Given Liverpool's defensive woes this season, the club is sure to be linked with dozens of central defenders over the next few months, and one name that keeps cropping up is Red Bull Saltzburg central defender Martin Hinteregger, who is seemingly still on Brendan Rodgers' transfer wishlist.
According to Italian newspaper Corriere Dello Sport today, Lazio have joined Liverpool and Arsenal in the hunt for Hinteregger, whose current contract expires in 2018.
This is the third time the Reds have been linked with the Austrian defender over the last year. Recent linked also include:
MAR 2014: The Guardian reported: "Liverpool have made a check on the Red Bull Salzburg central defender Martin Hinteregger. The Merseyside club sent a scout to watch the 21-year-old in [Austria's] friendly against Uruguay". In the game, Uruguay had to come from 1-0 to secure a draw, and for someone winning only his second cap, Hinteregger (by all accounts) handled Luis Suarez well. Indeed, given his excellent goalscoring, it's quite an achievement to keep him Suarez the scoresheet.
SEP 2013: The Liverpool Echo claimed: "Liverpool are reportedly battling to sign Austria Under-21 ace Martin Hinteregger. Liverpool and Arsenal both have a long-standing interest in him".
When asked recently about Hinteregger's future, the player's agent confirmed that there are 'many interested clubs', and gave an indication of a how much the youngster might cost. He told reporters
"There is nothing official. I think Salzburg will ask for not less than €10m and I think that currently they do not have any intention of selling him."
In November, Salzburg boss Rodger Schmidt dismissed speculation about Hinteregger's future, and slammed the player's Agent for hawking the youngster around. He told Salzburg 24:
"I'm not interested in the rumours. He [Hinteregger] is in excellent form - I hope he does not get distracted and continues to perform well"
Clearly, Liverpool need another solid central defender, but if Rodgers is looking at defenders in the 20-21 year old age bracket, where does that leave Tiago Ilori? The Portuguese surely fills the 'young central defender' space in LFC's squad?
Rodgers can't even accommodate Ilori in the current squad, so what's the point in signing yet another young, comparatively inexperienced central defender?
Additionally, with the fierce defensive competition at LFC, I seriously doubt Ilori will be impressed if Liverpool sign another young central defender, which could cause problems, and ultimately force Ilori into deciding to leave in the summer.
Author: Jaimie K
According to Italian newspaper Corriere Dello Sport today, Lazio have joined Liverpool and Arsenal in the hunt for Hinteregger, whose current contract expires in 2018.
This is the third time the Reds have been linked with the Austrian defender over the last year. Recent linked also include:
MAR 2014: The Guardian reported: "Liverpool have made a check on the Red Bull Salzburg central defender Martin Hinteregger. The Merseyside club sent a scout to watch the 21-year-old in [Austria's] friendly against Uruguay". In the game, Uruguay had to come from 1-0 to secure a draw, and for someone winning only his second cap, Hinteregger (by all accounts) handled Luis Suarez well. Indeed, given his excellent goalscoring, it's quite an achievement to keep him Suarez the scoresheet.
SEP 2013: The Liverpool Echo claimed: "Liverpool are reportedly battling to sign Austria Under-21 ace Martin Hinteregger. Liverpool and Arsenal both have a long-standing interest in him".
When asked recently about Hinteregger's future, the player's agent confirmed that there are 'many interested clubs', and gave an indication of a how much the youngster might cost. He told reporters
"There is nothing official. I think Salzburg will ask for not less than €10m and I think that currently they do not have any intention of selling him."
In November, Salzburg boss Rodger Schmidt dismissed speculation about Hinteregger's future, and slammed the player's Agent for hawking the youngster around. He told Salzburg 24:
"I'm not interested in the rumours. He [Hinteregger] is in excellent form - I hope he does not get distracted and continues to perform well"
Clearly, Liverpool need another solid central defender, but if Rodgers is looking at defenders in the 20-21 year old age bracket, where does that leave Tiago Ilori? The Portuguese surely fills the 'young central defender' space in LFC's squad?
Rodgers can't even accommodate Ilori in the current squad, so what's the point in signing yet another young, comparatively inexperienced central defender?
Additionally, with the fierce defensive competition at LFC, I seriously doubt Ilori will be impressed if Liverpool sign another young central defender, which could cause problems, and ultimately force Ilori into deciding to leave in the summer.
Author: Jaimie K
Not happening.
ReplyDeleteIf a CB does come in. Its not "game over" for Illori, but at least 1 of Skrtel or Agger is going to leave. Coates is also looking at the exit door for quite a while and his moving on was only halted by his injury.
ReplyDeleteEveryone thought Agger or Skrtel might leave last summer, too.
ReplyDeleteCoates, Toure, will be gone, maybe Agger too, so signing another youngster will be make sense. Kelly and Wisdom also may be out.
ReplyDeleteDefenders that MIGHT leave: L. Jones (loan), Coates (injury), Kelly (injury), Wisdom (loan), Toure (I didn't pay much attention to his contract when signed, so I'll go out on a limb and say it was 1 year), Agger (Rumored to Napoli), Skrtel (High stock, erratic season-to-season form). So basically only Sakho and Ilori are for sure staying imo. Now obviously not all of these will happen, but there is a possibility. Hittenrigger or Caulker or Musacchio moves might end up being a "just in case" buy if someone starts pushing for a move. I don't want another Reina situation, certainly not with Agger or Skrtel, but we need to be prepared.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool do not clearly need another central defender, what an absurd statement. We've got 3 top class internationals already. Maybe if we sell Agger, but otherwise this is just more rumour mongering.
ReplyDeleteIlori looked like the dog's dangly bits when he shut out Barcelona recently.
ReplyDeleteToure was a two year deal so I'm guessing he'll stay around. People worry about the notable errors he made but every defender has nightmare moments and I honestly think Toure has just been unlucky on the rare occasions this season. He'll play the same role again next season and I think it's important to have that experience on the bench and on the training ground.
ReplyDeleteSkrtel has been our best player this season behind Suarez and maybe Sturridge. His career may seem erratic but I don't think there is a reason to think he'll have another slip in form. He might need to do something about the shirt pulling but apart from that he's been brilliant all year and it would be a massive gamble to let him go assuming we can do better. His stock is high for a reason and we should take advantage of that on the pitch, not in the bank balance.
Agger ... I just don't know. I think it makes little sense to let him go but if we got a significant offer and there was a clear target we had to replace him then maybe it's an option. I just think it's too risky to let go of experienced players who you know you can rely on. Rodgers might have specific ideas about this but he made Agger a vice captain and that's significant. I don't believe he'll be leaving unless we get a big offer.
I have watched Illori many times this season, he is a great prospect, have a look on Youtube.
ReplyDeleteBarca are rumoured to be in for Agger again, swap for Tello, would be great.
Reinforcing a position doesn't necessarily man a vote of no confidence or even that a player will be sold, it's called adding to strength in depth. Whether anyone gets sold, word is Barca are keen on Agger, remain to be seen.
ReplyDeleteIn that case, if the money was right, and we maybe get one of their players in the deal, it could be an option. That would mean a new central defender would be needed, I'd agree with that. Hinteregger might have potential but I don't think that's the level of player we'd need. If we lose Agger then we replace him with proper first team quality, not another young player from a lower tier league. We'd aim for youth, that's just sensible and it's part of the club plan, but the player still has to be quality.
ReplyDeleteMartin Hinteregger is left footed so in that case Ilori would not be affected as he is right footed? Signing a left footed player would point to Agger leaving.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot judge Tiago illori is not good player before LFC not able to give him oppurtunity to step in senior team.Next season i really hope that LFC wiil prefer using Tiago Illori for CDM or Holding ball position player.
ReplyDeleteMost of our wins this season migonlet has made vital saves to keep us level or in front. Yeh he could be better but he's had a good first season apart from a bad spell over christmas. We should sign cardiff'ss goalie we have plenty of games next season to keep both of them happy.
ReplyDeleteWe should have loaned Ilori to a Prem club this season, get him some experience, then start to bring him in to the team next season.
ReplyDeleteWith Toure probably on his last legs, and Aggers injury problems, there could be space to accommodate him next season. And this guy as back up for Skrtel.
Ilori joined Liverpool from Lisbon with 12 senior appearances i doubt as to whether with that amount of experience he was ever expected to replace the clubs senior figures.
ReplyDeleteBruce was a legendary keeper at one stage,but his criticism was not needed & badly timed .Simon has been pretty influential & can only get better,Bruce on the other hand was mired in a scandal which left plenty of bad memories.
ReplyDeletePretty sure we will see Ilori in the first team next season. Especially cuz of how well he has played on loan.
ReplyDeleteThanks for clarification on Toure. I really do think his lockeroom presence has been immense. I don't really WANT anyone to leave, but there is a probablility for all of the ones I mentioned.
ReplyDeleteFirst season with new back four. Give the lad a break.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell me what to do.
ReplyDeleteI hear Kasper Schmeichel is available on a Bosman. That seems a sensible transfer. Best 'keeper in the Championship. Fairly young for a 'keeper. Won't expect to waltz into the first team.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we'll go for a big new 'keeper, nor should we given budgetary restrictions (unless one of the big ones, like Courtois becomes available, which is unlikely). Getting a solid deputy who can challenge, like Schmeichel is the way to go.
Ochoa is the more glamorous option in a similar price range, but Schmeichel is used to our culture, on and off the pitch, and would likely mesh with the squad better.
We definately need a Gk who is either better or of the same class and calibre of S Mignolet(25) to compete with him for the next 5-7 years at club, B Rodgers should bring one of these three GK'S to club this summer for £4-£8M
ReplyDelete1: A Mccarthy(24) Of Reading
2: D Marshall(29) Of Cardiff
3: M Vorm(30) Of Swansea
As a Goalkeeper myself I can tell you a lot of the critisim going Mignolet's way is a bit unjustified. While I totally agree that he needs to improve on handling aerial balls and that his distribution is poor, these aspects are the easiest to work on. His shot stopping is top notch and best of all he has excellent hands. Rarely do you see him fumble a shot, or see the ball squirt out of his hands (take a look at Jones and you see the difference) and unlike (say Hugo Lloris) he's rarely caught in a bad position or straying from his goal. He's still young, so there's plenty of time to improve on these aspects. The most difficult and innate skills are positional awareness and shot stopping, both of which he excels.
ReplyDeleteRight now I don't know what else there is on the transfer market that could be a major upgrade, give him another year and we'll see. Groebbellar (as great as he was) had horrible fundamentals when he started, and I find it pretty rich that he's critisizing the young keeper so harshly.
Far more likely that it would spell the end for Agger or Toure than Ilori. Ilori is a bright young star off impressing on loan, Agger and Toure are great players but getting towards the point where they're no longer good enough in the PL. I don't imagine we'll go get Hinterreger though, more likely we'll get a top class CB if we go get one at all. LB and RB are the bigger issues provided Sakho and Skrtel stay healthy and can play together and work on their partnership.
ReplyDelete