I suppose it would be a step up from some of their other deals, but with the club facing an investigation by the league following complaints by Burnley and Leeds, I wonder how easy it will be to get these deals done…is this being funded by Richarlison moving on?
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Consensus is either him or Calver-Lewin will need to go in order to reduce the rolling window of losses and to have anything to spend this summer.
Unless of course they get away with claiming the transfer market is depressed again and therefore they can’t sell them for what they think they’re worth whilst spunking a fortune on another batch of utter dross.
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Was suddenly reminded by Moussa Dembele in Lyon. His career is strange, he had 2 good seasons in France then was sent on loan to A.Madrid and had another good season in Lyon after coming back from loan. Seems like he should be available for a decent price. And on paper he looks like a good player, not the speediest but he is strong, likes to run with the ball and scores goals in every team he plays in so far.
He looked like a real prospect at Celtic but just hasn’t seemed to have kicked on. There is a reality that even talented players need to be at the right place at the right time to really show that and its possible that the original move to Lyon was just the wrong one for him. Regardless, since then, he’s really only had 1 season that would put him anywhere near our radar, and at 25 with some many unimpressive seasons under his belt it just seems like a much bigger risk than we’d be looking to make.
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So, I’ve made the tremendous effort of looking up the contract status of some players we’ve been loosely or firmly linked with the last couple of years. And also a few I just find interesting.
Klopp often mentions timing when it comes to signings, which has got me somewhat fixated on players with little time left on their deals, thinking this can be a significant factor when the decision makers decide on when/if to go for a particular player. So I looked at players with one or two years left on their contract, figuring their clubs are perhaps likely to be in a shit or bust type of situation.
In the context of possibly losing Mane and missing out on Tchouameni, and a couple more possibly heading out (Ox, Minamino), maybe that could mean the timing is right for one of these.
I didn’t look for defenders, figured we’re good there unless someone goes.
Contract until 2023
Forwards
Gnabry (Bayern), Lewandowski (Bayern)
Midfielders
Aouar (Lyon), Fabian Ruiz (Napoli), Renato Sanches (Lille), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Gavi (Barcelona), Laimer (Leipzig), Bissouma (Brighton), Tielemans (Leicester), Leandro Paredes (PSG)
Contract until 2024
Forwards
Raphinha (Leeds), Kane (Tottenham), Saka (Arsenal), Sarr (Watford), Nkunku (Leipzig), Dani Olmo (Leipzig), Rafael Leao (Milan)
Midfielders
Neuhaus (Gladbach), Vitinha (Porto), Nico Gonzalez (Barcelona)
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How has Barella played this season? We were linked before.
The Inter midfielder? Don’t know about this season, haven’t watched many Inter games. I like him a lot though, quality and energy.
Barella is probably my favourite Inter player and I don’t have many of them in that squad.
But he signed a new deal last autumn so it’s hard to see them sell him.
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I’d be tempted to go back for Lemar at Atletico. He’s out of contract in 2023 and hasn’t yet indicated whether he’s going to sign the new contract they have offered him. He was excellent against us last time over there and has become a key man for them this season. He can also play anywhere across the front line.
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Good shout, he was definitely very good against us.
I’m not sure he’d suit our front line in our current system, he’s more of a playmaker than a runner in behind.
I think he could potentially a good number ‘8’ in our side, he’d carry the ball brilliantly in midfield. If we switched to a 4231 he could probably play in the positions behind the striker.
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Not convinced Lemar would be good for us, just find him a little bit soft and not concrete enough for our football. Funnily enough, the first time I saw him play (Monaco played a CL qualifier, I think it was against Sporting), he played behind the striker and he caught my eye with his touches, turns, combination play. Since then, I don’t think he developed that much, although Atletico are probably not the best side for him either. There’s the eternal question with him what’s his best position. I’d probably avoid that one and let another club “bother” with that case, where to put him, how to use him and see if he can even perform.
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Raphinha is pushing to get a move away from Leeds. I thought he’d been pretty good this season in a poor side and looks to have that fight and desire we love in our players.
Is it just to obvious to think he’s the one we should be after to replace Mane and move Mo centrally? Then when Mo goes we’ve got our natural left footed replacement already bedded in and go get us a number 9.
Just makes sense to me.
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Not watching the Hungary game, but realizing it is on makes me raise the question of what the Bundesliga experts think about Szoboszlai? I’m not sure on what his best position will ultimately be, but if he was going to develop into a deeper player who was comfortable in midfield you could see a lot of the ingredients there that could make him a really good fit for us, especially with the Red Bull grounding he already has. With Carvallo, Elliott and Jones already here you might think there isnt the need for this sort of creative player for the midfield, but there’s always room for talent.
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Have to say I thought the same he is quick also. Plus at 21/22 he could prove to be a pretty long term option.
Khephren Thuram.
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Still has 3 years on his contract.
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In tomorrow’s Mirror apparently.
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It was only a matter of time until some tabloid journo put two and two together.
Not that I believe Steve Bates (who?) of the Mirror but you can see how easy it is to be a tabloid hack peddling transfer rumours.
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There are recent links to PSG which could mean anything, really. Could simply be his agent putting his name out there with big clubs.
I now regret not following him earlier in the season but from what I have seen he has the potential to be savage. Nice deploy him as holding mid which he projects long term, on the left occasionally, does have offensive instinct.
I don’t know how he’s used in the France U21 setup he did find the scoresheet this week.
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Raphinha would be interesting with the latest news of Salah (basically Raphinha’s main position) staying for next season and Mane leaving this summer…
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