“This summer of all summers we need to keep as many players of our current campaign together knowing there will be a fair few leaving after their contract runs out.”
Think this is bang on and will be key this summer.
Lads who you think might normally be on the chopping block after the season they’ve had; a Fab or Gomez for example, will almost certainly be kept around to avoid too much change and to keep some of the experience of winning everything in a squad that’s losing a lot of it already.
Matip the only one I could see being an exception.
Doesn’t necessarily lineup with my own personal opinion about some of the players and what we should do but, yeah.
Unless Jota is unhappy and pushing for a move it doesn’t make any sense for me for him to leave.
‘We’ spent a number of years complaining about a decent lack of forward options once you get past the starting players.
Now we’re at a point where we have a number of decent options and are still transitioning from the old guard to the next team and now we want to only have four senior forward players again?
VVD seemingly back to his best, and Jota back from injury at last…and we’re talking about selling them?? Zero chance of that happening. We’ve seen how Klopp works. He holds on to his best players, increasing wages, rather than gambling on replacements working out. Plenty of others to be moved on before those 2
Personally wouldn’t want to sell Jota, sublime little player and can fill in anywhere across the 3 but I also see the other, less popular side which as you say is the number of games missed to injury and thus consider a reluctant sale. Dunno who this Jack Talbot chap is but reckons we’d consider a 62m bid…maybe get Newcastle to throw in Allan Saint Max and who knows.
VVD will be 32 in July and by the time his present contract ends (2025) he will be well and truly downhill. So cashing in on him for a sizable fee seems lucrative. On the other hand, VVD is well integrated in our system, he is hugely experienced, and he is still one of the best CB around the world. So he will offer substantial value (though perhaps on a declining rate) over the next couple of years.
Gvardiol maybe (I say maybe because I haven’t seen him play) a great talent but he is not the player VVD is. He will need to adapt to the English league and fit into our system. So, without VVD we will have two relatively inexperienced CB leading the line and two injury-prone CB as backups. Not an attractive scenario.
Ideally, I would have VVD, Konate, and Gvardiol competing and covering each other for the starting slots with Matip or Gomez as backup.
VVD will be 32 this July, Matip will be 32 this August (and he is contracted till 2024), and Gomez is inconsistent. I think our central defense needs as much refreshing as our midfield. But not at the cost of sacrificing a key piece.
If you can rinse Newcastle for a silly figure for Jota then I could see us viewing that as an option to raise some funds. As good as he can be, he is a bit inconsistent and has suffered with injuries. He’s also not likely to see many games wide left and Gakpo and Nunez both look strong centrally.
If you could get Newcastle to go to £60m-£70m and then look to replace him with a left footer that can contribute now and possibly become a successor to Salah then I think it would be worth considering.
I agree, particularly with Van Dijk. Replacing one of the best headers of the ball in world football with Gvardiol causes more problems than it solves. A Gvardiol/Gomez partnership would get terrorised in this league for example. Van Dijk still has plenty of years left in him, he’s our best centre back and he’s the most reliable fitness wise too despite his injury. Selling any or all of Gomez, Matip, Phillips, Van Den Berg, Koumetio, Williams could raise funds for a big signing at centre back if necessary, don’t sell our best one.
Jota, though, there’s more of a case for. He’s a fantastic player and I wouldn’t want to see him leave, but:
we have plenty of options already in the positions he plays
62 million still goes a long way in the market
his injury record is becoming a problem
If we’re being ruthlessly objective it’s a move that could make sense if those figures are correct. I certainly wouldn’t be rushing to sell him because of his perceived lack of quality, he’s still more than good enough for the squad.
we don’t know if Diaz is going to return as good as he was… risky selling Jota atm. Jurgen will have gone through a learning curve like no other when we came so close to winning everything… his favoured option of keeping a small tight knit squad may have expanded his thinking after a punishing 63game season… keep what we have unless we can improve upon them massively
I think ita a hell of a risk when we already have two or three midfielders leaving and probably want another CB, as well as a back up GK. We likely need at least four new signings to play at first team level.
Jota leaving would put us with just Salah, Gakpo, Nunez and Diaz as senior options. Seems very thin.
Doubt we put that pain in the arse on ourselves of also trying to sign a Jota replacement. Only way I can see it is if we already have a player lined up, but I doubt that.
I love Jota but a few reports recently saying we could move him on seem ominous. I suppose it makes sense in that he has missed a lot of games through injury. We’ve also got Diaz as a LW, Nunez as a CF/LW and Gakpo as a LW/CF. If we want another leftie to play RW then it might make sense.
Moussa Diaby would make sense and has a 1 in 3 goals scored record.
If that ass Thiago Silva can still be first choice at PL level, VVD with his abilities can play into the late 30s. He is never about pace, it’s his vision, composure and anticipation that is key. I think he can play beyond 35, even as a squad player.
We clearly have been too slow to turn over the squad.
Last summer we didn’t do enough business and we can’t make that mistake again ‘for continuity’. The best teams stay on top by turning over 2-3 first teamers yearafteryear.
Completely agree we’ve been too slow turning over the squad but Klopp and co put massive value on continuity and like you say 2-3 players a year is fine. But we’re already losing 5 big personalities in summer before even considering any sales and two are HUGELY important pillars of the squad and success.
Firmino is a big loss both in terms of personality and quality but it would appear Gakpo is his replacement and is starting to settle.
Milner is a leader and a legend but nothing more than a decent squad option. I still think there’s a chance he gets one more year whilst Badjetic finds his feet.
As for the other three, im assuming you mean Ox, Keita and Adrian (Arthur off too but given we’ve not even seen him yet it doesn’t feel like a major loss). Of those three, Adrian is very much a bit part role. Again, could see him get another year if he’s happy fighting one of our kids for the backup role should Kelleher leave.
Ox and Keita haven’t really offered much on or off the field the last couple years. Ox used to be all over the promo stuff but he seems to have vanished from that and from the pitch. Keita has never struck me as a big part of the squad.
You’re right, excessive turnover isn’t ideal but if we’re having a reboot then one big summer of change might be the time to test to see if there is a market for someone like Jota, especially if it’s Newcastle who might be interested and potentially be willing to pay over the odds a bit.
I don’t really disagree but I think losing 4 lads who have won everything with the club is a lot and will have an impact regardless of how often they’ve played recently. Big believer that you can’t put a price on a lived experience of having done the things we want to do again. A Run where we win 14 out of 15 games, consistently coming from behind etc. that’s important. Those lads will go and we’ll recover, but I think voluntarily getting rid of more in the same summer will be seen as a risk by those in charge.
Also, they all love Keita. It’s obvious in any video the club put out, Naby Lad and all that.
If I’m playing football manager I’m selling Matip Fabinho Jones kostas etc. but in real life I think we’ll lose as little as possible on top of the lads who are already going.