The Unreliable Rumours Discussion Thread (Part 1)

Mohamed Salah has left the chat.

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For every Haaland I’ll give you a 1000 who are shite

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You wonder if the struggles Taki had with the step up might have influenced our thinking around him. Austrian league to Premier League is a huge step and I can’t think of any bar Haaland who have gone immediately from there to a top team that wasn’t Leipzig and been a success.

I doubt Mane would have become the player he has without the move to Southampton first where he was given more time and opportunities to settle and develop before taking the next step. Leicester is kind of the pinnacle of that rung below so will be interesting to see how he goes.

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The good thing about the Current Euro games is it boosts the rumours page. Every goal scored is another bullshit rumour of LFC bidding for joe blogs. Combined of course with joe blogs keen on moving to Anfield. Or Instagram a like of an LFC player. Just today Nielsum or what ever. An 18 year old kid from Sparta. Daka last week. Harland. The French lad from the other day. The list just gets bigger.

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There’s been quiet links to him on and off for a while.

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He has been surprisingly good for Dortmund, but these days, the Bundesliga isn’t equal to the PL. The step up from Salzburg to Dortmund is lesser than the one to LFC for instance. It’s not a given that he’d have been as good for us as for Dortmund, with a lesser status in the squad, and much lesser playing time. At the end of the day, his move to Dortmund was the perfect career choice for him, and will lead him to make his next step in the best conditions.

In contrast, Minamino, who was excellent at Salzburg too, had to go one step back, because he wasn’t able to establish himself as a first team player. Not that I blame him btw, it’s really hard to establish oneself as a regular at LFC these days, especially when coming from a far weaker league like the Austrian one.

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I agree with your premise @rab . But I think it also varies with the individual players. The struggles of Takumi, in my view, is more to do with a different culture than the player’s technical or physical attributes.

Haaland have hit the ground running in German League which is a considerable step up from the Austrian League. Mane, with his characteristic fierceness, would have OK with a direct switch to Premier League. Yeah, he might have needed a bit time to adapt but he would have done OK.

Suarez took a huge step up and didn’t look out of place even on his early days.

It’s worth considering what Minamino had to deal with.

He got a move to Liverpool - The European Champions and English champions elect - was probably over the moon, and no sooner than he arrived, everything went mental. He’s stuck at a new home in a new city, he’s not allowed to go anywhere or do anything. If he’s got family, they probably can’t get here to join him, and he’s trying to get to know his new colleagues on zoom.

When he can go and train again, the players aren’t allowed to mix or socialise and he’s got no chance to bond with the fans as the stadiums are empty.

Poor guy. Never had a chance.

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Tbf, he’s also scored 20 goals (+3 assists) in 16 Champions League games.

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And he couldn’t speak English. Add that into the mix and it was all a bit of a nightmare for him.

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From LFC yes not from Salzburg, just hoping that’s what you meant (EDIT: you did allude changed the word I used hope this one is better) it in the previous paragraph, I just want to be clear SFC is a few steps up from Salzburg imo).

Edit: another one, Didn’t we need to free a spot to bring in a foriegn CB as well? Was it really a case of him not adapting fast enough over a calculated sacrifice? (considering the patience Klopp often shows!).

Agree, Dortmund was the perfect move for Haaland. Perfect playing style for his strengths, a starting spot in the team, CL football. Couldn’t have found a better fit.

I think Daka is making a pretty good choice as well, although I thought Leipzig would have been better at the moment.

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Haaland is really an outstanding example, I believe top clubs already looked at him at Salzburg, but obviously he made the right decision, knowing that he has all the time in the world for next steps.

Taki was a low risk opportunity at the time, we’re likely to make a double profit on him now if the mentioned price of £15m from Southampton is true.

No big deal, no need for drama, we move on.

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The other thing is Raiola doesn’t want his clients getting to a top club with just one transfer. He likes to make sure that the first move is a stepping stone so that when the time comes, he can move them on to the big boys and pocket himself another fat commission.

It’s probably good for the player’s development but it’s definitely good for his bank balance.

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Plus that move, for precisely the reasons you state, was always going to have to include a clause of some type allowing that next move. We would never have done the Dortmund stage of the journey. Small chance of us being the “final destination” big club next summer but not even that sure on that.

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Yeah, he has done exceptionally well, but that’s also because he played week in week out at Dortmund. At LFC for instance, he’d have been on the bench more often than not. It could have hindered his super-quick development into a top player.

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I think with Haaland, the possibility of him not going to Dortmund, but straight to a top, top side… he could’ve done it. I don’t think it was impossible for him, regardless of his Dortmund period so far. Minamino wasn’t that “obvious” neither as a player in the middle of his career nor as a talent, but he was an interesting combination of style, age and price.

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With hindsight, he could have had a lot of minutes with us, given that Mané and especially Bobby had some hairy moments last season. He definitely would have had the quality to bring himself into discussion for a regular place in the team looking forward. But that wasn’t something which could be expected at the start of the season. He’d have been the number four. And given how much Klopp trusts his three forwards, he’d have had a hard time to work himself into his plans.

That in turn could have hindered his development, and we’d possibly talk about him as we talk about other players who are hindered by lacking minutes on the pitch (ie. Origi, even though Haaland’s potential is higher).

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Haaland with Salah, Mane and Firmino would have had the same situation here as when Salah arrived with Coutinho, Mane and Firmino here. If they’re good enough they’ll end up playing. He was good enough from day 1 at Dortmund there was no settling in period. If he was good enough from day 1 here Klopp would play him.

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