to change something " or freshen things up". If you replace a Salah or a Mane or Firminho with a cheap copy of them nothing is changed. We often need something a bit different. Given the chance Brewster might just be that some one.
Iām trying to walk in the shoes of those who donāt think the same as me. I donāt think that having many expensive players is the way to go forward regardless of circumstances but I think that squad depth will have a greater role this season than it usually does. Aside from that, this is a squad thatās been largely the same for two years, I donāt think it needs a massive overhaul but replacing certain players who I think are surplus with couple players of required quality would go a long way towards helping maintain focus of the group. So, for me itās more of a psychological impact than a āphysicalā one. Liverpool have plenty of top class players but Klopp thinks he can sign another one in Alcantara, meaning thereās still room for improvement, at least in one area.
I look at it this way: Klopp wants to work with smaller squads and promote young players, he will likely sacrifice domestic cups but will go hard for PL and CL. There will be matches every three or four days and thereās also international football to take into account. He also wants to constantly evolve his side because he doesnāt want them to go stale and get found out by opponents. Using Fabinho at CB with, say, Wijnaldum or Alcantara at DM, Keita and Minamino as two advanced midfielders, or Henderson at DM with Alcantara and Keita in front of him, using ultra-attacking Tsimikas and Williams to give Robertson and Trent a rest or pin down opponents, or very direct Sarr and Elliott instead of Origi and Shaqiri - all of these are options that I would like to see.
Liverpool seem to have a lot of midfielders at this point, I agree, though my issues with this midfield lie with its creative output. Keita is facing a massive season and first injury he suffers will make us all go āI told you soā, Oxlade-Chamberlain is already fighting a losing battle, Jones is still a kid, although a mightily talented one. The rest of them are hard workers, though bloody good ones. If there was a tiny bit of possibility to sign Sarr for what Origi and Shaqiri would be sold for in total and to sign Alcantara for GrujiÄās and Wilsonās combined fees, Iād do my best to explore those options. I really wouldnāt want club to spend for the sake of spending, thereās still a month to go to sell the unwanted players and raise some significant funds.
With Brewster, itās not just about whatās best for LFC in the short term, itās also about what is best for Rhian.
I think he is at the age where he really needs a decent chunk of first team football. He lost a lot of his young career to that terrible injury, and he will want to catch up. Loans are alright, but they donāt replicate āhaving a homeā - somewhere you can properly establish yourself.
Incidentally, this kind of thing - showing we are willing to be reasonable about letting players move if they need to will help us in the future with players.
While Ā£20m might seem like peanuts, if we can negotiate some kick backs (Iād be looking at a massive sell on clause) then this could recoup more money long term than holding out for Ā£30m now
Good point about being helpful to players in their development. Yes, it will help other talented youngsters look favorably at us when they have options to move. The standards are so high - almost impossibly so; but a talented young player should back himself to get there.
And if notā¦
It has to be reassuring that we will work with them to help them advance their career.
I like Brewster but if selling him means we could get someone like Daka then Iām all for it.
Klopps record on moving on youngsters he believes arent going to make the standard is second to none. For me their hasnāt been one moved that has turned into a huge blunder so if Klopp is believing Brewster wonāt make it hes probably right.
If we were really in as bad a state financially as some believe we wouldnāt be agreeing loans for the likes of Ojo and Woodburn so early when they could fetch us a couple of million a piece later in the window. And if they donāt they get loaned out then. Likewise if there is any truth to buying then loaning out that Anderlecht kid money isnāt as much of an issue as thought. Still say the club has money to play around with and reserves to turn to if needed plus expected departures meaning income coming in over the next few windows. The club is being cautious and intelligent buts itās also on a media campaign protesting how broke they are as it never helps when trying to bring players in if the reputation is that youāre minted. Thereās no point arguing too much on how we need to be stringent itāll all come clear eventually, especially as players will almost certainly still be bought. But without overextending ourselves. Own hunch combined with the infamous Twitter thread I believe weād have had over Ā£100 million net available to us if needed this summer and again next summer without Covid. Even with all that lost (not impossible but unlikely as things stand) we could still easily have outgoings on player trading match incomings on player trading but thatās probably more than Klopp needs.
I think you misunderstand. No one is claiming we are facing financial armageddon. The point being made is that the club doesnāt generate much cash profits, before sales of players are taken into account. Given we are looking to renew 6-7 key contracts this year, our expenditure is already set to increase while our income is expected to fall due to the pandemic. That affects the clubs options going forward, particularly if they were planning on making some big moves next year or the year after.
Maybe putting it out in the global domain to let the world and his dog know that LFC, and possibly Jurgen himself, are/is willing to sell Brewsterā¦ Was for no other reason than to strike the point home to Brewster himselfā¦!
We donāt know what goes on behind the scenes, but if that is not the biggest wake-up call kick up the backside then I donāt know what isā¦ Will be interesting to see what happensā¦
Lets hope he stays with us a bit longer and it has the desired effect in the long term as he becomes more prolific than Fowlerā¦!!
Cash flow and profit and loss are different, small business live or die on cash flow big business have credit facilities (as do we) so at times when a profitable business (like we are, recording profits last few years) struggle for cash flow they can continue operating without collapse. Now our unused credit reserves are well over Ā£100 million and can be increased. The 2018-2019 profit plus the additional Ā£50 million of credit we didnāt need to pay off but did was over Ā£75 million. We earn less than Ā£90 million in all match day revenue per year combined. We finished 2/3rds of the season. The 2019-2020 books may yet still show a profit. We are more being cautious due to the unknown effects on the 2020-2021 accounts, the TV money that has to be paid back out of future revenues etc! Without Covid 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 probably both would have shown profits of over Ā£100 million if there was no significant spending and no more credit and loans were paid off (which they would have, no/low profits keeps the tax bill low). So the club are being cautious but they can still act as and when they need to. I just think this āno money, must sell before buyingā stance is being overegged and its not helping. Itās getting fans at each otherās throats. Letās try and be calm about it and see what we spend, what the accounts really reveal etc before we have a civil war.
But surely that credit line is contingent on having an income stream to pay it back?
I donāt think weāre in dire straights or anything like that. But I do think the club are playing it extremely cautiously and not wanting to draw too heavily on credit and loans when the income is so uncertain, and with the situation in the UK as it is, they might be playing this absolutely right.
Cash flow is no less important to a big company as it is to a small company. Using credit facilities adds debt that has to be paid back at some point in the future and comes at a cost of interest - which reduces the amount of cash the company produces to re-invest. Thatās why the club have sought to pay off the interest bearing debt as quickly as they have.
As Swiss Ramble pointed out in his twitter thread the club made an operating profit of Ā£15m over the last 3 years. As per your figures weāve probably lost about Ā£30m in matchday revenue already from the tail end of last season. We can expect similar as a minimum this season, and then the TV repayments in coming seasons and it seems straightforward to me as to why the club are being as cautious as they are.
Well @redfanman and @Mascot we will know soon enough wonāt We? Either Iām right and players will still arrive and profit and loss is what matters or Iām wrong and cash flow is and no players will arrive. On profit and loss over 200 million in revenue this yearās accounts and next yearās could have been used for player trading, early repayment of loans (low interest), clearing of low/zero interest credit facility or infrastructure costs (mainly so we donāt have massive tax fetching profits) but now some of which will be affected by Covid based losses.
Whispers that Wilson will be off to Leeds after our game against them tomorrow.
For 20m? Would be a good deal for us and him and possibly Leeds too
The Athletic (Pearce):
Liverpool expect there to be better value available in the market towards the back-end of the window, which closes on October 5. They also need to generate funds by off-loading fringe players such as Harry Wilson, Marko Grujic and Loris Karius.
They are even prepared to listen to offers in excess of Ā£25 million for talented teenage striker Rhian Brewster, providing a buyback clause is included as part of the deal. No such bid has been tabled so far, but around a dozen clubs have registered their interest in taking Brewster on loan after he did well in helping Swansea City to last seasonās Championship play-offs.
Signing a centre-back to replace Lovren and a wide attacker to ease the burden on Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are the two main priorities. Relegated Watfordās winger Ismaila Sarr is on the radar, but the current Ā£40 million asking price is prohibitive.
There is also the Thiago Alcantara saga to resolve. The bid Bayern expected from Liverpool for the Spain midfielder still hasnāt been forthcoming. It would be a signing out of keeping with the clubās transfer policy given his age (29) and the kind of salary he would command but thereās no doubting his calibre.
The line about better value at the end of the window keeps getting used but I just canāt see it.
Also, after some YouTube scouting, Jeremy Doku does look pretty good.
no mention of the fee but lets hope so. could also just be the usual twitter bollocks.
Few unreliable as unreliable gets rumours making the circuit. Wilson to Leeds permanently. Gini has decided to stay and extend deal. Fabinho will be an option in midfield and 4th choice CB. Therefore Thiago will still come in. Brewster will be sold, leaked talk of maybe is because itās more advanced. Young attacker coming in, possibly Jeremy Doku.
Why not look at this the other way round.
You have United that need to invest in the squad to fix the gaping holes in quality that they have
City need to invest to fix gaping holes in the squad and feed the monster that demands a CL trophy
Everton need to invest to get into the top 6
Spurs need to invest to try an get back into the top 4
Do we need to invest at the same levels as these clubs?
No.