Wow, one reason more to have him as my favourite current player at LFC.
Takumi and Diaz, also.
Anybody that says the transfer fee doesn’t matter - as in it doesn’t affect anything - I think is a little naive (this is not directed at you BTW!). I personally am not concerned about what we paid to get the player we want. But I do get concerned how the player himself will handle the pressure of that transfer fee in the first season or two. No doubt every performance will be micro-analysed and he will be compared with any other player that has been purchased for £100m ( sorry. Had to be done )
Klopp’s first words on him have very much been to downplay what we should expect in the immediate future, in the hope that he will have the pressure off similar to how Diaz has in his first 6 months. The difference of course will be that Mane will be leaving and in a sense the fans will see Nunez as needing to pick up a lot of the slack in scoring opportunities. Yes Klopp will expect that slack to be picked up by a combination of Diaz, Jota, and hopefully a now fit Firmino as well as Nunez, but that’s not how the wider public nor some of the fanbase will see it. That expected slack to be picked up, in combination with the fee, will be added pressure.
Fortunately, we actually prioritise grounded, smart players that we feel can handle that pressure which is obviously very important.
Bobby came close to having his work permit removed
James Milner will be the manager of Real Madrid one day.
Oh yes, potentially significant pressure to go with the fee… but on the other hand, we have an already performing frontline in place. He’s just another piece in the jigsaw, irrespectively of the fee. Klopp will do everything to take that pressure off his shoulders. It’s not the same as, say, when we brought in Torres. He was announced as the lad who would bang in the goals for us, and to be fair with him, he took on that pressure super-well.
Here, we can be a bit more laid back. Mo is still there as the main outlet, Díaz has been brilliant so far, Bobby is his usual magnificent self again, and Jota looks good for a goal at all times. Even with Mané departing, he should be able to be bedded in comfortably.
But yeah, losing a genuine world-class player like Sadio will definitely put added pressure, not only on Darwin, but on our whole group of forwards. Hopefully they can deal with it well. They’ll have Klopp and his team to help them with that, and that’s the most encouraging aspect.
FIFY
Diaz a few months ago. Also Fab, Minamino, Robbo
.
Not sure on Minamino though. Didn’t he speak English already?
Source?
Me, just then.
Stepping up to finally inherit SMTM’s mantle?
I know this from private chats I’ve had. I’ll try and see if there’s something I can link to.
Looks like we won’t be approaching Bellingham this Summer from what I’ve read. Chance for Elliott, Curtis, Carvalho and even Morton to show Jurgen they can step up to be a strong midfield option for the first 11.
Yes, but was it at a BBQ???
Regrettably nothing that authoritative
You’re all gay.
I’m not!
Fancy a bum?
Where’s the Oyster cards John?*
*I do admire the tube being that great leveller.
Where’s the co-op dividend money, John?
Six year contract is interesting. Firstly, it’s a massive show of faith in the lad. It also allows us the accounting nonsense that spreads his “cost” to us out over an extra year on your standard five year deal.
But from a wages perspective it means he’s locked into that mid-upper level of our pay scale. If he has a good first couple seasons you could see him get a new contract even with 3-4 years left to go that bumps him to the top of the scale but before he’s asking for the silly money. The extra year or two we’d secure him for would take him up to 30-ish before we have to look at another deal. Very similar to Mane and Salah.
I’m sure there are bumper and elevator clauses inserted for performance, so contract will grow as he improves.