Slovakian defensive midfielder Juraj Kucka has responded to speculation linking him with a summer move to Anfield.
Last week, TMW and Milan News reported that Liverpool are favourites to sign the £5m-rated midfielder, and when quizzed by reporters about the Reds' interest yesterday, Kucka told reporters:
"It's good news [to be linked with LFC].
"I have not called my compatriot Martin Skrtel and have no plans to do so. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground"
"I am a Genoa player, but I can imagine what it would mean to wear the Liverpool shirt."
Genoa Boss Davide Ballardini wants to keep Kucka, and speaking to reporters in February, he paid tribute the midfielder, claiming he's good enough to play for two of the best teams in Europe:
“Kucka is a great player, worthy of Real Madrid and he can even become worthy of Barcelona. He really is a player who can still give a great deal"
Kucka is currently co-owned by both Genoa and Inter Milan, after the Nerazzurri had bought 50 per cent of his signature last summer.
At around £5m, he definitely fits LFC's transfer budget (!), but a player like Mohamed Diame is already proven in the Premier League, and would (arguably) be a better option, and possibly just as cheap.
Jaimie Kanwar
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Last week, TMW and Milan News reported that Liverpool are favourites to sign the £5m-rated midfielder, and when quizzed by reporters about the Reds' interest yesterday, Kucka told reporters:
"It's good news [to be linked with LFC].
"I have not called my compatriot Martin Skrtel and have no plans to do so. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground"
"I am a Genoa player, but I can imagine what it would mean to wear the Liverpool shirt."
Genoa Boss Davide Ballardini wants to keep Kucka, and speaking to reporters in February, he paid tribute the midfielder, claiming he's good enough to play for two of the best teams in Europe:
“Kucka is a great player, worthy of Real Madrid and he can even become worthy of Barcelona. He really is a player who can still give a great deal"
Kucka is currently co-owned by both Genoa and Inter Milan, after the Nerazzurri had bought 50 per cent of his signature last summer.
At around £5m, he definitely fits LFC's transfer budget (!), but a player like Mohamed Diame is already proven in the Premier League, and would (arguably) be a better option, and possibly just as cheap.
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
question is "if he is tat good then why only 5m" ??? myself oso like diame coz it proven he did a very very good job against us. i hope LFC move fast coz when me missed (mayb lfc not interested at all) DEMBELE i feel sad...
ReplyDeletekolo is coming (that way too fast !!!!). honestly i prefer other option but i hope KOLO pls pls pls prove me wrong
ReplyDeletegood : we had a very experience player to warm bench now.
bad : wage n fitness i very very worried.
If he is a defensive midfielder then that's good news coz to me he looks pretty good going forward. I like Lucas he breaks play but what he doesent do is try and score or try and start an attack . He likes to win the ball and pass the ball to someone else to start attack.diame is a good option but is there some reason why the transfer commitee is not looking at him. Or have they looked at him and found something that does not fit our criteria. For someone cheap and seems to be a good player I can't see many flaws.
ReplyDeleteWe bought kolo decent experianced backup for defense . If we get papadoupolous that would be great. I'd also like ilori for the future/now. He has amazing speed that could be brill in the prem league.
We seem to be looking at another playmaker . Eriksson , h. Mkhitariyan , grenier and Ben arfa etc. I personally think out of all the playmakers h. Mkhitariyan would be great coz he creates and scores. He seems to be a calm finisher. Which is a great bonus. If Suarez stays then I would like a decent young striker as another back up like gremiero . Coz if we get a big name striker who do we play and who do you drop. So a decent striker who is confident and wants to prove them self can rotate with a player who is out of form or injured.
as long as he keeps off those diet pills we have a rather capable defender :P
ReplyDeletein our history, do we had a player failed the test before???
ReplyDeleteSo, his manager thinks he is good enough for Real and Barca, currently the third and fourth best teams in Europe. His manager, yeah, of course he would speak highly of his player. Doesn't mean anything in the real world.
ReplyDeleteAlso, should Kucka speak to Skrtel about us, the he might not want to move here.
After initial positivity of Diame, I have come to the conclusion that he is very hit and miss. West ham fans say he only turns up for the sky cameras. West ham is his level.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Luis is leaving so Jamie should be happy.
diame will not be comming to anfield he will go to a club challenging for the top four,not a club who signs its first player over 24 under fsg because hes free,this is a benchmark of our summer transfer asperations imo
ReplyDeleteif suarez does go i expect more to follow cue the excuses for next season and the one after ,
ReplyDeleteI've argued all along that Suarez will leave this summer, only to be told repeatedly by fans that he would stay, he loves LFC and blah blah blah. The club can survive without him, and even if he goes, LFC will improve in the league next season.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with co owning a player? I find that odd. Plus why does it seem to be that mostly Italian clubs do it?
ReplyDeleteBallague certainly doesn't mind causing a stir. It's the not the first story we've heard of South American players being miserable in Liverpool because the family doesn't enjoy the city. The whole concept would essentially hinge around his wife. If Sofia is not happy then Luis will move and honestly I don't think that's a problem for me. Family will always come first and you when you have the choice of where you'd like to play it would be kind of odd for him to ignore her feelings and hang around while she's miserable. He doesn't have to sacrifice anything in a move to any top Spanish club and the only thing LFC can really ask of him are that they get the maximum possible fee.
ReplyDeleteBalague now re-framing his comments:
ReplyDelete"Notice, I DID NOT SAY HE IS GOING TO GO. I am saying, the club is resigned to his departure if he decides to go. And he is aware there is interest from top clubs and is considering his future. That is the stage the situation is in."
Thanks Guillem, for stating the obvious.
most of LS lover dun wan to accept that. Or mayb just myself cant accept LS biting or most of time try hero nutmeg/drible BUT FAIL or slippin, lazy chase back, or diving, create argument with ref and elbow ppl, imitate mike tyson jab on other player and so on with evra case...
ReplyDeleteps: if offended some reader u may report it n delete my comment ! i comment base on video replay and court result !
To be fair mate, I have been following Balague for a few years now and he is one of the most reliable sources when it comes to LFC stories. If fans don't think he will go if a club like Real wants him, they are deluding themselves.
ReplyDeletewell lets face it ,it was the worse season in living memorey if you take the cup humiliations into account and not challenging for a top for spot from the first day of the season
ReplyDeleteIMO its not a case of him not wanting to goto Real over LFC its more i hope he doesnt go cheaply to real.
ReplyDeleteI would rather he stay at LFC but if he does go i hope we get the reported 40m in his contract and we can only move on.
He's loved by LFC fans but hated by everyone else (even some LFC fans) in the UK, so a move to a place like Real where some of his transgressions will be ignored and he can have a fresh start at a contender would be good for him.
But as i mentions i only hope we get a good fee for him if he does go
I hope suarez doesnt leave, but if he does i hope we get a good amount for him. No aquilani style low balling!! LOOKING AT YOU JUVE!!
ReplyDeleteHey, that wasn't directed at people like yourself, more towards the fans who have been insisting that he is going nowhere because the club said so. I am convinced we will receive offers in the 40 million region and he will be on his way.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you mean by "to be fair". I didn't suggest Balague wasn't reliable, but look at his own words. The story is nothing more than "Suarez is aware that big clubs are chasing him and he's not automatically knocking them back". We've all known that Suarez would consider offers from big clubs if they came in, he's said as much himself plenty of times during interviews. I don't see any new information.
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassed by the fact that the only thing that made last season OK are a Carling Cup win and a losing FA Cup Final appearance.
ReplyDeleteand iam embarressed that nothing made rodgers 1st season exceptable
ReplyDeleteThe 1st sentence stating that 'Balague doesn't mind causing a stir' gives the impression that you are being a bit critical of him. Just how I picked it up. Well I never knew about his wife being unhappy so that was new information for me and would definitely increase the chance of him leaving. I don't think Balague posts stuff just to stir. It is normally fairly reliable information when it comes from him.
ReplyDeleteYou're determined to have that view, and good luck to you .
ReplyDeleteAgain, it seems incredible that you can describe last season as the worst in living memory. Are you talking solely about the Cups? Because last season was better than the season before in EVERY aspect of the league bar goals conceded. And that was only 5 goals.
It seems like you're forced to put an inordinate amount of value on the cup runs since your previous predictions of a mid table finish and waorse season than under Kenny were proven wrong...
Short term memory loss perhaps?
were did we finish in the league m8 7th one place higher and the cup runs got us into europe are we playing there next season no were not,and as for the goals scored 5 past norwich 6 past newcastle and 5 past a swansea side who rested players for the cup,so nearly a quarter in 3 matches,how many wins did we achieve against sides in the top ten of the leagueabout 3or4 we were good againt the dross average against the average and poor against the best'average season at best,?so one place higher in the league and no european football is better than 1 place lower 1 cup win and an facup final don,t make me laugh you can put what ever shean you want on the season it was dire
ReplyDeleteYour always going to have that view, the season was always going to be a write off, change of style,new manager it takes time, there was alot of positive last season, even pundits and ex liverpool players have said. Rodgers can bring the good times back.
ReplyDeleteand imo i was right it was garbage for every decent win we had (newcastle )they was at least one nightmare (oldham)and lets not forget rodgers had a fully fit squad all season except(which probabley saved his job ,because lets face it he was a total waste of money and thats being kind)
ReplyDeleteI'm still not really sure what you thought was going to happen if Kenny stayed. Do you really think it would have been better?
ReplyDeleteBecause we're not good enough. We weren't good enough under Kenny either, we were much much worse. Everyone can see that, get your head out of the sand. Kenny getting us into the Europa League was a fluke on the back of a second rate cup competition. We were going downhill fast the those cup runs barely covered up the cracks that were appearing all over the place. The whole team was a shambles. I say it again: go check out our last 10 games under Kenny. It was a joke. That's the team Rodgers inherited, and that's why we're not in Europe. No could have turned it around.
ReplyDeleteYou want to go through the list of blips from the season before?
ReplyDeleteDo you seriously think losing an FA Cup final is an achievement? Talk about putting a "sheen" on it!
ReplyDeletemike you tore me f"ckall you have your opinion i have mine the difference is i do not try to impose my opinion on you and yes silverwear and europe means more to me than finishing in 7th everytime every season
ReplyDeletewell m8 your trying to put a sheen on scoring afew more goals and finishing in the lofty position of 7th
ReplyDeletewe need cover and competition for Lucas as since his injury he doesnt seem to have alot of confidence in tackling as his ACL snapping is still in the back of his mind. its understandable.
ReplyDeletemike might have had to do with fighting on three fronts under kenny mite have something with the suarez ban and it might have something to do with the injuries to major players last season or the bad luck, rodgers as been lucky on all counts we hardly had a player out injured all this season and the one we did allen (well probably was rodgers saving grace )because when he stopped playing lfc played better every time,this season we never once got anyway near challenging for the top four no matter how many chances the clubs above us gave us ,and next season i see no reason why we will finish much higher in the league maybe one place if we are lucky,and that will be everton as the rest are miles better than we are and will definitly be more active in splashing the cash this summer
ReplyDeletei dont think so but we are buying a player who failed it so cause of concern no ?
ReplyDeleteWe can't expect to keep top players anymore. Aside from Liverpool being an average place to live, its going to be some time before we reach the heights we did under rafa. Going for players like aspas and papa while bringing kids through makes sense. I have a feeling Suarez bit ivanovic on purpose to make the exit easier.
ReplyDeleteI just hope we get 50 plus for him as that's what he's worth. As much as bale and Torres.
Our attacking play a way better,plus the kids are getting a go. If we sign the right players, things will improve.
ReplyDeletelol do me a favour
ReplyDeleteBad luck? That's your defence? Suarez was only banned for 4 more games that season. Lucas was out for over 3 months this season too and Allen too.
ReplyDeleteWe were nowhere near top 4 that year either. Nowhere near. And we had spent A LOT more money on transfers.
The only decent point you make is the additional 9 games to get to the finals.
But that doesn't explain the 24 goals scored difference. Or losing 5 more games.. etc etc
I hope you are right.
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer him to stay but if he wants out i hope we get a good amount for him
bye
ReplyDelete