He's been the best defensive midfielder in the league this season, he's proven Premiership quality.
When Man Utd spend a similar amount of money on "potential" (Anderson/Nani) I think it's fair to say Masch is easily worth what MSI are asking.
But he is not who Liverpool need to drop 18 million on, they need to improve other areas
You're right Rip we do need players in other positions but with Sissoko now gone we need another top class CM, I'd rather get one of the best players around and pay the price as opposed to getting an average player on the cheap like we've been doing for years.
Alonso is rumoured to leave EVERY summer so I wouldn't read too much into that.
I don't think he's been that special this season. I watched him on Saturday and he had a good game against Sunderland but overall I'd say Flamini and Anderson have been better this season.
My red housemates rave about him, but to put him at £18 is just daft. I've only seen a few Liverpool games this season and I'd rate him at £9m at the most. Could Mascherano be worth £18m? I don't know really, I agree with the posts above that indicate he might improve with team stability. He already seems a fairly good tackler and reader of the game.
Id love to know how you came to the figure of £9m? Seems people are just picking figures out of the sky with no thought.
Especially when you consider:
Essien £24m
Makelele £17m
Hargreaves £17m
Anderson £17m
Carrick £18.6m
Just because they all pay around £20m on average doesn't in my opinion mean that they're worth that much.
I think you'll find thats exactly what it means, in the current market £18m is about right.
Sorry but if you look hard enough, then no - you don't have to pay £18m. Our midfield quartet combined was bought for less than £18m.
And took how long to put together/develop?
Different question though sort of, what has that got to do with anything?. Flamini has played a long time for us - but mostly in other positions (e.g. LB). Cesc I think has been playing first team football regularly for 2.5 years. Hleb and Rosicky haven't been at the club long at all.
I don't see why you've asked that question? Are you saying therefore that £18m is what is needed to be paid for a fully developed seasoned midfielder?