I think I’d prefer Declan Rice, he could fill in at CB istead of Fabs.
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For me Saul or Neuhaus I voted for the German.
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Bellingham
Would take Saul for now though
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This for me also, Saul or Neuhaus. I only voted for Saul Bc I love his steel. But I’d be equally excited for Neuhaus.
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I need to know the players agents before I make such an important decision for the club, or just to speed things up tell me who has Raiola.
Florian Neuhaus: 23, £54kpw, £35M
Renato Sanches: 24 in Aug, £51kpw, £32M
Saul Niguez: 26, £207kpw, £43M
Youri Tielemans: 24, £33kpw, £65M
Nicolo Barella: 24, £80kpw, £60M+
Ryan Gravenberch: 19, £50kpw, £30M
Yves Bissouma: 25 in Aug, £23kpw, £40M
Eduardo Camavinga: 18, £21kpw, £26M
Lorenzo Pellegrini: 25, £75kpw, £30M
Otavio Moneiro: 26, £17kpw, £35M
Houssem Aouar: 23, £64kpw, £20M
Media has reported that we have cooled our interest in Neuhaus so not sure this will happen. Seems a little lightweight for this League and never featured in s poor German national side at the Euros.
Sanches I believe is one of our targets and can bring energy and physicality to our MF and if other targets don’t pan out I will like to see us make a move. Impressed at Lille last year and to some extent at the Euros. It seems he is holding out for 80k or more in wages so hopefully we have assessed his temperament. Allegedly we prefer him over Bissouma.
Niguez I believe will be the best fit technically and maturity wise but his wages are problematic being on a whopping salary higher than Salah, Thiago and VVD. The likelihood is Atletico will flog him off to Man U who will happily pay the 250kpw or so it would take to lure him, as they are trying to cut back on wages. The player’s representatives have allegedly called the Liverpool links nonesense.
Tielemans is one player who is very eager to join us. We can easily double his wages but the ridiculously high valuation of 65M is the stumbling block and while being a decent player is not worth the fee he is touted at and consequently it seems we have cooled our interest. The player himself hasn’t gone as far as putting in a transfer request so will probably stay put.
Barella will not leave Inter where he just won the League and is happy to stay at and I can’t see us putting in a 60-65M plus bid to get a deal over the line as much as I would like to see this happen. Would be a statement if we could convince Inter and the player to make the transfer but Inter is adamant that he is off limits.
Gravenberch’s father and agent, none other than the infamous Raiola said there will be no chance of a transfer this year so a move is unlikely. Might be an option next year however by which time he may be worth a lot more in addition to the agent fee.
Bissouma suits us as he has proven he can cut it in this League, doesn’t appear to be injury prone and can easily accommodate improving his wages. Arsenal will be a rival for his signature but I can realistically see us signing either him or Sanches.
Camavinga as many have mentioned is like a young Pogba with exciting raw talent. I think it will take more than the reported figure to get him but if Man U end up getting Niguez we should go all out for him in addition to Bissouma or Sanchez if we have the funds available. He won’t have the experience or leadership qualities needed to replace Wijnaldum but will be a smart investment.
Pellegrini was a player we were linked with a month ago and is exactly the pedigree of player we need but the player himself wants to stay at Roma, as the new captain and become the next Totti, so it seems the rumours have died down unfortunately.
Otavio was another player linked with us for a potential swap deal involving Grujic but it seems after only Grujic went to them we are after bigger fish.
Aouar is one of the latest transfer rumours doing the rounds and if the reported 20M fee is true he will be a steal. The player is a baller but where he may be lacking is the ability to close down and press opposition players in a three man MF. If we are looking for a Wijnaldum replacement he may be deemed a luxury, much like Shaqiri is. I do like creative, skillful players though.
To conclude, while I would love to see us after ideal, fantasy signings of Barella and Niguez’s quality that will not only fit our requirements, but improve us, realistically we will probably go for one of Sanches or Bissouma with Camavinga as a quality prospect and bonus signing.
However if there is even the remote chance Keita can stay fit and play a consistent set of games with Jones improving on last season then Camavinga alone maybe ok in an ideal world. It will leave us relying on the fitness of Henderson, Keita and Thiago though while not burning out Fabinho, which will be a risk too far to take.
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Bissouma is the best best player on the list.
What do people think we need with CM?
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A player that walks into CM and makes one of the 3 positions his own? Would have to be a stand out player and better than what we have to do so.
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A player good enough to come in and give legitimate competition for places from day 1? Needs to be on the same kind of level as our other main CM choices.
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A cover player only to increase numbers, reliability and/or quality in depth?
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A player who can come in immediately and provide decent level cover not letting us down but potentially good enough to earn one of the “starting” roles as others age/move on or the new guy just gets better?
For me with Henderson, Thiago and Fabinho all being great but Henderson, Thiago and Milner all being older I want option 4. It’s in a couple of seasons (providing there’s no shock Henderson departure) that I see us needing someone who can make one of the roles his own so he’s the default choice for it.
Curtis Jones?
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For me either a top prospect to develop alongside Jones i.e Camavinga or a player to strengthen our DM options like Declan Rice (who I mentionned could cover CB).
It really depends on what happens with Keita and AOC (perhaps even Hendo if rumors are worth anything).
I would be extremely disappointed if we went with a cover option (don’t we have Clarkson and others for that? (If our youth can not prtovide cover we surely need to buck our ideas up like get rid of a bunch of them).
It does seem complicated as it stands though i am sure Klopp and Edwards have a much better idea than me what is required or will be required.
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He definitely fits that category, I personally feel Thiago and Henderson will be good enough to start around 2/3rds of our games for another couple of seasons and Fabinho possibly a little more for a bit longer. Having Milner around as dependable cover for another season or two (at a stretch) I think people are seeing too much of an immediate need in CM due to Wijnaldum departing. But Fabinho and Henderson covered CB a lot last year, it was a more congested season and because of the additional pressures Henderson got injured quite badly. Take all that away I don’t see that version of Wijnaldum playing anywhere near as much in that midfield. All this currently ignores Keita and Ox still being here and being decent enough players (when fit) to be back up at least. A guy or two like Jones, coming through, earning their playing time, not letting us down now but potentially world class once they’ve finished their development (which might work out great timing with Henderson and Thiago) would be perfect for me.
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Milner 35
Henderson 31
Thiago 30
Ox 27
Keita 26
Jones 20
If Keita and were Ox were fit and playing to the best of their abilities, then I would go for someone in the lower age bracket to hopefully progess alongside Jones.
However that is still a big IF and why I would go with someone in the 24-26 bracket who can be a 1st teamer this time next year.
Age isn’t really the main factor though, behind ability and experience, just they usually go hand in hand with age. Give me a 21/22 year old who’s already got 4 or 5 years of involvement at the highest level and who’s ready to push for a place immediately then i’ll snap your hand off.
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Option 2. Gini played more minutes than any other midfielder last season, almost as many as Hendo and Thiago combined. So the idea of a “first choice three” is a bit wishful thinking as we don’t know how often we’ll get those three on the pitch at the same time.
So whoever comes in needs to be capable of being a regular starter from day one and at a very good level. We’ve a development prospect already in Jones which covers option 4 and with this likely being Milner’s last season whoever comes in will likely be getting even more game time next season.
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So sign a world class DM/CM in that age bracket like… maybe … Fabinho? 
I agree, with Fabinho added to what you’ve listed I would go for someone younger too.
Agree to disagree Fabinho played about 20 games in CB last season by himself. There were reasons Wijnaldum played so many games in CM last season that won’t be there this season.
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I thought you might.
Gini played more minutes than any centre midfielder last season, and the season before, and the season before.
It’s not the availability of Fabinho that’s of most concern in my thinking.
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I was ignoring Fab because I class him as a DM and it goes without saying he’s in the team as long as we can keep him. I would like a younger version of him in the squad, but i’m not being greedy.
Even including Fabinho, i’d still go for an established player rather than younger with potential purely because of the question marks over Keita/Ox.
We only had Thiago last season. If all fit and available Wijnaldum wouldn’t start above Henderson, Thiago and Fabinho, his availability was his greatest asset and due to Fabinho spending more time in CB than CM and Henderson being injured by the time we sorted out CB Gini still played lots. Don’t get me wrong 4th/5th choice CM will still play a lot which is why I don’t want a pure cover player. But I’m not seeing some of the younger options as far off some of the older options currently as others seem to. But those older ones are going to be viewing a role they see as a defacto starter when fit and available and certainly one’s like Saul, Barella and Neuhaus are likely to command the kind of wage associated with that role. I’d prefer to see the minutes Thiago, Henderson and Fabinho miss spread across Jones, a similar “good now potentially world class later” younger CM with few run outs for Milner, the academy kids (mostly domestic cups) and (if either still here) Keita and/or Ox than nearly all swallowed up by one player who still might not be happy with that level of playing time (if Henderson and Thiago have good seasons on the injury front). I’m not seeing us linked with a CM who comes in and demands a starting position over any of our main three based on ability. If there even is such a CM.
Whatever the reasoning, Gini played a phenomenal number of games even when others were fit or new players came in. Henderson was captain, Gini played more often than not. Fabinho arrived, Gini played more often than not. Keita arrived, Gini played more often than not. Thiago joined, Gini played more often than not.
Expecting all these reasons he played so much to simply vanish is somewhat fanciful, as is the concept of a “starting three”. We need an option, like Gini was, who is ready and capable to play a lot of games at a high standard because the last three seasons have shown that there’s a strong chance that’s what we’ll need from them.
We won’t agree on this so don’t worry about it. I’m happy to sit back and see who arrives rather than go round the same points again.
But for reference, if you make a post asking for people’s opinions, your first reaction to those that have a differing perspective shouldn’t be to tell them they are wrong. I can see your point of view and disagree with it but I wouldn’t be disappointed if Camavinga arrived as I know he’s a good player. But you seem to want to shut down every other point of view instead of trying to understand why people’s opinions may differ.
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You forgot to put in Big Fabinho (27). A DM I know… 
I see a six years big gap between Jones and Keita in that list. If anyone comes in, it should be one around 22-23. A lad with some experience, already well-developed physically, but who still has bags of potential for growing. That’s what we did more recently with Salah, Mané, Jota, Robbo and a few others.
That’s also why I’d privilege someone like Neuhaus over players like Camavinga or Gravenberch, who still have a lot to do before they eventually grow into top class players.
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