I know but you never poo poed him leaving on a free though 
The AFCON is also a bit of a consideration in this. He’s at the World Cup this summer and then there’s an AFCON next summer and another AFCON in 2028.
That’s potentially four full seasons and three summer tournaments in a row. If he’s going to be thr poster boy for the Ivory Coast he’s going to be in their team every chance they get. Same if we spend £100m on him. That’s a lot of strain on a young players body, especially one who relies on speed and quickness.
I know the AFCON is now supposedly going to be every four years and align with the same year as the Euros but there’s no guarantee it’s a summer tournament or that they’ll keep that schedule as they’ve changed their mind on when and where plenty of times in the past.
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I’ve said before that we need to get this shit under control.
But we can’t refuse to pay the going rate for big talents before we’re worried they’ll leave on a free. That’s up to the club to not get into this positions.
My attitude with players would be that if they don’t want to re-sign with two years remaining, then we’ll da imitate them a move. We won’t act like pricks about it and hold out for stupid fees, but players with less than two years should expect reduced game time as we prioritise their replacements.
Fuck me lighten up it was said in jest!
It’s hard to tell these days. People have said further up the thread that we shouldn’t be looking at this because Real will be tapppng them up.
Real tap every player up that are of an excellent level!
Transfermarkt has about 15 of this season’s squad showing as out of contract either next summer or in 2028. You can add Tsimikas and Elliott to that too. That sounds like an awful lot of players to do this with.
Watched the Germany - Cote d’Ivoire match yesterday, particularly to watch Diomande (and Wirtz). You’d never guess he was 19 in stature. He’s big and strong and isn’t afraid of physical contact. It’s incredible to consider what he could become in 3-5 years, physically.
As for his performance, I’m not sure if Diomande picked up a knock early on - he did look like he was in pain - but he was strangely passive at times. He has to know that he could beat any of those German defenders - he did, in fact, do so on their goal - but too often I saw him passing the ball back or recirculating it instead of taking on his defender.
But you can see why he’s valued so highly, when you consider his present capabilities, his age, and even a conservative assessment of his potential. While is definitely not the finished article - he will be frustrating to watch at times - there’s a lot of promise that needs to be cultivated. Luckily, I think Iraola might be the perfect manager to push him to be better.
I understand the concern over the fee. But I think people need to look at the fees with a different lens. You’re not paying 100M because you think you’re going to get world class performances right away. You’re paying 100M because you think that there’s a good chance he could be a 200M+ player in a couple seasons when he becomes one of the world’s very best players. And because there is no one in the world (who is available) that gives you that potential.
You can disagree with that assessment, but I’m sure that’s the thinking with that kind of fee.
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Totally agree with you assessment of his performance against Germany.
His stats look excellent in all the right metrics.
But still a lot of ifs, buts and maybes for the price.
For most of us that are hesitant it is the price, age and body of evidence, one season, that has us nervous.
On the other side, the pundits/experts that have watched him far more than me believe he is the real deal.
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I don’t care if it’s thirty. The club have obviously got to get control of the contract situation.
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RB Leipzig expect Paris St-Germain to submit an offer for Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande, 19, after turning down Liverpool’s opening bid of 100m euros (£87m). (Bild - in German)
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You wouldn’t be though, it would just be creating unnecessary churn
1, It’s Bild.
2, It’s in Leipzig’s interest to try and create a bidding war.
3, Do PSG need to spend 100 million on an attacker when they are so well stocked in that position?
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I know but it’s a gossip rumour.
Basically it depends what PSG will pay and what we will pay. Though PSG yet to make a move would suggest they are seeing what the price maybe acceptable or they actually need to sell before it if they even need him.
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We’ve seen plenty of drones in this World Cup all sending us to sleep.
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Is your feed that delayed you are watching the South African World Cup?
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I don’t disagree but…
It’s interesting that the club don’t seem worried about it. All through the FSG period we’ve seen players leave for nothing and no attempt on the clubs part to do something of a “lock it down or leave” policy with players.
It does seem they’d rather that 1-2 years extra service on players current contracts over flogging them from a position of weakness or being bent over a barrel on terms of a new deal.
But when you look at them on a case by case basis I think some are us taking a stance on wages, (Can and Gini for example) some on age (Firmino and Robbo), some are player engineered (Trent and I suspect Konate) and then there’s Mo who’s a bit of all three. It’s a oddly large amount of talented lads but there’s reason behind them all.
I guess every time you try and ship a guy out with 12-24 months to go you’re creating a hole to fill there and then but holding them gives you more time to plan ahead knowing their departure is coming.
So with Jones I’m wondering if it’s a question of him asking for too much money given he’s not a nailed on starter (like Emre Can) or is he on the Trent train of saying he’s not signing a new deal and they’re confident enough in the midfield options or in replacing him to entertain offers rather than hold him for another year. A lesson learned but then for a player most would rather we keep.
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"Yet if Leipzig don’t engage over a sale, Liverpool are also prepared to move on to other targets. Said El Mala, Yankuba Minteh and Matias Fernandez-Pardo among them, while Bradley Barcola appreciated.
Diomande not expected to be a drawn out saga, as was the case with Alexander Isak 12 months ago."
Interesting. I saw those same alternatives mentioned a few days ago as well, not sure if it was the same journalist or someone else.
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Yeah, I think the club view it case by case, and I think in most cases (like Gini) it’s a matter of weighing up is the likely recouped fee of more value than keeping the player.
However I think the club definitely lost control of a few, like Trent, Konate, Salah and Van Dijk (although the latter two re-signed in the end) in the period between Ward quitting, Schmadtke doing a cover job, Klopp leaving and then getting Hughes in. I think Szoboszkai is the next one that is engineering himself towards a free transfer, and I’d like something done about that this summer one way or another.
I do wish something could be done about Madrid and their blatant tapping up.
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