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Summer 2017 Transfer Thread


Anubis
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One more day left of "it's still only July".

 

Next comes "we still have the whole of August"

 

After that comes "I'm glad the club has waited for the *right* targets. January is around the corner"

 

 

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Theres no value in January though mate.

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There's a bit too much negativity on here for me - not at anyone in particular, but just a certain malaise over the forum.

 

As a club we are on the up. We all know the score - we've not won the league for 27 years and the trophies have dried up in the last decade. However...

 

We were trying to finish top four last season to boost our prospects and become relevant again at the top table. We achieved the goal. While it's not what we used to be, it is a good step in the right direction. We have only qualified for the CL twice in the last eight years. So I'm choosing to see what's good.

 

In addition Klopp is a very good manager. He manages the players very well and has a clear idea about how he wants the team to play. He's a big enough person to not be bullied by anyone in the game, and he can hold his ground on behalf of Liverpool Football Club with aplomb. He's rich and media savvy and all the rest of it, but he hasn't managed to forget that he's a normal bloke, unlike some managers we could name.

 

The big drag at the moment is the signings we haven't made yet. Let's look at what we have done first. Salah hasn't played a competitive game for us yet so we can't go overboard, but that lad looks like he will add loads to our attack this coming season. Pace, goals, assists. Bring it on.

 

Solanke is a low key signing but he is doing very well so far, and he could surprise us. Robertson adds balance in a needed area at left back, and though he is unheralded we shouldn't judge too soon. Klopp has an eye for a player.

 

OK, we all know we need more depth. We played really well but ran out of steam last time, though we rallied and showed good grit and determination to finish top four when much of the fan base had written us off for a top four finish after a bad winter. In any sport you will go much further if you can dig deep, and the steel we showed towards the end to keep Man Utd and Arsenal at bay will augur well for the future.

 

So what about a bit more depth? Well, we don't just need bodies. We need very good players. Two top players, VVD and Keita, or nearest equivalents, would sway the mood on here enormously. It's too sooon to lament what might have been when work is still ongoing and the window is still open.

 

It's not perfect, but I don't see reason to be nearly as down as the mood of much of the forum.

 

Cheer up!

 

I agree with much of the sentiment, but I feel the mood is at least in part a reaction to the (often briefed) articles that poured forth at the end of last season.

 

They went big on Klopp spending like it was Brewster's Millions, targets were lined up ready for us and the age old getting them in early so they can have a proper pre-season. Once the latter appears to have been wishful thinking, and the work done behind the scenes has seemingly been to convince players who may not be available, I consider it understandable when some fans get the jitters that the big plan may have been flawed all along. The lack of faith in FSG is compounded by the fact that our record transfer is a player we screwed up signing for a fraction of the price a few years ago when he was equally needed.

 

People wanted Klopp to spend when it was clear we'd be without Mané for a month, and he didn't, he rated the squad. We went down the pan in his absence among other things, and it underlined how thin the squad was. It raised the prospect that Klopp, contrary to popular (or even hopeful) opinion, actually thinks this squad is good enough as is, and that further signings would not be essential but rather a luxury.

 

Then you factor in another trophyless season, and the whole focus being CL football, and the slow realisation that maybe it just isn't worth the hassle if we can't get our house in order. 

 

You could say the club are damned if they do and damned if they don't; if they aim high, they risk missing out on top class players, but if they don't they'll be lambasted for a lack of ambition. I just think they're the victims of their own poor PR strategy and fumbling of transfers. Under promise and over deliver was their mantra, but when they want tickets renewed and to keep selling out an expanded stadium they promise all and sundry. The substance needs to be there to back it up, or they risk this kind of backlash. 

 

I reckon we'll get VvD, and that'd represent a pretty decent window, but I can't blame anyone for reading the signposts thus far as being waypoints along the road to a pretty shite summer. The club should put a gag on the mere mention of the phrase "like a new signing" at the very least.

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Good post Babb'sBurstNad.  

 

I think Klopp wanted to strengthen in January and went after Draxler, but the player chose PSG.  

 

If we get VVD in addition to the business already done, I agree that will be a decent window. Not great, as we wanted Keita too, but still decent. Two to go straight into the first eleven and two more to add some depth. 

 

I'd take that sort of strengthening every summer from this day forward in perpetuity, with the added proviso that if we lose a player we didn't want to lose, they need to be replaced too. Oh, and I'd also add the usual smattering of kids to build up the teams behind the team.

 

But essentially two big signings into the first eleven, and two more into the first team squad, is decent business. Not great, as we wanted more this summer, but decent. Here's hoping we at least sign VVD...

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Nor do good players move without champ's league, might seem negative Rev but I really thought this summer we would actually sort stuff out, but i'm just left all a bit mehhhh... I thought Sturridge would be shown the door along with others and some quality got in.. doesn't seem like it's going to happen.  

 

 

It's fair enough Istvan! I was hoping for five players this summer, with three to go straight into the first team and two to add to the first team squad. 

 

Thus far there is a VVD and Keita sized hole through the middle of the team. If Keita is not possible until next summer, we have to make sure we sign VVD as the defence is the weakest area of the team.

 

I can understand the concerns of posters, and I share many of them myself. If it turns out that we add VVD to the business so far, that would be decent, but still one good player short of what I was hoping for. But still decent.

 

If we stay as we are now, then put me down for a ticket on the bus with many other posters, as it's not good enough and we are way short of where we need to be for the new season. 

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Klopp rates the squad and only wants to add specific players to it that fit his style and that he believes present a clear upgrade to what we already have. Of course in this optic we won't have a million alternatives and he'll back himself to get it done with what he already has. That's just how Klopp works.

 

That being said, it's impossible that he won't have thought of at least a CB alternative to VvD. Even if for some strange reason he rates Lovren and Klavan, there is no way he can actually believe that those two can play at the highest level.

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If we walk away from the £70m deal we were going to use to sign a midfielder then decide not to strengthen that area then we better have a next area we decide to strengthen. PEA is obtainable. If not a forward sign Coutinhos replacement a season early. Lets act like a big club.

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If we walk away from the £70m deal we were going to use to sign a midfielder then decide not to strengthen that area then we better have a next area we decide to strengthen. PEA is obtainable. If not a forward sign Coutinhos replacement a season early. Lets act like a big club.

 

 

I like the thinking. 

 

Big clubs strengthen ahead of time. So if Keita is not available now, perhaps we could sign Pulisic. Not the same sort by any means, but we know Klopp rates him and the player would give us another option on the wing. He also gives another option as an attacking midfielder and if we sign him now it would leave us less vulnerable to Coutinho's exit, if and when that might come. 

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I like PEA as he scores goals. What's not to like about that?

 

Unfortunately this signing is probably unlikely, due to age and wage expectations. I also think Klopp likes Firmino in the role for the all round effort he gives from the front, and with two great wingers either side there will be goals aplenty from the front three.

 

However, on a footballing basis PEA in between Salah and Mane would be irresistible. We'd need a bit more in central midfield though, as Firmino defends from the front. 

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Adam Lallana has welcomed reports linking Liverpool with the likes of Rafinha and Naby Keita – and insists the club needs the best to compete with the best.

 

The Reds have so far drawn a blank in their efforts to prise Keita from RB Leipzig – but Klopp may have more luck if he tries to prise Rafinha from Barcelona, amid claims a £35.7million bid is imminent.

 

And Lallana insists he does not feel threatened by the looming prospect of more competition for places at the club. Instead, he is relishing the chance to improve the squad.

 

“I want the best players to be linked with Liverpool and coming to Liverpool,” he said.

 

“If you are talking about it from a personal point of view, the pressure to get better and the competition for places is healthy. That is what we need.

 

“At times last year, our bench probably wasn’t as strong as we would have liked it to be. If we are going to achieve something, we are going to need a strong bench.”

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