24 Jul 2014

Done Deal: LFC sign coveted €6m star hailed as 'very important' by Argentina legend

Brendan Rodgers is set to make his first defensive buy of the summer, with Liverpool reportedly set to announce the signing of Atletico Madrid right-back Javier Manquillo.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca today:

* Liverpool have agreed a 2-year loan deal for Manquillo.

* The deal includes an option to buy for €6m.

* Manquillo is attracted by the Champions League, and is looking for regular game time.

* The deal is expected to be announced this week.

Some info about 20-year old Manquillo:

* 6 appearances for Atletico.
* 18 appearances for various Spain youth teams.
* 2012: Part of Spain's European Under-19 Championship winning team.
* Madrid contract expires in 2016.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone believes Manquillo is destined for great things, and last season, he enthused:

"Manquillo [is in] a maturing stage. [he] is going to be a very important player for this team. The future is great but the present is very important and we want [him] to keep developing".

Yes, Manquillo is so 'important' that Simeone is letting him leave only months after making the above statement :-)

Forgive me if I'm less than enthused, but this has a distinctly similar feel to last year's deal for Tiago Ilori:

* Due to (arguably) unhealthy competition, the Portuguese had no real chance of making a breakthrough, and got farmed out on loan.

* Given Manquillo's almost complete lack of experience, it seems very unlikely that he will get regular game-time at Anfield, and he'll probably suffer the same fate as Ilori.

* With Flanagan, Johnson, Kelly, Robinson et al already at the club, are we to believe that an untested 20-year old is suddenly going to come in and go straight into the first team and usurp the aforementioned players? I can't see it, which begs the question, why sign him at all?

The likes of Kelly, Robinson, Wisdom etc have been toiling for a few years and still haven't made a proper breakthrough. As such, is it really necessary to bring in yet another 'one for the future' youngster?

Of course, I hope Manquillo turns out to be a superstar for Liverpool.



Author:


82 comments:

  1. I can see the point you are making and it does appear that we have about 9 right backs BUT my view is that we need to SELL SELL SELL Johnson cant defend at all - first to go along with Robinson and in my view Kelly -never forgiven him for demanding a wage rise when he was permanently sick.Kelly has not improved one jot in 5 years COME ON B R - SELL SELL SELL and dont play Borini ever again

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  2. For once I think your negativity is well-founded. I really can't understand this move. We have several players at right-back. Somewhere I read that Liverpool had an option to buy the player after 2 years but that Atletico could simply recall him if were performing well at Liverpool. If that is true it suggests we only get to keep him if he is a failure….

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  3. or maybe Glen is talking to harry..
    Wisdom is at wba and they want him to be a CB
    Kelly is going on loan to Palace
    Ryan is not trusted ( shame i like the kid)
    and Flannigan is seen as Number 1 RB, but needs competition.
    The can loan him , and if good..sign later, or if Kelly/ryan find good form, let him return to madrid.

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  4. Its just provides us with further options JK. At the end of the day he will be on low wages and if it doesn't work out we have hardly lost anything if it does well we've got a first team player on the cheap. I can see your point though as I do feel we need a few more players who can contribute in the here and now.

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  5. Agree with you, but the likelihood of Johnson, Kelly, or Flanagan being sold seems slim. Even if one of them goes, that'll still leave a surplus of right-backs with more experience than Manquillo.

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  6. On the other hand, you could say that Johnson is on his way out with only a year left on his contract, I'm not sure that BR totally rates Kelly and I think you could perhaps say the same about Robinson. Wisdom had a good season last year in the Championship with Derby, but let's see how he does in the Premiership at West Brom. Taking all that into account, he's left with Flanagan and, of course, he may well play at left back again as we seem incapable of signing any left sided full backs. Interesting that it's a 2 year loan as obviously that takes us beyond Johnson's contract, so perhaps there is some method behind it.


    I am, however, more concerned that we are continually linked with yet more attacking players without having signed a single defender as yet - even though it was the defence that cost us the title last season. We are knee deep in sub-standard centre halves and have one (injury prone) left back. There is much work still to do.


    One last point: given that there is a £14M offer on the table from Sunderland and that Juventus are also apparently sniffing around; why on earth is he playing Borini?! He needs to get the message loud and clear that he has no future at Liverpool and we certainly don't need to be paying an injured player that we could have sold!

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  7. Serge Aurier signed for PSG, Liverpool should've had him imo.

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  8. Good points. It seems like Atletico may just be using LFC to improve a player they plan to nick back whenever he's good enough/experienced enough.

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  9. If I were BR with that kind of offer on the table I'd have told Borini that if he stayed at Liverpool he was going to be used as a reserve centre half: that would have sent that message. I'm guessing BR let sentiment get the better of him here. He goes back a long way with Borini and Borini used to play for Roma so he was probably doing him a favour.

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  10. its all about making money, that the way it goes now with fsg

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  11. Agree But Borini is new Cole Downing he would rather not play at Liverpool collect pay Cheque which is More than what he would get paid Sunderland . And he would play ever week .
    Johnson Robinson Coates Kelly should be sold.

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  12. Agree. That's what he did with Carroll and Downing: told them they wouldn't play regularly, and that facilitated their moves away.

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  13. I'd be surprised if we got rid of Johnson. Ok so he had a bad season but he does have the experience we need going into the Champions' League. Besides with one year left on his contract and the age he is we wouldn't get much for him. Far more likely that Kelly will go out on loan.

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  14. But how do we make money on this one?

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  15. Janie K would not know a footballer if Louis Suarez bit him on the backside.

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  16. Kelly, Wisdom and Robinson are not going to make it so it makes sense to bring in a youngster who might.


    I dont see the aversion to a player being sent out on loan, loans develop players as its better to play 10-20 games on loan rather than 4-5 sub appearances at the parent club.

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  17. There is no way the club would agree to such a deal, he interested to hear where you read that as i have not seen anything of the sort anywhere.

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  18. this guy is very young, but he is highly rated for his age, if all goes well on loan and we end up signing him for £6m that's cheap in this day and age for any player, if he has 1 or 2 good seasons with Liverpool after that your looking at least getting double your money back, or we get a good player on the cheap, yes this is if's n but's, but if he doesn't do well on loan then we just give him back, having not spent a lot on his wages. its not a big gamble.

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  19. Simple, Flano right back and sign a quality left back

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  20. Can't see the sense in that deal either jaimie, but at least there's no risk in this deal

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  21. If Wisdom wasn't going to make it, we would sell him not loan him out. He has great potential

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  22. He signed for them on loan with an option to buy next year... PSG tricked FFP, they will surely buy him next year...
    We could have just offered 10m straight up, I doubt very much Toulouse would have rejected that offer, they wouldn't even have to wait for their money... Instead of that we sign a 20 year old unproven/unknown who's 2nd choice at a club that is exactly on the same level as we are on loan... Bad business if you ask me

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  23. I didn't realise people still held this view. You must be few and far between now

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  24. Im not so sure, burst on to the scene but momentum seems to have gone. Hope im wrong, he might make it but needs to prove himself next year. We are probably reluctant to let him go too early just incase.

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  25. yep atletico who won la liga and are the finalist of the champion s league are at the same leve as we are...
    People need to stop this nonsense, i ve even seen comment that we are better than Barcelona just because we had 1 good season.

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  26. Agree that i dont see the sense in that transfer but uness it s official i d refrain from saying it s a done deal seeing how poor we are at finalising our transfer and how other done deal have sign for other team (sanchez)

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  27. I read that too sounds rather odd anyway a very poor transfer to add to the list.

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  28. I like Wisdom a lot. He is a great defender and is young. He just needs to improve his attacking output and he can be a star. He will gain PL experience this year with WBA. He has a bright future.

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  29. I can't see him getting into the first team either. If we brought him in he'd just be another name in the senior training group. If he works hard and proves himself then Rodgers will give him a go. Just because Kelly or Robinson have been longer doesn't give them some kind of automatic position in the hierarchy. Manquillo would simply have to prove his quality and earn a spot. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I don't see a problem in giving him a chance.

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  30. We are definitely not as good as Barca or Atletico yet. Atletico has immense discipline and a manager who is more experienced than ours. Atltico was better than Barca last season. I do not know about this signing. Not because he was second choice as he was injured for most of the season but because he is untested.

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  31. I think that Johnson is going to leave to QPR who are the only team crazy enough to match his wages. That leaves us with Flannagan, Kelly and Manquillo. I still believe Kelly is going to make it. People forget just how good he was before his injuries. If he gets to that level, he can be immense. Manquillo has definitely been signed for versatility because he can play both RB and LB. That gives us depth for the season.

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  32. If this is true, we have just been screwed. I thought that Rodgers said that he was done with these useless loans. Why did he tell us this if this was going to happen. This deal screams panic buy to me.

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  33. In direct competition with Flanno .. Crazy. If we are going to sign a RIGHT back, we need quality and experience, we have the prospect bit well covered. Isla of Chile looks the real deal, Milan would sell.

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  34. Yeah, have to agree that this signing would not make sense right now as we have Johnson, Kelly and Flanagan. Then there are also some of the academy players.


    Johnson could still go though, whether it be in this window January or end of the season. Rodgers either sees Kelly as surplus to requirements or maybe he will be moved to CB which is his favoured position. Flanagan is not a attacking full back so maybe he is not in the long term plans.


    Who knows, Manquillo has to be confirmed first though.

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  35. If Liverpool got Atletico in the CL, I think we could beat them.

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  36. Kelly has the length and build suited for a CB and is likely to be moved there sooner or later. Injuries have set him back big time. I too have not written him off yet.

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  37. Where did you read there is a recall to athletico allowed in the deal?

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  38. Kelly just needs some confidence and he will be back. Everybody just seem to have forgotten about him and want him sold. He was touted as future captain just a few years back. A loan to a PL team will help him immensely.

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  39. surely we can't loan out a loaned in player can we?

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  40. I know you're not allowed to sell them:-)

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  41. So LFC are not allowed to buy players who are developing? How many teams have sold a player who is very important to their teams?

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  42. Nicolas Chamberlain4:26 pm, July 24, 2014

    With their current selection we have a good chance.
    They lost several key players. I think this deal is a gamble. I like his pace and his ability to be involved in the build up. His short passing is, like almost every Spanish player, very good. Kelly still could make it, he was very good before his injury and it would be stupid to write him off already. So we still need a LB and I can only hope we don't go for Bertrand.

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  43. If it happens as described in the article, we will 100%, UNQUESTIONABLY, UNDENIABLY, NOT BE LOANING HIM OUT. How can I be so sure? Simple, you can't loan out a loanee... :)

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  44. Not sure on news now somewhere sorry i dont tend to think its true we will see.

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  45. Injuries have lead him to not really progress. Maybe even regress. Every game I have seen him in for a while he has looked as bad as Sissokho.

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  46. Could we sell him then instead?

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  47. This is great news! At the very minimum this is a signal that Johnson is not enough, hopefully on his way out sooner rather than later. At best it's competition for Johnson. Kelly or Robinson won't make the cut, Wisdom is on Loan, this leaves Flanno and Johson, and Manquillo for right back.
    Hopefully the kid turns out good - from the small sample of his stats - he's excellent defensively - something Johnson is not. Someone has to take a risk on the younger players, so it's not a bad deal - Atletico has one of the best signing records, in that it buys, develops, and sells on excellent players - not a bad a start if you ask me.

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  48. From the little bits I have seen of Manquillo, he looks like he could be a right footed Ricardo Rodriquez. He's similar in the sense they are both balanced in their attributes (defending/attacking). But it is a risk with a player that's played little top level football, so am a little puzzled by this signing.


    But Manquillo isn't a typical mold of Spanish full-backs, he's not all attack and suspect in defence. He's pretty accomplished at defending, has a lot of pace and he's got energy to go up and down the pitch. He's a battler aswell, he's quite aggressive in he's tackling.


    Saying all this, think we missed a trick with Serge Auier. Serge has more first team experience and has a good assist rate for a full-back. Hope BR gets the best out of him and proves alot of people wrong. But I'm sitting on the fence with this one.

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  49. If PSG were interested, we were never going to win as the bargaining power they have is immense. But, if as you say this lad is like a right footed Rodriguez, I will be over the moon.

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  50. We wont and shouldn't sell Flanagan. Johnson and Robinson AND Coates on the other hand should be sold. While I have been a big Kelly fan and believer, if he doesn't show improvement this year then we probably need to cut bait for his sake and that of the team. I am still hoping there are big adds to the team including Lovren, Ricardo Rodriguez, and an animal in Vidal who could lead our midfield toughness requirement and ease Gerrard into the part time Scholes/Giggs role which is ever more necessary and plain to see and sell Lucas immediately after that signing! And, for God's sake, send Borini home and tell him its Sunderland or Melwood permanently, you choose. Have we officially sold Iago Assgas yet?

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  51. Or Real Madrid, or PSG or Bayern and maybe not Dortmund either. I have a big LFC fan but 1 season dos not make a trend or a return to the halcyon days either!

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  52. You would think this is obvious by now, right?

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  53. you meant Cissoko, right?

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  54. Isla YES, Bertrand HELL NO!!!!

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  55. Now there's a plan... May violate every law going, but a plan never the less...

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  56. aqueel siddique5:38 pm, July 24, 2014

    Manu win 7-0. Hopefully Liverpool deliver similar results soon.

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  57. With any luck it might mean we've got a mug lined up to take Johnson off our hands, giving flanno the rb spot with this kid fighting with Kelly for the other spot. I presume there's some kind of plan for him. Don't really see too many similarities with Ilori. I also don't think Robinson and maybe Kelly are in the managers long term plans and wouldn't be surprised to see them leave or go out on loan

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  58. Did you see how Can looks just about twice the size of the players around him on the pitch? I think we have our animal right there.


    Aspas has gone on loan to Sevilla.

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  59. Could not watch the match as it came very early where I stay. How did the team play? I heard Can played really well and so did Coutinho.

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  60. Don't think we'll sell Flanni,as he provides a more defensive option at full-back (sometimes this might be required).


    On the Borini debate, the guy in my eyes will never get 15 goals a season (without the aid of penalties). So he can't even be a impact sub, he's no Chicarito. If we are really in for Vidal, suppliment the the fee with Borini, as we can't be spending £36M on a 27 yr old. So Borini and £20M would be would be my offer.


    People crying about the result last nights, need to account for the lack of pace in the forwards positions (only IBE had real pace) and our game is so reliant on pace. So don't feel like the sky has fallen

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  61. Only watched some of the match so cannot really comment.

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  62. I think Robinson is gone. It is a pity because when he made his debut vs Arsenal, he was brilliant. The difference between Manquillo and Illori is that Illori was permanent so we have to worry about him. If Manquillo fails, we can just send him back like Sahn. We cannot do that with Illori.

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  63. Not too concerned about the result. I think that only Skrtel and Coutinho were the regulars playing. Not too much of a big deal.

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  64. The game was so boring, you didn't miss much. It was our lack of pace in the final third, this limit our penetration.


    Watching Rickie, I'm really interested on how we'll use him this season, as he looked really slow and sluggish (but he had no one stretching the play for him). But Rickie said himself, he know it takes himself time to get upto speed (hence the early return to pre-season).


    Emre Can looked reasonable good, but I don't know if he could cover the ground Henderson does. Maybe he's still shaking pre-season rust out of his legs.

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  65. Think if Ilori was a bit more muscly he'd be playing for BR. I think I seen Carra saying it on TV, that BR doesn't really rate Agger cause he thinks he's a bit of a p*ssy. Thats the reason Sakho get alot of the big games.


    Hope Ilori doesn't get the Agger treatment, as with Ilori's pace we can play a higher line without fear and players like the Andy Carrol strikers will be ineffective against us, as the ywill only able to play the knock on header (less headed threat on goal). The high line will also allow us to sufficate the opposition as we can make the pitch smaller.

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  66. some times big transfer budget can really dangerous for any manager, hope what happened to spurs last season didn't happen to us this season. like i said before just don't hope too much for up coming season, but this team have a bright future in good hand

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  67. Sounds too good to me not to be true.


    They let Liverpool develop him for two years then the day before the option to buy comes into effect they call him back from loan.

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  68. We could try it with Chelsea because they would never remember how many players they have loaned out.


    Perhaps that's the plan for Bertrand.:-)

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  69. Indeed I did. It was a brain fart.

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  70. B Rodgers needs to bring in these defensive players to club still this summer: GK CB LB DM


    CB: D Lovren(24) Of Southampton we all know should be sorted out in a few days.


    But B Rodgers should bring in K Navas(27) Of Levante or A Mccarthy(24) Of Reading for £4-£8M GK


    R Bertrand(24) is descent Left back, but S Umtiti(20) is younger, quicker defender who is a player for now and the future who would learn from J Enrique(27) and compete with him for his position. S UMtiti(20) of Lyon should be brought for £4-£6M LB


    B Rodgers should bring in this class, quality cheap DM from Valencia for £6-£8M to compete with E Can(21) and S Gerrard(34) for the DM Position while he ships out L Leiva(27) to Napoli for £10-£14M

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  71. Liverpool sold Suarez. Of course they are allowed to buy players that are developing but we have several players who are already developing in that exact position. And we haven't bought this player we are loaning him with Athletico having the right to recall him at any time if his performances reach a certain standard- in other words we only get to keep him if he doesn't really perform. Very strange.

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  72. Like the turning of the seasons, Andy Carroll goes down with yet another lengthy injury. I am so glad we dumped him when we did.

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  73. I watched it. Can did indeed look good and so did PC. However, he did have two good opportunities to shoot where he could have done much better...which is not an improvement. However, all I can say is those two looked good primarily because just about everybody else didn't look particularly good...and Agger scoring an own goal could not have helped his cause. If, as rumored, this was a last chance match for some, then Agger is probably gone. The own goal was only his worst mistake.

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  74. LFC and B. Rodgers are now using Arsenal FC for their scouting - L.Remy, & now Maquillo we Arsenal target! Just Tottenham used LFCs scouting system and ended up buying players not suited to their game plan/system - Remember C. Dempsey, G. Sigurdson, (and now Davis the LFB) who were LFC targets but were snapped up Tottenham only to be shipped pout after just one season!

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  75. LFC also loan players with such speculations. It's business. And looking at our developing players only 2 that stood out in the 3 games we played.

    And for all people who say pre season games don't matter I hope you learned something. All the players coming into the team very much so needs this otherwise we will be like Spurs!!!

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  76. And dont forget Mc Laughlin, he looks a great prospect.

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  77. I am not sure PSG would have offered a deal for Aurier then Mr Ian Ayre turns up after that with an offer and manage to turn Aurier's head towards us. PSG is in a different financial league and are guaranteed champs league while we are only back after 5 years.


    We need to build back our reputation before the lure of Anfield becomes too great to turn down again.. We are even struggling to get a 19 year old Origi jumping at the chance to sign for us so how can many fans believe we simply have to turn up and any player is ours to lose.


    I hope this coming season proves we haven't had a false dawn and then we can have realistic hope of getting the stars to put us at the top of their wishlist.


    Right now I believe we are probably 5th in terms of star players wishlist in the premier league after City, Chelsea, United and Arsenal. Spurs can also nick targets of us due to their better recent form until last season and the attraction of London to players from abroad who think London is the UK.


    The premier league itself is only a destination of choice to star players after Spain, Italy and Germany so the dominant teams from those leagues have a chance to have a first look.. Add PSG and Monaco who are financially a bigger attraction than LFC then it becomes clear we are only feasting on scraps.


    If we do maintain our form from last season then maybe the story will start changing for us but we are still very much a work in progress. I also believe that clubs are now buying players with a view to selling at a profit when they develop to increase revenue streams to comply with FFP.


    Chelsea have been doing this to great effect and I think all the top premier league clubs will start doing this given part ownership of players is not allowed in the premier league. This essentially means that the role of agents owning players is not permissible for premier league clubs so the clubs are simply fulfilling the role of such agents themselves by buying cheap priced talents who they either groom domestically or loan abroad with a view to selling at higher return.

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  78. I don't know a whole lot about him, but surely the scouts must think there is a lot of potential there. His wages can't be a whole lot with his experience and age, so if he doesn't work out its two years of low wages and he's off our books. If he does work out well 6m could turn out to be a steal. Not the worst piece of business we have been involved in.

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  79. Milton Bishop-Streamer11:14 pm, July 24, 2014

    You are comparing Roma with La Galaxy?

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  80. Milton Bishop-Streamer11:15 pm, July 24, 2014

    Flanno is our future Captain

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  81. I can't see this bring true. As far as I can see we have a 2 year loan with option to buy at a fixed price. That price will be a couple of mil lower than buying him now because they'll probably subtract whatever loan fee we've paid up front for him, which I'm assuming he has. I can't see us having agreed to it being in the contract that Atletico can recall him at any time but if you have a link to back up this claim I would be interested in looking at it

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  82. VIDAL< VIDAL<VIDAL = DM for LFC!!!!!!!!!!!!

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