He is 24 and according to Transfer market his current value is € 30m. Played a good match today but I never see Lille play to form a proper opinion on him.
Funny thing is Bayern bought him after the last EURO and he was s flop there.
Renato is a good Player.
Rick o Shea would come in handy.
Sanches. He was too young when Bayern bought him but he’s worth a punt at 20M now
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Is that the pen that keeps writing down the wrong number for Sancho?
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Jose Enrique on Renato Sanches: "This is the man I want to replace Gini. He steps up on the big stage. Still only 23 & he just won the league with Lille.
"This man is an absolute engine & knows how to dictate a midfield like Gini did.
“He’s physically a level above others, he seems like a perfect fit for Klopp. He also has that creative aspect which Gini had.”
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I’d say it would take more then that , didn’t they pay roughly that for him. I know they’re in financial trouble but I’d say they will still make a profit on him
plus Grujic!!!
Sanches definitely worth a look. A comparison with Gini of the minutes he has played the last two seasons reveals a huge deficit. Good player, coming back to the boil again, but not without injury issues.
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Renato is slowly coming out of the woods after years in wilderness. The minutes aren’t impressive though.
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I’ve enjoyed watching Sanches, but fear that his performances at both France and the Euros are not a true barometer of him - if the price is right though - I’d be game for him.
Of the others linked to us, Camavinga now being chased by United - I know a few on here are keen on him…
Now that Leicester had signed Daka, its quite unlikely they will sign their other rumoured target Odsonne Edouard, and with just one year left on his contract, coming from the Scottish League, with 3 good seasons behind him, would a 15m - 20m deal be a good deal for both us and Celtic?
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I’m quite curious/worried as to the ins and outs of why we bought Konate and how that impacts our immediate and long term plans.
Superficially it seems a no brainer after last season but… would we have pulled the trigger on Konate now if VVD and Gomez weren’t broken simultaneously? Does getting Konate mean the end of Gomez and/or VVD, or, at least a lack of confidence in one or both recovering? If we were confident in both recovering do we really need another CD, this year or indeed in the next 2-3 years? And, if one hadn’t been broken, then I’d imagine that we’d have gotten through last season with the group we had and (if we felt the need to strengthen) would have gone for a less pricy CD than Konate this summer. Even now, as a group, fully fit VVD, Gomez, Matip and Phillips, would be a good enough for probably the next 2-4 seasons.
I feel that VVD’s injury, coupled with a lack of confidence in Gomez’s (and VVD’s) ability to stay fit/recover, has seismically shifted the thinking around the recruitment plans. COVID to an extent has played a part but buying a pricy CD, when I would suggest that a midfielder, full back and possibly another/different option up front would have been the priority this year, suggests that this was not the intended path of succession for the central defence. The main targets that we may have had pegged (FB, CF, etc) are now (possibly) unattainable as we have spent a chunk of the budget that was earmarked for them.
Personally, I’d be ok with no further additions as I think we are competitive enough and will be there or there about wit what we have. If, however, we shift a couple of players then that would be good as it gives some of the youth player a look in through the season.
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It’s all conjecture of course, but it makes sense for us to add a young centre back at this stage. Matip is not reliable, which leaves us heavily dependent on VVD and Gomez. Teams competing at our level need four CBs who can fit seamlessly into the first eleven due to the number of fixtures we play. There were a number of us who felt, even at this time last year, that we needed to strengthen in this area. It would be surprising if we hadn’t been looking at adding a CB this window regardless of injuries.
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Strength in depth cost us last season.
Konate very much a move to sure that up, whilst simultaneously being a succession signing.
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Teams can’t get through seasons with just two good CBs, not anymore. No way Matip (never available) and Phillips (tries hard, plays with passion but very limited) are anywhere near enough back up for VvD and Gomez. That’s before you look at Gomez being used in other positions and having availability issues along with VvDs age and coming back from a major injury and the concerns that all causes. I’m actually one that thinks even with Konate added it isn’t enough.
Also talk of how expensive it’s been adding Konate. Don’t we have the cheapest assembled defence out of the serious Premier League title contenders (us, United, City, Chelsea?)?
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True might be true but it’s also the kind of irrelevant bollocks that you’d usually expect to find on Twitter.
We have a world class right back we brought from the academy, a world class left back we spotted at Hull, a world class centre back we got from Charlton, another world class centre back we got on a free from Shalke.
If we’d bought Trent, Robbo, Gomez, and Matip at their market rates we’d have spent a fortune. Let’s not criticise the club for being better at spotting diamonds than anyone else.
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The problem with wanting more and more and more depth is two fold. When is enough enough and at what point do you stop being Liverpool and start being City/PSG/RM/Barca/ManU/Chelsea as a business model?
At some point you have to assess the situation and say what is the sensible? You just cannot go for broke every season or every time as if you’re building from scratch. Even if you did, there is no guarantee you’ll win the league. I’m quite sure if there was a glaring need we’d go out and do something. The CD situation clearly needed shoring up and we’ve addressed it. Are there other areas in as urgent a need and more importantly can we address them sensibly and/or opportunistically? If no, then fine, we go with what we have - I believe we have enough to compete for the league and win it with a bit of (good) luck.
When is enough enough? It is a good question, and we are not the likes of Man City. To answer the question with regard to central defence, it’s now enough with Konate on board.
Other areas? We need a midfielder and a striker. Wijnaldum will be a big miss. Jones will add more minutes as he continues to emerge, but we need a midfielder, especially with injury question marks over a couple of them. I am confident we will add a midfielder this window.
Then the third priority for me is adding a striker. How high up we go on the quality depends on the budget, which may also be impacted by how many we shift this summer, though we have form for unearthing good players and then having them grow with us. Doku looks a good option. Wouldn’t be Sancho type money but would probably be 40M or so. For that we would get an exciting player with pace to burn, which can’t be taught; and the other attributes to his game will be polished in our excellent coaching set up. If it goes well he could succeed, say, Mane.
Three signings for me, the priorities for summer:
Central defender - done
Central midfielder - surely we are looking, several interesting options out there
Striker - Doku fits the bill, or someone with similar attributes… somewhat proven, but more to come
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Hope and think we will add two more players but I actually think we could sell a few without adding anyone and still have a very successful season.
We have enough options everywhere but I really hope we don’t sell Neco this Summer.