Summer Transfer Window 2021/2022

imo "playmaker" is also a pretty indistinguishable position - it can be a no10, a wide forward, traditional winger, and even more defensive players are now described as "playmakers" so widely used it becomes meaningless, only a matter of time before a gk is described as that (if it hasnt happened already).

It could be argued playmaker is very comparable to being a creative player - it just depends on what area of the pitch they do it from.
 
FrankJH said:
imo "playmaker" is also a pretty indistinguishable position - it can be a no10, a wide forward, traditional winger, and even more defensive players are now described as "playmakers".
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Which was exactly the point I was making. It doesn't matter where on the pitch Buendia is being signed to play, the way he plays wouldn't vary much.

If you take Coutinho when he was at Liverpool as an example, he played in a midfield 3, he played as a number 10 and he played off the left but the way he played didn't change a great deal. Wherever he played he was still the fulcrum of the team - he was the main playmaker, looking to get on the ball as much as possible, making little dribbles or forward passes. Grealish and Buendia are both this type of player also and if they were to play in the same side it would water one or both their involvements down. That's not necessarily a bad thing if they can work together and the side benefits but with the reports of City's interest in Grealish, the signing of Buendia could very easily be as a replacement.
 
BaZ87 said:
Which was exactly the point I was making. It doesn't matter where on the pitch Buendia is being signed to play, the way he plays wouldn't vary much.

If you take Coutinho when he was at Liverpool as an example, he played in a midfield 3, he played as a number 10 and he played off the left but the way he played didn't change a great deal. Wherever he played he was still the fulcrum of the team - he was the main playmaker, looking to get on the ball as much as possible, making little dribbles or forward passes. Grealish and Buendia are both this type of player also and if they were to play in the same side it would water one or both their involvements down. That's not necessarily a bad thing if they can work together and the side benefits but with the reports of City's interest in Grealish, the signing of Buendia could very easily be as a replacement.
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Or you could say it makes the team more unpredictable the more playmakers you have (up to a point) , just like its rare to make a world class 11 work even if the cost isnt prohibitive, sometimes you need the more down to earth players to balance out a team

It is a huge challenge to find two players who can play off each other in that fashion thats required (in a similar position on the field).

Grealish is a great player, but way over priced imo for his current level of experience. Was kind of expecting Covid to bring this part of the market down a bit, but looks like its still as bad as previously (could say the same about Rice but in a more exaggerated manner, Grealish having the more EPL experience )
 
If they and the team can function together then of course it's better to have more, the key would be whether they can both be as effective in the same side. I hope we find out because I really don't want City signing Grealish but if he is leaving then Buendia is exactly the type of player to replace him.
 
I like Curtis Jones but I think if he drops in to replace Wijnaldum this season then Liverpool don't win the league. Tielemans would be perfect but already seeing 55 mil being touted.
 
Ayahuasca said:
I like Curtis Jones but I think if he drops in to replace Wijnaldum this season then Liverpool don't win the league. Tielemans would be perfect but already seeing 55 mil being touted.
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Jones isn't a Gini replacement, they're different players. Jones will and already has taken the place of Ox and Keita as Klopp's go to man when he wants a more attack minded player in midfield.

Regarding possible Wijnaldum replacements, I like Tielemans but unless he has a reasonable buyout clause I can't see him us (or anybody) paying Leicester enough to persuade them to sell. I really like Bissouma too but a few journo's have said we're not interested in him and afcon is a big issue for us.

That said, Liverpool are briefing that they don't see signing a replacement to be a priority this summer. I'm not too sure I believe them and I hope that's nothing more than a bargaining position. Had everybody been available last season I'm sure Klopp's preferred 3 man midfield would have been Hendo, Fab and Thiago but Wijnaldum still found himself playing pretty much every game due to one ore more of them being unavailable. Fabinho, Henderson and Thiago are all prone to the odd injury, in the last 18 months Milner's been picking up fairly regular injuries and you can't rely on Ox or Keita - we need another midfielder and preferably one with a bullet proof injury record like Gini.
 
Well, that's what I meant, I wasn't saying they were the same player but with how injury-prone a number of your midfielders are, I can see Jones being that 3rd man a lot more this coming season if you don't sign anyone.

Gini is very difficult to directly replace, massively underrated over the past 5 years.
 
Oh, I agree on both points. I love Wijnaldum, he's got a bit of everything about him and never lets you down. When he signed I thought we were signing an attacker but he ended up becoming a complete midfielder.

Klopp loves proving me wrong when I say things like this but I can't see us not bringing in another midfielder this summer. If the afcon gets cancelled, as has been rumoured in the last couple of days, I'd take Bissouma in heartbeat.
 
The huge thing about Gini for me was that he could press well but was also incredibly press resistant. He could get the ball from the centre backs under pressure, turn and move it on without concern. Tielemans is a fantastic footballer, but I don't know how well he can do that job. Realistically I can't think of many players who could replace Gini like for like. The one who strikes me as capable of doing so is Eze - again, he's more attack minded at present but he's still young - but his injury means that he's a no go right now
 
Looks like Leeds have managed to spend £18m without signing anybody today. A few reports breaking on twitter that they lost their dispute with Leipzig over their loan to buy agreement for Jean-Kévin Augustin and have to pay Leipzig in full.
manic111 said:
The huge thing about Gini for me was that he could press well but was also incredibly press resistant. He could get the ball from the centre backs under pressure, turn and move it on without concern. Tielemans is a fantastic footballer, but I don't know how well he can do that job. Realistically I can't think of many players who could replace Gini like for like. The one who strikes me as capable of doing so is Eze - again, he's more attack minded at present but he's still young - but his injury means that he's a no go right now
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Gini's close control and ability to hold onto the ball in tight situations was a joy to watch. That moment in the 2nd leg of the semi vs Barca were 3 Barca players were trying to press him and he's holding them off before doing a little turn, sending them all for the newspaper was not far behind Origi's winner that day.
 
Looks like Grujic is on the way out for around 15m, tbh thats a good price for a guy who never broke into the team at all and is triple what we paid for him.
 
So Xhaka could be leaving for £18m and Neves coming in for £35m. That a £17m layout. Hopefully leaves room for more signings, especially as Bellers could be on his way for £20m
 
Tombstone said:
Looks like Grujic is on the way out for around 15m, tbh thats a good price for a guy who never broke into the team at all and is triple what we paid for him.
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Is there anything concrete I've missed or is it just the "Liverpool are confident in their £15m asking price" stuff. The club have briefed the same stuff re him & Wilson for the past couple of years and they just end up going out on loan again.
 
Him and Wilsom both Need to be sold even if its less than what they want, get wages off books even if there on low amount. We could put there wages elsewhere especially since there never gonna get into first team.
 
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