Re Delli Ali: "That was so, so good. If he keeps this up I might have to go back to moaning on a weekly basis again about how Ian Ayre fucked that deal up."    My boy Usher. 

Unpopular opinion I know but I felt a bit sorry for Silva too. Still he’s got Christmas off now and a pay off I guess.

No. Sorry, but no. 

Liverpool veteran James Milner is keeping all options on the table as he moves into the final phase of what has been a illustrious career.

The versatile 33 year-old is out of contract in the summer and able to sign a pre-contract deal with foreign clubs from next month.

There has been a great deal of discussions between the club and the player himself and both parties have illustrated a desire to get a deal done.

But to this point, there is no good news on that front.

It has led to speculation that Milner could well end his career where it all began for him 17 years ago at his boyhood club Leeds United.

Leeds who fell heartbreaking close to a Premier League return last season are currently having a strong campaign, currently sitting second, two points off West Brom and five points clear of Fulham in third..

The Echo (via The Sportsman) reported that Milner still follows them with a deal of interest.

“ I’m a fan. I always follow the team and the results. 

“So you can never say no or even yes because just so much changes in football, you never know what happens.

“At the moment I’m a Champions League winner with Liverpool and this year we’re really going for the Premier League, but I don’t know what the future will hold.

“It would be amazing to play for Leeds again but no one from the club has ever contacted me about that.   "People talk about my age and that I’m getting on, and could I continue after Liverpool, but I don’t think I’m typical physically for my age"  

The fitness fanatic who has made 19 appearances for the Reds this season and 196 in all for the club says he is also happy to head abroad for a new footballing adventure.

“ I’m open to anything, I’d be interested in going abroad and experiencing a new league, a new style of football, new lifestyle too, but that all just depends on where it is and also on my family too.

But while football punditry is the pretty stock-standard gig for former players and sacked managers, don’t expect the universally admired midfielder to follow suite saying he has got plenty to pass on to the next generation.

“I think I’d be more interested in coaching than the media side. 

“ I see people going into punditry all the time but I think, in terms of who I’ve played for and with and what I’ve learnt as a player, it would be a shame not to pass that on within football to young players.

“Then again you see coaches and managers that are doing well for a time and then it doesn’t go so well and the amount of stick they then get week-in, week-out."


 
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Jurgen Klopp says that Liverpool could buy a player in the January transfer market if they release Rhian Brewster on loan.

While the club is keen to release the 19-year old for the second half of the season, they are adamant that it must be to a club who are willing to give him the type of minutes that can benefit his game.

Brewster became part of the senior squad in the summer after fully recovering from a long term ankle injury, but so far he has been consigned to Carabao Cup duty.

While Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Championship side Swansea have been linked, there has been no firm decision as yet.

But speaking in his Bournemouth pre-match press conference, The Reds manager alluded to the fact that he wouldn’t want to leave his squad short in the striking department.   The Echo reported Klopp as saying:

Yes, we have to see. We can't just give the boys [away] on loan because we have built this squad.

“ We have three long-term injuries and four with Paul Glatzel, two of them were pre-season. Two came later with Joel (Matip) and Fabinho.

“That gives us a 16-player squad and I count the kids, but we cannot only give players on loan and think it is good for him, we always have to consider both situations.

“The boys and ours, and in the end, we try to make the perfect solution. Sometimes it works out, others it does not."

Klopp believes that the long term injury suffered by Brewster could have put back his development.     "Maybe Rhian is the one, age-wise, experience-wise, if he had not been injured, he would already have been on a different level, but that is the situation and we constantly think of the situation for the boys.

“ He is very young, but still a bit advanced, but I don't know, we don't make decisions right now.   "If we do [loan him] then it 100 per cent needs to be the right club.

“They have all made steps here without playing Championship football week in and week out.   "They have all made massive steps here and Rhian's was delayed because of that big injury he had.

“Neco (Williams), Curtis (Jones) and Harvey (Elliott) have made massive steps here without playing week in and week out. No decision has been made yet [on the loan]."

One young Reds star who has thrived on loan over the past few years is Harry Wilson.

Currently at Bournemouth, the Welsh international is ineligible for the clash with his parent club today.

But Klopp has seen enough to say that he can make the grade if he continues to progress at the rate he has.
  " Can he succeed? Of course, that's why we loaned him so he can make the steps.

“It would have been difficult for Harry and I would have loved to have had him here if we had another choice, especially when Shaq (Xherdan Shaqiri) was injured, you want to have these kinds of players, but that is not the moment to decide.

“All the players we sent on loan have the chance to make it in the first team otherwise we would have sold them. His shooting is world class, that is how it is.

“Find me five players who shoot better than him, that is obvious, but the game is more and that is what he has to improve and that is clear. 

“ But to be involved as an offensive player you have to connect with other players.

“He has that, it is not like he doesn't, but to get to the next level, he needs game-time at the highest level and that is why we loaned him to Bournemouth."


 
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