Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton are reportedly interested in signing Nuremberg striker Josip Drmic, who is expected to make a big splash for Switzerland during the upcoming World Cup finals.
According to reports this week, Liverpool are interesting in signing the 21-year old striker, who is available for an €10m fee.
When asked about his future this week, Drmic revealed his desire to play for Arsenal. He told reporters:
"What will happen in the future, I don't know. Any boy dreams about playing for Arsenal."
He was probably asked a direct question about Arsenal, and I'm sure if the question related to Liverpool, he would've said 'any boy dreams of playing for Liverpool'. I doubt he'd give the same answer if asked about Everton, though ;-)
Some info about Drmić:
* Second highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season with 16 goals; level with Robert Lewandowski; just one behind Mario Mandzukic, and many more than experienced attackers like Robben and Ribery.
* 16 goals/3 assists in 24 starts this season.
* Two goals in five apps for the Swiss national team.
* 2012-13: 19 goals in 39 apps for FC Zurich.
* 65% passing accuracy.
* 52 shots/24 key passes in 27 apps this season.
Earlier this month, Drmic scored two goals against Croatia, and after the game, Switzerland boss Ottmar Hitzfeld raved:
"Josip Drmic was outstanding for us today. We managed to make use of his pace and create danger from his runs."
Reacting to his match-winning performance, Drmic told reporters:
"I'm very satisfied with my performance. I celebrated the first goal in slightly reserved fashion since I hold both Swiss and Croatian passports, and I was playing against my own people so I was aware I needed to show a certain amount of respect."
In 2004-5, Nurnberg legend Marek Mintál topped the Bundesliga scoring charts, and the now-retired Slovakia striker believes that Drmic has a great future ahead. He recently told UEFA.com:"
"Josip pays close attention when he is being told something. He takes on advice like a sponge. If he manages to maintain his form until the World Cup, I fear it's bad news for all the teams Switzerland face."
Nurnberg coach Gertjan Verbeek added:
"If Josip continues as he is performing at the moment, I'm certain he will win the Golden Boot one day"
In my view, Drmic fits the profile of the type of striker LFC should sign this summer:
* Young, hungry and comparatively inexperienced.
* Fits into the LFC striker pecking order easily.
* Won't expect to play every single game.
* Doesn't have the standing in the game to expect to play every game.
* Will probably be happy to learn from SAS.
* Is talented enough to provide decent competition/cover.
If Liverpool are genuinely interested, then it's probably a good idea to seal the deal before the World Cup, as great performances on the world stage tend to massively inflate transfer values.
Worth a bid?
Author: Jaimie K
According to reports this week, Liverpool are interesting in signing the 21-year old striker, who is available for an €10m fee.
When asked about his future this week, Drmic revealed his desire to play for Arsenal. He told reporters:
"What will happen in the future, I don't know. Any boy dreams about playing for Arsenal."
He was probably asked a direct question about Arsenal, and I'm sure if the question related to Liverpool, he would've said 'any boy dreams of playing for Liverpool'. I doubt he'd give the same answer if asked about Everton, though ;-)
Some info about Drmić:
* Second highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season with 16 goals; level with Robert Lewandowski; just one behind Mario Mandzukic, and many more than experienced attackers like Robben and Ribery.
* 16 goals/3 assists in 24 starts this season.
* Two goals in five apps for the Swiss national team.
* 2012-13: 19 goals in 39 apps for FC Zurich.
* 65% passing accuracy.
* 52 shots/24 key passes in 27 apps this season.
Earlier this month, Drmic scored two goals against Croatia, and after the game, Switzerland boss Ottmar Hitzfeld raved:
"Josip Drmic was outstanding for us today. We managed to make use of his pace and create danger from his runs."
Reacting to his match-winning performance, Drmic told reporters:
"I'm very satisfied with my performance. I celebrated the first goal in slightly reserved fashion since I hold both Swiss and Croatian passports, and I was playing against my own people so I was aware I needed to show a certain amount of respect."
In 2004-5, Nurnberg legend Marek Mintál topped the Bundesliga scoring charts, and the now-retired Slovakia striker believes that Drmic has a great future ahead. He recently told UEFA.com:"
"Josip pays close attention when he is being told something. He takes on advice like a sponge. If he manages to maintain his form until the World Cup, I fear it's bad news for all the teams Switzerland face."
Nurnberg coach Gertjan Verbeek added:
"If Josip continues as he is performing at the moment, I'm certain he will win the Golden Boot one day"
In my view, Drmic fits the profile of the type of striker LFC should sign this summer:
* Young, hungry and comparatively inexperienced.
* Fits into the LFC striker pecking order easily.
* Won't expect to play every single game.
* Doesn't have the standing in the game to expect to play every game.
* Will probably be happy to learn from SAS.
* Is talented enough to provide decent competition/cover.
If Liverpool are genuinely interested, then it's probably a good idea to seal the deal before the World Cup, as great performances on the world stage tend to massively inflate transfer values.
Worth a bid?
Author: Jaimie K
You're right I can't count ha ha. We still have to beat them to have any chance
ReplyDeleteSpot on. As for the Arsenal rumours: It started when German Sky TV pundit Lothar Matthäus said: He is off to Arsenal, I understand his wife is looking for a house in London. To which Drmic replied: I don't have a wife, I'm single.
ReplyDeleteSo that's that :)
Some... er... interesting goalkeeping going on in that vid :)
ReplyDeleteHim or Lacazette would be fine I guess. I don't think they'll fighting for a place with SAS but rather with Sterling/Ibe. Playing centrally is just a namesake in our team; as Carra pointed out in MNF, our front three are all over the place (in a good way) during the game. If they have the hunger then they will play at least 20 games(assuming Sterling won't play in more than half the matches and Coutinho isn't used as winger, which I don't think will be the case often if whoever arrives is good enough). We also need someone in defense who is hungry to win every game (a la Suarez in attack and Gerrard in Midfield).
ReplyDeletehe will blame Liverpool for not being in europe thats why were top of the prem according him not that we have the best youngest sqaud in the prem or that we are playing the best football he wont be there much longer watch
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good backup for our current strikers. Especially with Sturridge's history of injuries.
ReplyDeleteRomulu Romulu Romulu
ReplyDelete! Lacazette would be perfect! He's more of a winger/forward than an AM, so Suso should have no fear! He would compete with Borini and sterling for playing time, and would offer good coverage on the left instead of coutinho!`
ReplyDeleteahhhh one less club in for Suarez this summer
ReplyDeleteWorth a shot. He might want to go to another club for playing time since his fee is so low though. Its definitely a price that smaller clubs can afford, but we aren't desperate enough to pay over that.
ReplyDeleteBlatter out Platini in things will change
ReplyDeleteWhen Moyes brought Fellatio with him I laughed until my sides hurt...What an average player that clown is...
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by the absolute swiss cheese CB work that let keepers so naked. Still he does show good foot work and passable vision.
ReplyDeleteThe points we dropped last year could end up costing the title too. If we'd won those the season could be virtually wrapped up already....I'm talking Newcastle Swansea Hull Aston Villa etc..
ReplyDeleteExactly the type of player we need to be targeting for our attack
ReplyDeleteI think that could be a bit of an out of the frying pan situation but at least he'll have infinitely more integrity than Blatter. A shame that someone like Beckenbauer or Cruijff (though he is a bit of a maverick perhaps) aren't interested in the position.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping that one upshot of the current generation of footballers being so rich is that some will get involved behind the scenes and be interested only in the protection and betterment of the game with no need for a financial incentive.
I think all the big clubs, us included, are likely involved in all manner of shifty business practices.
ReplyDeleteWe should look at the Chelski beat down as a canary in a coal mine for next season. Look at the talent on that team but they are running on fumes. We are simply not manned for next year. FSG may think we are ahead of schedule...but the schedule doesn't matter now. We are here now and we are gonna need a whole second squad as good as the first.
ReplyDeleteThe only significant difference between this guy and Aspas is age. Similar price, similar scoring and creative output. I doubt we can assume he'd be happy to take a role on the bench, but even if he did why is that OK for him but not OK for Aspas? If anything a younger player would have his confidence more seriously harmed by going from a regular starting role to a backup role. To me it's a quite arbitrary to suggest this guy is a better option than Aspas. They both have very similar profiles and it would surely be a waste of money to buy someone like this when we've already got a bench striker option.
ReplyDeleteLooks a decent player. Offers something different than what we have currently. Seems to be strong and athletic different to a Suso. I would still have Suso in the squad but this lad is young with a reasonable price tag.
ReplyDeleteAny team who might be willing or need to sell a player who is involved in the WC is almost certain to delay any sale until after it is over and as we have seen before with our transfers it takes two to tango. Or in these days of agents and owners 4 or 5 .....
ReplyDeleteAspas has no future we can all agree on that I think. Alberto has made no progress what so ever this season. As a matter of fact, at the start of the season he made the bench occassionally but he doesn't even do that anymore these days. People will say he needs time but he's had a year and has not progressed all. Needing time means that within that time you actually move forward whereas Alberto, shock horror who could have predicted that, has moved backwards. For Suso the writing is on the wall too. To be honest I thought we would miss him this season but we haven't. That means the squad as it is now is good enough. If we keep that together and can add two or three players straight for the first team, all the fringe and loan players, except for the young kids, can leave.
ReplyDeleteIt's that back four that won them CL titles and La Liga titles. I'm sure they'll cope.
ReplyDeleteAll teams drop points at a certain stage in the season. Sure losing to Hull is a shame but you can't win them all. The difference is that when we dropped points this season it wasn't because we didn't try to win the game which was the case under Benitez and Houllier at times. BR has a very positve approach to the game and if we do not move away from that by being cautious, we will win the title. We have two strikers who each average a goal per game. That virtually puts us 2-0 up against any team in the league. Why would we try to hold on to a 1-0 lead when our strenght is obviously our attack and not our defence? That's the approach that served Man United well for 20 years and that's the only way you win a title.
ReplyDeleteThe club would do very well to avoid players who are in world cup squads ... but that's not always possible. I think you're right, this window is going to be a nightmare. Hopefully we've got our targets sorted out and we can just get business done ASAP.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. We do have a good first 11. You don't even have that :-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I also doubt that Man United will fall as far back as we did recently. I do believe however that the era of rule is over. It happens to all great clubs. It happened to us. It is now happening to you. The Roman empire fell, the British empire fell. Nothing is forever except change.
Ferguson was an exceptional manager and it was always obvious that he cannot simply be replaced. Moyes was an odd choice in my opinion as he is not known for his positive footballing phylosophy. In that respect Martinez would have made more sense if it had to be an up and coming manager rather than an established name like Mourinho or Ancelloti.
All that said, I think you'll be challenging for top four again next season but you will need more than a couple of signings. I'd say at least one CB, two full backs, a Xabi Alonso type next to Carrick and rid yourselves of Fellaini. And that's only to get your first 11 in shape. And a new manager. You really need a new manager.
As for our squad depth, you won the treble in 1999 with Phil Neville, David May, Ronnie Wallwork, Nicky Butt and John Greening in your squad. I'm sure we'll be fine :-)
I'm not saying he is, im saying if he's sold for less than more than his worth is, then Lerner risks becoming Ellis 2 and driving thousands away from Villa Park, more than just a football decision this one.
ReplyDeleteAlthough those players look good what about Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez? Why is that we think a player with a foreign name has to be the real deal? We buy them wait a season or more for them to get up to premiership speed... another year wasted. Those 3 lads are up to speed, brilliant and English
ReplyDeleteHe would be a much better option than Aspas.
ReplyDeleteLallana & Rodriguez are both foreign names, mate ;-)
ReplyDeleteI agree about Aspas, he's only made a handful of appearances but, to me, he's looked lost and totally out of his depth. I think he'll either be sold or farmed out on loan, then sold.
ReplyDeleteSuso still has time to cement his place as a squad player as he has more about him and is still young. Plus, us fans have taken to him and he is an exciting young talent.
Borini and Assaidi are more of a conundrum as they have been playing well for their respective loan clubs. Will they be shipped straight out or given the whole pre season and up until the close of the transfer window to make an impression or be sold?
Remember, we also have youngsters Coady, Ibe, Sinclair and Wilson knocking on the door and, with 4 fronts to be fought next season, I'm sure these and, possible, a few more will see some playing time.
B Rodgers needs to start bringing in players better than what he has or off similar class and quality.
ReplyDeleteInstead of bringing Lacazette(22) as an AM to compete with Coutinho(21) and Suso(20): He needs to bring in a player of the same class or quality as Coutinho(21) or Suso(20)
So B Rogers should bring in one of these three players:
1 I Munian(21) Of A Bilbao for 14-22M
2 A Lallana(25) Of Southampton for 14-20M
3 Diego(29) Of Wolfsburg( On loan at A Madrid) for 5-7M
Those three players are of the same, similar class and calibre of Coutinho and Suso, Lacazette is not
Yea you're probably right. Still makes me sick and any excuse for me to have a rant about how much I hate Chelsea is always welcome
ReplyDeleteCoady ain't knocking on no doors other than at Sheff United. I like the idea of another scouse midfielder directing play but I don't think it will be him. Borini and Assaidi have done relatively well. I think they scored in a couple of high profile games and that has seen their actual performance over the season amplified beyond what it actually was. Good for us though because that means we'll probably find a buyer for them. On Assaidi, we may even make a little bit of money. Sure they did ok at Stoke and Sunderland but you don't want them on the bench against PSG or Real Madrid next season.
ReplyDeleteNot too sure about age being the only significant difference. I don't know exactly why Aspas isn't succeeding but a lot of people think it has to do with his size and lack of physicality, which is hard to disagree with when I see him out there. Drmic is a much bigger guy, and he plays in Germany, not Spain. It's not a straight swap but the German league is definitely closer to the BPL in terms of the extra toughness you need to succeed.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question for you though...if Suarez AND Sturridge were hurt, would you want to line up in a big champions league game, or a league game against Chelsea, with Aspas at striker? I wouldn't feel too great about that myself. Liverpool's moving up in the world, and we'll be playing a lottt more games next season, so there's a much greater chance of injuries, so we need to improve our squad depth and improve our starting lineup.
Lambert would be awesome :)
ReplyDeleteHe's 5cm taller and 3kg heavier. It's not much, he's only 70kg. I agree Aspas isn't that big but the accusation of being "lightweight" is always an easy answer to try and explain a player's shortcomings. Aspas had one game where his physical presence could be called into question. But we opened the season against Stoke and won, and that was his best game.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest concern is that any new player we bring in may not be any better. Borini struggled, Aspas hasn't played ... why would this kid be any better? He's another mid-range squad player who might do well or might just rot on the bench. I think at this point we should be shopping for starters, real quality players. Give the starters we've already got a hard time and maybe force them onto the bench. This kid isn't going to do that. He seems like he's a maybe, a gamble.
Imo the transfer speculation in the press only serves to create false hope & frustration in the majority of fans & what we need more than anything else is patience because we haven't officially qualified for the CL yet & we don't know how much FSG will give Brendan for signings. The level of funds will decide the fate of several of our reserve players & loanees & until then it's difficult to predict who will stay & who will go. I hope that most of our young loanees will at least be given a chance in pre-season to see if they can cut the mustard in the first team squad before those decisions are made but i do think we need to 'clean house' as soon as the season ends. Messers Brad Jones, Kolo Toure, Victor Moses & Aly Cissoko MUST be sold or released depending on their contract situation. Then (regardless of what we think) there are decisions to be made on several players, Martin Kelly, Sebastien Cotes, Conor Coady, Oussama Assaidi Iago Aspas, Michael Ngoo & Krisztian Adorjan are (arguably) at a cross-roads & Brendan will have to decide if they're part of LFC's future or not. If not they need to be sol now to add to our transfer funds. As i see it that's about where we are at the moment & the rest is up in the air until all of the above is sorted out so imo, it's best we keep our eye on the ball & focus on supporting the team until the end of the season & we get a bit more info to work with.
ReplyDeleteYNWA, JFT96.
If you want to battle on all fronts next year, you need to have 3-4 Top Class Strikers. Benteke is a quality striker that would be perfect in a Liverpool shirt. Anywhere from 15-20M would be fair with add ons bringing the total to 20-23M. If he hands in a Transfer request, it is almost a done deal. I think he will end up in a Chelsea, Aresnal or maybe a United shirt.
ReplyDeleteMost of their success came with Puyol and they were better when they had Abidal. Pique is more injury prone than during his heyday. Alba - Bartra - Mascherano - Alves isn't a solid back 4.
ReplyDeleteI think now that the midfield isn't as effective as it used to be, the crapness of their defence will become a bigger issue.
His parents lacked imagination.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the lightweight accusation, that's why I said I wasn't sure myself...we've seen what Coutinho can do. It could be a confidence issue with Aspas, but he just hasn't looked good enough.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, though the youth policy often makes transfers into gambles. Aspas only had 1 top flight season under his belt when we bought him (2nd division in Spain before that), and Borini had had 1 good, "breakthrough" season at Roma when we bought him. The list of players 23 and under who are truly proven is not large, and this is Drmic's breakthrough season as well, though he does look solid to my eye. The key will be to bring in those hard to find proven young players, a la Shaqiri, who can force their way into the starting lineup right away. Then we'll find ourselves in a position where we don't have someone who is a backup and was bought to be one, but instead we'll have a "starter" on the bench because someone else is in such good form they put him there - forgive me for stating the obvious. I've got every confidence that BR will buy well this summer though...I'm not one of those who thinks he's been bad in the transfer market, I think he's done well with what he was given and will do even better when given more.
Latest information is, he is out for six months! I don't see BR going for a player that is injured.
ReplyDeleteHmm im still wondering who it could be Vertonghen didnt have very nice words about us so I guess its not him hopefully not Benteke or Lallana for that price and im pretty sure Shaw will end up and Chelsea. It has to be a fringe player at a big club in the premier league with huge potential if he is telling the truth could it be a massive talent such as Ravel 19m buyout clause so not sure about 25m? maybe Lukaku?
ReplyDeleteYou need two functioning achilles tendons to be a quality striker so write him off now. He wasn't that good with two anyway.
ReplyDeleteyeah true but his skill set and bottle doesn't...has to be the hardest working Brazilian player I can remember
ReplyDeleteI'd rather Uruguay or Iceland hahaha prefer their politics
ReplyDeleteOne thing is certain Blatter has not advanced football as a sport.
ReplyDeleteWe need to see where we finish in the PL, how much is in the transfer kitty and then determine how best to spend the money. For me the priorities are 2-3 top class players who would walk straight into the first team (eg scoring CM, CB and LB). That may cost £50m and maybe the entire budget. Hence as much as Benteke would be a nice buy, I don't know whether we can afford him given the reinforcements we need elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely nothing wrong with four trained, experienced strikers going into next season.
ReplyDelete