Can we get him for the sort of fee we were willing to pay before Arsenal got silly with the bidding?
Did not we want to pay like 60mil for him and was rejected before Arsenal came in with an even bigger offer? No way he is worth anywhere near 60mil now. Technically he is good and could be even better with a coach like Klopp. But players like Lemar to me and there are plenty like these, are like Shaqiri. So much talent to be a great player but just some reason, mentally just could not elevate themselves into being a consistently great player. They do not impose themselves in matches and can disappear at times. Anything below 30mil…maybe? But there surely would have alot of options even at the 30mil - 40mil range if we are looking for that player who is looking to elevate to the next level. Diaz, Jota, Fabinho etc would be our best examples…
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So Benfica eh…
Let’s go shopping…
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Liked him in his early seasons at Monaco. Up until his last there and obviously his time at Atletico. Regardless of it probably being a clash of styles. We are a side and have the coaching staff to help somewhat lost cases like him. But it depends of course. Now, I’d probably avoid him and let someone else bother with it.
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Some More Midfielders
I created a way of ranking players based on their stats. I boil it down to one number for attacking and defensive, then one combined score.
Defensive Midfield
Florentino Luis - 23 - Benfica
Defensive Score: 0.59964 (#3)
Attacking Score: 0.26433 (#310)
Combined Score: 0.46552 (#11)
Manuel Ugarte - 21 - Sporting CP
Defensive Score: 0.53251 (#6)
Attacking Score: 0.32302 (#219)
Combined Score: 0.44871 (#17)
Mohamed Camara - 22 - Monaco
Defensive Score: 0.48812 (#27)
Attacking Score: 0.38443 (#138)
Combined Score: 0.44665 (#20)
Edson Alvarez - 25 - Ajax
Defensive Score: 0.48258 (#29)
Attacking Score: 0.37350 (#150)
Combined Score: 0.43895 (#24)
Ruben Neves - 25 - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Defensive Score: 0.49513 (#20)
Attacking Score: 0.34484 (#191)
Combined Score: 0.43501 (#25)
Tom Krauss - 21 - Schalke
Defensive Score: 0.52783 (#8)
Attacking Score: 0.29486 (#278)
Combined Score: 0.43464 (#27)
Santiago Ascacibar - 25 - Cremonese
Defensive Score: 0.48042 (#31)
Attacking Score: 0.36569 (#161)
Combined Score: 0.43453 (#28)
Tyler Adams - 23 - Leeds United
Defensive Score: 0.53017 (#7)
Attacking Score: 0.28236 (#293)
Combined Score: 0.43105 (#32)
Central Midfielders
Joey Veerman - 23 - PSV
Defensive Score: 0.38576 (#144)
Attacking Score: 0.63236 (#8)
Combined Score: 0.48440 (#3)
Enzo Le Fee - 22 - Lorient
Defensive Score: 0.42080 (#83)
Attacking Score: 0.56392 (#16)
Combined Score: 0.47805 (#6)
Sebastian Szymanski - 23 - Feyenoord
Defensive Score: 0.33177 (#227)
Attacking Score: 0.65643 (#7)
Combined Score: 0.46163 (#12)
Mikel Merino - 26 - Real Sociedad
Defensive Score: 0.43655 (#63)
Attacking Score: 0.48563 (#40)
Combined Score: 0.45618 (#14)
Dominik Szoboszlai - 22 - RB Leipzig
Defensive Score: 0.30444 (#272)
Attacking Score: 0.66016 (#5)
Combined Score: 0.44673 (#19)
Mees Hoedemakers - 24 - Cambuur
Defensive Score: 0.42305 (#79)
Attacking Score: 0.46676 (#56)
Combined Score: 0.44054 (#23)
Stephen Eustaquio - 25 - Porto
Defensive Score: 0.37482 (#152)
Attacking Score: 0.51874 (#25)
Combined Score: 0.43239 (#29)
Basically I grabbed a list of all midfielders in Europe who have enough statistical information to breakdown. This is the top 5 leagues + a sporadic handful of players from Portugal and the Netherlands. Narrowed down the search to just 2022/2023 and input their scores through a variety of Key Performance Indicators for defensive, attacking and possession contributions. Then I converted those numbers into a 0-100 grade in comparison to the other players on the list. Defensive score includes an average of those grades on defensive stats. Attacking is an average of attacking and possession based stats. Combined is everything together.
In order to make the list you have to have played 540 minutes prior to this weekend (I pulled the data last week).
My scale is weighted slightly more to the defensive side of the ball than the attacking one.
The highest scoring player was Casemiro (0.53547).
Combined score of some other interesting names…
Bellingham (#7)
Guimaraes (#15)
Musiala (#16)
de Jong (#26)
de Bruyne (#37 - but #2 in attacking)
Rice (#38)
Caicedo (#45)
Tielemans (#48)
Fabinho (#87)
Henderson (#195)
Elliott (#286)
The other Liverpool midfielders didn’t make the list due to not playing enough minutes but this is where they would be in they were on it…
Thiago (#67)
Milner (#81)
There were a number of players who currently score very highly but do not qualify due to playing less than 540 minutes. If I were to replicate these results in a few weeks we would likely see these players appear. Here they are listed with their theoretical current positions on the board - Jens Cajuste (#3), Exequiel Palacios (#5), Jeff Reine-Adelaide (#10).
Bear in mind the ratings favour defensive actions over attacking ones and only being counted for 2022/2023.
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I pressed post before I finished, I’ll update it now with a bit more info.
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It might need a D H rating column because you know Jurgen has a NO DH policy :0)
All very impressive, but have you factored in if they can do it on a wet Wednesday in Wolverhampton? 
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Some ethical lording…
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We allowed to go #Mbappe23 yet?
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If we are buying in summer, Wolves might not be in the PL.
holy fuck, what are they feeding these kids to kick a ball 75y like that.
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I’ve never seen a goal scored from that distance… ever! WOW!
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Now that many are so excited that FSG is going to “sell”, we will buy Messi, Mbappe, Neymar…
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Jude Bellingham is a must buy. Let’s not beat around the bush.
But if he’s not coming in January we still need reinforcements now.
I’m a big fan of Ruben Neves. He’s a playmaker and can score some goals. Something our side really needs more of. In the alternative why have we been pointedly ignoring the possibility of signing Youri Tielemans? Isn’t his contract running out soon?
I’m also super interested in Moukoko if we can sign him. He’s on the trajectory to be the next great wonderkid and goalscorer.
This is of course assuming that FSG either stumps up the cash to make our club competitive or our new owners do. FSG sale of Liverpool is the biggest story here right now.
Doesn’t count, that’s an own goal.
He looks very silly now after all that celebrating.
I think Pat Jennings scored a goal from his own area back in the 80’s?
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The club is competitive…investment in the team is for continuing that and to perhaps give it a little bit more oomph.