7 Feb 2013

LFC make €12m offer for Slovenian Serie A star

Over the last three months, Liverpool have been linked with a number of different goalkeepers as potential replacements for Pepe Reina, and the latest name to enter the fray is 6'4 Inter Milan stopper Samir Handanovic.

Liverpool recently signed Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho from Inter, and according to reports in Italy today, and during negotiations with Inter Sporting Director Marco Branca, the Reds also discussed the possibility of signing the Slovenian International in the summer. TMW reports:

"Liverpool have initially offered £12m, but Inter believe that Liverpool would also be willing to make an extra effort to get up very close to the equivalent of €20 million, which could persuade Massimo Moratti to sell"

28-year old Handanovic spent eight years at Udinese before signing for Inter last summer in an €11m deal, so I can't see Inter getting anywhere close to €20m for him.

Zeljko Brkic, the goalkeeper who replaced Handanovic at Udinese, believes that his predecessor is one of the best goalkeepers out there. In January, he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.:

"We often speak, not just about football. I still see him at the top, as in the days of Udine. He remains one of the three best goalkeepers in Europe."

In recent months, a whole raft of goalkeepers have been linked with a move to Anfield, including: Asmir Begovic, Ali AL Habsi, Jason Steel, Mark Andre ter Stegen and Ron Robert Zieler. Is Handanovic a better option...?





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59 comments:

  1. unless we get a big money offer for pepe(14/20 million)i would rather keep him unless he comes out publicly and says he wants to move then than changes everthing,i feel any spare transfer money could be better spent in other positions

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  2. I have never seen this guy play so can't really comment on him. Another name we might be linked with is Mihaylov from FC Twente. We sold him to Twente in 2010 because of work permit issues I think and I believe we have 1st choice to buy him back. I haven't seen loads of him but anytime I have seen him, he has impressed me. Could be a good option. Not sure if anybody else has seen much of him.

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  3. probably not in the right age or price bracket of where FSG want to do their transfer dealings

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  4. We can talk about players how much we want who is coming and going . we still are one of the smallest teams in the league and all our world class players left or are leaving .
    we are no longer attractive place for world class players and the owners are not intrested in buying players.
    we have pepe coates downing enrique left to sell  to bring in players .every top team has cover in every place on the park we just now have basic 11 players no subs that will make diffrence and we are really living of sponsors dollar and not our FSG.                                               We had world class players pepe arbeloa Alonso mascherano gerrard torres kuyt Hypia  thats 8 world class player . Now we have gerrard suarez pepe agger johnson. sell pepe suarez will leave and we will all cry again like we did when torres left and if you all think suarez will stay if players around him get sold. your dreaming

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  5. Owners not interested in buying players? Other than Sturridge, Coutinho, Allen, Borini, Downing, Henderson, Carroll, Assaidi etc. Do you mean not interested in buying world class players??? 

    While I agree, we are a shaddow of our former team, we are just starting to look a good side again. I don`t think we have been this far off winning the league in the 20 years since we last won it, but I can see a turnaround slowly happening. 

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  6. I think Ter Stegen fits in to the FSG profile of transfers. And I think he is also a good option...I am not sure of this season..but if I'm not wrong, he was among the top 5 GKs with most clean sheets last season.

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  7. Kuyt, world-class? Yeah, sure. Pepe isn't performing like a world-class player, too. Or Agger. All good players in their own right, but world-class? No way.

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  8. The first two players FSG need to sign before they do anything else is Carragher and Gerrard. They have both shown (Carra more recently), that they are integral to the team in leadership, organisation and setting an example in how to play for LFC.

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  9. fernadi musclere(f"ck knows if ive, spelt it right,would be a good shout strong at crosses,uruguain international so suarez may be able to convince him,only at galatasray,so should be in our price range,about 26 so fits the buy them young policy(imo 26 is young for a keeper)

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  10. Good goalkeeper. Quick to the ground for such a tall guy. A better option than others, I couldn't say. A good option should Reina leave, definitely.

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  11. Carragher is retiring at the end of the season so no new contract for him then....

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  12. Quite a solid keeper that has done well for Inter since Cesar left. They sold Cesar, partially because of his wages and Handanovic was cheaper to run. Moratti maybe a bit trigger happy to say the least, when selling & buying players but it would be a bit reckless to keep chopping & changing keepers, especially when the keeper has done well. Reckon it will have to be around £14m mark. They are still in the race for a CL place too, so I reckon much will depend on where both sides finish in their respective leagues. I am more comfortable bringing in a older keeper than a young keeper. He has learnt his trade now. Very good in the air and dominant, although not sure on his footwork, from what I've seen. Yep, he is 28 but he could last another 10 years at a very good level. I'd even be very happy with bringing in a keeper who was at the stage of Van Der Sar's level when he joined Man Utd, regardless of his age. 

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  13. we all dream of a team of carraghers ynwa

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  14. Very my friend... Very. Where are we going to get a Carra or Stevie from? Our youth system is in good shape though so should have a good chance.

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  15. with coates and maybe skertal possibley leaving in th summer and carragher retiring,our central defence is going to need some major transfer money pending on it in the summer,god it never rains it pours

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  16. With Carra retiring, I think there's a distinct possibility that only one of the two (Coates or Skrtel) will be sold.

    Unless we play Wisdom and Kelly at CB in addition to Agger and a new signing or two. 

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  17. Any club would be crazy to bid that much for Reina.
    LFC would be crazy to turn down any bids that came anywhere close to those figures for Reina.

    There are some crazy money-men in football though, so you never know...

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  18. With Reina between the posts until the end of season does not look promising. We should have gone for a backup Goalie in jan. Pepe is a shadow of his old self. he is living in denial that he is not at fault for his fcukups.

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  19. Would be nice to see Kelly get rid of his injury demons and become a regular feature the way Carra did.

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  20. Question is would they play Kelly at right back or in the middle?

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  21. Would be happy if we could get 6/8 million euro for Pepe Reina, he is useless.   Try to trade Reina against Handanovic + give 6-10 million for him, and we have a deal :P.   

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  22. For once (And I can't believe I'm saying this) I .....I ...'Damn it!!' 'Breathes out' I agree with you...There ... I said it lol

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  23. dont know lfc if rumours are to be believed want rid of coates and skirtels been dropped for a player about to retire,so imo none of them are safe

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  24. imo kelly not yet got the experience for centerback  trouble his imo we have 2 future england rightbacks in kelly and wisdom,maybe one of them could shift to the middle but it would have to be over time

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  25. there it was not that bad after all;-)

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  26. Exactly.  I don't think we could get rid of both Coates and Skrtel because of that reason.  We don't have the depth. Even if we brought in new signings, based upon what we seem able to afford, I can't imagine we'd be getting more than one player who is ready to step in right away.  And we'd need at least 2 or 3 signings just to make sure we have the depth.

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  27. The one thing I will give the owners credit for is that they are not only trying to win in the future, but they are trying to make sure that when we start winning, that we keep on winning.

    It's a bold strategy considering everyone wants to win now.  But if (and it's a big if) it works out, we will contend for the title annually.

    Now before people start accusing me of going crazy, I'm not saying that we are going to win every year.  All I'm saying is that I understand their strategy.  And I understand why people are frustrated with it.

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  28. I agree. Only sell Pepe if it's an offer we can't refuse.

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  29. depends on how much we can get for them and if rodgers wants them to go,and fsg give him all the money from the sales of them to reinvest

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  30. me two hes still young for a keeper,but if he wants to go thats another issue

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  31. I can't see us getting Handanovic. He's probably the best keeper in Serie A nowadays. If we did, I don't think 20m Euros would be that unrealistic an asking price.

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  32. Nobody on that list of players was highly being contested by any other major club when we signed them. Don't remember the last time we actually beat another club to a signing of a highly rated player. Grateful for the Countinho signing and  the Sturridge signings for that matter though i think it is not enough to right the wrongs that have been done to this club in previous transfer markets.

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  33. None of the players on your list are better then Alonso arbeloa mascherano torres. Rafa bought flops and bought some great players most players on your list also are flops. borini allen downing carroll assaidi  and coutinho is injured player bought on high potential.

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  34. Kuyt at his prime was not now but played for holland and scored lots of vital goals.pepe is still world top ten keepers. Agger does also play for denmark and captian and is world class.

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  35. Torres isn't that great now and going off current form, Sturridge is better. While the players bought may not be world class players, at least 3 of the players bought, Coutinho, Sturridge and Allen are all world class talent and have the potential to be world class players. This shows ambition. Given the current form of Downing, he can't be considered a flop. Also, Arbeloa to me isn't considered world class, Enrique when he is at his best on the other hand most certainly is, he is a good defender and is excellent going forward. Lucas is also a world class defensive midfielder. I for one am very excited about our future. Of course I would like success right now, but what I want more is sustained success in the future. I don't want us becoming a Leeds or a Blackburn, winning the title and then falling off, I want us to be continually pushing for the title year in year out and to get that happening, that will not happen overnight, it will take 2-3 years before Rodgers gets his squad exactly how he wants it to be.

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  36. Although I rated Kuyt highly, I agree he was not a world class player. However Reina and Aggger are world class talents, even though their form at the moment may not be world class, the talent they have most certainly is. I would say that the form of Glen Johnson this season has been world class though. Maybe even as good as Dani Alves.

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  37. Carragher is retiring at the end of the season, so can't sign him and I believe Gerrard signed a new contract when FSG took over, so he is tied up for a while with us, no rush.

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  38. We have a very good defender coming through the ranks, a German lad named Stephen Sama, definately one for the future. Plus there is Martin Kelly and Andre Wisdom who are both natural CBs

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  39. Kelly and Wisdom, although being played at right back are both natural centre backs. So it's only a matter of time before one of them fills the void that Carragher will be leaving.

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  40. I honestly don't think Skrtel is going anywhere. I believe that Carragher had made the decision to retire a couple of months ago and Rodgers playing Carragher ahead of Coates and now Skrtel is to give him the send off that he deserves

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  41. He's got to be better than Reina so I agree with you.

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  42. I don't think that Reina is a bad goalkeeper in any way.  IMO he is totally disinterested in playing for us and just doesn't put in the effort any more.  You can see it in his demeanour and general attitiude.  

    So, either way, for me he needs to go.

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  43. At there peak at liverpool torres and arbeloa alonso mascherano world class 100% not now thats the point what world class players we had. No way in world your point allen sturridge coutihno world class . your stating opinion with out reading the post. we have not replaced those type of players with same or better suarez diffrent story .

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  44. No need to offer any explanation in respect of your spelling. Trust me, it isn't the first time that you cannot spell.

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  45. Goal keeper is very important position to keep maintain stable and consistentcy performance.Not so easy to keep buying new goal keeper after we lost 1 of best goal keeper.The very special about Pepe Reina is he can predict and block many dangerous trying ball and save the penalty ball.Many dangerous try ball and free kick he can save and catch the ball or push out corner kick.Brad Jones also can be good but look like a cartoon always not cool while handed the ball.Sometimes he push the ball to strikers foot.That to easy for contender striker to make sure score the goal.LFC need to bring the youngest talent players.Asmir Begovic is good but he is only for shortterm plan.Jack Butland already miss to Stoke City.Maybe Andre Marc Ters Stegen or Roberth Zieler can be good answer for LFC soon.

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  46. i think hes just pissed off with the lack of cover hes getting

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  47. i know m8 thats what i said but it will take time maybe intergrate one of them this season

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  48. sorry m8 theres no sentiment in football,unless the club as given up on forth place,rodgers must think carras the best option at the moment

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  49. We may have a different apprehension of what "world-class" is. To me it means that a player would be picked by all (or at least most) of the top teams in the world.

    I don't want to slag off Kuyt, he was full of energy, scored vital goals, never let his head drop, but his second touch was a tackle. He was never world-class in my sense of the word.

    Pepe may have been world-class when he was on top form, but I can barely remember him being on top form. And I can't see him still being one of the worlds top ten keepers.

    Agger, as much as I like him, is not world-class either. He is a very cultured centre-half, but his heading is not very good for a player in his position.

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  50. That's an interesting one. Is a player with world-class talent, but whose performances are average (or good at best) still a world-class player? Is Torres still a world-class player?

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  51. Tony - Please do not comment on others posters' spelling. This is against the comment policy. Thanks.

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  52. Read what I actually wrote, I didn't say that they are world class players yet, what I said is that the have world class talent. Which means they have the potential to be world class players. Arbeloa was never world class, he was very very good, but he was never in the top 5 in the world and still isn't. To me, world class in a position is top 5 in the world in their position, which is why Lucas to me is world class. Arbeloa never has been though. The form Glen Johnson has been in this season means he is in the category of world class. Torres at the start of his time with us was a world class player, and although he is still a world class talent, he is no longer in the category of world class player and hasn't been for a few years.

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  53. To me, no, a world class player is someone who is in the top 5 in their position. Torres has the potential to be, hence being a world class talent, but he isn't there and hasn't been for some time, therefore for me is still a world class talent, but is not a world class player.

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  54. I think between the two, although he is the younger, Wisdom is the one that has more presence in the CB role. Sure he is still a bit raw, but under the steadying guidance of Agger, I believe can make the CB role his own in the future. Tall, strong, fast, ball-playing and although his composure isn't first class, when you consider his age, he is very composed.

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  55. Although on the whole I agree with the no sentiment in football thing, I believe that there are exceptions to the rule. Rafa bringing back Robbie Fowler so the fans could give him a proper send off is one example of this.

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  56. Torres is an interesting one really. Much of his talent was his pace. Now that he has lost a bit of that (due to injury), can we still consider him as a world-class talent? Or the same with Michael Owen and countless others, too. Aren't they just former world-class talents who are now a bit past it?

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  57. Posting a link for the news would be much more convenien...

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