What’s Needed, Who Should Go, and Who’s Best for Us?
It’s that time of the year again where in a month’s time we will be so sick of transfer rumours that we contemplate closing our Twitter accounts and making our own perfect teams on FIFA and Football Manager shouting, “SEE! THESE PLAYERS FIT PERFECTLY WHY AREN’T WE AFTER THEM?!?!” This is also that time of the year where people suddenly have “sources” and all the ITK’s come crawling out of their holes to feed you bullshit for a few retweets and a sense of importance. So here are a few tips to remember during these hectic times:
1: If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
2: If it comes from Goal, Daily Star, Daily Mail, or Express – it’s bullshit.
3: If everyone is talking about it, including big named journo’s, it’s probably got some truth in it.
4: It’s not a “Done Deal” until you see their ass out on a medical table getting the ole’ inspection from Dr. Zaf Iqbal and signing papers with Ayre, and leaning in at least 2 photos.
5: The chances of us signing players we actually need for positions we are struggling with are slim to none, so keep your expectations low.
What’s needed?
A goalkeeper, possibly two centre backs, a defensive midfielder, a Gerrard replacement, and possibly two strikers.
Who Should Be for Sale?
I don’t want to break them all down individually, it’s fairly obvious who should be going but for safe measure I’m going to list them and give very brief reasoning.
Mignolet, Jones, Kolo, Skrtel, Lovren, Johnson, Lucas, Allen, Suso, Borini, Lambert, Yesil and possibly Balotelli all look likely to leave and rightly so. It wouldn’t be a surprise to me if Rodgers tried to shift Sakho because of his mistreatment ever since we bought him but due to his recent performances it would be hard to justify. Skrtel and Johnson should’ve been binned several seasons ago as should Lucas. It kills me to know we could’ve sold the trio 3 years ago for over 40mil. Kolo has done well for us this year in our times of need but far too old and unreliable; his mistakes are extremely costly and never minor. Lovren for being Lovren. Allen never flourished into the “Welsh Xavi” as he was meant to be. Suso won’t ever get a chance with us so we should just do the kid a favour and sell him, same for Borini & Yesil. Lambert and Balotelli just don’t fit us at all. Not our kind of players and haven’t been since the Crouch days. Balotelli deserves a chance since he’s been so unfortunate but for me Lambert looks like a fan that won a raffle for a year’s contract.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
Who’s Best For Us – In Regards to Price, Availability, and if they could fit our style of play (in my opinion)
Goalkeeper – Federico Marchetti – Everything you could possibly want in a keeper and everything we need. An Italian in his prime, and last year voted Serie A’s keeper of the season. He’s a leader, smart, perfect positioning, incredible reflexes, and can actually catch the ball. Something Mignolet has never done in his life.
Goalkeeper – Mattia Perin – I’m on the fence with Mattia but I do believe he’s right for us in a lot of aspects. For me he’s the Italian De Gea but far too keen on rushing out. He’s erratic and his reflexes are second to none but with our terrible defense it could be his demise. We could see him caught out multiple times and giving away a lot of cheap goals due to our defense poor performances. But his agent confirms he won’t leave until the summer and he has recently stated he has zero intentions on leaving so might bookmark him for the summer.
Centre Back – Dede (Cruzeiro) – An incredible talent that has surprisingly not been pried away from the Brazilian leagues. There are few players I have seen in my lifetime be so incredible at defense and be equally threatening going forward. An outstanding right centre back that can easily play a sweeper role, he’s an absolutely ideal partner for Sakho (excluding Varane but that won’t happen.).
Defensive Midfielder – Radja Nainggolan – A solid option for a mere 9mil pounds. He’d the perfect replacement for Lucas and rotation option with Emre Can. Knows his role and never strays too far forward, something Lucas can’t do to save his life. He’s extremely talented but fair warning he loves to dive in to tackles which, in the EPL, regardless if he gets the ball he’ll probably get carded.
Creative Midfielder – Fabien Delph – Vastly underrated because he plays for Villa, never gets the chances he deserves in the England squad, he is absolutely everything Allen was meant to be. Smart on the ball, creative, controls the pace, and has excellent vision. Unless they put a ridiculous price tag on him, he’s worth a shot. We could even throw Allen in as a sweetener for a win/win. The Midfielder is will also be available on a free next summer.
Source: avfc.com
Gerrard Replacement – Yohan Cabaye – After a year away, he already wants to come back to the UK. Getting few playing opportunities at PSG, he would be an ideal, affordable candidate to bring in and replace Gerrard. He’s still only 28 years old and still extremely talented.
Gerrard Replacement – Mateo Kovacic – Easily one the brightest prospects in world football, he is everything you could want from an attacking minded midfield player. This is a player everyone pretends to know about but don’t actually watch him. But he is a talent that is worth the hype. The chances of us getting him are slim but he’d fit like a glove and they are interested in Lucas.
Winger – Yheven Konoplyanka – I will never give up wanting him until the day he retires. He is absolutely perfect for Liverpool in every way. He has the ability to absolutely embarrass defenders, take on multiple players with ease, and creates opportunities out of thin air. Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres are the only two recent players at Liverpool to possess such a talent and he makes for a great replacement. For the small price of 0.6m, we could finally have him.
https://vine.co/v/OhiBjbOB2lr
Striker/Winger – Andriy Yarmolenko – Another Ukrainian talent that could be signed for dirt cheap, Andriy is the perfect partner for just about every attacking pairing we have at Liverpool. His versatility and incredible speed makes him a phenomenal free-to-roam striker/winger option in the team. Put him across Sturridge, Sterling, Lallana, Konoplyanko, Coutinho, or Markovic; it doesn’t matter. They’ll make magic.
Striker – Joel Campbell – He could potentially be another Sturridge purchase if we play our cards right. Arsenal has never been keen on us but they love selling to rivals and the kid wants out. His worth isn’t more than 7mil so I wouldn’t mind sending in a cheeky bid to test their resolve and see if we can get him at a bargain price. He shows the lethal characters of a class striker and could be a great asset for us. If it fails however we’ve lost little and could still sell him for evens to a club abroad.
Source: arsenal.com
Merseyside Fischer
Latest posts by Merseyside Fischer (see all)
- Liverpool’s Potential 41 Exits Over Next 2 Summer Windows - March 7, 2016
- Why Teixeira is a Financial Risk worth Taking and Why Liverpool Can Afford To - January 26, 2016
- January 1st: Time for Klopp to take out the garbage - December 22, 2015