January Transfer Window 2015

[Koptimus Prime]

Berahino hat-trick against Gateshead.

 

Prepare the £40m bid from us.

[El Dangerous]

At least we know what level he can excel at.

[Red Phoenix]

Liverpool are ready to make a £50 million bid for Real Madrid and France forward Karim Benzema, according to the Express.

 

[Dan Vito Corleone]

Benzema is a very good player and he continues to be linked to us - we've got no chance. Less now than we had when linked with him over the summer.

 

We're more likely to end up with someone Berahino (who I like) but not at the money WBA are going to want but it won't be this window. Shaqiri at the very most if we're lucky - which is a sickener when the likes of Cech are out there and available.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Vietto has scored again for Villarreal and is all over the pitch, creating chances galore. 

Just sign him. Now. Please. 

Telegraph linking us with a bid for Defoe!

[ZonkoVille77]

We are not likely to sign anyone are we? We are basically fucked.

[eeyore]

Can only see us buying if at least two of balotelli, enrique, borini, mignolet and a centre back are offloaded

[INTORRESTING]

Defoe hits it directly at the keeper more than any player past or present

 

Defoe and lambert? Relegation scrap standard

[Trumo]

Defoe hits it directly at the keeper more than any player past or present Defoe and lambert? Relegation scrap standard

 

I thought that was Djibril's trick - smash it as hard as you can straight at the keeper and hope it finds a way through.

[INTORRESTING]

Also excels at it. They are also both very fast and constantly offside.

 

Lambert and defoe could break some offside records

[Paco]

We keep getting linked with benzema.

 

is he after a new deal or what?

[john23liverpool]

I don't know why people do it to themselves. Do you really think we have got a cat in hells chance of signing Benzema? Not a chance of him wanting to come here and even if he did theres fucking no chance FSG would sanction that level of wages. 

[Gnasher]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/03/brendan-rodgers-liverpool-steven-gerrard

 

Brendan saying the club need to start buying star players and not kids to replace Gerrard. A dig at the board?

[Paco]

Is shaqiri a no 10?

 

Why do we need another no 10?

 

Plus Ibe needs to be in the first team squad next season.

[Gnasher]

Is shaqiri a no 10?

Why do we need another no 10?

Plus Ibe needs to be in the first team squad next season.

We can sing "We all dream of a team of number 10s"

[Spy Bee]

What's wrong with Berahinio? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30669567

[Anubis]

What's wrong with Berahinio? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30669567

 

Pulis seems to have been leaking stories to the press that he'll be sold so Pulis can bring in a few players he wants. Maybe he's pissed off that nobody has said anything to him first.

[Paco]

What's wrong with Berahinio? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30669567

He might be going to jail for drink driving

[Spy Bee]

He might be going to jail for drink driving

He's a professional footballer. He'll have Mr Loophole all over it.

[Boss]

West Brom are whoring him out so shamelessly. They know this is the maximum value they'll ever get for him, so they're briefing the press at every available opportunity. The technical director said the other day that he didn't think Pulis would sell for less than £20 million and he said it was "a small amount of money" with a straight face.

[Grinch]

Bring Berahimo's Burundi birth certificate to the negotiation table.  Might get him for his true worth of around 5 million then.

 

Pulis must be praying night and day someone pays stupid money the lad.  Scarily we're a club that loves paying big fees for players who might be worth that money one day.

[Remmie]

I've said it elsewhere, there are some truly deluded ideas about Berahino's sale value. 21, smashing loads of goals in a fairly shite team, scoring regularly for England under 21s. No chance he goes for anything less than £17m and in today's climate, in January, I see him going for about £22m, possibly even more. Who else is his age and scoring anywhere near as regularly?

 

I understand if people don't think that's what he's worth, but it's unfathomable he will go for peanuts.

 

Would I take him? I'd be pretty surprised if we spent that sort of money. If we did it'd be nicer to get a more proven player and plug other gaps as well but I'd be far from devastated.

[TheFridge]

Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool must replace Steven Gerrard with star talent

• Brendan Rodgers denies forcing captain out of Liverpool

• Steven Gerrard says lack of starts prompted desire for change

• Liverpool confirm Steven Gerrard’s MLS move

Brendan Rodgers said Steven Gerrard 'wanted the chance to experience something different'. Photograph: Paul Greenwood/BPI/REX

Paul Wilson

 

 

Brendan Rodgers has warned Liverpool’s owners that money will have to be spent on established internationals if the club is to keep progressing following Steven Gerrard’s departure – and has denied forcing his captain out of the club.

Gerrard’s decision to move to the United States at the end of the season for what he called “an incredible opportunity to try something different” will deprive Liverpool of its traditional home-grown core, with Jamie Carragher having retired in 2013. With the loss of Luis Suárez last summer, it means the first team is short on top-level experience too. Rodgers prides himself on promoting young talent but accepts that it is unrealistic to compete with top clubs solely by producing players from within.

 

“The model at this football club is clear, we want to take young players and develop them into world-class ones, but that can be a long and a difficult process,” the Liverpool manager said. “The owners know that, and they also know that not every player can be a developer if you are going to keep progressing. A large part of our squad will always be young players, but if you want to take those steps forward at times you have to look to bring in some ready-made players.”

 

Carragher has criticised his old club for not doing enough to keep hold of Gerrard, perhaps by offering him a coaching position, but Rodgers denied that was ever a possibility. Using the word “turmoil” to describe his captain’s state of mind over the past few weeks, Rodgers rejected claims that Gerrard was pushed out of the club against his wishes.

“I’ve had plenty of conversations with Steven this season and he’s never told me he felt unhappy,” Rodgers said. “We wanted to keep him at the club, he’s been a brilliant captain for me and we offered him a deal, but he wanted the chance to experience something different. Our communication is very open so I was aware what he was thinking and I also knew the turmoil he was in because of his unique situation. You see other players stay at one club all their careers but not too many who support Liverpool and still live where they come from, virtually five minutes round the corner.”

 

 

Gerrard admitted that his “emotional, raw” decision had largely been prompted by the realisation that he would no longer be an automatic starter. “There was more than one moment that made me come to this decision, but I think the key conversation or moment was with the manager when he sat me down not so long ago and said it was time to manage my games for me and for the team,” Gerrard told the club’s website.

“I’m bright enough to realise it is the right thing for everyone, but when you’ve been a starter and a mainstay in the team for such a long time, it was a very difficult conversation to have. I accept it and I’ll continue to give everything I’ve got, whether I’m starting, coming off the bench or whatever, but that was the key conversation.

 

“I had an idea it was going to come at some time – I’m a human, not a robot. I’m not 24. I wish I was 24, I wish I’d met Brendan when I was 24 because I’d be sitting here talking about a lot of titles that we’d won together. The reality is, Brendan came into this club when I was 32 years of age and it’s a shame that relationship didn’t start 10 years ago.

“I had an idea the conversation was going to come at some time, but it was still a painful one to have.”

 

Gerrard said the chance to start a new life in America was “a great opportunity for my family and myself”, but said no deal with an MLS club was in place. “I’m not over the line with any team just yet. I’m close and as soon as I know, I’ll make the announcement, I’ll do the bits and bobs that I need to do.”

 

Rodgers said he felt Gerrard was right to stay focused on extending his playing career overseas, and explained why there was no offer of an Anfield coaching position. “That did not form part of our conversations because he hasn’t got his badges yet and Steven isn’t the type who would go into coaching blind,” he said. “At the moment he still wants to play, and coaching and management is not something you can just click your fingers and walk into. It takes two or three years to get your eye in, it’s a pressure situation if you haven’t been accustomed to it, and it is not something that always comes naturally or instantly.

“A footballer like Steven has only known the elite level for well over a decade. If you become a coach or a manager you are working with a different type of player, not everyone can reach the elite level and you need to make an adjustment. I am sure Steven would put in the hard work and commitment should he ever make that decision, because that’s the kind of guy he is, but it is not something that ought to be rushed into.

 

“His focus is very much on the present, he believes he can play on beyond this season, and there will be plenty of years ahead of him to go into coaching. Time will tell but I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t become a top manager.”

Gerrard’s decision means his career, not just his Liverpool years, will come to an end without a league champions medal in England, though Rodgers was quick to pay tribute to his role in taking the club so agonisingly close last season.

 

“Everyone references the slip in the Chelsea game but you play 38 games to win the league and we came up just short over the season,” he said.

“Steven captained the team on an incredible run last year and a big part of our title challenge was down to him. His performances were monumental for us in the second part of last season, the key goals, the calmness, the composure.

 

“He gave us the opportunity to come so close to winning the league. He has been an iconic figure at this club and always will be. Over time there will be an opportunity for him to come back here for sure. If I were still Liverpool manager I would welcome him back.”

Gerrard said his short-term goal was now to win a domestic cup trophy before his Anfield career comes to an end. “We’ve still got a chance of finishing in the top four and that’s the most important thing for the club, for obvious reasons,” he said. “But from a selfish point of view, it’s always a trophy and it’s always medals, for me.

 

“That’s what people remember and that’s what the club is all about. It’s about success and history. The day you make your debut for this club, the pressure and the responsibility is on your shoulders to keep delivering trophies to add to that wonderful history. I’ve lived with that for so long and I’ll live with it for another six months.

“I’m really proud of what I’ve done here and hopefully I can write a few more chapters with the team from now to the end. But the last game and the last couple of training sessions are going to be torture, because it’s so tough to say goodbye. Hopefully it’s more of a ‘see you soon’.”

[skend04]

Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool must replace Steven Gerrard with star talent

 

 

That'll be Delph and Berahinio nailed on then for £50m.

[TheFridge]

That'll be Delph and Berahinio nailed on then for £50m.

 

It's hard not to think like that.

 

It's also begs the question why didn't he think the same when Suarez went?