13 Aug 2014

'It's time he went': Nicol blasts €15m star's 'bad decisions' & urges LFC to sell. Agree?

Much to the chagrin of Daniel Agger, Barcelona recently signed Belgian star Thomas Vermaelen for £15m, which almost certainly means that his chances of a move to the Nou Camp are now over. However, Arsenal are reportedly considering a late bid for Agger, and Steve Nicol has urged the club to cut its losses and let the 'excellent' Dane leave.

According to The Independent:

"Arsenal are ready to increase their interest in bringing Daniel Agger in from Liverpool, [and] will push on with their attempts to sign him"

When asked about €15m-rated Agger's future during a recent radio interview, Nicol mused:

"He [Agger] promised so much when he came in, but unfortunately, he's either been unfit, or made bad decisions that have cost Liverpool. It's time he went".

Agger's time at Anfield is defined by constant injury, and it's no surprise to learn that he is the most injured player in Liverpool's history (!). Indeed, with his latest injury - which forced him to leave the recent US tour - the Dane's LFC career is now entering the realms of self-parody.

After the signing of Lovren, Agger appeared to be a dead man walking at Anfield, but after recent developments, it's possible that he'll still be a Liverpool player when the transfer window closes:

* If Kolo Toure or Seb Coates end up leaving (which is still possible), Liverpool will be left with Skrtel, Lovren, Agger, and Sakho, who is clearly not trusted by Rodgers. Although Agger is probably moving into the same bracket, he is (arguably) a more reliable back-up than Sakho or Coates, especially when playing alongside Skrtel.

* According to Rodgers, Agger is 'still getting treatment' for his current knee injury, and it seems unlikely that any big club will sign an injured player, especially someone like Agger, who has a long history of injury problems.

Arsenal might still decide to bite the bullet and sign Agger despite his injury, and if they do that, it will (IMO) be a gargantuan mistake. Of course, I hope and pray Wenger makes that mistake, as it will inevitably weaken Arsenal at some stage during the season, which will be good news for Liverpool.

In my view, it's more likely that Agger will stay at Liverpool for the next few months, during which time he'll recover from injury, a play a few games (whilst in the shop window), and then leave in January.

Even with Agger's 'bad decisions', he's still (IMO) preferable to Sakho. Last season's stats show that a team with Skrtel-Agger concedes fewer goals, wins more games, and achieves more clean sheets than a team with Skrtel-Sakho at its core.

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60 comments:

  1. Well first of all we won't see a Skrtel/Sakho partnership given that Lovren will be one of the first names on the team sheet. Secondly, injuries and non selection restricted Sakho last season, but he showed at the World Cup that he is a decent centre back. Thirdly it seems that Toure is going nowhere. Fourthly Coates has had a decent pre season and might be worth another chance. Finally, Rodgers clearly doesn't trust Agger, so don't expect to see him in the first team any time soon.

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  2. I can't see Arsenal signing Agger for the reasons Jaimie states and Agger would not be first choice anyway so from his point of view it doesn't make sense. I am interested to see how this season goes, I think Agger is the leader when he is on the pitch and this is partly why the goals, CS are better with him in the team. There is the FACT that there were a lot of errors leading to goals that had NOTHING to do with Sakho in his run of games, especially those of Mignolet who Jaimie has criticised in the past. I am not sure how it could be both Sakho and Mingolet's fault but hey ho. There is the fact of Sakho playing the top sides more than any other CB barring Skrtel too. Facts that get lost in this discussion too often.

    Personally I believe Sakho is currently better than Agger in every way barring his leadership/organisation. This could be down to a new club/country/league/language as well as playing alongside a player who is both older and been at the club longer. Lovren doesn't seem to have that issue so it will be interesting to see what a Lovren Sakho partnership would be like. Lovren prefers the left but is right footed so presumably can play either side. Time will tell how that all goes. I look forward to finding out.

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  3. Have you been linked with anyone else? You feel Chambers is good enough backup? Just interested as your about.

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  4. Steve Nicol is the Jaimie K of football punditry: negative, negative, negative when it comes to anything to do with LFC

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  5. Sakho has been a very strange signing £18 million for a squad player doesn't make sense.

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  6. Nevergonnacrackthecode9:58 pm, August 13, 2014

    jk should stay negative
    every time he says something positive bad things happen
    we were about to win the league then jaimie said we would then you know the rest

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  7. To be fair it's not just Liverpool ;-)

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  8. Nevergonnacrackthecode9:59 pm, August 13, 2014

    skrtel is almost 30
    sakho and lovren is the future
    but like allen last season he will slowly be integrated

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  9. I think we will struggle to move Agger on now. Certainly £15m seems very optimistic to me

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  10. I'd be happy to see Agger go now, i just don't see a high level of commitment from him. Still think Sakho will do ok though.

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  11. We've been linked to Manolas from Olympiacos. He's young (but not completely inexperienced) and would be pretty inexpensive. I like Chambers, but he's being touted as a CB as well as backup for Debuchy on the right. So we definitely need one more. Just not Agger.

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  12. I agree with Jamie on this one. For me Loven signing shows that Rodgers does not trust Sakho, Skrtel should be at his peak now for Liverpool so could get another 2 seasons out of him. So I cant see Sakho waiting that long to get a regular place but things can change with injuries and loss of form. It just felt like a strange signing from the begining a bit like the Andy Carroll signing, a last minute transfer day purchase.

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  13. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:12 pm, August 13, 2014

    rodgers bought lovren because he wanted a leader
    he though kolo would be first choice but he did not have ability to start

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  14. Fine, we'll sell you Kolo for £30m.

    No need to thank me, just tell Arsène to draw a little smiley face next to his signature on the cheque.

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  15. Ha.....£30 for Kolo sounds like something Barca would do.....

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  16. but wasn't that the same spill that they were saying about Sakho that he captained P.S.G at a young age? It strange because if lovern starts next season as 3rd choice then you would think that he has fallen out of favor with the manager.

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  17. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:31 pm, August 13, 2014

    sakho does not know english

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  18. I cant remember who said this but they claiming that our main back four will communicate in Spanish.

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  19. Lovren speaks French I think

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  20. 5 central defenders who can potentially start games + Coates, Ilori. Somebody must move on anyways.

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  21. French makes more sense, ahh maybe there will be a Sakho Lovern partnership afterall.

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  22. I expect them to speak English after all there are not many things you need to say in order to play football. Sick as a parrot or over the moon covers most of it

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  23. I don't think sakho's ready to be our first choice centre back but he should get enough game time to both keep him happy and continue his development.
    Time for Agger to move on tho I think

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  24. In and around is another then there is the plauralisation of single people ie your Lampards etc All difficult in a foreign tongue.

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  25. well whatever they speak better be an upgrade on last season

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  26. Not sure there's much evidence to support a successful partnership between Skrtel and Agger...a decent one season......which also consisted of Mascherano and Alonso sat in front of them. Love that he loves/d LFC and showed it, but it's time to part ways. All the best buddy, YNWA.

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  27. one wonders how much is nicol paid for his opinions?


    under KK when we were less attacking minded skirtel and agger were part of the second best defence in the league!



    Yes he is injured a lot - we're all individuals and people are all made differently. the thing is agger is a loyal servant of the club - and when he does play he gives his best.

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  28. but stats are not against the same teams. our defence was full of mistakes who ever we played, sakho was thrown in at the deep end when perhaps agger should of came in towards the end for his so called experience.
    i believe toure will be kept for his experience and enthusiasm, still a good player in my eyes, he started well then got dropped.
    johnson and agger have got to go. coates deserves a proper chance, were hopefully going to be playing a lot of games, he could be key in europe, hes good on the ball.
    think vlaar would of been a good signing had coates and toure gone

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  29. I agree with you and see Sakho as a real weapon in the making. He's a great leader and communicates very well when playing for the French team and I think it's just about him getting more settled and comfortable with the language before he starts doing the same for us.
    Between Lovren, Sakho and Skrtel we have an interchangable trio that can all adequately fill in when needed and also play three across the back very effectively. If they all build a rapport with each other, our defense will be night and day compared to last season which will ease the pressure of trying to make up for the goals we lost with Suarez leaving

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  30. Agree with Lovren definately starting. But it's great knowing that whoever comes into replace him if injured or suspended can also do a job in Sakho/Skrtel

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  31. I have watched some scary defenders in my time, but none more so than when Sakho has the ball at his feet!

    He scares the crap out of me for all the wrong reasons and at the rate he is going i will not survive this coming season.

    If the argument were to be simplified as to who should play if either Lovren or Skrtel are injured then it would be Sakho i suppose, the aforementioned scares me even more than his dodgy ball control.

    Please Brendan for the good of my health sell him to the first club who can be duped, after us i meant!

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  32. "Who is clearly not trusted by Rodgers." Do you mean Sakho? What evidence do you have to claim to know Rodgers thoughts on the matter?

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  33. Rumors circulating now saying that we're interested in Rossi. I hope this is true, would be a fantastic signing, much better option than lavezzi

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  34. TBH Tesoman it doesn't make any sense to me neither does it make sense to Lawro or Carra who have both lamented on the deal falling through!
    What compounds matters is the notion we can attract top quality strikers, this is so far from reality! Personally Remy is too good to be considered a stepping stone, but as you said he would push us on to the next level in ways no other available striker could.
    I think we've just turned our noses up at a deal potentially better than Sturridge. LFC's ambiguity about the actual medical makes it difficult for people to understand why! I guess they feel it wouldn't help Remy's future dealings. Now Chelski is sniffing around & if they get him forget challenging for the title, at best we may just scrape top 4 all being well.

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  35. Rossi was a central midfielder right?

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  36. You need to watch the videos on Youtube. You will see that he doesn't just like crosses to the middle. He can create space, uses both feet to score and is great in the air.

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  37. It does seem like bad timing for Agger. Another injury just when he could have been playing a couple of pre-season games and showing his class. He's in no way a bad defender and if he needs to stick around until January then it's OK for the club. Rodgers can't just let him sit on the bench either, if he doesn't play at all then he's not just an un-used asset he's also declining in value. Kolo won't get a look in at this stage, neither will Coates.


    I'll wait and see how the combinations work out. Lovren is a totally different character and it's not clear who will work best with him. Skrtel seemed a much happier defender against Dortmund but I think it will be the same for all of them. What the team seems to have needed is a guy who will make instant decisions so that the rest of the team at least has a clear direction. Lovren doesn't hesitate as much, he doesn't get as confused or flustered when things are unstructured and that's best for everyone. I think he'll make both Skrtel and Sakho into better defenders just be being there next to them.


    At a superficial level it would make far more sense to keep Sakho and sell Agger. Agger is older, he has a history with injuries and he's not as effective this last season as we've seen him previously. Sakho improves every game and in the right setting he's a very capable defender. You are better off with a guy on the way up rather than a guy on the way down so Liverpool surely need to be focused on selling Agger. He could continue to do a job for the club but for how long? When will he next suffer from an injury that rules him out for another month or two? That kind of unpredictability has hurt the club in the past and it's probably time we got past it.


    For me the ideal set of CB is Skrtel, Lovren, Sakho and one of Ilori/Coates. The three main guys will rotate regularly to cover all the games that need to be played and the young guy will need to fight for a place. Eventually Skrtel will show his age and then one of the younger players should be able to seamlessly step into the rotation. That means Agger and Toure moving on and Rodgers choosing between Coates and Ilori for next season. It only starts to be a problem if we end up with a bunch of highly paid players sitting on the bench doing nothing. That's a financial burden.

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  38. A last day transfer signing because he didnt trust Skrtel, and neither did I at the time, he was almost out the door, but fair play to Martin, he came back more determined, and was defender of the year at LFC. The more the merrier competing for places I say.

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  39. sign keita balde diao over those 2 .........

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  40. Will probably be on the bench cant wait to see him play and why he carries such a high price tag.

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  41. But if you watch those Youtube videos you do get the impression of a striker of limited mobility. Almost all of his goals are scorred from around the penalty spot. None come from awkward angles. Only two came from (just) outside the box. I think he is worth signing as an impact subsitute- someone we can knock the balls into in the last 10 minutes but does he really add much beyond his goals?

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  42. Enrique is a liability, I'm afraid. He would have been my forst sale this summer. His positional sense is atrocious.

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  43. But in 10 out of 21 cases we finish champions and in another 4 cases we finish 2nd. Only 5 times has the second placed team finished outside the top 4 (2 of those times were Liverpool...)

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  44. Not sure if I agree with people not trusting the big Sak as a number 1 CB.... Honestly from what I've seen, both his size and pace, fairly accurate passing, decent for set peices, albeit super clumsy/ungainly looking, plus his age, he should be getting as much experience as possible. Also not sure where JK gets the idea that Rodgers doesnt trust him. I dont want to have a go buddy, but saying "Sakho, who is clearly not trusted by Rodgers", is a bit presumptuous. Clearly he was injured for a good part of the season, clearly when he came back from injury our stand ins were in good form, clearly suggests some level of obvious certainty, whereas you have applied it to an opinion based on loose happenings. Once again, not having a go, I just think that sometimes your 'opinion' can come across as 'THE opinion'.
    Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with our defense this season, we are nice and loaded, Manq/Flano on the right (I shall not mention Jen Glonson), Moreno/Jose on the left, rotation of Lov, Sak, Ninja Skrtel and any of Agger, Ilori, Coates, Toure who actually stay (in that order as well).
    I wouldnt mind one more striker/winger in the Remy mould, but to be honest, if we stopped now, I'd be fairly confident for the season.

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  45. Sakho did what now? He did exactly what he does in the PL. Be late for tackles and constantly be out of position. He's what the Dutch would call "een dommekracht". I have no idea how to translate that into English though :-) If Rodgers doesn't trust Agger, I honestly don't see why that is. Reina Carra Agger were a rock solid defense the season before last. Then he changed it around and brought in Sakho and Mignolet and we conceded almost as many as the relegated clubs. It's a good thing he's already replaced Sakho. Now we can only hope he gets a replacement for Mignolet in before September and we may actually stand a chance of having it won by April this time around.

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  46. His ball retention and passing stats are excellent though, just because he can look ungainly doesn't mean he is, just look at Yaya Toure at times he looks like hes going to fall over yet powers through defenders and gets his shots away, was the same with Paddy Veira.

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  47. Absolutely correct, it is not so much the play it is the leadership and somebody who controls the defensive line, even in his first game vs Dortmund you could constantly see Lovren calling the defense up to his mark and him shouting instructions. I haven't seen this from Sakho at LFC.

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  48. Do you not think the style of play had something to do with the amount of goals we conceded? Everybody loves the quick counter attacking, players rushing forward and breaking quickly as its great to watch but if you should happen to loose the ball in the middle and everybody has started to rush then it leaves you exposed so you will concede more goals.

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  49. £30 bid sounds exactly something like Arsenal would do. Does £1 pound increase in bid ring any bells?

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  50. We played the same style the year before and it didn't seem to bother us. I agree that you can't play attacking football and play like cowardly Chelski at the same time. But the fact that we concede more because we press more is a myth. We don't just rush forward, we push back the opposition and we press early when we lose the ball. That means we need a solid defensive midfielder and we didn't have one of those until Gerrard took over and even he needed time to get into it. With Lovren I think we'll concede less from set pieces and that's an area that is addressed now but had nothing to do with our style.

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  51. Lovren is like Agger & Skertel in one. He can bring the ball out and spread the play, and he is a rock solid defender on the ground and in the air. Plus he pushes up on strikers into their own half. Positional awareness and reading of the game, two qualities it is very hard to teach, and that Sakho doesn't seem to hold. Fully agree Sakho is not up to the challenge, drops way too deep and panicks at the back - (see Norwich, Palace away). Agger is a better option but is not always fit and not getting on with BR.

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  52. Excuse me Jaimie your comment that Rogers doesn't 'trust' Sakho is based on what ?
    Last season I might add was his first in the Premier League and believe me when we have to play the likes of West Ham with big Lumps masquerading as a strikers in Andy Carroll I guarantee Sakho will be picked.
    The trick is to have OPTIONS throughout the squad.

    We should be more worried about the strikers, Lambert is not up to it.
    However he is a option.
    Don't be surprised if Borini ends up staying if we don't get another striker.

    I don't 'trust' Mingolet at all and his deputy in Brad Jones is terrible.
    We need a better keeper Mingolet is not the answer for me in any case.

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  53. If Rodgers trusted Sakho he would not have signed Lovren; he would've made Sakho his first choice CB already. If a manager trusts an £18m central defender, he doesn't then go out and buy a £20m centre-back, and make him first choice.

    I love how everything has to be so literal for fans when they disagree with something. Obviously, Rodgers is not going to say he doesn't trust Sakho, but reading between the lines, it is obvious, not only now but last season, too, when he wasn't first choice either.

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  54. B Rodgers will make Lovren and Sakho his main centre back partnership for now and future of club, considering he spent £38M on them.


    Sakho is a beast and will only get better and better, I hope and pray we keep D Agger at club.


    So we could have two class quality centre back partnership through all the competitions:


    Premiership pairing: Lovren and Sakho
    Champions league pairing: Skrtel and Agger ( European Experience)
    FA Cup: Lovren and Agger
    Carling Cup: Skrtel and Sakho


    B Rodgers should ship out these poor defensive players:


    B Jones GK S Coates CB K Toure CB M Kelly RB


    G Johnson RB L Leiva DM


    And three defensive players should be brought in to replace the 6 above:
    Class quality GK to compete with S Mignolet


    An Athletic Mobile Built strong tall tough tackling DM: E Capoue(24) Of Tottenham fully fit and injury free would be a class quality signing and cost us between £6-£8M as Tottenham are having fire sale this summer.


    Capoue injury free and fully fit is in the same mould as Mascherano, M'Vila, Momo Sissoko, B Matuidi and J Martinez. Just he was not given a fair chance to play in DM week in week out for Tottenham last season.


    And he would offer S Gerrard(34) some real competition for his place and bring the main qualities a DM needs to have in front of back four.


    B Rodgers should offer A Madrid £6-£8M for T Alderwield who is a versatile centre back who can also play as a right full back if needed.

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  55. So let me get this straight....Rogers doesn't trust Sakho because he went and bought Lovern?
    But he trusted Skrtel last season at the beginning did he?
    So what your really trying to say that even though it was Sakho first season in the Premier league Rogers doesn't trust him ?
    Even though Toure was told a couple of easy ago that although he was free to go to Turkey to play Rogers assured him he has a future but Sakho doesn't?


    I'm not sure you've really thought this through

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  56. You are the one who hasn't thought this through.

    * Liverpool spent £18m on Sakho, which, at the time, was a club record for a CB, and one of the highest Prem fees for a central defender.

    * With Carragher retiring, Sakho was obviously brought in with the intention of making him a first choice CB. If not why spend £18m? You don't spend that amount of money on a squad player.

    * Sakho failed to become a first choice CB last season, and made only 19 appearances overall, and was on the bench or subbed off 9 times.

    * If Rodgers trusted Sakho to be his first choice CB, he wouldn't have spent £20m on Lovren (IMO). He would've bought a less expensive squad player, i.e. someone who can cover for Skrtel/Sakho when needed.

    * I didn't say Sakho doesn't have a future, so stop twisting my words. I said that, reading between the lines, Rodgers doesn't trust Sakho to be his first choice CB.

    Of course Sakho is an 'adequate' replacement for Lovren/Skrtel if they get injured/go through a form issue, but my overall point is that he is not trusted to be Rodgers' number 1, and that is obvious from events over the last year.

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  57. Does £35m for Andy Carroll ring any bells?

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  58. Yes, along with 50mn for Torres ;-)

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