January 2023 Transfer Thread

[TheHowieLama]

1 minute ago, Harry Squatter said:

Most of them have been comfy for 4 years knowing that there is no one to come in to take their places. 

 

I'd sell Salah and Fabinho, maybe Matip as well. Not sure how much they would get but all 3 are high earners so the mingebags will be made up to get them off the books. 

 

This should have been done gradually but some players have been here too long and now everything needs rebuilding all at once.

 

Walks away for free in 16 months. Kelleher is worth more on the market.

[Freddo]

1 minute ago, an tha said:

Just clinging to hope that Klopp knows what he needs and will ensure we get it.....all we can do.

 

Feels like we are taking a big gamble way we are sitting - this next window is i think it is fair to say massive for this football club.

 

The months ahead and whether we get top 4 or not also feel pivotal - you can hear the 'we can't go after our original targets because we have lost european cup footy' excuses already if we do indeed miss out.

 

Feels like we are at a crossroads and the competition is stronger than ever, and more ambitious than ever - we better have one frigging hell of a plan.

We better had you’re right. I think we’ll have the plan but will we have the ambition and more importantly the finances to do it.

We need major surgery and it should have started this window. Expecting what we hope are a number of new players to gel in one pre season is a bridge way to far.

At least with gakpo he’s had half a season so the hope is he’ll do well.

It is pivotal you’re  spot on, these owners though are dead in the water. 
Do they have the stomach to face the new competition head on. Doesn’t look like it.

[an tha]

4 minutes ago, Freddo said:

We better had you’re right. I think we’ll have the plan but will we have the ambition and more importantly the finances to do it.

We need major surgery and it should have started this window. Expecting what we hope are a number of new players to gel in one pre season is a bridge way to far.

At least with gakpo he’s had half a season so the hope is he’ll do well.

It is pivotal you’re  spot on, these owners though are dead in the water. 
Do they have the stomach to face the new competition head on. Doesn’t look like it.

Yeah it feels a bit bleak at the moment - Klopp is the only thing in it all that gives me hope - he has to be backed with what he needs. If he isn't he would be totally justified in walking away.

 

What should have been a gradual refresh and top up whilst on top has slowly been allowed to approach being a rebuild, it has to be addressed and agressively this summer.

 

If FSG don't want to do it then ok, their prerogative - but they should then take the profit on their investment and go IMO.

[Freddo]

1 minute ago, an tha said:

Yeah it feels a bit bleak at the moment - Klopp is the only thing in it all that gives me hope - he has to be backed with what he needs. If he isn't he would be totally justified in walking away.

 

What should have been a gradual refresh and top up whilst on top has slowly been allowed to approach being a rebuild, it has to be addressed and agressively this summer.

 

If FSG don't want to do it then ok, their prerogative - but they should then take the profit on their investment and go IMO.

This is right, they either want to do it or go. Simple as that.

A huge worry is we look rudderless. I’d love to know why Ward is stepping away. We have lost analysts who were so key to our success. Why? 
So many questions to answer and I guess it’ll come out in the wash. Fsg love throwing seasons away, they’ve thrown this one away as they aren’t winners. Not really. 

[an tha]

2 minutes ago, Freddo said:

This is right, they either want to do it or go. Simple as that.

A huge worry is we look rudderless. I’d love to know why Ward is stepping away. We have lost analysts who were so key to our success. Why? 
So many questions to answer and I guess it’ll come out in the wash. Fsg love throwing seasons away, they’ve thrown this one away as they aren’t winners. Not really. 

The change and uncertainty behind the scenes does all appear to be a bit of a worry - the club never mind the team feels like it is in transition. It isn't pretty at moment - all we can hope is that it is all going to come together quickly and we can kick on again.

 

[Barrington Womble]

1 hour ago, an tha said:

We aren't half leaving ourselves a lot of work to do in one window now.

 

Far from ideal trying to integrate what surely has to 2 or 3 new players into a unit in same area of park all at same time and them all settling/adapting at same time too.

 

 

Or we can give keita and milner new contracts, talk up Bajcetic a bit more and have a bit of a go at Bellingham before getting blown out of the water on fee and wages and just go as we are saying we won't be pressured into buying the wrong players. 

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, Harry Squatter said:

Sander Berge going to Newcastle and Shelvey going to Forest. 

 

There will be a few leaked stories on Twitter over the next few days about how Liverpool monitored Berge for 3 years but decided not to bid for him.

Of course the story will be "how can we compete with a state fund"

[Freddo]

1 minute ago, an tha said:

The change and uncertainty behind the scenes does all appear to be a bit of a worry - the club never mind the team feels like it is in transition. It isn't pretty at moment - all we can hope is that it is all going to come together quickly and we can kick on again.

 

There must be some positives somewhere. Hard to see them but I’m sure they are there. 

[johnsusername]

I'm not FSGs biggest fan (this sale thing has really rocked the boat I think), but aren't they within their rights to say "we've just given you a £100m" which we've spent on Nunez and Gakpo?

 

 

[Barrington Womble]

15 hours ago, johnsusername said:

I'm not FSGs biggest fan (this sale thing has really rocked the boat I think), but aren't they within their rights to say "we've just given you a £100m" which we've spent on Nunez and Gakpo?

 

 

Ok, I'll bite.

 

They haven't given anyone anything. It's the clubs money. 

 

In order to buy these players, we sold a bunch and got a load off the wage bill in the summer and if the local journos are to be believed, we've already eaten in to this summers money.

 

Arteta has spent more than double net in his short time at arsenal than what klopp has in his entire time here.

 

We haven't bought a midfielder since thiago 4.5 years ago, with him "forward replacing" someone of the same age. 

 

So FSG can say what they like and they'll still be tight cunts. 

[Jairzinho]

5 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

Ok, I'll bite.

 

They haven't given anyone anything. It's the clubs money. 

 

In order to buy these players, we sold a bunch and got a load off the wage bill in the summer and if the local journos are to be believed, we've already eaten in to this summers money.

 

Arteta has spent more than double net in his short time at arsenal than what klopp has in his entire team here.

 

We haven't bought a midfielder since thiago 4.5 years ago, with him "forward replacing" someone of the same age. 

 

So FSG can say what they like and they'll still be tight cunts. 

 

They are definitely tight cunts. There is still a separate argument to be had about how we have spent the money we have had though. 

[Barrington Womble]

Just now, Jairzinho said:

 

They are definitely tight cunts. There is still a separate argument to be had about how we have spent the money we have had though. 

In what way? Because we bought forwards? 

[an tha]

16 minutes ago, Freddo said:

There must be some positives somewhere. Hard to see them but I’m sure they are there. 

Klopp is the obvious stand out.

 

Good players to return to side the other.

 

And despite there being an obvious decline in some key men and the black hole that we call midfield, there is still some very good footballers at this club - we just need to make the blindingly obvious improvements to get the best of us seen again and we need a bit of luck on the bastard injury front too....

 

Not saying all our injury problems are down to bad luck, some are obviously because we have permacrocks at club, and there is something not right on the fitness/medical side of things IMHO, but we have also had some fucking rotten luck with injuries - so often whole areas of team all down at same time, long term jobs to key men and so on....we surely have to get a break in that area soon - it creates so many knock on effects, can't rotate, over playing other players, weak benches so can't change things etc.

[Heinze]

Lock the thread.

[Jairzinho]

9 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

In what way? Because we bought forwards? 

 

In the way that we have stockpiled old shit central midfielders. Bought a skip full of forwards who all need to play on the left. Zero competition for Salah on the right. Zero competition for Trent (I'm not convinced this Scottish kid even exists). 

 

I detest the current owners, they're weaselly fucking cunts, but Klopp's lack of ruthlessness in binning off the shite, and our focus on the Dutch and Portuguese leagues, isn't helping.

[Anubis]

Newcastle and Spurs wanting Lukaku is not the transfer rumour I expected.

[Barrington Womble]

4 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

 

In the way that we have stockpiled old shit central midfielders. Bought a skip full of forwards who all need to play on the left. Zero competition for Salah on the right. Zero competition for Trent (I'm not convinced this Scottish kid even exists). 

 

I detest the current owners, they're weaselly fucking cunts, but Klopp's lack of ruthlessness in binning off the shite, and our focus on the Dutch and Portuguese leagues, isn't helping.

I would say...  

 

I'm not too arsed about the cover for Salah, because Diaz has shown he's more than capable of playing there. We had backup in minamino for years and he was a waste of a squad place. So since summer 21 window closed, we've effectively swapped Diaz for mane (mane was also capable of playing down the right), Nunez for divock (a bloke who should be a 9, but might suit wide areas for klopp better) and gakpo for minamino. 3 out 3 in. I'm not counting carvalho as he's a kid random gamble. 

 

I agree we should have done more with the midfield, but not now, 2 years ago. Klopp has clearly been willing to let keita and Chamberlain leave for some time, but nobody met the valuation the club put on them. So none out, none in. Personally I'd have found a way to get them out, but klopp made the point last week that even if he wanted to let players go, he couldn't because we couldn't bring any in. 

 

The right back is a distraction to the whole conversation. His backup is milner. 

 

As for the Dutch and Portuguese thing, I dunno if that's anything to worry about. We've found places before where we put all our focus. First it was Southampton. Second it was the red bull clubs. Maybe it just reflects scouts who's eyes match the data. 

 

For me it all comes back to why keita & Chamberlain are still at the club. And why when our midfield was ageing we chose to replace one with someone of the same age.

[George Costanza]

We are certainly struggling due to a lack of investment but it can also be said that the recent large investment made into the team has not been spent well or wisely

 

There won't be any CL revenue next season so it wouldn't surprise me if excuses are made in the summer

 

 

[J-V]

25 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

 

In the way that we have stockpiled old shit central midfielders. Bought a skip full of forwards who all need to play on the left. Zero competition for Salah on the right. Zero competition for Trent (I'm not convinced this Scottish kid even exists). 

 

I detest the current owners, they're weaselly fucking cunts, but Klopp's lack of ruthlessness in binning off the shite, and our focus on the Dutch and Portuguese leagues, isn't helping.

 

Is right.

[manwiththestick]

28 minutes ago, Anubis said:

Newcastle and Spurs wanting Lukaku is not the transfer rumour I expected.

Chelsea will probably be monitoring.

[Jose Jones]

40 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

I would say...  

 

I'm not too arsed about the cover for Salah, because Diaz has shown he's more than capable of playing there. We had backup in minamino for years and he was a waste of a squad place. So since summer 21 window closed, we've effectively swapped Diaz for mane (mane was also capable of playing down the right), Nunez for divock (a bloke who should be a 9, but might suit wide areas for klopp better) and gakpo for minamino. 3 out 3 in. I'm not counting carvalho as he's a kid random gamble. 

 

 

 

If we've effectively swapped Diaz for Mane, Nunez for Origi and Gakpo for Minamino, do you think it was a good idea to use 100 million quid to replace our 5th and 6th choice attackers?

[3 Stacks]

46 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

I would say...  

 

I'm not too arsed about the cover for Salah, because Diaz has shown he's more than capable of playing there. We had backup in minamino for years and he was a waste of a squad place. So since summer 21 window closed, we've effectively swapped Diaz for mane (mane was also capable of playing down the right), Nunez for divock (a bloke who should be a 9, but might suit wide areas for klopp better) and gakpo for minamino. 3 out 3 in. I'm not counting carvalho as he's a kid random gamble. 

 

I agree we should have done more with the midfield, but not now, 2 years ago. Klopp has clearly been willing to let keita and Chamberlain leave for some time, but nobody met the valuation the club put on them. So none out, none in. Personally I'd have found a way to get them out, but klopp made the point last week that even if he wanted to let players go, he couldn't because we couldn't bring any in. 

 

The right back is a distraction to the whole conversation. His backup is milner. 

 

As for the Dutch and Portuguese thing, I dunno if that's anything to worry about. We've found places before where we put all our focus. First it was Southampton. Second it was the red bull clubs. Maybe it just reflects scouts who's eyes match the data. 

 

For me it all comes back to why keita & Chamberlain are still at the club. And why when our midfield was ageing we chose to replace one with someone of the same age.

No, he hasn't.

 

No he hasn't. If Keita was willing, we'd extend him. That's been reported.

 

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

2 hours ago, Harry Squatter said:

Sander Berge going to Newcastle and Shelvey going to Forest. 

 

There will be a few leaked stories on Twitter over the next few days about how Liverpool monitored Berge for 3 years but decided not to bid for him.

If we did monitor Berge and decided not to buy him, then I reckon we made a good decision.

[Megadrive Man]

1 hour ago, johnsusername said:

I'm not FSGs biggest fan (this sale thing has really rocked the boat I think), but aren't they within their rights to say "we've just given you a £100m" which we've spent on Nunez and Gakpo?

 

 

 

The crazy thing now is that you'd actually struggle to get two top players for £100 million.

 

It's another reason why FSG have to fuck off as soon as possible, the strategy they have doesn't work any more. 

[Megadrive Man]

21 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

If we did monitor Berge and decided not to buy him, then I reckon we made a good decision.

 

It's weird how no club has come in for him and he's just stagnated at Sheffield United for years!

[Jose Jones]

3 minutes ago, Megadrive Person said:

 

The crazy thing now is that you'd actually struggle to get two top players for £100 million.

 

It's another reason why FSG have to fuck off as soon as possible, the strategy they have doesn't work any more. 

 

The main problem with FSG's strategy at the moment, is that they don't even have a strategy.  We used to have a good one, even if it was frustratingly underfunded.

Mike Gordon ran the club and Klopp was apparently good with him.

Edwards was Sporting Director, Julian Ward head of recruitment - gone and going.  Klopp would identify positions of need, the scouting team were good at recommending players that then fit in well with what Klopp wanted to do.  We'd brag about how we were thinking two windows ahead.

 

Now the bloke who used to run the club is now focused on selling the club, which doesn't seem to be happening either and we have no recruitment strategy other than "we might try to sign someone if someone else goes in for them first", while key areas of the squad have been allowed to get old and stale.

The medical team has been fucked up for some reason too.