Willian Borges da Silva

[WhiskeyJar]

I think there is just about enough noise to warrant talking about him.

 

Another source quoating that we are going to bid 30 million:

 

Liverpool poised to make £30m bid for Brazilian midfielder Willian | Football | theguardian.com

 

Liverpool poised to make £30m bid for Brazilian midfielder Willian

• 25-year-old put up for sale by Anzhi Makhachkala

• Brendan Rodgers keen to make high-profile signing

• Jonathan Wilson: How chaos descended on Anzhi

 

Tuesday 13 August 2013 23.40 BST

 

Willian joined Anzhi Makhachkala from Shakhtar Donetsk for £30m last January but is now for sale

 

Liverpool are poised to make a £30m bid for the Brazilian midfielder Willian as the club's pursuit of a high-profile summer signing goes on.

 

Willian moved to Anzhi Makhachkala from Shakhtar Donetsk during the last transfer window, also for £30m, having played a key role in helping the Ukrainian club reach the last-16 stage of last season's Champions League. But having played only 17 times for Anzhi in all competitions since, he has been put up for sale, along with the rest of his team-mates, as part of the Russian club's attempt to cut costs.

 

The 25-year-old, who has two caps, is predominately a left-sided player but can play on either flank or in a more advanced attacking position.

 

Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, is keen to sign a creative player and is believed to have targeted Willian having been frustrated earlier in the summer when the No1 target Henrikh Mkhitaryan turned down the chance to move from Shakhtar and instead opted to join Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund.

 

Willian would represent the type of big-statement signing Rodgers is keen to secure before the close of the transfer window having spent around £24m on Kolo Touré, Simon Mignolet, Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto.

 

The purchase could also help Rodgers in his attempts to persuade Luis Suárez to remain at Liverpool after the Uruguayan publicly stating to the Guardian last week his desire to leave the club. Liverpool's principal owner, John W Henry, reacted by stating the player would not be allowed to move on but such an outcome remains far from guaranteed.

[WhiskeyJar]

Anzhi chaos could send Samuel Eto'o falling into José Mourinho's arms

A huge budget cut and the striker's disliking for Anzhi's new manager could see Chelsea pick Eto'o from the wreckage

 

Anzhi chaos could send Samuel Eto'o falling into José Mourinho's arms | Jonathan Wilson | Football | theguardian.com

 

There were two big stories in Belarus in the last week of July. On the plus side, their premier, Alexander Lukashenko caught a catfish bigger than the pike Vladimir Putin had landed in Siberia a few days earlier. More difficult to comprehend, though, was the news that Uralkali, a Russian firm run by Suleiman Kerimov, had broken off a business agreement with a Belarusian company that effectively fixed global potash prices. It's hard to say precisely what the consequences will be, but pressure has already been placed on the Belarusian rouble, while a surge in the supply of potash should lead to a decrease in the cost of fertiliser (and thus perhaps food). It could also lead to the sale of Samuel Eto'o to Chelsea.

 

Quite why Uralkali have ended what was effectively a cartel is unclear, but in the day that followed the announcement, £5.5bn was wiped off the company's stock market valuation, with Kerimov himself losing an estimated £325m. The share price has since recovered and a direct link between the end of the agreement and what is going on at Anzhi Makhachkala has been denied, but that Uralkali felt compelled to take such a drastic step hints at the turbulence behind the scenes.

 

What has happened at Anzhi is a warning to all clubs who rely on external investment. The club, which had been founded in 1991, had worked its way into the Russian top flight when, in January 2011, it was taken over by Kerimov. He was born in Derbent in Dagestan and studied accounting and economics at Dagestan State University and has always insisted he took over the club for reasons of local pride, although it's no secret that Putin encourages oligarchs to invest in sporting ventures as a way of returning some of their wealth to the people. Kerimov's investment in a club in such a troubled region fitted exactly into Putin's more general policy of decentralisation. There has been a conscious attempt, in all spheres, to reach out to the regions and it is no coincidence that after years of Moscow domination, there were five Russian champions in a row from outside the capital before CSKA's success last year.

 

Anzhi, despite eyebrow-raising deals to sign Roberto Carlos, Eto'o and Christopher Samba, and the appointment of Guus Hiddink as manager, never really threatened to join Zenit St Petersburg or Rubin Kazan on the provincial roll of honour. So Kerimov did what oligarchs usually do and spent some more. Around £50m was invested this summer, bringing the Russia captain Igor Denisov from Zenit, Aleksandr Kokorin from Dynamo Moscow and Samba back from Queens Park Rangers. Hiddink left to be replaced by René Meulensteen, who had limited experience as a No1 but who had gained a glowing reputation in his time at Manchester United.

 

The season, though, began badly. Anzhi took two points from their first four games. Denisov, a fine player but never the easiest character, fought with Eto'o and Lassana Diarra on the training pitch and was exiled to train alone, with rumours he could be sold to Dynamo. And then, last week, came the shock announcement that Kerimov was changing tack, slashing the club's budget from £116m per season (second only to Zenit in Russia) to between £32m and £45m.

 

It was portrayed initially as though Kerimov had grown tired of squabbling stars and was choosing to switch philosophy and start focusing on youth development – which even for a capricious oligarch would have been a bizarrely whimsical response to a few bad results at the start of the season. Clearly there are deeper reasons. Kerimov's spokesman has insisted that rumours the 47-year-old is in ill health are unfounded but it's hard not to see significance in the fact that the announcement of Anzhi's budget cut came just a week after the end of the Uralkali deal with Belarus that guaranteed a steady stream of income.

 

In practical terms, a £35m budget should still be enough for Anzhi to challenge for European places, but it has meant the end for Meulensteen, laid off after 16 turbulent days in the job (presumably soon to be the subject of a David Peace-Danny Boyle collaboration, 28 Days Shorter), and it also means that the highest-paid stars are likely to be offloaded. The querulous Denisov, who spent a substantial part of last season training with Zenit's youth team after protesting against the signings of Hulk and Axel Witsel, will surely go, and so too will Eto'o, who had previously demonstrated a clear reluctance to work for Gadzhi Gadzhiev, who has returned to the club to replace Meulensteen.

 

Eto'o's move to Russia has meant him disappearing from view in western Europe, and leading to the widespread assumption that he is over the hill. He certainly is not quite the player he was three or four years ago, but at 32 he still has much to offer, the intelligence that always underlays his game beginning to emerge as his pace diminishes. He has a year left on his contract so presumably wouldn't be overly expensive, although he would probably have to accept a pay cut to move to the Premier League and the fact his world record salary was paid in full in advance complicates matters.

 

Chelsea's interest in the forward is logical. The courting of Wayne Rooney suggested José Mourinho wasn't happy with his striking options – Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Romelu Lukaku – and he has worked successfully with Eto'o before. The Cameroon striker himself makes no secret of his admiration for Mourinho and perhaps fancies one final crack with a major western European team. And if agreement can be reached on wages, it may be that, for all Lukashenko's and Putin's angling exploits, it's Mourinho who ends up landing the really big fish.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I'm not convinced he offers quite enough end product for £30m - a price which not to long ago was reserved for the world's best superstars - but he'd fit in nicely on the left, as part of the way we play. Skillful, quick, makes things happen, but £30m seems overpriced. Still, if that's what we've got to pay to improve...

[DanDanShaw]

They paid £35m for him so why are we giving them their money back when they've made it no secret they need to slash costs. We will also (no doubt) pick up his entire £100,000 per week wages.

 

We need to start playing hard ball, like every cunt does to us. £25m and we will take all his wages, or £35m and you can pay him £30,000 per week until the end of his contract. We always pay top money for players, then sell ours for fuck all. We need a Levy at Anfield.

[TSC]

They paid £35m for him so why are we giving them their money back when they've made it no secret they need to slash costs. We will also (no doubt) pick up his entire £100,000 per week wages.

 

We need to start playing hard ball, like every cunt does to us. £25m and we will take all his wages, or £35m and you can pay him £30,000 per week until the end of his contract. We always pay top money for players, then sell ours for fuck all. We need a Levy at Anfield.

 

Playing hardball only works if you're the only buyer in town though. If we attempted it then some other team (prob Spurs again no doubt) would simply come in and offer the asking price, and we'd toddle off home again with nowt.

[J-V]

If we're going to spend that kind of money on a player which I doubt then it should be spent on Lamela.

[DanDanShaw]

Playing hardball only works if you're the only buyer in town though. If we attempted it then some other team (prob Spurs again no doubt) would simply come in and offer the asking price, and we'd toddle off home again with nowt.

 

Yeah that's true, but I can't see Spurs paying £35m and giving him £5m a year. Don't they have a wage structure? Levy was trying to negotiate the Soldado deal for weeks and weeks before finally paying it.

 

I suppose sometimes, it's better to just pay it - and then you know what you have/haven't got going into the season.

[spider-neil]

I'm not convinced he offers quite enough end product for £30m - a price which not to long ago was reserved for the world's best superstars - but he'd fit in nicely on the left, as part of the way we play. Skillful, quick, makes things happen, but £30m seems overpriced. Still, if that's what we've got to pay to improve...

 

not enough end product? Have you seen how many assists he has in the past 4 seasons. He has 4 assists already in their league and the league has just started. You can say he doesn't score enough goals but you can't say he doesn't have enough end product.

[spider-neil]

Playing hardball only works if you're the only buyer in town though. If we attempted it then some other team (prob Spurs again no doubt) would simply come in and offer the asking price, and we'd toddle off home again with nowt.

 

...but safe in the knowledge we weren't fucked around.

 

 

 

Yay...

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

not enough end product? Have you seen how many assists he has in the past 4 seasons.

 

Assist stats for the last four years? I'd like a peek at those please, mate.

 

He has 4 assists already in their league and the league has just started. You can say he doesn't score enough goals but you can't say he doesn't have enough end product.

 

I said 'quite enough for £30m'. I'm not a huge fan of the assists statistic, but I did say he made things happen. Unless it's Mata-level numbers of assists, I still think there's a question mark for £30m.

 

I'm not saying he's Stewart Downing. I'm saying for that amount, which is fucking huge, I'm not sure there's quite enough as a result of his unquestioned skill.

[Horus]

What the fuck does "poised to bid £30m" mean? Bid the fucking money and get the deal done, don't spend a few days pissing around to allow other clubs time to declare their interest.

[2pak]

Assist stats for the last four years? I'd like a peek at those please, mate.

 

 

 

I said 'quite enough for £30m'. I'm not a huge fan of the assists statistic, but I did say he made things happen. Unless it's Mata-level numbers of assists, I still think there's a question mark for £30m.

 

I'm not saying he's Stewart Downing. I'm saying for that amount, which is fucking huge, I'm not sure there's quite enough as a result of his unquestioned skill.

 

No doubt it would be a risk but one would hope at 25 he can still add to his game. We have also seen cases of players being more effective (or not) when given slightly different roles or moving leagues.

 

It's difficult to value players nowadays as price can depend on one or multiple factors (demand, supply, club economics, 'Daniel Levys', desperation etc). If he's a good player and will give us more than we have, get him if you can afford him.

[aws]

Someone should check it out but I gotta feeling this supposed bid is just a load of monkey business.

[The Golden Eel]

Assist stats for the last four years? I'd like a peek at those please, mate.

 

Someone posted these on the MF recently, they were quite impressive. See if I can hoke them out

[Evil_Ways]

What the fuck does "poised to bid £30m" mean? Bid the fucking money and get the deal done, don't spend a few days pissing around to allow other clubs time to declare their interest.

 

Im quite sure other clubs have declared their interest, reports are Tottenham are keen, and for once it seems they were actually there before us.

[setreal]

What the fuck does "poised to bid £30m" mean? Bid the fucking money and get the deal done, don't spend a few days pissing around to allow other clubs time to declare their interest.

 

It means their blindfolded transfer-window monkey has hit one of the interns instead of the dartboard.

[The Golden Eel]

Courtesy of LFD:

 

Based on league and CL apps:

 

2010/11 - 5 goals, 12 assists in 38

2011/12 - 6 goals, 17 assists in 33

2012/13 - 7 goals, 10 assists in 27

2013/14 - 0 goals, 3 assists in 4

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

No doubt it would be a risk but one would hope at 25 he can still add to his game. We have also seen cases of players being more effective (or not) when given slightly different roles or moving leagues.

 

It's difficult to value players nowadays as price can depend on one or multiple factors (demand, supply, club economics, 'Daniel Levys', desperation etc). If he's a good player and will give us more than we have, get him if you can afford him.

 

Good shout. We have had players perform better when they moved here, there's no reason why he can't add more goals to his game. Not looking for a huge improvement, but averaging around four league goals a season isn't enough from a £30m player. That's just my opinion.

 

We'd be buying his skill, dribbling ability and pace. Those are great things to have as part of an attacking unit, but I'd certainly want a bit more return for the money. I doubt we'll get him, but just discussing the possibility as it's in the papers.

[mht1892]

This has Mkhitaryn written all over again, never made the bid.. Wanted to speak to the player, just make the fucking bid and get it done, front four of Suarez, Coutinho, Willian and Sturridge with Gerrard pulling strings will be tearing defences a new asshole.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Courtesy of LFD:

 

Based on league and CL apps:

 

2010/11 - 5 goals, 12 assists in 38

2011/12 - 6 goals, 17 assists in 33

2012/13 - 7 goals, 10 assists in 27

2013/14 - 0 goals, 3 assists in 4

 

Thanks mate. For me, I'd need to see each assists before going too wild. That said, they're clearly indicative of his ability to make things happen. I asked of Downing 10 goals and 10 assists in all competitions. I'd ask the same of Willian, or at least a variant of that (5 goals 15 goals created, etc). As with Mkhitaryan, I guess the question is whether he can bring that level to the Premiership. Rodgers was talking about bringing more goals. If he meant directly, perhaps £30m is too high for Willian - even despite his evident quality. If he meant indirectly, in goal creation, he might fit the bill.

 

Anyway, he'll be pulling on a Chelsea shirt before long, no doubt. He'll go where the money is, I reckon.

[Jairzinho]

He's fucking shit.

[Evil_Ways]

Think this would be a very good signing if it came off, he's the type of wide player who Rodgers wants, he's good at beating defenders from wide positions and cutting inside. Would also allow Coutinho to move into a central role more permanently.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

There's a decent sized playlist of 'every touch vs' type videos here, if anybody cares.

 

Willian vs Chelsea (H) 720p WillianHD10 on Vimeo

[spider-neil]

The amount of assists he has suggests he is the type to make things happen and this is exactly what we need against teams that will park the bus.

[Ezekiel 25:17]

They paid £35m for him so why are we giving them their money back when they've made it no secret they need to slash costs. We will also (no doubt) pick up his entire £100,000 per week wages.

 

We need to start playing hard ball, like every cunt does to us. £25m and we will take all his wages, or £35m and you can pay him £30,000 per week until the end of his contract. We always pay top money for players, then sell ours for fuck all. We need a Levy at Anfield.

 

Arsenal fans may disagree.