3 Feb 2013

Stoke Coach hints at summer exit for Asmir Begovic. Replace Reina...?

Is Liverpool target Asmir Begovic on the way out of Stoke City? The deadline-day signing of England U21 goalkeeper Jack Butland would seem to suggest so, and with Pepe Reina highly likely to leave Anfield in the simmer, this could be great news for the Reds.

I'm sure many people were surprised to see Butland sign in at the Brittania Stadium, but reading between the lines, he's obviously gone there because Stoke have probably told that Begovic may leave in the summer.

Regular football is the most important consideration for Butland, and after the youngster rejected the chance to talk with Chelsea last week, his Agent confirmed this:

"Jack's enjoying playing for Birmingham and he is gaining valuable experience. He will listen to what any club that meets Birmingham's asking price has to say, but playing is of paramount importance for Jack."

In a press conference yesterday, Stoke Assistant Manager Dave Kemp also hinted that the club is preparing for Begovic's exit. He told Reporters:

“Will Begovic be sold now Butland’s here? Not necessarily, but if there is a situation where Asmir moves on to a top club offering big money and we didn’t have a Jack around, we’d say, ‘What a mistake that was’. It’s a guarantee, it’s insurance.”

Liverpool were linked with Begovic earlier in the season, and in mid-December, the 25-year old keeper revealed his happiness at being linked with a move to Anfield.

"It is very flattering. It's positive feedback from other teams that people are looking at you and mentioning you with those teams. It's no secret that everyone has their own ambitions and they want to be playing at the highest level possible"

Begovic cost Stoke £3.5m in 2010, and he's now rated in the £10m bracket, which is arguably good value for money.

Fellow Bosnian Edin Dzeko believes Begovic is destined for great things. Speaking to Reporters in early January, Dzeko enthused:

"He [Begovic] is in fantastic form. Stoke have the best keeper in the league. I know him better than most people because I have trained with him [for the national team] and [he] is a great keeper who will go on and play for a bigger team."

I wonder what Joe Hart thinks about Dzeko's comments! Begovic is in brilliant form this season, and he's one of the main reasons Stoke currently have the best defensive record in the Premier League.

I don't think Liverpool have lost anything with Butland going to Stoke. Begovic is clearly a much better option to replace Reina. He is experienced in the Premier League, full of confidence, ready to go straight into the first team. Stoke seem resigned to losing him, and they've even bought in an insurance policy to protect themselves, so (IMO) the Reds should start seriously thinking about how they're going to attract him to Anfield.

Jaimie Kanwar NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


32 comments:

  1. We will probably offer only £6m and allow soton, scum etc to jump ahead of the queue. Looks a very steady and dependable 'keeper so if Reina's leaving, he will be a sound replacement.

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  2. I would like to think Begovic was worth a bit more than £10, lazy journalism!

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  3. How's that lazy journalism?  He's worth about that much and that's with Stoke making 3 times their money.  Don't want Reina to go, but if he goes to Barca I wouldn't begrudge him.  Begovic (if he can keep his form up and keep improving) would be a decent choice....

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  4. good keeper, won't come to us.

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  5. I think he'll probably end up at United, can't see Ferguson putting up with De Gea for another season and he seems to be interested in Begovic. I've seen him play quite a few times and he looks very good, if we could get him as a replacement for Pepe I think it could be a good signing.

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  6. i think he will leave, but old trafford is the likely destination not anfield. very good keeper though.

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  7. Although Butland chose Stoke over Chelsea, Begovic is a different prospect altogether.
     Butland obviously needed to play, first and foremost, and obviously felt that would be better served at Stoke.
     Begovic, would also require first team action, but due to experience, he would command that at a top club, based on his recent performances. My fear therefore, is if a bigger team (or more successful team over the last few years) than us genuinely bid for him, that would probably end up being his preferred choice.

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  8. I think he's a terrific keeper... Sell Reina to Barca, then use the cash to get Begovic...

    I think Barca will welcome Reina with open arms and Reina himself will be keen to join them... 

    Reina is a very good keeper but lately, he is not himself... He needs a new challenge...

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  9. Begovic is an excellent keeper.. he's not in my fasntasy football team for nothing :)

    No mention of Brad Jones in this article filling reina's gloves .. you and others were all bout Jones being up to the job earlier in the season.. until you saw him play !!

    Just wondering where the Brad Jones fan club is now ???

    And for the record .. I hope Reina is at LFC for years to come, for I'm sure that the best is yet to come . 

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  10. So he makes one mistake all be it a massive
    1 and you’re going to throw him on the scrap heap. Name 1 keeper any that has
    not had a howler in his carrier you can’t because they don’t exist. He is
    a very capable back up!!!!!  

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  11. They still many option of players to chasing.....Andre Marc Ters Stegen can be best signing.Maybe....

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  12. I have to disagree .. outside of the mistake,yes they all make them, I don't think he is a capable back up.

    And my point is that if he is capable of playing in goal for LFC why are we talking about buying Begovic to replace Reina ?

    Why aren't the people who were calling for him to replace Reina earlier in the season now calling for him to be given a chance at No.1 .. I'll tell you why because they've realised he isn't good enough.. i.e. they were wrong.

    But you won't hear many people admitting they were wrong..

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  13. reina has cost us too many times in recent seasons. i respect the good work in the past, but his near post nightmares (yes, plural), and the ridiculous decision today.....no, no, no, let someone else pay his wages from the summer onwards. 

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  14. Agreed; Pullis will sell him to his 'mate' Fungusface Ferguson! HE WILL GO TO OLD TRAFFORD!

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  15. He looks nailed on for United.

    I don't know how comfortable he is with the ball at his feet, which is important to Rodgers.

    With Tremmel having deputised so well for Vorm at Swansea, we'd probably go for Vorm if Reina left, methinks.

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  16. Going to United Jaime we should have signed Butland whether or not Reina stays.

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  17. We will be linked with Begovic until the next transfer window but suprise surprise we will not buy him and you are right. The likes of Southampton will beat us to it!

    Instead we will buy some shit keeper whom B. Rod's worked with in the past! I wouldn't mind Vorm, but the Swansea reserve keeper is a better bet! Lol!

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  18. ive always been a big fan of reina, he was a complete keeper, had the lot. you could play him on the pitch he had that much ability and skill, like no other keeper in this era.
    the writing was on the wall when rafa left, then torres alonso and mascherano, even arbeloa and the spanish guy who played down the left for us (sorry cant remember at the mo!)
    hes clearly wanted out but his heart is still here but his head else where.
    we forget how good he was, all round, assists, great passing for counter attacks, great agility etc.
    he will be hard to replace regardless how bad his form has been the last couple seasons or more.
    our defence especially our centre backs need to shoulder most of the blame for me. agger and skrtel are just to soft and inconsistant and ball watch far to much, they are the real problem.
    we could have a better keeper but we would still be in the same position, we seriously need to tighten up at the back.possible and should be 6 points lost.
    priority this summer is some intelligent tough centre backs, and sadly a new keeper

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  19. Where do you get all this from? Who have Southampton beaten us to? You two make it sound like we never sign anyone but we just spent 20 million in January on two quality players that we had long desired. Sounds to me like our transfer window methods are working well. 

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  20. Two important factors here: Butland signing for a mid-table side (who will never be anything better than that) like Stoke shows a lack of self-belief. He already had top sides looking at him so this isn't about putting himself in the shop window. I'd take Begovic over Butland any day.

    Second, the idea that Liverpool lose out to players who choose lower teams is a nonsense. Do you seriously think that our people let people sign elsewhere if we really think they are good enough for Liverpool? The two guys who have signed for Southampton are average but not world class by any means. The last one was bought from Scandinavia. That is a sign they are not good enough for a start. Oh I know there have been some great players from the likes of Sweden and Finland (our beloved Hyypia is a classic example) but they rarely come into the EPL direct, nearly always from Holland or France.

    We have just bought Sturridge who is already looking an absolute steal at £12m and Coutinho who will be a major player after a settling in period, mark my words. This was an excellent transfer window for us, we let a couple of sub-standards go and spent £20m on two excellent signings. We are moving forward and the way we played against Arsenal and City proves that. Some way to go of course but we are ready to have a strong finish this season and then really hit the ground running next season. Exactly what we had planned!

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  21. Replacing Reina with Begovic is a good idea. With the advantage of hindsight it probably would have been better to sell Reina a few years ago when his value was twice what it is now.

    As much as I would like to see us bringing our own keeper through the academy, or get in a youngster for the No. 1 spot, given how shaky our defence can be a more experienced goal-tender is the better option.

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  22. Funny how some people make things up like Brendan only signing players with whom he had worked before. Glad reality is different and out of seven players who've joined the club during his tenure, only two have worked with Rodgers before.

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  23. Would be interesting to see Begovic move from Stoke to Southampton. As things stand the latter may still get relegated this season. Don't think that the keeper wants to take a backward step at this stage in his career.

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  24. Unfortunately I cannot share your optimism concerning "the best yet to come" for Reina. We've been waiting for three or so years now for his past best form to return, but it didn't happen. Therefore I don't see him being even better for us than he was in the past. He might hit top form again at another club though, but you never know.

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  25. Or Bernd Leno, or Oliver Baumann. We might have a look at the Dutch league, too, or France. It's a pity we didn't go for Hugo Lloris.

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  26. The guy on the left was Albert Riera.

    Not sure about Reina's heart still being here. Thought for years that he was engineering a move away.

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  27. Marc-André ter Stegen is the one to go for.What would it cost to get him?

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  28. Whatever Begovic. Chelsea were in for Butland and that cannot have gone down well with Courtois. I'd test their resolve in the summer window. Courtois is a maker of champions.

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  29. not true ... not 2 ... borini, allen, sturridge

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  30. Sturridge never worked with BR if you would have read DS comments.

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  31. Wrong! If you check Rodgers' and Sturridge's careers, you'll find that they have never before been at the same club at the same time. Bringing up Sturridge again and again without checking the facts creates the impression that some people simply need a stick to beat Rodgers with. Well, it's not your fault and I don't want to be rude to you. It's only that I've heard it too often before. So, sorry if you find my comment a bit over the top. It's nothing personal.

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