In September, The Mirror claimed that Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers had 'compiled a dossier' on Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen. Since then, the 21-year old stopper has been linked with a move to Anfield several times, and with Pepe Reina seemingly on the move this summer after reportedly agreeing a 2-year deal with Barcelona, the Reds could have a vacancy between the sticks this summer. £10m-rated ter Stegen would be an inspired choice to replace the Spaniard, but former German international Bodo Illgner has warned that the youngster is not yet ready to leave the Bundesliga.
In February, the Daily Mail reported:
"With Manchester United in pole position for [Asmir Begovic], the [LFC] net has been cast further afield. Form reports have been ordered on Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen"
In an interview earlier this week, Illgner - who played for Real Madrid between 1996 and 2001 - told reporters:
"He [Ter Stegen] is incredibly talented, but also still very young. One should realise that a transfer at his age could affect a career in two ways, both positive and negative. If you make a mistake at a big club and get off to a bad start, it would leave a big mark on his career"
I can see Illgner's point. What's the rush? Why move at the age of 21 when everything seems to be going well for ter Stegen at BMG? Goalkeeping mistakes are always magnified, especially in the Premier League, and bad starts have claimed some high profile victims in the past.
Bayern Munich legend Sepp Maier is convinced that €10m-rated ter Stegen is Germany's future, and in an interview with German newspaper Bild in January, he hailed the Keeper's ability:
"Marc is virtually on par with Manuel Neuer. Neuer has just preceded him, he plays for Bayern and can distinguish himself internationally. [Ter Stegen] is now a great goalkeeper."
German national team coach Andreas Keopke is also a fan of Stegen. He told Bild recently:
"He [ter Stegen] has great serenity, and he's played outstanding this season with some great performances"
Liverpool could certainly do with some good old German efficiency in the team, and along with Stegen, a bid for Borussia Dortmund centre-back Mats Hummels - who recently admitted that he's 'keen on a transfer' - would also be very welcome. Pipe dream, perhaps, but he'd be a superb replacement for Jamie Carragher.
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
In February, the Daily Mail reported:
"With Manchester United in pole position for [Asmir Begovic], the [LFC] net has been cast further afield. Form reports have been ordered on Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen"
In an interview earlier this week, Illgner - who played for Real Madrid between 1996 and 2001 - told reporters:
"He [Ter Stegen] is incredibly talented, but also still very young. One should realise that a transfer at his age could affect a career in two ways, both positive and negative. If you make a mistake at a big club and get off to a bad start, it would leave a big mark on his career"
I can see Illgner's point. What's the rush? Why move at the age of 21 when everything seems to be going well for ter Stegen at BMG? Goalkeeping mistakes are always magnified, especially in the Premier League, and bad starts have claimed some high profile victims in the past.
Bayern Munich legend Sepp Maier is convinced that €10m-rated ter Stegen is Germany's future, and in an interview with German newspaper Bild in January, he hailed the Keeper's ability:
"Marc is virtually on par with Manuel Neuer. Neuer has just preceded him, he plays for Bayern and can distinguish himself internationally. [Ter Stegen] is now a great goalkeeper."
German national team coach Andreas Keopke is also a fan of Stegen. He told Bild recently:
"He [ter Stegen] has great serenity, and he's played outstanding this season with some great performances"
Liverpool could certainly do with some good old German efficiency in the team, and along with Stegen, a bid for Borussia Dortmund centre-back Mats Hummels - who recently admitted that he's 'keen on a transfer' - would also be very welcome. Pipe dream, perhaps, but he'd be a superb replacement for Jamie Carragher.
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Would be a good signing!
ReplyDeleteHaven't the reports of Reina leaving been denied now?
Reina is fine. Terms Stegen would be an amazing replacement
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ReplyDeleteMatt Hummells and ter Stegen; A certain rise in LFC Stock.
They would be such a positive impact that im afraid the scouts and LFC board would see this as too much good for the club and surely screw things up with other meaningless transfers.
I have NO faith in the board or the scouting network.
I hope this transfer window proves me wrong!
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Matt Hummels?? That's like saying, LFC should buy Iniesta or Neymar!!
ReplyDeleteWell we should certainly, but you can't say that ;)
pipe dream you said it,more like kirkland and williams ,
ReplyDeletetotally agree not a chance of signing these two players if they move we will be out priced
ReplyDeletewe will end up with larual and hardy and another fine mess
ReplyDeleteI have little to no faith in the 'scouting committee' at this moment in time. I expect to be dreading the new season come August.
ReplyDeleteBrendan's all about bringing in former players; Coutinho was the exception which should now ultimately prove to be the rule.
Wait and see, if we sell Reina, we'll buy Vorm.
Carragher and Skrtel go, we'll buy Williams.
Suarez goes, we'll be in for Michu or Jay Rodriguez (God help us).
And anyone who thinks we'll get Eriksen is deluded. We're not that team anymore, we can't bring in these players of immense class
Well either buy him now or expect another big club to take him & watch his value at least double & out of our reach. In my opinion he is already one of the best keepers in the world in the top 10 anyway,at his age that says a lot on how good he is. I doubt he would want to go anywhere & be an understudy to anyone so is he ready to replace Reina? Im happy with Reina staying but if he is to go this is the keeper id want,he is a quality keeper with plenty of time to get even better & i think at around 10m is a very good deal in todays market.
ReplyDeleteizzit true Man Utd (or moyes) still not satisfy with de Gea n lindergaad?
ReplyDeletei predict this coming summer will had "mary go round" gk transfer.
but i HOPE reina thing on this week is not true, (least 8-10m is damn low price)
I've backed Reina from day one this season and won't stop now but that footage was some of the best I've seen from a GK. Obviously a good shot stopper but excellent with his feet and deals with crosses well (to date Reina's big achilles heel). However, my biggest worry is that if we lose both he and Cara we'd be losing the entire leadership and organizational base of our defense. I really hope BR is looking at those attributes as he looks for defensive replacements in the summer because that's what made our defense pretty good in recent seasons. Reina has about two years left at this level imo and if we could pull off a deal where we could buy ter stegen in the summer and loan him back to borussia for the next couple of seasons to mature then I think that will be some really smart business on the end of BR
ReplyDeleteagree
ReplyDeleteMy mind tells me you're right but my gut hopes you're wrong. Remember, it could be argued that we were a worse team when Suarez signed. BR said we will be bringing in two players who will be game changers when other team sits back and we end up settling for a draw. In my mind that means at least one of the two will be a midfielder who has an eye for the killer pass. Erikesen checks the box as someone who can open up defenses but for all we know he might be thinking about Nathan Dyre to your point. I say let's be optimistic until proven otherwise
ReplyDeleteCan see where he is coming from, as I'm wary about signing young keepers for no.1 role but there are examples out there who have been successful from young age. But I'm cautious with keepers, so would rather sign a more experienced one.
ReplyDeleteI rate Hummels. Has one big mistake once in a while but very consistent and to a high level in between. But more than good enough for clubs further up the current food chain, let alone us. Considering Dortmund's style of play, (not saying its the same as us) he is comfortable playing in a side that likes to really play and at a tempo too. So in that regard, it makes sense but he will go to a club higher up the current food chain, if he leaves.
My two immediate transfers would be for Wanyama or Lars Bender for the DM position, and Sakho from PSG for our defense (leader, athletic, and good on the ball). Two positions we will be very light in
ReplyDeleteThen we can look at a winger...we've been linked with Jesus Navas before and with only 2 yrs left on his contract it might be time to pounce for a player who is a polished Sterling imo (might even help Sterling with his development as they are almost identical players). I do like Tello as well and that would be fantastic if we could pull that off
The striker situation all depends on what we decide to do with Carrol, Borini, and even Suarez; there's infinate moves we can/should make depending on what BR does.
My only concern about going for Hummels is that his playing style might be too close to Agger's. They both play out of the back and are good on the ball. Not the real gritty players but more like defensive play makers. My only question is whether we should focus on getting a partner for agger who's his anti-thesis and has strengths where agger is weak, like cara was. Nothing against Hummels as he's obviously one of the best in the world, but is he really the right fit for us?
ReplyDeletehummels wont happen, not in a million years, ter stegen yes yes yes please please please. even if pepe does not want to leave, id have him all day every day
ReplyDeleteGood and interesting point on having similar players at CB as having contrasting CBs seems to be the more safe fit. But in such a system like ours, the other CB still has to be somewhat more comfortable than Carra or Skrtel when it comes playing the ball and at defending in a high line where the FBs get forward a lot. Puyol is a physical force but he is a decent on the ball, fairly quick and is comfortable playing in a high line system (more so than Pique, imo) (but to be fair, both of them have a very good sweeper-like holding midfielder in Busquests, whereas our CM are has been very weak defensively at helping the CBs). Santana at Dortmund has pace, which helps him a lot. Subotic definitely isn't as comfortable as Hummels and isn't as pacy as Santana but he still fares well as he has some pace and comfortable playing the ball, more so than Skrtel or even Carra at his peak (and who at his peak, was playing in a much more conservative system here). I'm not saying all systems that are heavily possession based have similar CBs but some do. So I think there maybe a place for two similar CBs in similar systems but whether we can accommodate it is a hard one to answer as I have my worries over central midfield, in terms of how they defensively help the CBs to compensate for the attacking forays of e.g. FBs, as too many times we see the CBs getting drawn out into narrow-wide positions, which leaves a big hole that the CM boys do not fill effectively enough. That is a problem for both the CBs and the midfield, as well as maybe the FB.
ReplyDeleteI think in a orthodox system, you ideally want two CBs that have some contrasting strengths and weaknesses. But in systems like ours, I think the lines are more blurred, i.e., its not so clear cut as for e.g., the first form of defending is to keep the ball, otherwise the system fails horribly as the defensive shape is more open than a more orthodox system. You definitely raise a interesting point and question but it is a hard one to answer.
It would be nice to bid for Hummels, but he won't go to a club without european football (especially after experienced a magical euro campaign)
ReplyDeleteVery valid points and I suppose I was overlooking the fact that our system has changed significanly over the years. It would be interesting to see who BR and his staff identify because, especially in the CD role, striking the right balance is usually the difference between good and bad defences regardless of talent.
ReplyDeleteI'm a broken record in thinking that Sakho is both the steel we need and is pretty decent on the ball (better than Skrtel anyway) but I doubt BR has even given him a look.
But to your DM point I 100% agree. Lucas has done great coming back but we need someone with a little more ability to protect the defence and cover the ground against counter attacks plus if he goes down again we're in real trouble without a back-up. CB and DM are the top priorities in this transfer window imo, anything on top of that is a bonus for me.
On another note it will be interesting to see what happens up top with suarez, borini, and Caroll's futures; has the potential to be a real whirlwind
Hes been linked to Barca too.
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