Summer Transfer Thread 2019

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I would have him back in a heartbeat, I dont think he particularly burned his bridges like some players in the past. However I dont think Barcelona want rid and I dont think he would want to play a bit part. Also the transfer fee would be silly.
 
Don
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If he plays nearly as well as he did before and after that I'll have no issues.
I would have him back in a heartbeat, I dont think he particularly burned his bridges like some players in the past. However I dont think Barcelona want rid and I dont think he would want to play a bit part. Also the transfer fee would be silly.
There's more than enough games for him where he won't be a bit part player. We could play over 60 games this coming season - I'm sure you could make a case for starting him alongside our front 3 in at least 15-20 of those games, throw in 6-7 games each where Salah, Mane or Firmino are either not available or in need of a rest and you're already looking at 35-40 games. And while I'm sure there are players Barca want to get rid of before Coutinho, if they're genuinely trying to bring Neymar back then they'll sell whoever to raise the money. The problem like you say will be the fee though - I can't see them selling for less than 100m euros.
 
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I don't care how good he is, I dont want him back.

Imagine being Shaqiri, Lallana, Chamberlain, Origi or one of the kids hoping to break through, sitting there watching him from the bench as Coutinho is given a fixed first team spot week in week out after what he did. It says loyalty and hardwork means nothing to Liverpool. It doesn't matter if Coutinho is better, the club is bigger than these selfish ******** and their agents and we're sending out the wrong message if we do. There are things in football that are bigger than individual players. I'd rather Klopp trusted Shaq a bit more than have him back.
 
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I wouldn't want Utd to get him, but wouldn't be that fussed about having him back. As you say, he goes missing a lot, and when he has an off day, which is not uncommon, he's an utter passenger. When he's good he's incredible, but that's not common enough.

This pretty much.

Fantastic on his day, but a passenger too often.

And treated the club with utter disrespect to get his Barca move. No thanks.
 
Don
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I don't care how good he is, I dont want him back.

Imagine being Shaqiri, Lallana, Chamberlain, Origi or one of the kids hoping to break through, sitting there watching him from the bench as Coutinho is given a fixed first team spot week in week out after what he did. It says loyalty and hardwork means nothing to Liverpool. It doesn't matter if Coutinho is better, the club is bigger than these selfish ******** and their agents and we're sending out the wrong message if we do. There are things in football that are bigger than individual players. I'd rather Klopp trusted Shaq a bit more than have him back.

Why don't you add me, you and every Liverpool supporter in the world too. We might not want to admit it but there's no place for sentiment in football. If it's 0-0 with 10 minutes to go and you've got a choice of bringing Shaqiri or Coutinho on, there's only one winner.

And we can complain as much as we want about loyalty and him wanting to leave to join Barca but we don't care about loyalty when the club are trying to sell a player that doesn't want to leave nor do we care about loyalty when we're trying to sign a player from another club. How well did Liverpool treat Origi in the first half of last season? He was practically frozen out because the club were trying to push him out the club. Did any Liverpool fan care when VVD was doing whatever he could to leave Southampton or when Keita was getting sent off every other week for Leipzig? Yes Coutinho threw a bit of a strop but he acted no better or worse than any club acts when they're trying to get their way but crucially, for me at least, look at the way he performed when the summer window closed. 10x better than both Keita did at Leipzig or VVD at Southampton.
 
Soldato
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Liverpool would absolutely benefit from having Coutinho in the squad, the problem with him is you'd surely be looking at the sort of fee that ought to only be spent on guaranteed starters and he'd no doubt expect to be a guaranteed starter too - do Liverpool have a place for a new first team guaranteed player? IMO no, you're going to end up putting someone's nose out of joint to fit him in as more than a squad player and that could serve to unsettle the team more than the benefit he'd bring to it.
 
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Why don't you add me, you and every Liverpool supporter in the world too.
Not quite sure what you mean there tbh.

I'm talking about the team, the real life group of lads working together for a singular cause, it's something that Klopp has re-established since he came here. He's united the fans, staff, team and owners together. It's were our strength as a club lies. Being united and having a close bonded club matters massively on a day-to-day basis.

We might not want to admit it but there's no place for sentiment in football. If it's 0-0 with 10 minutes to go and you've got a choice of bringing Shaqiri or Coutinho on, there's only one winner.
Or Origi? :p

I genuinely don't believe that, there is place for sentiment in football, I'd say it was an integral part of Liverpool football club actually. It means more than individual players. There's a bigger picture at play than 1 singular player whom previously treated the club with disrespect and could have potentially ruined our campaign (fortunately it galvanised the players on afterwards.)

Also lets not make Coutinho out to be Messi here, he's not. There were countless games he disappeared, especially big games and finals. He IS replaceable, for the money we'd likely need to spend to get him back (80-100m) I'm sure we could find another younger player out there who would love to play for the club. Last year our Countinho-less squad got through to another CL final and won, and got 97pts in the league.

And we can complain as much as we want about loyalty and him wanting to leave to join Barca but we don't care about loyalty when the club are trying to sell a player that doesn't want to leave nor do we care about loyalty when we're trying to sign a player from another club. How well did Liverpool treat Origi in the first half of last season? He was practically frozen out because the club were trying to push him out the club. Did any Liverpool fan care when VVD was doing whatever he could to leave Southampton or when Keita was getting sent off every other week for Leipzig? Yes Coutinho threw a bit of a strop but he acted no better or worse than any club acts when they're trying to get their way but crucially, for me at least, look at the way he performed when the summer window closed. 10x better than both Keita did at Leipzig or VVD at Southampton.
The behavour of clubs and individual players in regards to transfers are not one in the same though. Clubs are bigger than individual players, how a club behaves is entirely upto them. Of course talent and ability matter when dealing with players but that's not all that matters. Look at Neymar for example, crazy talent but I wouldn't want him anywhere near my club. Jose Mourinho is an incredible manager but at Liverpool? No way.

Also Coutinho's behaviour never surprised me, this happens in football all the time, as you said, and with the power players and their agents have these days it'll happen again and again. I'm talking about how WE as a club respond to these players when they act up. I don't want the club rewarding them by taking them back, there's a constant stream of new upcoming talent out there and I'd rather we fished them out then go back peddling over a sour note in our transfer history.

The thing is, if Coutinho left in a good light I wouldn't have a problem with potentially resigning him. There's a way of doing things and he did things the wrong way, and I say as a fan, lets all move on and look for other players.

It's just my opinion, I understand not every fan feels the same over this and I dont mean to be argumentative. I ultimately trust Klopp to do what he thinks is right for the club and I'll get behind Coutinho if he does come, as it stands however, I'd rather we moved on from him because I do believe it sends the wrong message.
 
Soldato
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I can't understand the logic from our supporters who say don't want him back due to how he left.

Look at his numbers, not like he downed tools and played **** for us
 
Don
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Not quite sure what you mean there tbh.

I'm talking about the team, the real life group of lads working together for a singular cause, it's something that Klopp has re-established since he came here. He's united the fans, staff, team and owners together. It's were our strength as a club lies. Being united and having a close bonded club matters massively on a day-to-day basis.


Or Origi? :p

I genuinely don't believe that, there is place for sentiment in football, I'd say it was an integral part of Liverpool football club actually. It means more than individual players. There's a bigger picture at play than 1 singular player whom previously treated the club with disrespect and could have potentially ruined our campaign (fortunately it galvanised the players on afterwards.)

Also lets not make Coutinho out to be Messi here, he's not. There were countless games he disappeared, especially big games and finals. He IS replaceable, for the money we'd likely need to spend to get him back (80-100m) I'm sure we could find another younger player out there who would love to play for the club. Last year our Countinho-less squad got through to another CL final and won, and got 97pts in the league.

What I mean is that Coutinho is far better than all of those players you listed and them being loyal (not that they had the option to join Barca) doesn't mean much to me when Liverpool are trying to win a game. I quite frankly don't care if Lallana feels a bit miffed that a better player gets picked ahead of him just like I don't care that the club will bin off Clyne, our most reliable defender for 2 seasons prior to his back injury, the moment somebody offers them a decent amount of money. You say there's no place for sentiment but believe me the club don't act with any sentiment when they make their decisions. Do you think Origi's been handed a contract because they're greatful for the goals he scored in the CL final or because he had 1 year on his deal and they wanted to protect his value? Right up until the end of the January window Origi had played less than 75 minutes of PL & CL football because the club were trying to force him out the door.

And you're right, Coutinho is not Messi and imo Messi's the single reason he's not been a revelation for Barca. Again you're right that Coutinho signing (or not) isn't the end of the world but he is undoubtedly a great player, was our best player prior to leaving and exactly the type of player that our squad is currently missing. Regarding the fee, I completely agree and that's why I don't believe for a moment that there's anything in the rumours about him returning but this "I don't want him back after what he done" thing is imo mad and hypocritical.

re Klopp and uniting the club etc. Klopp always spoke positively of Coutinho, right up and including once he'd left. Klopp's biggest strength is the way he deals with humans and as I'm going to go onto below, he would have understood that Coutinho probably dreamed of playing for Barca or Real as a kid and understood the dilema he faced. Klopp has also shown throughout his career that he will go back for players that have left him before. He signed Sahin and Kagawa again after they left and attempted to bring Gotze, who signed for Bayern in the build-up to their CL final with Dortmund, to Liverpool.
The behavour of clubs and individual players in regards to transfers are not one in the same though. Clubs are bigger than individual players, how a club behaves is entirely upto them. Of course talent and ability matter when dealing with players but that's not all that matters. Look at Neymar for example, crazy talent but I wouldn't want him anywhere near my club. Jose Mourinho is an incredible manager but at Liverpool? No way.

Also Coutinho's behaviour never surprised me, this happens in football all the time, as you said, and with the power players and their agents have these days it'll happen again and again. I'm talking about how WE as a club respond to these players when they act up. I don't want the club rewarding them by taking them back, there's a constant stream of new upcoming talent out there and I'd rather we fished them out then go back peddling over a sour note in our transfer history.

The thing is, if Coutinho left in a good light I wouldn't have a problem with potentially resigning him. There's a way of doing things and he did things the wrong way, and I say as a fan, lets all move on and look for other players.

It's just my opinion, I understand not every fan feels the same over this and I dont mean to be argumentative. I ultimately trust Klopp to do what he thinks is right for the club and I'll get behind Coutinho if he does come, as it stands however, I'd rather we moved on from him because I do believe it sends the wrong message.
You can't compare Mourinho and Neymar to Coutinho. The former two are egotistical ****s that have caused issues throughout their careers. The sum total of Coutinho's bad behaviour is wanting to move to Barca, handing a transfer request in and not being available for 3-4 games. As supporters of Liverpool it might be hard to accept but not every player's dream is to play for Liverpool - Coutinho didn't grow up as a Liverpool supporter, he joined us because it was the best for him and his career and when he felt he had a better opportunity for him and his family he wanted to take that.

I have no idea why we can or should excuse the lack of loyalty of clubs but expect players to be loyal though. Clubs, just like players, will look out for themselves. Liverpool won't be loyal to a player that don't want to keep and the vast majority of players won't be loyal to clubs if they want to leave. Equally I don't believe we can be critical of players for forcing through moves away from Liverpool and then not say a word when a player does the exact same thing to join us too. Take the Coutinho and VVD deals as an example - both wanted to leave, both handed in transfer requests and were unavailable for the first few games of the season. VVD is now a god in our eyes but we're going to hold it against Coutinho indefinitely? As I said before, look at how Coutinho performed after not getting his move - he was outstanding, I'm not sure Southampton fans would say the same about VVD.

*These comments about Coutinho going missing in games are so exaggerated too. Maybe in his early years he could drift in and out of games but for the last 18 months he was with us he matured into an outstanding player. As I said earlier today the numbers he was producing were off the scale.
 
Soldato
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I'm not sure Southampton fans would say the same about VVD.

He managed to make himself more hated than Lovren and Lallana combined, an impressive feat really.

He completely downed tools, went on strike, claimed to be unavailable to play etc. completely phoned it in when he did play.

All of this 6 months after being named our captain and a year after signing a new 6 year contract.

Coutinho's departure from Liverpool was positively respectful in comparison :p
 
Don
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He managed to make himself more hated than Lovren and Lallana combined, an impressive feat really.

He completely downed tools, went on strike, claimed to be unavailable to play etc. completely phoned it in when he did play.

All of this 6 months after being named our captain and a year after signing a new 6 year contract.

Coutinho's departure from Liverpool was positively respectful in comparison :p
I was talking more about the way he played between September and January when he finally joined Liverpool - he didn't perform as well as Coutinho did during that period.

Just like our fans with VVD/Coutinho, Southampton fans can't be overly critical of VVD when they signed Mane under even worse circumstances. All supporters are the same in this regard, we only care about loyalty when a player is leaving our club but don't care when we're signing a player.
 
Soldato
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when they signed Mane under even worse circumstances

I'm not sure we can be blamed for that - my understanding was that he wanted to move to Dortmund, Salzburg wanted to sell to Spartak and it all turned messy and we picked at the carcass of what was left :p
 
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I think you're missing the point that this is a player who joined Liverpool, then left. (which is fine if that's what he wanted, it's a part of football). but now we're talking about him coming BACK. That is a bit different from accepting we buy players that end up wanting to leave their clubs to play for us. It's one thing to leave a club. (no issues there) it's completely different for the player to come crawling back when his move didn't work out and the grass wasn't greener on the other side.

Many fans like myself do not wish those sorts of players to come back when it suits them regardless of ability.

But in terms of his ability, Coutinho is nothing special, people in this thread say looks at his stats. Well then the only stat that matters is that Liverpool have been far better whenever Coutinho has not been in the team than when he has. The team is greater than the individual. There are soo many other players fans would rather have join Liverpool for a lot less money than waste it on Coutinho who I see as more of a luxury player to have.
 
Don
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I'm not sure we can be blamed for that - my understanding was that he wanted to move to Dortmund, Salzburg wanted to sell to Spartak and it all turned messy and we picked at the carcass of what was left :p
The point being you were happy to sign a player that showed no loyalty to his previous club, like most supporters of every club are.
I think you're missing the point that this is a player who joined Liverpool, then left. (which is fine if that's what he wanted, it's a part of football). but now we're talking about him coming BACK. That is a bit different from accepting we buy players that end up wanting to leave their clubs to play for us. It's one thing to leave a club. (no issues there) it's completely different for the player to come crawling back when his move didn't work out and the grass wasn't greener on the other side.
I'm not sure what the point is you're making. The only reason why you don't want Coutinho back is because he left but his reasons for wanting to leave and actions are no different than VVD wanting to leave Southampton or Keita's for wanting to leave Leipzig, so what is the difference? It reads very much as you only care about players loyalty when it effects Liverpool and you'll be happy to accept inferior players, who aren't good enough to have their loyalty tested, who would have almost certainly done the same things as Coutinho if it ever were tested, rather than have Coutinho back. You're cutting your nose off to spite your face.

Do you believe in 18 months if we're not successful that VVD, Salah and whoever else wouldn't do the same if Real or Barca came in for them?

Many fans like myself do not wish those sorts of players to come back when it suits them regardless of ability.
I don't want any player at Liverpool simply because it suits them, that applies to Coutinho, VVD and whoever else. I want players at Liverpool because it suits Liverpool and if the deal was right that it would suit Liverpool then I'd welcome Coutinho back with open arms because I know he'd make this squad better.
But in terms of his ability, Coutinho is nothing special, people in this thread say looks at his stats. Well then the only stat that matters is that Liverpool have been far better whenever Coutinho has not been in the team than when he has. The team is greater than the individual. There are soo many other players fans would rather have join Liverpool for a lot less money than waste it on Coutinho who I see as more of a luxury player to have.
Which stat shows we were far better when he was not in the team? Iinm our form in the season he left actually dipped in the 2nd half of the season, primarily down to not having a deep enough squad to manage the CL run and the league. The team as a whole improved last season by signing more and better players.

I'd love to hear of these players that would cost a lot less money that would be better for us than Coutinho too. Imo Coutinho fits the bill perfectly for what this Liverpool squad needs, I couldn't think of a more ideal player in fact. Our squad needs more creativity and goals from midfield and another quality option for the front 3, preferably somebody that can play on the left - Coutinho ticks all those boxes and not just in theory too, he's proven that he can play in this side and with these players. He literally thrived once Klopp put his mark on this team. The only reason why he won't be coming back is because the clubs whole philosophy is about getting the most out of every £ they spend and paying top money on a 27 year old rarely achieves that.
 
Soldato
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The point being you were happy to sign a player that showed no loyalty to his previous club, like most supporters of every club are.

For me the difference is in behavior - it's not just about players wanting to leave a club to move on.

Mane wanted to leave, so did Clyne, so did Lambert, so did Wanyama, so did Schneiderlin, so did Cork, so did Shaw etc. etc. but you won't find them on a list of our fans hated ex-players.

You will find players like VVD, Lovren and Lallana though, who left in a disrespectful manner. Comments like 'my head is at Liverpool' whilst still a contracted Southampton player? Signing Liverpool shirts while still a contracted Southampton player? That's what people don't like.

I don't expect people to be loyal but I do expect them to act with a bit of respect to their club and fans whilst there.
 
Don
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Which is fine but the point I've been making is that we only care about that when they're leaving us, we don't care about that when they're joining us. At some point every club has signed a player that's kicked up a fuss to get that move but you won't find 1 supporter of the buying club give a ****.

No Liverpool supporter cared about how VVD acted to get his move to us just like no Southampton fans cared about how Mane acted when he was leaving Salzburg and so on and so on. This is why I don't understand the attitude of not wanting the club to resign a player that left under those circumstances.
 
Soldato
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How did Mane 'act' when he left Salzburg? I've read about him being awkward about not wanting to be sold to Russia but not about agitating for the move in the first place.

I'm sure it's happened at some point in the past but i'm struggling to think of any players we've signed that completely took the **** out of their old club to force a move, in the way players like Lallana did at Southampton
 
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