I think we've rejected like 20 offers for Rugani until now,half of them from Napoli.

Not to mention Barzagli will be 35 in a few months time and age is catching up on Chiellini too who will turn 32 this August.

He's quite obviously going nowhere.

M99 wrote:Expectation: Rugani
Reality: Caceres

As a Milan fan, shouldn't you have learned to manage your expectations like 4 seasons ago?

S wrote:I think we've rejected like 20 offers for Rugani until now,half of them from Napoli.

Not to mention Barzagli will be 35 in a few months time and age is catching up on Chiellini too who will turn 32 this August.

He's quite obviously going nowhere.

Chelline is 32? he was a youngster the other day


oh wait i'm approaching 30 myself
#timeflys

http://www.football-italia.net/78786/roma-get-five-el-shaarawy

If we're to believe La Repubblica , El Shaarawy will need to play only 5 matches for Roma and the option to buy for 13m will become mandatory , with 2m loan fee for the six-month loan to be paid in January.

Given the 2m we got from Monaco initially , we will have earned 17 from SES this season , not bad for someone who barely played last season. Still quite unfortunate it didn't work out for him at Milan , but that's cocaine football for you. Best of luck to Stephan .

Jokes aside , and even though he didn't want to come back in Milan , i am happy for him , i hope it all goes smoothly for him at Roma .

80m for the chosen one

yeah i mean,what are those clowns smoking : (

Onyx wrote:Juventus rejected an €80m offer from Barcelona for Dybala last month, according to Tuttosport.

So they were willing to pay 80 millions for him despite having bought Turan months before and MSN still at the top .. sound legit ...

Apparently Chelsea are also interested in Alex Teixeira... so that's probably a death blow to our chances of getting him.

Art Morte wrote:Apparently Chelsea are also interested in Alex Teixeira... so that's probably a death blow to our chances of getting him.

Chelsea have been consistently linked with Alex Teixeira for more than a year now, this is hardly a new development.

RedOranje wrote:

Art Morte wrote:Apparently Chelsea are also interested in Alex Teixeira... so that's probably a death blow to our chances of getting him.

Chelsea have been consistently linked with Alex Teixeira for more than a year now, this is hardly a new development.

What's your opinion on the Teixeira-Liverpool link? There anything to it? Would it make sense? Is it likely? Would you welcome it?

We've put in an official bid of £24 or 25m; Ayre flew to Orlando, Florida and met with the Shaktar's representatives to discuss it... so there's obviously something to it. The bid was so far off of Shaktar's valuation (supposedly near £40m) though that I'd honestly be surprised to see any compromise or deal actually struck in this window. I mean, they have previously stated that they don't want to sell until summer so I don't see why they'd accept a lower offer... that's a large difference to sort out in a short window. Unless the player himself asks for the move I don't see an agreement being reached. Plus, as Morte has stated, Chelsea and several other better-positioned clubs than LFC have registered interest so it's quite conceivable that someone else will make a move if there does seem a chance he could leave Shaktar this window. Finally, our history of dealing with Ukrainian clubs in the transfer market is... poor, to say the least.

As for how he'd fit in at Liverpool, I honestly don't know. The only Shaktar I've seen has been a couple of CL matches so I really don't know anything about the player beyond what the statistics and basic reviews can tell me. I'm loathe to draw too many conclusions from that so all I can really say is that the area just behind the striker seems to be one area we're pretty well stocked in (Coutinho, Firmino, Lallana, Ibe, Markovic [returning in summer], and even the likes of Henderson, Allen, and youth) but we desperately lack goals which Teixeira seems to provide. IF he arrives and IF he can continue his goalscoring, he'll be a fantastic addition. There's also just something FUN about the idea of a Brazilian trio of attackers or fielding a Teixeira-Teixeira line-up at some point.


tl;dr
I don't expect the deal to happen despite a bid having been made already, though his potential for goals (assuming he hits the ground running) could massively help us.

RedOranje wrote:We've put in an official bid of £24 or 25m; Ayre flew to Orlando, Florida and met with the Shaktar's representatives to discuss it... so there's obviously something to it.

Ok. So you'd say the reports are reliable enough to think all this actually happened? I'm never sure tbh.

RedOranje wrote:There's also just something FUN about the idea of a Brazilian trio of attackers or fielding a Teixeira-Teixeira line-up at some point.

Agree. Firmino-Coutinho had a lot of fun already against City, the three of them could be something to look forward to.

Sadly, Firmino's not looking like he'll be THAT great so far.

But we'll see.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

RedOranje wrote:We've put in an official bid of £24 or 25m; Ayre flew to Orlando, Florida and met with the Shaktar's representatives to discuss it... so there's obviously something to it.

Ok. So you'd say the reports are reliable enough to think all this actually happened? I'm never sure tbh.

It's never a bad idea to be skeptical of reports, otherwise you'll end up jumping at every half-cooked rumour-monger spouting off how we're approaching Cagliari's third-choice keeper to replace our starter who just signed a new 5-year deal. Still though, when the BBC, Liverpool Echo, Guardian, Times, Telegraph, and every other rag are reporting that we made a bid (not that we "Were reported to have") it's usually safe to believe it.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

RedOranje wrote:There's also just something FUN about the idea of a Brazilian trio of attackers or fielding a Teixeira-Teixeira line-up at some point.

Agree. Firmino-Coutinho had a lot of fun already against City, the three of them could be something to look forward to.

Sadly, Firmino's not looking like he'll be THAT great so far.

But we'll see.

Eh, he's a young-ish player adjusting to new league, under two different managers with different approaches, in a misfiring team. I think it's worth cutting him a bit of slack. Also, he's generally been about a 6 (with a few 4s and a couple of 8s or 9s) in an attack that's averaged about a 4 or 5 out of 10. He's pretty obviously not a leader who will carry the team to victories, which perhaps should be expected with that price tag, but I think that's a decent enough showing given the overall circumstances. I feel like he's the type that will perform better and more consistently with a more cohesive attack and better players around him. The fact that he's had a few great performances and has also shown a general upward trend (particularly since December) gives me hope that he can and will fit into the team and style, which I'm not sure can be said of others.

Yeah I'm not saying you should tear Firmino in pieces. He's doing alright. He can and will do better still.
But just some expectation management. He's no Suarez.

RedOranje wrote: Still though, when the BBC, Liverpool Echo, Guardian, Times, Telegraph, and every other rag are reporting that we made a bid (not that we "Were reported to have") it's usually safe to believe it.

I didn't really read the reports too closely, but I see now Guardian, BBC, Times indeed speak of an offer, or approach, with the same details, without refering to another source.

Means they've likely been briefed, so yes ok then there's something to it.

Now I saw a report that Teixeira told O Globo he'd like to leave this window, as the club has a good offer.
O Globo is not a tabloid iirc, it's a normal major newspaper so it's not nothing.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jan/23/alex-teixeira-leaving-shakhtar-donetsk-liverpool-chelsea

I think Liverpool wouldn't make a bid if they hadn't talked to the player first.
Now just because the agent says he'd be interested doesn't mean he's not telling Chelsea the same.
Chelsea don't have a coach yet as far as I can see so it's a question whether they'd be making big squad decisions now.
Also I think you also shouldn't disregard that Klopp does have pull with players. Players noticed what happened with Dortmund's players. They're all stars now.
Players want the same to happen to them, so I wouldn't be too pessimistic about chances to get players.

Just saw the Teixeira quotes myself. He does say he wants to leave this window and that they [Shaktar] have received a good offer, but he also goes to great lengths to indicate that he's open to other clubs. I believe he even stated that if he can't get a move this window he'll definitely leave in the summer, so it sounds as though he may be alright with waiting for a more prestigious move.


Re:Firmino
I'm not by any means expecting him to be some world star. Nor do I, for what it's worth, expect the likes of Coutinho or Ibe to end up being world class. I do think that they all have the potential to be very good players and, perhaps more importantly, parts of a very good team. It's something that I feel gets lost in the modern game at times.

RedOranje wrote: I do think that they all have the potential to be very good players and, perhaps more importantly, parts of a very good team. It's something that I feel gets lost in the modern game at times.

Some interesting things Klopp said regarding the youth system and all the loans.
Along the lines "it's not only about individual development, but development as a team. If my teammate does this, I do that, etc".

And he has a point. All these youngsters go loaned from club to club.
No matter how good they are individually, team understanding needs time.
If you see the fluctuation of players in the Liverpool team, no wonder there's sometimes little understanding.

Its a common occurrence in the English game as a whole, I think. The lack of some type of DoF or comparable structure with many of the clubs' hierarchies means that with each new manager there comes a complete shift. I honestly believe that we're going to see a great deal more fluctuation within the top half of the PL in coming years due in part to this, as clubs face turnover of long established managers and are forced to either adopt a more continental structure (like the media will let THAT happen) or face much greater inconsistency. Even with the new TV deals only City and maybe Chelsea have the type of spending power to maintain competitiveness with such high turnover. It will probably make for incredibly entertaining and unpredictable leagues, but may not be so bountiful for European competitions.

It's one of the many long-standing (and immensely frustrating) quirks of the English footballing establishment that the manager should have full control of a club's playing staff and style.

I think people are a bit harsh on Firmino.

https://twitter.com/BrazilStats/status/690906822694154240/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

In 6 games as false 9 for Liverpool, Roberto Firmino managed 5 goals and 4 assists.

Not to mention he was adjusting early in the season and had a back injury to boot. You can just watch Firmino and see his class. I have a lot of faith in him. I remember all the flack people were bringing on but he's the real deal. As long as he's down the middle for Liverpool, and starting, he's been great. Adding Teixeira to that would make it really interesting especially in a 4-2-3-1 with Coutinho and whoever they want to play out right in that case (probably Lallana who Klopp seems to really like).

In other news apparently Teixeira has started liking a bunch of stuff from Coutinho's instagram about the win today and wants to move, but this isn't necessarily encouraging:

A high-level insider confirmed last night: “We haven’t walked away from it, but the valuations of both clubs remain far apart.”

Klopp is right to like Lallana as IMO Lallana has so far been the player maybe performing best in the way Klopp sets you up.

Let's not get too carried away with that, Curtinho.  Firmino has had some poor displays in a central role as well.  I don't think his long-term future is as a false 9, and perhaps not his short-term future either if Teixeira arrives and/or Origi/Sturridge get fit.  Time will tell though.

Lallana really has taken to Klopp's approach and has benefited more from his arrival than anyone in the squad bar perhaps Can and Moreno.  His workrate and general demeanor remind me a lot of Kuyt, who was always a personal favourite of mine.  I honestly think he's also one of the real leaders in the squad alongside Henderson and perhaps Sakho.  That said, even with all of the great things he does and all that he adds off-the-ball and in build-up, his relative lack of end product is a concern.  Hopefully today's goal will be something of a spark though. If not, he may ultimately be the one who drops out of the side for Teixeira should he arrive.

Yeeah Lallana is sadly ultimately pretty tame for an attacker. But then he scored today..

He came to Liverpool with a pretty solid (not outstanding, but good) goal/assist record to be fair. Unfortunately he has struggled to recapture that.

The only issue with Lallana is his end product. I love watching him play because he seems to do so many things right and for a british player he's quite technical. The issue is that, for whatever reason, most of the time attacks just don't seem to have that finish when he's involved. His pressing, general link-up and involvement in every other aspect of the game under Klopp has really been impressive. I hope a game like today is the one that gives him the confidence and gets him into form in terms of starting to produce because with him up front whether we get Origi back, have Sturridge healthy or buy Teixeira Liverpool could look fierce in their front 4.


Could be extremely potent.

Also RO, I would chalk up most of his poor play in the first half or so to just learning where he fit in first and recovering from injury. I don't buy the 'poor performances' thing in terms of his class more than his form at the time because our team was transitioning and trying to fit around Benteke, etc. Even some of the games where he hasn't produced he's just such an intelligent player always making nice runs, seeing passes that others don't and his work-rate is great. I think he'll be immense moving forward for Liverpool.

Onyx wrote:Barcelona are considering signing Fernando Torres on a free transfer this summer when his contract expires, according to AS.