Summer Transfer Window 25/26 *Sponsored by Bigpig*

Purdy said:
the pre-meditated nature of it
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This is the biggest thing. Trent decided to join Real at the very least 12 months ago and had he left 12 months ago it would have been a far easier sell to the fans. Klopp had just left and many expected us to go into a period of transition. Had Trent decided to leave then, a deal would have been agreed and he'd have been a Real player now and while many wouldn't have been happy, there would be more understanding and acceptance. That didn't happen though and not because Trent fancied playing for one season under the best bald Dutch manager around. It didn't happen because whatever fee Real would have had to pay would have eaten into his earnings.

People can bang on about it being his right as much as they want, it doesn't change anything. As you say, supporters are emotionally invested in their club and the thought of ever wanting to leave will be hard for them to understand, let alone to leave how he has.
 
Supposedly Real are offering a token amount, like £1m, for Trents contract to be cut short and him be released before the contract end point so that he can participate in the club world cup for Real. Its a nothing amount but at this point I dont see much harm in doing it, we dont need Trent through to the end of June so might as well shuffle him off asap.

In other news, Ornstein is reporting that Frimpong is very keen to join Liverpool, more Dutch in the team lol, Frimpong and Bradley would be a reasonable right back pairing :)
 
Half of me thinks Frimpong makes perfect sense but the other half thinks it makes no sense. On one hand he'd be a RB option and also cover/a rotation option for Salah but on the other hand he's not really a RB, at least not in a back 4 and if he were to play, he'd end up taking up the same positions as Salah.

As for Trent, if Real are offering Liverpool £1m then he'll go the moment the transfer window opens. I wouldn't be shocked if talk of £1m is a bit misleading though and it's referring to what we'll save in wages by letting him go a month early.
 
Seems a solid story regarding an offer from Saudi for Bruno Fernandes to go. Rumour is that they would pay British record transfer fee which presumably is c £110m and net £1m a week for the player. I'm torn on that one. He's been our best player for 4 years, our only player approaching world level and has probably kept us in the league this year. However, I'm not convinced where he fits in an Amorim system, he's 30 years old and surely can't cheat the injury gods for another season. £100m presumably would do a lot for Amorim's attempts to rebuild a squad. Heads says sell, heart says keep.
 
Calpol said:
Seems a solid story regarding an offer from Saudi for Bruno Fernandes to go. Rumour is that they would pay British record transfer fee which presumably is c £110m and net £1m a week for the player. I'm torn on that one. He's been our best player for 4 years, our only player approaching world level and has probably kept us in the league this year. However, I'm not convinced where he fits in an Amorim system, he's 30 years old and surely can't cheat the injury gods for another season. £100m presumably would do a lot for Amorim's attempts to rebuild a squad. Heads says sell, heart says keep.
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There’s no way Radcliffe will turn down that kind of money with United struggling financially. Not sure who could be brought in as a like for like replacement but the cash would be hard to turn down.
 
Calpol said:
Seems a solid story regarding an offer from Saudi for Bruno Fernandes to go. Rumour is that they would pay British record transfer fee which presumably is c £110m and net £1m a week for the player. I'm torn on that one. He's been our best player for 4 years, our only player approaching world level and has probably kept us in the league this year. However, I'm not convinced where he fits in an Amorim system, he's 30 years old and surely can't cheat the injury gods for another season. £100m presumably would do a lot for Amorim's attempts to rebuild a squad. Heads says sell, heart says keep.
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Would be super risky because as you say, hes been a bright light since he joined and we have had very few of those. You can't build a new team around a 30 year old though. If that truly is the sum being offered we should almost certainly take it. I don't get the impression hes the sort to go to Saudi but I might be wrong.
 
BaZ87 said:
Half of me thinks Frimpong makes perfect sense but the other half thinks it makes no sense. On one hand he'd be a RB option and also cover/a rotation option for Salah but on the other hand he's not really a RB, at least not in a back 4 and if he were to play, he'd end up taking up the same positions as Salah.

As for Trent, if Real are offering Liverpool £1m then he'll go the moment the transfer window opens. I wouldn't be shocked if talk of £1m is a bit misleading though and it's referring to what we'll save in wages by letting him go a month early.
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Frimpong could be useful though as he can almost play anywhere on the right side, might be good for covering a variety of options and might even offer the chance for Bradley to get more games than he might do if we got a more recognised "pure" RB
 
I can see both sides of the Trent debate. Can’t help feeling I’d be shortchanged as a supporter though. It’s a tough one as I can’t recall a player leaving a club in similar circumstances. There are comparisons with Owen and Macca but they went to win stuff. Beckham similar but not really a local boy and went for mega money. Can’t think of anyone else however if Shaun Longstaff is reading this and fancies winning Newcastle two premier league titles and a European cup before becoming a galactico and pocketing himself some generational wealth then I’d be ecstatic for him!
 
Tombstone said:
Frimpong could be useful though as he can almost play anywhere on the right side, might be good for covering a variety of options and might even offer the chance for Bradley to get more games than he might do if we got a more recognised "pure" RB
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As I said, his versatility makes sense but the more I think about it I just think it's a compromise that doesn't really solve anything properly. You're not going to spend big money on somebody that's not realistically going to play and we know that he's not going to play regularly in an attacking role which leaves RB and he's not really a RB.

We have to do something at RB though because while Bradley looks good enough, there's too many question marks over his fitness and I'd say it's more likely than not that Gomez leaves this summer too. Even ignoring the challenge of replacing what Trent brings to the side, I think it's a tricky situation for us because on one hand you don't want somebody to block the pathway of Bradley but on the other hand Bradley's fitness record means you can't just sign an understudy. I guess in an ideal world the club would go for somebody of a similar profile to Bradley, that can compete for the spot and we can interchange. No idea who that is though.
 
Vandle said:
I can see both sides of the Trent debate. Can’t help feeling I’d be shortchanged as a supporter though. It’s a tough one as I can’t recall a player leaving a club in similar circumstances. There are comparisons with Owen and Macca but they went to win stuff. Beckham similar but not really a local boy and went for mega money. Can’t think of anyone else however if Shaun Longstaff is reading this and fancies winning Newcastle two premier league titles and a European cup before becoming a galactico and pocketing himself some generational wealth then I’d be ecstatic for him!
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Trent was offered a rumoured £300k p/w making him the best paid full back in the Premier League. I doubt his wage at Real will be much more than that, but of course there'll be a giant signing bonus, probably €10m+.
 
BaZ87 said:
As I said, his versatility makes sense but the more I think about it I just think it's a compromise that doesn't really solve anything properly. You're not going to spend big money on somebody that's not realistically going to play and we know that he's not going to play regularly in an attacking role which leaves RB and he's not really a RB.

We have to do something at RB though because while Bradley looks good enough, there's too many question marks over his fitness and I'd say it's more likely than not that Gomez leaves this summer too. Even ignoring the challenge of replacing what Trent brings to the side, I think it's a tricky situation for us because on one hand you don't want somebody to block the pathway of Bradley but on the other hand Bradley's fitness record means you can't just sign an understudy. I guess in an ideal world the club would go for somebody of a similar profile to Bradley, that can compete for the spot and we can interchange. No idea who that is though.
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Certainly doesnt seem to be a lot of available options around for right back currently thats for sure.
 
BaZ87 said:
As I said, his versatility makes sense but the more I think about it I just think it's a compromise that doesn't really solve anything properly. You're not going to spend big money on somebody that's not realistically going to play and we know that he's not going to play regularly in an attacking role which leaves RB and he's not really a RB.

We have to do something at RB though because while Bradley looks good enough, there's too many question marks over his fitness and I'd say it's more likely than not that Gomez leaves this summer too. Even ignoring the challenge of replacing what Trent brings to the side, I think it's a tricky situation for us because on one hand you don't want somebody to block the pathway of Bradley but on the other hand Bradley's fitness record means you can't just sign an understudy. I guess in an ideal world the club would go for somebody of a similar profile to Bradley, that can compete for the spot and we can interchange. No idea who that is though.
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Slightly left field, but thoughts on Ben White? He seems bit part at Arsenal (largely due to injuries, but also due to Timber being very good), and his position can't be a priority for them, their defence is stacked.

For us, he'd compete with Bradley, and be a very good option at centre back.

It's unlikely to happen for so many reasons, but I wouldn't mind us throwing in a sneaky bid.
 
manic111 said:
Slightly left field, but thoughts on Ben White? He seems bit part at Arsenal (largely due to injuries, but also due to Timber being very good), and his position can't be a priority for them, their defence is stacked.

For us, he'd compete with Bradley, and be a very good option at centre back.

It's unlikely to happen for so many reasons, but I wouldn't mind us throwing in a sneaky bid.
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I don't know. His attitude for England (refusing the call up multiple times unless he's first choice) suggests an attitude problem which we don't want or need in the dressing room.
 
manic111 said:
Slightly left field, but thoughts on Ben White? He seems bit part at Arsenal (largely due to injuries, but also due to Timber being very good), and his position can't be a priority for them, their defence is stacked.

For us, he'd compete with Bradley, and be a very good option at centre back.

It's unlikely to happen for so many reasons, but I wouldn't mind us throwing in a sneaky bid.
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Not for me. Like Frimpong he'd be an expensive compromise. Maybe Slot will see things differently (I doubt it) but the priority of our fullbacks have always been their offensive output and White's just not good enough going forward, which is to be expected because he's not naturally a RB. I also don't see us signing a small CB while our eggheads are running things either. Maybe as a Gomez replacement it might make sense (although probably too expensive) but that would require another CB leaving too as I suspect we have a CB lined up already.

He also comes across as a massive ****.

Like I said, Bradley's injury record gives us a problem because in an ideal world he just goes into the side and you just sign an understudy (a right sided Kostas for example) but without knowing if he's capable of playing 35+ games per season, you're going to need to sign somebody both good enough to start regularly but you also want somebody of a similar style too. You don't want Bradley being out for 2 months and having to completely change how your fullback plays.
 
BaZ87 said:
Not for me. Like Frimpong he'd be an expensive compromise. Maybe Slot will see things differently (I doubt it) but the priority of our fullbacks have always been their offensive output and White's just not good enough going forward, which is to be expected because he's not naturally a RB. I also don't see us signing a small CB while our eggheads are running things either. Maybe as a Gomez replacement it might make sense (although probably too expensive) but that would require another CB leaving too as I suspect we have a CB lined up already.

He also comes across as a massive ****.

Like I said, Bradley's injury record gives us a problem because in an ideal world he just goes into the side and you just sign an understudy (a right sided Kostas for example) but without knowing if he's capable of playing 35+ games per season, you're going to need to sign somebody both good enough to start regularly but you also want somebody of a similar style too. You don't want Bradley being out for 2 months and having to completely change how your fullback plays.
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I think this is all fair.

It's an interesting question about how we'll play. Robbo had a much more defensive role under Slot than under Klopp, which allowed Trent to push on and play more up and down. There's also been a lot of talk about Salah having to defend less this year.

I wonder if there's consideration of getting more a defensive right back, and a left back who can bomb on (Kerkez seems the obvious name) to rebalance that slightly.
 
manic111 said:
I think this is all fair.

It's an interesting question about how we'll play. Robbo had a much more defensive role under Slot than under Klopp, which allowed Trent to push on and play more up and down. There's also been a lot of talk about Salah having to defend less this year.

I wonder if there's consideration of getting more a defensive right back, and a left back who can bomb on (Kerkez seems the obvious name) to rebalance that slightly.
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Combined £80-£90m bid for Kerkez and Huijsen? I know Huijsen has a release clause, £50m I think has been mentioned.
 
MissChief said:
Combined £80-£90m bid for Kerkez and Huijsen? I know Huijsen has a release clause, £50m I think has been mentioned.
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Would be nice, although I imagine that if we got Huijsen for £50m they'd try to fleece us for Kerkez.

Huijsen also looks like absolute class, and in a way is a prime player to rotate behind VVD and Konate, and then to start to replace VVD after 12-18 months. If we want someone who is in a position to challenge for a starting berth though, he worries me a little. He's very, very good, but 18 year olds always have a wobble, and that's less manageable with a young centre back than (eg) a young winger.

Edit: He's 20, not 18! Blimey he looks young!
 
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manic111 said:
Would be nice, although I imagine that if we got Huijsen for £50m they'd try to fleece us for Kerkez.

Huijsen also looks like absolute class, and in a way is a prime player to rotate behind VVD and Konate, and then to start to replace VVD after 12-18 months. If we want someone who is in a position to challenge for a starting berth though, he worries me a little. He's very, very good, but 18 year olds always have a wobble, and that's less manageable with a young centre back than (eg) a young winger.

Edit: He's 20, not 18! Blimey he looks young!
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At the moment Konate hasn't signed and his current deal runs until next summer. If he doesn't sign we might cut our losses and let him go. PSG would likely love him and I'm sure there's be no shortage of suitors from Italy and Spain, maybe Bayern too.
 
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