Summer '09 Transfer Speculation Thread

[Red Banjo]

18m? muhahahahaha

[Red-Ed]

Always suspicious of youtube clips and the music confirms why. From the clips though, he looks direct, quick, able to use both feet which means he could play in any of the three attacking positions behind Torres.

 

I'd guess for £18 million + he'd be our one big signing.

 

Defo the type of player we need, don't know enough about him to judge whether he'd succeed in England or be a better bet than a Silva/Tevez.

[CWD82]

Looks like a Milan Baros impersonator in that first video. Head down, run as fast as you can, never pass the ball.

 

Never seen him play but he seems in the same mould as Tevez but with Tevez you know he's already settled in England plus we get to piss every single Manc off.

 

If he can release the ball and bring others into play as well as he can dribble then I wouldn't be disappointed with this fella. If he can play wide also then it's a bonus

[Trucker Paddy]

£10m and a current Italian international fullback not a penny more.

[Hazel Motes]

What if they ask for Giorgio Chiellini? Could we fool them? He has the same haircut as Dossena hasn't he?

[Funkasy]

he seems extremely fast.

[StevieH]

Maths: Rafa Benitez's latest educational challenge

 

 

Rory Smith

 

on Football

 

Never before has the Spanish education system come under such scrutiny. First there was the praise, from Sir Alex Ferguson, that it appeared to give a better understanding of the work of Freud than its Scottish equivalent, quickly followed by Rafa Benitez's own admission that he never really paid attention in English, and so could not quite understand the barbs coming his way from the vague direction of Stretford. What will concern Liverpool's fans most, though, is not whether Benitez flunked English and starred in psychology, but how well he did at maths.

 

Not the complicated stuff that brings with it an attendant sense of pointlessness - what's a factor? When will I need one? - but the basics. It is addition, subtraction and division that may end up defining Liverpool's immediate future. The addition of players, the subtraction of squad men and the division of the funds at Benitez's disposal.

 

That may seem a contrived intro, for which I apologise, but the reason for dealing with Liverpool's transfer dealings this summer in such a manner is this. There is a basic incongruity in all the whispers swirling around Anfield, even before the summer has truly begun. Rafa Benitez has been given £20 million to spend. Real Madrid want to sign Xabi Alonso, for £23 million. Benitez does not want to sell his player of the season ("I don't want to" is not the same as "I will not", of course). Yet he does want to sign Carlos Tevez, for £26 million. The maths, as you can see, does not work.

 

Let me try to break this down. Liverpool, despite their status among the Premier League's Big Four, are not Chelsea, Manchester United or even the parvenus of Manchester City and Tottenham. The Spaniard cannot go on a summer spending splurge in Europe's designer galleries. Anfield is not home to football's rampant, consumerist capitalism so much as a barter economy of need, rather than want. Benitez, an inveterate wheeler dealer, must get his moves right this summer, or Liverpool will stagnate, as they did in 2002. When all else around you is moving forwards, standing still feels a lot like going backwards.

 

To avoid that, he has the aforementioned £20m, handed to him by his overlords, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Yet he knows he needs to add quality to the outlying areas of a team already boasting a solid spine if he is to overhaul Manchester United. Put more precisely, Benitez needs a striker, at least one attacking midfielder, a right back who can play in the centre and, possibly, a utility midfield player. And none of them come cheap.

 

His first option, of course, is to augment his kitty with player sales. But who to sell? Jermaine Pennant, Charles Itandje and Sami Hyypia will leave Anfield on free transfers, freeing up wages, but nothing else. Paul Anderson and Jack Hobbs, two youngsters who have not made the grade, will depart for around £1.75m the pair. Andriy Voronin, bound for Germany, and Sebastian Leto, for warmer climes, should fetch £5m between them. Andrea Dossena is a target for Roma, Napoli and Sampdoria, and would probably cost any of those sides around £4m. The emergence of Emiliano Insua means the Italian international can be sacrificed.

Benitez is also likely to commission the culling of several reserve players. The likes of Jordy Brouwer, Miki Roque, Adam Hammill and Peter Gulacsi - among others - are never likely to make it at Anfield but would all, no doubt, find willing suitors elsewhere. Collectively, Benitez could probably pick up another £4m or so if he decides to be really ruthless with his second string. All of that work, maths fans, would give Benitez a £14m boost to his coffers, bringing the total to spend to around £35m, without even going into the more lucrative sales of Ryan Babel and Alonso, which remain reluctant options for the Spaniard.

 

So, £35m, and four slots to fill with quality international players, ready to challenge for a first team spot and boost Benitez's squad to the 19 or 20 players he feels he needs to challenge Manchester United. Two of those slots are reserved, most likely, for Gareth Barry and Glen Johnson. Benitez believes he will capture the Aston Villa man for £9m, while Portsmouth's financial parlousness means his January £12m move for Johnson will be successfully revived. £21m spent and one right back and one utility midfield player. £14m remain, give or take, for a striker to play back-up to Fernando Torres and an attacking midfielder.

 

This is where Benitez has a problem. His interest in Carlos Tevez is genuine, but so is Kia Joorabchian's £26m asking price. That is way out of Liverpool's league. David Silva, of Valencia, would cost around £15m, which Benitez could afford, but which would leave him one striker short. Reports suggest his interest in Ezequiel Lavezzi is also legitimate, and while £18m is more than he would like to pay, the Argentine can at least play both as an attacking midfielder and a striker. Aaron Lennon, of Tottenham, is a player Benitez likes and would cost around £12m, and his arrival would mean Dirk Kuyt would be free to cover Torres when necessary. Whichever option he takes, without selling one of Babel or Alonso, he can only afford one attacking player, which he would probably admit is not enough. Cashing in on the Dutchman would grant an extra £8m, but Alonso's sale would be more appealing, both financially and because, in Barry, Benitez would have a ready-made replacement. The fans, though, would be furious at seeing one of their darlings depart. That's the problem, though. Maths doesn't have feelings.

 

Benitez cannot afford to, either. He knows he has to be cruel to be kind to the club. Liverpool will finish just shy of United this year, but Old Trafford will surely see the addition of at least one world class player this summer, as every summer. Unless Rafa takes drastic, unilateral action, they will soon be joined by a 19th league championship. And, as everyone on Merseyside knows, 19>18, and that is simply which must be avoided. At all costs.

Edited May 23, 2009 by StevieH

[The Dude Abides]

Well there's a simple mathematic solution then. Don't buy Gareth fucking Barry.

[rebel23]

Not signing Johnson would save £12m, we can gamble on Arbeloa and Barry/someone else covering. Benitez is trying to do too much again when he should only use the money to buy one or two quality players and make do elsewhere

[Guest RafaIsRafa]

Benitez is trying to do too much again

 

You dont even know what he's trying to do!

[jackofdk]

The 20m is a too low estimate in my opinion. I believe Rafa will get that in the summer in addition to the recouped Keane money which are essentially out of last years budget. I don't think Rafa would've signed the extension, unless he was sure to get at least that.

 

That makes it about 36m before sales as far as I can tell.

 

Silva - 18

Johnson - 10

Barry - 9

Tevez - 22

------------

Total 59

 

Then raise 20m on Xabi and the rest by clearing out dross like El Zhar, Voronin and hopefully Degen and Itandje (and maybe even Cavalieri, if one of the kids are ready).

 

Our squad would be pretty fucking amazing if that happened. Even without the stubbly pass master. And we would fare better in the homegrown stakes for the Champions League meaning the likes of Darby, Kelly and Spearing could go on loan an get experience under the belt to make the final step up.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Srna would be able to play as an attacking midfielder, and a right back.

 

And will be cheaper than Johnson.

 

I really dont understand why not.

[StevieH]

Srna would be able to play as an attacking midfielder, and a right back.

 

And will be cheaper than Johnson.

 

I really dont understand why not.

 

Rightly or wrongly, we need to sign more British players to improve our quota of homegrown players for the Champions League.

[rebel23]

Rafa needs to understand you can't have the perfect team.

 

Sacrificing Johnson and counting on Barry/Degan and Darby to fill in at right back and having Tevez or Silva instead is what he should do like the mancs count on O'Shea, Fletcher, Rafael, hardly world class options.

 

If he thinks he can buy perfect players for every position then im afraid 19 will go to them as it's just too much to do in a summer and we'd still be building and need improvements or upgrades next year

[Wor Horse]

Rafa needs to understand you can't have the perfect team.

 

Sacrificing Johnson and counting on Barry/Degan and Darby to fill in at right back and having Tevez or Silva instead is what he should do like the mancs count on O'Shea, Fletcher, Rafael, hardly world class options.

 

If he thinks he can buy perfect players for every position then im afraid 19 will go to them as it's just too much to do in a summer and we'd still be building and need improvements or upgrades next year

 

So you're suggesting another summer of buying for the squad then? Jesus fucking wept.

 

We need talent out wide.

[rebel23]

So you're suggesting another summer of buying for the squad then?

 

We need talent out wide.

 

no im suggesting one or two signings rather than 4/5

[Wor Horse]

Oh and Benitez has not confirmed we've only got 20 mil, we apparently only had 20 mil last summer and we spunked it all on Keane still bought others.

 

I'll wait and see what happens.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

As the poster above said

 

We only had 20m last season apparently

 

Then we went and spent 35m.

 

My memory is a bit crap, did we sell anyone last year? Iv forgotten.

[StevieH]

As the poster above said

 

We only had 20m last season apparently

 

Then we went and spent 35m.

 

My memory is a bit crap, did we sell anyone last year? Iv forgotten.

 

Crouch, Riise, Finnan.

[G Richards]

Johnson is a low priority to my eyes. The main priority should be Tevez (or other world class/near world class attacking option).

 

Our team is good. If we had another top class player approaching Nando/Stevie quality then our chances to turn draws into wins improve dramatically.

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

In my humble opinion, we don't need to spunk any money on a right back this summer. This can wait until next summer. We have Bob and Darby, and Carra who can play there (I know he doesn't like it).

 

We need to spend all the cash on attacking players.

 

We should only be buying Barry if we sell Lucas.

 

That is all.

[The Dude Abides]

Well imo Johnson would very much be an attacking signing for us. He'd add something down that side we don't have, and are only starting to see down the left ourselves with the progression of Insua. Not to mention Darby is nowhere near the calibre of player you could throw in there, and what if Carra flat out refuses to play there like he already has done??

 

If Rafa must still after all this time still feel the need to bulk out the squad then do it with free transfers.

[The Infamous_LF]

We need a right back. We need Barry and we need a back up forward for the left side and uptop.

 

We need all these things if everyone of these problems isn't addressed we are not winning the league next season either

[The Dude Abides]

Of all our needs, Barry is very low down the list for me. And we don't need a backup for the left side, we need a starter.

[NIred1]

I'm sick to the back teeth of reading about Barry. I hope we sign him this summer and sign him early.