18 Apr 2012

Manager confirms: Exciting £15m LFC target is a wanted man. Replace Downing...?

Liverpool have been linked with skillful Sunderland midfielder Stephane Sessengon several times this year, and the rumours refuse to go away. However, Black Cats manager Martin O'Neill is determined to keep the tricky midfielder at Sunderland, and he reiterated that stance earlier this week.

£15m-rated Sessengon is aware of interest from bigger clubs, but he told L'Equipe in March that he refuses to 'think about that so far', and will only talk about his future 'at the end of the season.

O'Neill recently Insisted that he would be 'massively reluctant' to let the Beninese International go.

This week, O'Neill admitted that Sessegnon is coveted by by other clubs, but again reiterated that Sunderland want to keep him:

"Other managers speak highly of Stephane, and that just goes to show how well he has done for us this season. But it is certainly the owner's view that any quality player we have, we want to keep"

That's all well and good, but as we've seen so many times though, if a bigger club wants a player from a smaller club (no disrespect to Sunderland), the chances are that, eventually, a deal will go through.

Liverpool haven't had much luck with wide players over the years, and this season has been no exception. According to Wimbledon legend Robbie Earle, Sessegnon is a ready-made replacement for Stewart Downing, who has been a disappointment since he arrived in the summer:

"He's certainly someone with the potential to go and play for one of the big clubs in the Premier League, and do well there. I look at Liverpool in the wide areas with Stewart Downing, and I think he gives you more than Downing in the wide areas".

In January, the Daily Mail claimed that Liverpool were prepared to open the bidding at £8m, and were 'willing to put together a package that suits both player and his family in a bid to convince him to remain in the Premier League'.

Sessegnon has seven goals and nine assists in thirty-two games for Sunderland so far this season, which is a good attacking return. Worth a bid?



Jaimie Kanwar


66 comments:

  1. dont see the point because if we did buy him and he failed you would just complain and say he isnt good enough just like downing

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  2. nah sterling will be better given time

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  3. Er, any player that fails is not good enough (!), but I'm sure you'e never criticised any player in your life, have you?

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  4. Liverpool paid £16Million for Henderson and so I think Sunderland will hold out for at least £25Million as Sessengon is more than twice the player Henderson ever was/will be. Just my opinion though.

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  5.  O'neill, won't sell him, i'm sure (look what happeed when we tried to buy Barry!) Not sure he's the one for us either.

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  6. more crap from jam rag 

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  7. Downing going nowhere Jk and you know it.

    Another blind obvious attempt to attack a player who hasnt lived up to your perfect standards in performances and morally!!!!

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  8. He's not a wide player.  He plays as a withdrawn striker.  When you consider that his creative return is not good enough.

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  9. Downing is pure sh!te and offers nothing to the club - he should be attacked as a matter of course and hounded out of the club IMO 

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  10. jam rag slaughtered lucas for 2 years know much about football as the wife
     

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  11. Deleye


    Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note

    -------- Original message --------
    Subject: [liverpoolkop] Re: Manager confirms: Exciting £15m LFC target is a wanted man. Replace Downing...? | Liverpool-Kop.com

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  12. wats wrong jam rag

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  13. He is an attacking mid fielder Downing is a winger?

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  14. was right about slaughtering lucas

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  15. took downing 6 months 2 settle in at villa jam rag u expect every player 2 come in an b outstanding but suarez done it from day 1 an u dont like him cos he dives ive seen gerrard dive plenty of times home an away nothin said about him jam rag

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  16. JUST GO AWAY JAMIE AND DONT COME BACK

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  17. i was talkin 2 ex players about jam rag at wembley about him slaughtering suarez they fell off there chairs with laughter after i told them he wanted fenway 2 sack him cos hes a cheat there response was hes a joke

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  18. learn where he plays6:09 pm, April 18, 2012

    he aint no winger he playes between the midfield and forward

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  19. Septimus_Severus6:53 pm, April 18, 2012

    Downing is a winger who doesn't score goals in the premier league or assist which to me means he's useless.

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  20. i feel downing has turned the corner. anyway, would be nice as another option, but sadly this site was one of the main advocates for downing initially, no? and look at the way that has turned out

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  21. Septimus_Severus6:56 pm, April 18, 2012

    There's no point in buying players while Dalglish is at the helm.

    Has anyone thought HOW COME THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (CHAD)  ALL TURNED RUBBISH?
    They weren't ALL this bad when they were at there previous clubs before a certain man got his hands on them.

    HAS ANYONE LOOKED AT WHAT MIGHT BE GOING ON THE TRAINING PITCH? TACTICS? STRATEGY ?...

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  22. You might not have noticed but manager's do regularly (and often needlessly) shift players around into different positions. Bale and Hoilett are two other examples of wingers that been operating behind the strikers a lot this season - they're still wingers though...

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  23. Too much has been expected of Downing, due in large part to him being the only legitimate winger at the club. He'll be fine as a second (or 3rd) choice winger. It's unfortunate that we've spent £20m for a backup caliber player but that's just the way that it goes sometimes. 

    What's done is done, now we just have to hope for the best that Downing will elevate his play next season after a season adjusting to the expectations at Liverpool (in contrast to those at Villa and Boro)

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  24. learn where he plays8:09 pm, April 18, 2012

    i have noticed that m8 i also  noticed when sess played on the wing he aint anywhere as effective therfore he aint no winger his correct position is in the hole surely ya buy a player for the position hes most affective, but if ya wanna try and buy him for 20 plus mill and play him on the wing you will all be slagging him off saying he cant play for a supposed big club and ya might as well save the money and play hendo on the wing another joke winger my arse

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  25. He isn't a natural wide player but certainly can play in any of the 3
    positions in the '3' in a 4-2-3-1. Think Benayoun, in terms of positions. 

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  26. I reckon Sess will be off to PSG again. The money, ambition and lifestyle seems a good fit for him, that club. Yep, thats where he came from but under new ownership and new manager (he had issues with the old one), he could be tempted. 

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  27. He'll stay at Sunderland.

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  28. haha Sess is not a winger at all!!.. played there under bruce and was not nearly as good as playing in behind the striker under MON, you have paid 35 mill for carrol 20 mill for hendo ish n 20 mill for downing, tbh if you keep throwing money at players of this quality what would you value sess at? - no club will take your team serious with bids and will hang you out to dry waiting for you to offer massive exagerated fees as per (eg.. newcastle) + your sitting 8th in the league with a weak squad compared to the powerhouse LFC used to be.. team on the decline i think so..

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  29. Downing just doesn't play like a winger for us, but that doesn't mean he can't play as such or that it is not his natural position .... because he is the typical english winger !!!!

    Just think back to his time at Villa ... he performed really well for them on a.constant basis, but doing it on the big stage is where he struggles (whether it's England or Liverpool ....)

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  30. "Unfortunate"? I think "Incompetent", "incomprehensible", or "unbelievable"  are somewhat closer decsriptions

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  31. Fu-you-too-jaimie11:55 pm, April 18, 2012

    Jaimie, you are F pathetic! and F your FU site!!!:-)

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  32. would rather junior hoillet

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  33. Sessegnon looks a better fit than Hoilett. Hoilett thrives in teams that play a very open game and can only be truly effective if the rest of the forward line is as fast as he is, meaning his best shot at superstardom is to move to one of the North London clubs to rotate with either Bale/Lennon or Walcott/Gervinho.

    Sessegnon is more of the brainy player that would suit Dalglish or Rafa's styles, Dalglish because the players have more freedom, Rafa because he likes his creative players lining up just behind the chief striker. Sessegnon has the vision that Enrique and Downing clearly don't, the pace Adam lacks, and the sense of adventure absent in Henderson's game. He'd be an upgrade on Kuyt or Maxi should we allow one or both to go.

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  34. Eventually Sess will move on, I just hope he decides to entertain us at Sunderland for one more season. Unless LFC offer him silly wages he wouldn't go there. Liverpool aren't a big club anymore. If the pool did decide to throw a bid in it would have to be in the range of 25m but he is worth it when you play him in the hole, he isn't a winger and definitely not a replacement for Downing, so I don't know what this reporter is on about. Although I would be tempted to take Downing off your hands for say 10m but I know that wouldn't go down well with the Never Walk Alone crew...

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  35. There are many good footballers out there for a much cheaper price. Why look at other PL players. Africa, South America, Scandinavia and Russia  produce some good players. Forget Sess and the like.

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  36. I think you are getting ahead of this thing. The headline and opening paragraph is construed so that you take the idea that LFC are after this guy! Better to wait for more accurate information like , say, the official LFC site?

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  37. i agree, he doesnt look like he can get that great touch

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  38. Johnyweasemuller8:04 am, April 19, 2012

    ur a right bell jam rag y av do u av 2 delete all my messages dont ulike it ex players were laughin at u

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  39. jam rag know much about football than my nan ask the clown how many times does he go 2 anfield sits there reading comments by robbie earle then makes a story up

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  40. Deletr


    Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note

    -------- Original message --------
    Subject: [liverpoolkop] Re: Manager confirms: Exciting £15m LFC target is a wanted man. Replace Downing...? | Liverpool-Kop.com

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  41. The Anfield Faithfull9:44 am, April 19, 2012

    Get Victor Moses instead..!!

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  42. junior TOILLET is the biggest cheat and diver i've ever seen (apart from ashley young)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  43. what a bell end.

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  44. Moses or Hoilet on a free got to be better than paying a fortune for Sessegnon as he aint that great either.

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  45. Wow, people answer questions you have asked and you delete their comments? Out of interest, do you think Fernando Morientes or Jari Litmanen were not good enough, even though both are legends?

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  46. Downing wasn't the best in his first season at Villa, but in his second season, he came good and was their best player. Have faith in our players, that's what real Liverpool fans are all about

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  47. You cannot blame the assists on Downing, that is due to the finishing of the strikers, he supplies the balls in that get to the attacking player whose attempts are off target, Downing is doing his job by supplying the balls in. He can't magically make the players on the other end of the cross score the goals

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  48. I can see this happening his english is h and dalglish wants him .dont worry about signing muniain from atletico bilbao

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  49. As I mentioned earlier, Downing performed really well for Villa on a constant basis in his second season, his first season, he took awhile to settle in, let's see how he does next season

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  50. Mate, this site and more to the point the writer of these articles, forgets the Liverpool way of being a fan, support the manager, the players 100% while they are still at Liverpool

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  51. atleast he is better than both henderson and downing combined

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  52. We need to buy outside of UK because every club will just say that you paid this much for him so our player is worth more. We only have KK and Comolli to thank for that.

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  53. Sometimes I want to f**king scream reading the stuff you write, your by far the worst I have ever came across on the internet. You constantly slate Downing, and I can't see why. Honestly I can't, you would swear to god Andy Carroll had the work rate of a Olympic Champion with how you slate Downing, your a disgrace, Downing has been good, not his best, but had you taken your bias away from Downing and as they say in our great game 'get you head up' you would see way worse performances, Henderson, Adam, Carroll, Carragher, Reina, etc. etc. etc. Downing has placed the ball on Carrolls head lots of time this season, and he has played some brilliant balls in the back, take the chip out of your shoulder get some common sense, the only reason I am here is because I clicked it by accident again. Until you understand football, don't throw your opinion at people who don't and certainly not people who do, look at downings covering for Enrique, immense, he is a fantastic player and had we a finisher in the squad or a young Stevie Gerrard, he would be worth his weight in gold. You just unfortunately can't see his potential for some unknown reason.

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  54. I had to agree in the first half of the season downing was poor but he has got better and better over the season. now he is looking alot more influetial and his workrate has improved massively.

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  55. Agreed. all the signings are worse than they were before. I don't think it is possible to judge them accurately until we can be sure that the team is being set up and prepared in the right way.

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  56. You don't look around much, obviously.

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  57. Moses from Wigan looks good, Hoillet from Blackburn. We can get Hoillet, but now that Wigan are motoring up the league, that looks trickier. McCarthy, also from Wigan, is starting to look like a decent player. Di Santo, who everyone slated on here, has been their best player in a lot of their recent games as well.

    Definitely don't think we should be letting teams like Sunderland sting us again, after Henderson. He might be a great player but is not one that we could'nt afford to miss and we've helped the North East rebuilding fund plenty enough in the last 18 months or so. Definitely shouldn't be spending silly money to propel another set of rivals above us in the league.

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  58. Sorry, you're saying that a goal or assist every other game is not a good enough return for someone who plays behind the striker?  Are you mad?

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  59. Chi Bai lu, why didn't we buy him in the first instance instead of Henderson ?

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  60. just keep downing...give him time to shine...give him no.6 jersey...

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  61. It amazes me when I hear opposing fans refer to Liverpool as not being 'A big club" anymore.
    Sorry to dissapoint some of you,but the fact is we are.Huge club only second to man u in regards to fan base worldwide.
    Maybe what you should be saying is Not such a good team anymore.That is a fact even for us die hard reds.
    LFC Big club? You better believe it,we are huge.

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  62. mate he isn't a spring chicken either....think abt what ur saying pls.

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  63. Drenthe and Hoillett contract run out this summer. Yep, Drenthe is not exactly an angel but seeing as we have embraced Suarez, Drenthe surely worth a gamble on a freebie, non?

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  64. Fed up of your stupid comments and slating Liverpool football club. If you are a Reds fan which i doubt, wish you would take off and support someone else. Your column time stupid comments don't care for them.

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