Earlier this week, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed that he plans to sign a couple of 'absolute top players' this summer, and one those 'top' stars on his list seems to be Valencia midfielder Dani Parejo, with new reports today suggesting that LFC are currently negotiating a deal with the La Liga giants.
According to Spanish newspaper Estadio Deportivo today:
* Liverpool are in talks with Valencia.
* The Reds are willing to meet Parejo's €25m buyout clause.
In February, reports in Spain claimed that Brendan Rodgers is 'impressed' with Parejo's performances this season, and soon after, Spanish Newspaper Super Deporte claimed that:
* Barry Hunter, LFC's Chief Scout, ran the rule over Parejo during Los Che's 2-1 victory over Granada.
* Valencia are aware of the interest, but are determined to keep the Parejo at the club.
Some info about 24-year old Parejo:
- Current contract expires in 2016.
- Cost Valencia €6m in 2011.
- A product of Real Madrid's youth academy.
- Flopped in the Real senior team, and made only 5 apps.
- 43 appearances for various Spain youth teams.
- 18 apps for QPR in 2008 (No goals)
- Can play defensive or attacking midfield.
- 87% passing accuracy this season.
- 2007: Won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with Spain.
- 2011: Part of Spain's UEFA European Under-21 Championship winning team.
Parejo's stats
* 2011-12: 0 goals/1 assist in 27 apps.
* 2012-13: 2 goals/6 assists in 36 apps.
* 2013-14: 6 goals/7 assists in 47 apps.
* TOTALS: 8 goals/14 assists in 110 apps.
* Goal every 13.6 apps | Assist every 7.7 apps
* Goal/Assist every 4.9 games.
With the greatest respect, this is not inspiring at all, and certainly not worth €25m (IMO). Parejo predominantly plays as a midfield playmaker/attacking midfielder for Valencia, and if this is the best he can do, I doubt he'd be able to improve on this in the Premier League.
Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque is, however, convinced that Parejo is top class. In April, he raved:
"[Parejo] came to Valencia as a great player and now he is playing very well. He's one of the team's strongest players"
Hmmm. I have a question for you, Vicente, old chap: If Parejo is such a 'great player' why is he not in your squad 30-MAN provisional squad for upcoming World Cup in Brazil?
Parejo's so good that he didn't even make the standby-list. How heartening.
If Liverpool spend €25m on a player with stats this poor, it will (IMO) be (another) massive transfer mistake.
Author: Jaimie K
According to Spanish newspaper Estadio Deportivo today:
* Liverpool are in talks with Valencia.
* The Reds are willing to meet Parejo's €25m buyout clause.
In February, reports in Spain claimed that Brendan Rodgers is 'impressed' with Parejo's performances this season, and soon after, Spanish Newspaper Super Deporte claimed that:
* Barry Hunter, LFC's Chief Scout, ran the rule over Parejo during Los Che's 2-1 victory over Granada.
* Valencia are aware of the interest, but are determined to keep the Parejo at the club.
Some info about 24-year old Parejo:
- Current contract expires in 2016.
- Cost Valencia €6m in 2011.
- A product of Real Madrid's youth academy.
- Flopped in the Real senior team, and made only 5 apps.
- 43 appearances for various Spain youth teams.
- 18 apps for QPR in 2008 (No goals)
- Can play defensive or attacking midfield.
- 87% passing accuracy this season.
- 2007: Won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with Spain.
- 2011: Part of Spain's UEFA European Under-21 Championship winning team.
Parejo's stats
* 2011-12: 0 goals/1 assist in 27 apps.
* 2012-13: 2 goals/6 assists in 36 apps.
* 2013-14: 6 goals/7 assists in 47 apps.
* TOTALS: 8 goals/14 assists in 110 apps.
* Goal every 13.6 apps | Assist every 7.7 apps
* Goal/Assist every 4.9 games.
With the greatest respect, this is not inspiring at all, and certainly not worth €25m (IMO). Parejo predominantly plays as a midfield playmaker/attacking midfielder for Valencia, and if this is the best he can do, I doubt he'd be able to improve on this in the Premier League.
Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque is, however, convinced that Parejo is top class. In April, he raved:
"[Parejo] came to Valencia as a great player and now he is playing very well. He's one of the team's strongest players"
Hmmm. I have a question for you, Vicente, old chap: If Parejo is such a 'great player' why is he not in your squad 30-MAN provisional squad for upcoming World Cup in Brazil?
Parejo's so good that he didn't even make the standby-list. How heartening.
If Liverpool spend €25m on a player with stats this poor, it will (IMO) be (another) massive transfer mistake.
Author: Jaimie K
Think calling him a flop is farfetched... Look at Juan Mata, he didn't cut it at Real Madrid. So he went else where to pastures new, to make a career. Look at Mata as a player now, and not his predicament of being a Man U player (done okay).
ReplyDeleteParejo is 25, you terrible liar.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching this guy for a while now and i have to disagree. This guy is amazing. His movement and ability to control a game of football is incredible. When you back that up with incredible stamina, great technical ability and one of the finest passers in the game, your on to a winner. He is a truly remarkable footballer.
ReplyDeleteIs your name Bally Parejo, perchance? Jokes aside, what are his deficiencies? Seems we need to know each target's limitations in detail before sanctioning 20m quid.
ReplyDeleteA box to box defending midfielder who can also attack won't come cheap, that's for damn sure.
Given that Liverpool have a history of underbidding for players I'm surprised you so easily believe they would meet the buyout clause for the player. History suggests they would have a lower valuation for the player and would not exceed that, if they are interested at all.
ReplyDeleteAs for his stats, they progressively improve each season. That's a good sign. There is no reason to think his most recent season isn't a reflection of his current achievable level, so unless he regresses then that career overview of assists & goals per game is indicative of nothing useful.
Still, this is just another newspaper article about yet another player we're supposedly interested in. I'd guess the truth is that Liverpool have made a tentative enquiry and this has been overblown as "are in talks with Valencia". If we get worked up over every half-rumour then it's going to be worse that last summer. Fans wonder why it's tough following Liverpool in the off-season, but this is why. We get sucked in by every hint of a signing and then get disappointed when most of them don't work out. That's got nothing to do with the club and says everything about the media and the way we consume it.
If he's so incredible, why is he not in Spain's world cup squad?
ReplyDeleteIf he's so incredible, how come he isn't playing for RM? Why is a former RM academy grad playing for Valencia? Valencia is usually among the top 3...so they are a rival. Why would RM ship him to Getafe (the real RM B-team) and then allow him to go to a rival? Del Bosque has an interest in saying how great Spanish also-rans are, because it helps get them to gullible teams for playing time...which might help the national team down the road. Pass on this guy.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago, I never bothered with transfer rumours, but I got constant emails from visitors requesting articles about...transfer rumours. Most of them never come off, but fans love the speculation/discussion.
ReplyDeleteSpend that money on Rakitic
ReplyDeleteMany people will go straight to youtube to check this guy out. He isn't the kind of player that stands out by doing that. You have to watch him play. His relentless movement in order to get the ball and ability to create is incredible. Rodgers wants someone who can control a game of football, and for me, there is no one finer in the world at that role. If you don't believe me, have a look at the stats http://www.whoscored.com/Players/28186/ . You won't find many players in the world who play as deep as he does who contributes so many key passes per game with such a high pass accuracy and contributes well defensively.
ReplyDeleteWe do indeed ... people just need to keep it in their pants, otherwise the comments in here come the last day of the window will be the same as last year, everyone ranting about Ayre and FSG as if they world was ending. I find it upsetting. I'm quite sensitive.
ReplyDeleteMidfielders: Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas (all Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Ander Iturraspe (Athletic Bilbao), David Silva (Manchester City/ENG), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal/ENG), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Tiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich/GER), Juan Mata (Manchester United/ENG)
ReplyDeleteThat's Spain's Midfielders. That's why he's not in the world cup squad.
I've honestly gotten over the whole transfer rumour silliness.
ReplyDeleteAfter FSG bought us, newspapers naturally started to link us with players left right and centre, which felt exciting, because under the dark H&G days post 08-09, we were linked with some absolute duds like Jovanovic and Konchesky in the C-market. The excitement started to wear off after I started reading your website, when the vast majority of players you wrote articles about just didn't come.
These days, I'll only get excited about a rumour if it involves a proven big name player.
Same can be said for Juan Mata and yet Juan Mata would be an awesome addition to our squad.
ReplyDeletethis will be an even worse transfer than 25 mil for Lallana..sigh
ReplyDeleteA big transfer window for BR. he has not had any successful transfers this season. In fact our most recent transfer 'successes' sturridge was it seems forced on BR rather than it being a BR signing. And coutinho has not been consistent in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteLallana is a risk at £25m and only 7m cheaper than diego costa how does that work out? i would prefer LFC to stick with younger signings it has formed the basis of a good attractive flowing football team. Good luck BR.
A half-baked, non-international and non-English player cost 25 mil EUR. God must be crazy! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, Real is such a mad club that I basically give people a free pass for failing there.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you could buy a single one of them now for less than £20m (excluding Alonso and Xavi because they're old).
ReplyDeleteYeah, goals and assists aren't really a great reflection on a deep-lying playmaker. I seem to remember Alonso fared pitifully when put under that particular statistical scrutiny save for his last season perhaps.
ReplyDeleteIndeed we should. You'd have to expect an altogether larger fish to come in an usurp us should we do so though.
ReplyDeleteStill worth trying...
No Jesus Navas? He offers a nice option from the bench for Spain, I think. Besides Pedro, he seems to have been one of their more useful subs in recent years.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to bear in mind that Coutinho didn't make Brazil's World Cup squad nor Nasri for France and I'd say Spain are stronger in midfield than anyone in world football, so I don't think it is that significant.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't these feature writers just wait until LFC have officially confirmed the signing of any player instead of this continued speculation. This month 25 players being signed. Last month 52 players. It's a joke
ReplyDeletey drag GOD here?
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers needs to bring one of these three classy creative attack minded
ReplyDeletecentre midfielders to club this summer to take over and replace our amazing class great long serving captain:
1: I Rakitic(25) Of Seville for £17-£25M
2: A Herrera(24) Of A Bilbao for £18-£25M
3: Koke(21) Of A Madrid for £15-£22M
One of those three class quality centre midfielders should be brought to the club this summer: Not Dani Parejo(24) Of Valencia
This is the one link that really really really concerns me. I've watched him play a few times and I just don't see what this guy would bring to the team and for 20 mil you've got to be having a laugh!!! Don't see this one happening and I have a feeling it's a made up story.
ReplyDeleteI would be quite interested to see Bastian Schweinsteigers stats. I don't know of they are similar players. I have to say though, Brendan has not really had big money to spend since he came into the club, the massive mistakes were all king Kenny's, whether player or fee. We know that Brendan is in the market for a box to box defensive / attacking mid fielder, ideally like Henrikh Mkhitaryan at Dortmund who has had a very impressive season again playing alongside Sahin who we had but again Kenny didn't think was up to it and Ayres/Fenway didn't put enough money up for Mkhitaryan last year. It appears like another summer of being linked to practically every player in the world and end up being gazumped for the majority by clubs putting their money where their mouth is.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice but I doubt they'd sell even if we could afford him.
ReplyDeletePerhaps when you are negotiating transfer fees it pays to let it be known that yoiu are "pursuing" other options. I hope that is the case here .
ReplyDeletebeardsley a united flop
ReplyDeleteJamie you know better than that mate. His stats are on an upward trajectory and he is still 2-3 years off his prime years. The guy is basically a Spanish Henderson. He is made for English football. Besides, the stats you've used are very limited. It ignores his work rate, defensive abilities, passing attributes (key passes, forward passes etc) and focuses too much on his direct effects to scorelines (of which he still surpasses; Hendo, Coutinho, Allen, Lucas, Suso, Alberto and even Gerrard if we only consider stats from open play). Parejo has come on leaps and bounds over the last 2 seasons. A year ago Valencia were considering a sale. Parejo opted to stay and fought his way into the team, becoming the engine room of the side. Remind you of anyone?
ReplyDeleteThe thing is Parejo can attack and defend for the team on counter...so Definet worth a bid for this guy...we need multi dimensional players and he fits perfectly into Rodgers style of play
ReplyDeleteFar from made up. Liverpool have tabled a bid for Lallana (which has not met Southamptons valuation), enquired about Parejo, enquired about Hector Moreno (Espanyol centre back, hence the confusion in the press) and enquired about Rojo of sporting lisbon. We have interest in others, but these 4 would appear to be main targets as of this moment in time. Trust me, I have a good source. We may yet go back in for Konoplyanka or Tello. Sterling and Ibes rise in the last 6 months may have changed Rodgers mind though. Things change very quickly though so we could end up signing 4 completely different players!
ReplyDeleteYes exactly and he would have been about 21 at the time.
ReplyDeleteThis this this!
ReplyDelete...and mad they are. The list is rather extensive along with Mata and Parejo. All of these players following players have had a respectable careers despite of being Real Madrid flops (sold relatively cheap by Real at early age): Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Dominguez, Esteban Granero, Jose Callejon, Javi Garcia, Jurado, Roberto Soldado, Borja Valero, Alvaro Arbeloa, Diego Lopez, Ismael Urzaiz etc.
ReplyDeleteNot all of the are real world beaters, but with some of them Real Madrid has been forced to admit their mistake by purchasing them back. Even at the moment Carvajal, Arbeloa and Lopez are quite established members of their team. Nevertheless, Parejo with 25M doesn't sound right even though labeling him as Real Madrid flop may be a tad harsh.