Summer Transfer Thread 2019

Associate
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I heard the bulk of rashfords wage if perf related?

Not too bad then as he only has one foot, barely scores in the EPL with the left or head. A goal every 4 games, impressive.

Yet I can see why they wanted to nail his deal down, I don't see him having a long future at United.
 
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I'm hoping there's truth to the Bruno Fernandes stuff with us, we need a player like that and he looks great.
 
Caporegime
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He seems to be linked with a lot of clubs with constant rumours of "terms being agreed" with a variety of people. I'm always a bit wary about these one season wonders (not that last year was bad for him either but this was definitely a big jump) in a smaller league. He did impress me at the internationals this summer though.
 
Caporegime
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Same thing with Ben Yedder. He is dependent of us being able to offload Stormzy. Pre-Season starts Sunday so would be great to get the deals done asap. Too be honest our transfers have been better than anything since Fergie left even at this early stage.
 
Soldato
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Fernandes scored a remarkable amount of goals for a CM last year, albeit in a poor league, but he looked good for Portugal in the Nations League as well. I don't think he'd cost a fortune and at 24 he's still got some time to hit his peak, so he'd be a solid signing imo.
 
Don
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He seems to be linked with a lot of clubs with constant rumours of "terms being agreed" with a variety of people. I'm always a bit wary about these one season wonders (not that last year was bad for him either but this was definitely a big jump) in a smaller league. He did impress me at the internationals this summer though.
Every summer there's a Portugese/portugese based player being whored about, reportedly agreeing terms wth Liverpool and Utd every other week. We've supposedly signed him 4 times this summer already but the talk from Liverpool based journo's is we have no interest in him at all.
 
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Our CL revenue was a tad under £100m, up from approx £70m the season before last. As above, the club are generating £100m+ in cash profits from the general day to day running of the business - on top of that we've also brought in £35-40m from Solanke and Ings. There's no shortage of money if Klopp and the recruitment team want to spend it. They won't unless the right player and the right deal are available though.

Its a difficult one, theres no point in buying someone just for the sake of being seen to buy someone. On the other hand, when we won the champions league I saw comments from a few of the Istanbul winning side mentioning how last time we should have kicked on from the CL win and used that to strengthen the squad but we didnt and the subsequent years suffered, I would have some concerns that if we go through the summer without buying someone it would be a repeat of that sitting on our laurels type of situation. We do still have need to strengthen the squad, probably the biggest minus between us and Man City last season was the strength of their "second string" compared to ours. However, finding those players is tough.
 
Don
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Its a difficult one, theres no point in buying someone just for the sake of being seen to buy someone. On the other hand, when we won the champions league I saw comments from a few of the Istanbul winning side mentioning how last time we should have kicked on from the CL win and used that to strengthen the squad but we didnt and the subsequent years suffered, I would have some concerns that if we go through the summer without buying someone it would be a repeat of that sitting on our laurels type of situation. We do still have need to strengthen the squad, probably the biggest minus between us and Man City last season was the strength of their "second string" compared to ours. However, finding those players is tough.
The side in 2005 and the side last season are night and day. We were far from the strongest side or even one of the strongest sides in Europe back in 2005 - we were tactically set-up great and were a very difficult side to play in cup games that happened to go on a run where everything fell into place. We are very much one of the best sides in Europe now though. We didn't get past Bayern and Barca playing on the back foot, hoping to keep things tight and nick something on the break - we looked to and did take the game to them and so many times this season the very biggest sides changed their game to face us. Now that's not to say we can't improve but it's far harder than some people think. We all love a foreign name and seem to automatically think some kid playing at Betis is 1000% better than what we have but history shows us it rarely works out like that.

We could really do with an extra defender, particularly somebody that can naturally cover Robertson and it would be great if we had another forward of the level of Salah and Mane. There's been a very clear strategy from us to only spend big on players that we feel are capable of walking into the side though. There's been a lot of talk about this Pepe guy as an example (although Liverpool have completely ruled it out) - he's going to cost you £60m+ and isn't nearly as good as Salah. Does it make sense to spend £60m on him or wait until somebody you feel is up to it is available, even if that means going without this summer? There's no right answer btw, it's a balance the club have got to get right. Given what's gone before, I suspect that unless the exact player(s) we want are available then we won't make a big attacking signing this summer though and as we done a few times last season, we'll cover Salah & Mane by changing system to a 4-2-3-1. Instead of playing 3 of Fabinho, Hendo, Gini and Milner, we'll play 2 and then play 2 of Shaq, Ox, Keita and Lallana to replace Salah or Mane.
 
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The side in 2005 and the side last season are night and day. We were far from the strongest side or even one of the strongest sides in Europe back in 2005 - we were tactically set-up great and were a very difficult side to play in cup games that happened to go on a run where everything fell into place. We are very much one of the best sides in Europe now though. We didn't get past Bayern and Barca playing on the back foot, hoping to keep things tight and nick something on the break - we looked to and did take the game to them and so many times this season the very biggest sides changed their game to face us. Now that's not to say we can't improve but it's far harder than some people think. We all love a foreign name and seem to automatically think some kid playing at Betis is 1000% better than what we have but history shows us it rarely works out like that.

They are different in many ways yes, but when former professional footballers repeatedly say that one major issue Liverpool had was in not pushing on by using the CL win to improve the squad then I have to consider their words to carry considerable weight due to them being actual former footballers, rather than a baker or grocer or accountant in the street, irrespective of the tactical/era differences,. I'm inclined to put more importance on the words of a former footballer when talking of footballing matters than I am of Jim Taggart the pub landlord, equally of course I am inclined to put more importance on the words of Jim Taggart the pub landlord than I am of a professional footballer when talking about the Public House Industry (unless maybe its Paul Gascoigne /drumriff) or running a business. If I see several footballers warning that we need to avoid sitting on our laurels then I consider that to be what the courts call an expert witness :D

IMO we need to improve our second string but of course here lies the problem, finding those players who are available, who are going to be improvements, yet be happy to be predominantly second string is tough. Money certainly isnt a problem for us yet we must not buy just for the sake of buying as that will be detrimental , we must buy sensibly but I do feel that we must buy. We need to kick on rather than maintain the status quo, so I would be concerned if the summer passes without us strengthening the squad at all.
 
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Leicester have signed Perez from Newcastle - the fee looks like £30m which seems a little high but I think he'll be a good option in attack, so no complaints.

Also looking likely that we'll complete the Tielemans signing soon which would be fantastic.
 
Don
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They are different in many ways yes, but when former professional footballers repeatedly say that one major issue Liverpool had was in not pushing on by using the CL win to improve the squad then I have to consider their words to carry considerable weight due to them being actual former footballers, rather than a baker or grocer or accountant in the street, irrespective of the tactical/era differences,. I'm inclined to put more importance on the words of a former footballer when talking of footballing matters than I am of Jim Taggart the pub landlord, equally of course I am inclined to put more importance on the words of Jim Taggart the pub landlord than I am of a professional footballer when talking about the Public House Industry (unless maybe its Paul Gascoigne /drumriff) or running a business. If I see several footballers warning that we need to avoid sitting on our laurels then I consider that to be what the courts call an expert witness :D

IMO we need to improve our second string but of course here lies the problem, finding those players who are available, who are going to be improvements, yet be happy to be predominantly second string is tough. Money certainly isnt a problem for us yet we must not buy just for the sake of buying as that will be detrimental , we must buy sensibly but I do feel that we must buy. We need to kick on rather than maintain the status quo, so I would be concerned if the summer passes without us strengthening the squad at all.

Tbf, most footballers are as thick as **** and funnily enough our recruitment team are headed up by a team of scientists, some of which don't even watch potential targets when they're initially analysing them, rather than ex players.

These ex pros are paid to talk so they've got to have something to say but I wouldn't pay much attention to the vast majority of them.
 
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Tbf, most footballers are as thick as **** and funnily enough our recruitment team are headed up by a team of scientists, some of which don't even watch potential targets when they're initially analysing them, rather than ex players.

These ex pros are paid to talk so they've got to have something to say but I wouldn't pay much attention to the vast majority of them.

Even the scientists are still people who work within football though so I still would take what they think over and above the thoughts of someone who has nothing to do with football beyond watching it on tv :D

Though yes...as evidenced by a certain Mr Merson, footballers can be thick as... mind you, you can be thick and still be knowledgeable about your profession, take the Police for example badum-tish
 
Soldato
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Leicester have signed Perez from Newcastle - the fee looks like £30m which seems a little high but I think he'll be a good option in attack, so no complaints.

Also looking likely that we'll complete the Tielemans signing soon which would be fantastic.

If we can sign Tielemans, we will have had an amazing transfer window, probably the best in the Premiership ;)
 
Soldato
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Whilst I see your points baz sorry but I just feel your completely wrong, we do need to still improve our 2nd teir, Lallana isn't good enough regardless of ox being back or not.

We could still sign a back up to mane/salah maybe a player who could also play as a striker so Brewster still gets his chance.

We need a young back up for Robertson.

If we get no one in I fear we are just resting on our laurels as it were.

We did challange city stupidly well but there quality in there 2nd string is what keeps them consistent
 
Don
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Whilst I see your points baz sorry but I just feel your completely wrong
I'm pretty sure I said we do need another defender to cover Robertson and another forward :confused:

What I've said is that I don't believe the club will buy somebody for the sake of it. The club have got into the position we have by being incredibly selective about who we sign and I don't think that's going to change. Unless the right players and right deals come up then I wouldn't be shocked if we didn't sign anybody this summer - we can argue the rights and wrongs of that but this is the way the club has chosen to work and this is the way that we've built a side that's now one of the best in Europe, reaching back to back CL finals, including winning one and picking up 97 points in the league despite spending a fraction of what City, Utd, Barca, PSG etc have all been spending. I think we'd be a little cheeky to argue with Klopp, Edwards and co given the success they've had.
 
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Mino Raiola: "Everyone within the club from the manager to the owner knows Paul’s wishes. Everyone knows the willingness of Paul to move on. We are in the process of that."

Transfer saga inc then, with the most toxic agent around. Joy.
 
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