I agree, and the market dictates what the market dictates in terms of fee. I just think Liverpool shouldn’t let PSG off the hook by paying over the odds for Barcola. At that fee, you need a finished article, not a straight line pace merchant.
I’m curious whether Iraola rates Rayan.
https://x.com/Santi_J_FM/status/2081485106926285171
Despite Liverpool’s interest, Maghnes Akliouche wants to join PSG. The Reds are ready to offer AS Monaco more than PSG, but the player’s desire is clear: he only wants Paris. Discussions continue between the two clubs.
To me, paying £100m + for a teenager, not just with one season behind him, but also the possibility of having this ‘greatness’ going to his head and becoming a knobead because of it in the next year or two, is an acquisition we would do well to swerve…
Galling thing that winds me up, is if RM sell Arnold and Konate tomorrow, they would fully recoup the outlay for Diamonde..!
Akliouche always seemed like a long shot with our late rumored interest. Hard to know if that interest was even real or made up from other sources to try and make PSG get a move on. He’s probably a Kang-in Lee replacement for PSG but with how serious our interest in Barcola seems to be for two seasons now, hopefully the signing will help us make some movement on the deal.
My working theory is that once PSG have secured Akliouche they’ll be a lot more reasonable on the price for Barcola - who, let’s not forget, has refused to sign a new deal and has two years left, so despite their claims to the contrary they’ll be looking to cash in now before his value tanks.
Yeah probably how it plays out.
Chelsea will demand a significant fee for Portugal winger Pedro Neto, 26, amid interest from Liverpool, Manchester City and Saudi Arabian teams. (Mail)
If there is any truth I would avoid the Ponzi scheme
If the market is not sustainable, you just don’t buy. And I don’t believe the high prices are reflective of the market overall besides a few high transactions.
Buying unproven players for 100m is a path to bankruptcy. Our income just doesn’t support it so I’m surprised how people are so non-chalant about it. You can’t make a profit of 10m per season and then switch to spending 100m to 200m net each season on transfers.
We are better off buying a few Elliotts, Nyonis, or young CBs and being patient for a year or two.
I’m not sure buying a few Elliots is the right way to go. Our income is the highest in the PL but I agree with you that buying unproven players for 100m is nonsense. It’s not sustainable but at least it makes Isak and Wirtz look relatively sane considering their track records.
The drive to get Barcola and Diomande say to me that we want a winger who can get a fair share of goals. Munoz seems like he is a pacey, direct dribbling winger but a project in the final third so that won’t be his role.
I’m trying to look for wingers who project similarly to Diomande and Barcola. The names that come back are the same ones we’ve already discussed: Rayan, Abde Ezzalzouli, William Gomes.
There is a winger at PSV, Couhaib Drouiech, that looks off the charts on a per 90 basis but he’s not even a regular starter at PSV yet and hasn’t made his Morocco debut (he’s 24) so probably a flash in the pan from small sample size.
There is a lad at Almere City, Emmanuel Poku, who tore the league up and has almost identical stats as Abde Ezzalzouli but obviously in a much weaker league (Dutch second division). This is where we would really want an affiliated club who could sign and play these lads but no chance we go for someone like that.
Basically we are going to have to overpay for someone. We just have to decide who it will be.
Deadline day?! So just another 5 weeks of this Barcola shit 
We’re going to be out of breath well before that.
No it is not AI when they get selected by France the tradition is for them to turn up at the meeting in weird garb, you should see konate’s outfits!
Oh dear..after Isak last summer, I can’t take another deadline day type of saga.
Hopefully this one is decided one way or another by the time Barcola is back from holiday.
this one will take time. i think at least another week or two at least
i know Ekitikes injured, but surely there needs to be a long term plan…
If we buy Barcola we have about 450m worth of Talent playing through the centre or favouring the left hand side…
then we have Wirtz that enjoys floating through the centre and out left…
to back all that up we have one of Englands top youth talents.
oh…and Gakpo.
Isak , Ekitike, Barcola, Wirtz, Nghoma…for the centre and left areas…and Munoz and Chiesa for the right?..
hmmm…
But that doesn’t suit peoples agendas!
thats a strategy. This will leave opposing teams wondering whether they should play a LB in their team or play 2 RBs to contain our left wing strategy.
I thought that unless we sell some non-homegrown players, or add some home-grown players, our quota in UCL is filled for adding players like Barcola?