The idea of Dembele on loan with a reasonable price option to buy was one I floated on TIA as I quite like the idea. No up front tie in. No expenditure during Covid crisis. But try him for a year and if we want him take up the option to buy. One of four things would happen.
1 his attitude really does stink and Klopp can’t get him to grow up, he’d only be used in emergencies then go home at end of the year.
2 he’s a lost cause due to injury issues and our medical department warn us not to go through with the purchase.
3 he does an ok job, attitude and injuries not major issues. Not a most buy at end of year and we only buy him if Barca renegotiate the price if not we look at other targets.
4 Klopp gets him motivated and professional, the medical department get a handle on his injuries, he explodes back into the form that made him such a hot property couple of years ago and we get an outright bargain when we trigger the clause next year. Under those circumstances he would probably develop a lot of passion for the club that saved his career.
Don’t think it’s a problem with attitude. He’s had terrible luck with injuries and Barca’s a cluster fuck of epic proportions.
I don’t think his injuries are non-fixable. Those seem to be common injuries which become more manageable when he grows older.
The problem with getting Dembele is the pay package. I don’t blame him for getting his head turned by Barca and him acting up like a spoilt child forcing Dortmund to sell him. Most footballers would dream of playing under Messi. He probably figures out right now that the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side.
If Klopp reckons he can try Dembele on a loan with only an option to buy, It’s a risk worth taking. Would be upto Dembele to perform to vindicate the faith for a better deal later on once his stock is up.
If the likes of Liverpool, FCBayern makes that bid, I’d reckon Barca will let him go on a season loan happily.
FWIW, I’m loving Liverpool being lumped with Bayern as one of the smarter big timers w.r.t the transfers…and without the negative shit that Bayern get up to boot.
Sounds like we are still looking to recoup the money we just spent, we just did the business in reverse order. Edwards must be fairly confident he will move some players out before Oct 5th, and get a decent sum for some of them.
Thats definetly a downer. There seems to be a pattern to those injuries and it aint good news
We’ve let go of lallana and clyne and we still have ox and keita who are injured pretty often. Plus thiago isnt exactly injury free with his record either
Interesting to see whether any truth to that tweet in the twitter thread about Hoever to Wolves for £10m…and if so, how they use him. I wonder if it has a buy back clause, one would think so given the club seemed to have a lot of faith in him (and we could still view him as part of our rebuild over the coming years)
It’s a strange one. Dembele a couple years ago? Yes please. But would be 100M+
Now? Obviously he has lost his way, hence the possibility of a loan. But it strikes me as a reasonable gamble… low downside if it doesn’t work, massive upside if it does.
We have a top team, top manager, top training, top medical people… it’s all there. If he is going to get back on track, and he must want that, then it’s hard to see a better place than what we can offer right now.
I don’t like the sound of it either. So trying to process it…
Williams ahead of him at right back?
Koumetia ahead of him at Centre back?
So arguably Hoever, while being a good player, well schooled, composed, etc. … arguably he wouldn’t get to the team at Liverpool, and if there’s no path it’s a case of diminishing returns, and 10M now might be better than loan, loan, sell for peanuts or a very low fee?
Just trying to rationalize, but my first reaction is the same, and I don’t like it.
Hopefully a good percentage for a future sale is included too.
Players with injury records like that…not just the number, but the number of the same type…they never recover. At that point it is no longer bad luck, it is a reflection of maladaptation to the original tear that makes the muscle incapable of contracting properly.
Yeah not a fan of this Hoever sale either. A huge profit on a kid that’s done nothing much of note in the first team so far but seems odd to move him on now in a season where he might actually see some game time.
But to be fair, im still not sure he’s got the skills to play right back or the physicality to play centre back. Both may come in time but with Williams and van den Berg/Billy K now also on the scene maybe the club feel they can let one go.
Maybe he looked at Trent and especially Neco and thought “I’m having none of that”. I’ve had my doubts about his development because I wasn’t sure how it would be mapped out - he didn’t set youth football at Liverpool alight but he was outstanding for Netherlands at right back. I did think he’d be a proper footballer in some role, I just didn’t have a clue about which one. It’s a shame, though, it’s a healthy profit but he’s a player that I think will have a bright future.
10m for Hoever is a terrific deal. I would take that in a heart beat.
There is no guarantee that Hoever will ever turn into a good player and having Williams surpass him at RB + Koumetia pass him at CB doesn’t bode too well from a peer comparison standpoint.
We seem to sell with clauses (nowadays) if we believe in them. So if we aren’t then that says a lot about how much Klopp and our coaches value him. I think there will be clauses though.
Hoever is in a similar situation to Brewster. He needs regular games at a level above U23s now so he either goes on loan (if he can still see a pathway to the Liverpool senior team at the end of it) or he goes on a permanent deal.
I really like Hoever and I think he’ll become a cracking player. Wolves would be a good fit for him as well (he impressed against them last year, I think?). These are the kind of deals we’re getting good at - not stagnating a young player’s career, getting a good fee, and retaining an economic interest in their future value.
I wasn’t expecting Hoever to go but there’s logic to it. If we get £10m plus in this market that’s pretty good and perhaps the club will raise some good revenue from sales of fringe players after all. Hopefully it means there might be one or two further additions after Thiago as well.
I’m not sure where he would get games for us. Williams will pick up games at right back ahead of him, we’ve got loads of midfielders now, and at CB there are both young options like Koumetio, and older options who will need CB playing time like Fabinho (like the cup rounds to allow him more experience if called upon in more important games to play CB)
I wondered when this one was going to come up and when I saw the Hoever links I thought that this became more likely. There have been rumours of our interest in Jota for a while now. Could be a good addition but would prefer someone with more pace.
