23 Aug 2014

'LFC are looking': Boss confirms BR wants to sign 'incredible' £15m winger who loves LFC

Despite signing nine players already this summer, Liverpool continue to be linked with further transfers, and new reports suggest that Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is considering a late bid for Fulham youngster Patrick Roberts.

According to The Independent this week:

"Liverpool are preparing an offer for Fulham teenager Patrick Roberts"

When asked on Friday about Liverpool's interest in 17-year old Roberts, Fulham boss Felix Magath told reporters:

“Liverpool are looking.

"He [Roberts] will develop to the Premier League and I believe he’ll be a national player for England in the next year. How fast he’ll develop, nobody knows, but his skill is incredible.”


Some info about Roberts:

* Boyhood Liverpool fan and his parents are from Merseyside.
* Plays as a right-winger, or a second striker.
* 8 goals in 21 appearances for England youth teams.
* 6 appearances for Fulham so far.
* 2013: Signed a 3-year professional deal with Fulham.
* 2014: Helped England win the UEFA European U-17 Championship

Description of Roberts on Fulham's official website:

"Impressive blend of skill and technique, be that playing in behind a central striker or when drifting in from the right flank. His close control and confident dribbling ability also make him a valuable attacking outlet".

In a recent interview, Roberts revealed his admiration for Lionel Messi's dribbling skills, and described his main footballing strengths:

"My main strength as a player is my dribbling ability – I like to take defenders on whenever I can. I’m not a bad finisher either, so I do like to chip in with a few goals too"

The youngster also reiterated his allegiance to LFC:

"I also like watching Steven Gerrard too. My family are big Liverpool fans, so he’s the man as far as they’re concerned".

Roberts is so highly rated by Fulham that the club recently slapped a ludicrous £15m price-tag on him, which is clearly designed to ward off the vultures of the Premier League.

If/when Rodgers makes a move, Liverpool will probably have an advantage in any negotiations, but as the likes of Alberto, Teixeira, Suso et al are learning, it's extremely hard for young attacking players to come through the Academy system and make the breakthrough into the first team.

Over the last 10+ years, Raheem Sterling is the only exception to this rule, so that's the size of the task faced by Roberts, or indeed any young attacker who joins the club.

In my view, he's better off at Fulham for the next three years.



Author:


84 comments:

  1. tough is an understatement when players like shelvey are released

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  2. I see Teixeira scored again, that's 2 in 2 now.

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  3. Not at all. Shelvey never had the quality and application to play for Liverpool simple. You can't compare previous regimes to this one. If you have the quality you will have a chance under BR. Personally I'd like us to snap him up and then send him back to Fulham for the forseeable future.

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  4. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:32 pm, August 23, 2014

    suso was signed for 250k and trexira 1.5m


    if roberts is signed for 5m+ he will have a higher priority


    he and will hughes are both lfc fans and we should try and bring both in
    young english talent , in my opinion hughes has the potential to be the new ramsey

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  5. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:34 pm, August 23, 2014

    he had his chance the red card did not help


    i remember agints zenit when he came on and lfc lost on agg


    he was slaughtered by sections of liverpool fans he lacked mobility needed

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  6. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:36 pm, August 23, 2014

    ............................................sturridge/origi
    sterling.................................coutinho/lallana................roberts/markovic
    ..............................henderson....................hughes/can


    in the next two seasons


    obviosuly keeping sterling will be the biggest challenge


    this might be controversial but i believe ibe will not make it at lfc

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  7. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:40 pm, August 23, 2014

    liverpool have to continue buying young players


    man utd and arsernal are flourishing under ffp and years of hard work their spending power can not be matched by lfc
    and city and chelsea have money to blow despite ffp


    logic says theese 4 cash cow clubs will make a new "big 4" that cannot be matched by any otehr club liverpool,everton or spurs


    the only way we can compete is by raising young talent selling them for big fees then working to find the new one

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  8. Disagree we can't compete with Chelski and City that's for sure. United are also probably a bit out of our league but there's absolutely no reason why we can't match Arsenal or better them in every aspect. United are the only team who are probably untouchable on a purely revenue aspect.

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  9. We have plenty of kids. Need 4th striker, backup goalie and def mid SG heir type....

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  10. They got a lot more revenue from their stadium but that is a situation that should hopefully be addressed when Anfield is redeveloped. Sponsorship wise I don't think there is much to choose between the two and that's even after our prolonged absence from the CL.

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  11. We don't need 4th striker. It's rare to have more than three.


    We need 3rd keeper though. Romero it is pretty sure.

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  12. shelvey is a kid who is till only 22

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  13. Agree we don't need a 4th and I think we already have one as it seems Borini isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not keen on Romero one bit, probably slightly better than Brad Jones but not good enough.

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  14. Age doesn't matter. He isn't good enough and never will be.

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  15. hes no worse than allen or lucas and a lot better than aspas assaidi and alberto ...but if im honest your missing my point which is young players have to hit the ground running and play like a seasoned pro from the off or they are off

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  16. And Alberto scored the winner for Malaga.

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  17. We seem obsessed with finding the next brilliant 17 year old and sticking them in the 1st team. Every so often you will get a player that breaks the mould, Sterling being an example, but most players don't truly develop until they are 20-23.


    I agree with the comment about getting the likes of Hughes and Roberts on board but to expect them to get into the current 1st team or even squad is unrealistic.


    Even Markovic who we have just paid £20m for will probably only play a supporting role this year.

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  18. Sign him up, loan him back

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  19. Manchester City have 4, Barcelona have 4, United have 4, Chelsea have 4 and Everton had 4 last year

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  20. United have a lot of debt

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  21. 15 million pounds for that is crazy never.

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  22. And of course they don't usually peak until 25 - 28, which makes it even harder for young players to compete with those in their prime. Sterling however is already one of the best wingers in the league at 19 and its almost impossible to predict just how good the guy will turn out to be by the time he reaches his best years.

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  23. Spirit of the Shadows2:55 am, August 24, 2014

    It was a penalty mate, he was average in the whole game, nothing special.

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  24. colonel cocknocker3:00 am, August 24, 2014

    wasn't it even the rebound from a missed penalty?

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  25. Spirit of the Shadows3:06 am, August 24, 2014

    In other news Carlo ancelotti has openly said khedira is for sale. I know he has a shady injury history but he is still miles better than Lucas, proven world cup winner at a bargain. Anyone else thinks we should go for him?

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  26. Yes he will cost more and thus have higher "priority," but is he really worth it? And is he really better than Suso or Texeria? We have some very good wingers in the academy right now. I don't think spending 5M on a 17 year old who honestly doesn't look that impressive will be that wise.

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  27. Hughes, though, would be. He's young, just like Roberts, but he's been starting in the Champ. and has been playing pretty impressively. He was one of Derby's best last season if I remember correctly, a side that was ever so close to promotion.

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  28. Only one problem...we'd be loaning him back to play in Fulham's youth team... why not just OUR youth team?

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  29. Use Ibe, Texeira and Suso and focus on what we need: fourth striker, defensive mid to be heir apparent to SG and a solid backup goalie......

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  30. Brendan Rodgers is beginning to appear like a rich kid in a sweetshop if half these stories about potential signings are to be believed. When I was at primary school [a few years ago now :-)] most boys could reel off rhymes that included all the players names in their local football teams.- It would now be easier to recite 'War and Peace' than remember all LFC players!
    It seems Sunderland are hunting Coates too for their squad this season. - 'Jack Palance' is no mug if he can pull that one off.- Offer them Sakho instead Brendan. Psst! - t please don't forget we still need a keeper to compete with Mignolet!

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  31. Sterling has shown that he is deadly striker in the making. We have more than enough attacking options now.

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  32. Interesting graphs I found on Anfield Index. Without Suarez Ajax and LFC both won more games and Uruguay do not do that badly without him either. When he does play then all three teams score more goals though.

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  33. If what you say is true, then the hoofer would not have been a footballer let alone become a legend.

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  34. Balo is busy preparing tea for the half-time break. lol

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  35. How woikd shelvey have progressed had steven gerrard not been there? So much of a players future relies on their talent and opportunity

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  36. Never heard of him...has anyone actually seen him play!? Probably another Shelvey...agree with some of the posts Kheidra would be awesome! Lol but unlikely, and we defo need a better back up keeper (sorry Brad) otherwise Mignolet will get complacent!

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  37. This is probably because star attacking players are often rested when their club plays against weak teams. This skews the stats. Surely nobody believes that Ajax et al were stronger when Suarez did not play

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  38. If you read the article in the link the writrer does not suggest that LFC are better without Suarez but also will not fall apart. The point he is trying to get at is that we can win without Suarez and we have a better win % without him in the team.

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  39. Exactly:


    GK to compete with Mignolet: A Mccarthy Of ReadingOr Romero Of Sampdoria for £2-£7M


    An athletic mobile tough tackling Enforcer to replace the outgoing L Leiva: E Capoue Of Tottenham Or C Tiote Of Newcastle for £6-£9M


    4th Forward or attacking player:


    M Reus(25) Of B Dortmund for £23-£28M Marquee signing along with Balotelli and then our attack will be sorted for season and seasons ahead.

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  40. Didn't the rebound hit someone else and then bounce of his knee. the bar and then the post before it was fumbled over the line by the goalkeeper?

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  41. See Napoli are taking Lucas on loan with an option to buy which they wont or will offer 2million instead of 10.
    When will this club learn not to loan experienced players to Italian clubs they are all cheap and full of it.

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  42. If we are talking real center forwards then only City and United have 4. If you count someone like Neymar as a striker why not also Sterling then?

    We already have one striker on loan so would be a very stupid move to buy another attacker. We need another goalie and someone to replace Lucas. Song could be a good option.

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  43. ok get rid of the academy because none of them are good enough at the moment as you said age doesnt matter.

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  44. The problem is that there will most likely only be interested from the Serie A for Lucas. Especially with the snail paced football in that league. Inter have also been linked with him.


    Pretty sure the club would rather sell but if a loan to buy option is the only offer on the table then what does one do?

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  45. Yes i know that just after we can call them recent events i would rather sell him to a championship side for 1 mill than get promised 10 by the Italians.

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  46. How many times do I have to make this point? Stop posting comments like this that belittle other posters. One more, and you will receive a one-week ban.

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  47. Ok this same troll if i can say that i believe abused me a while ago but you have made your point sir.

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  48. the players teams tend to miss are the ones you dont notice or get the headlines ...we never really missed Gerrard even in his pomp and the same can be said for other top names who played for us.

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  49. are you talking about shelvey bob...im talking about succeeding at a top level club which spends a lot and turns over a lot of young players ,shelvey is a cm and most cm come good mid 20s at a club like Liverpool you dont have that luxury if you havny hit your max within two seasons your off.Thats why at present there is only sterling who has come through and we nearly loaned him out .ilori is a classic example cd come good mis 20s illori wont be at liverpool in his mid 20s

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  50. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:08 am, August 24, 2014

    sterling on the right
    roberts on the left


    henderson captain , hughes his sidekick


    we could have englands future


    and even though i dont care about england , i like the way barca and bayern team are mostly from their nationality

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  51. With the state of the game today and it will only get worse in regards to signing young players, it is not so much as 5mil spent, its a possible 10 mil saved.


    With FFP clubs do not want to be spending 20+mil on players good players and 30mil+ on great players every season, only very few clubs can sustain this level of spending and even then they are struggling.


    So now they spend 20mil on maybe 5 young players and hope that a few will make it and if they none of them do with the way prices are going up they should see a return on their investment when they sell them on.


    So yeah, many clubs including us will spend 5 mil on a 17yr old in hope that in the years to come he will become a good player and possibly save the club millions. If they do not work out they can still sell them on for hopefully what they brought them for or even make a small profit.

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  52. liverpool aint got no youth system have to nick players from smaller clubs ie reheem sterling, the last player to come through has steven gerrard you cant count flanaghan because he is useless

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  53. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:13 am, August 24, 2014

    so what?
    do chelsea or city?

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  54. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:13 am, August 24, 2014

    even arsernal wilshere was from luton
    only everton and southampton have been sucsessful

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  55. and you aint going to get patrick roberts for 5 million times that by 4

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  56. He is not worth 2 million Ibe is way better.

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  57. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:15 am, August 24, 2014

    please
    fullham are one of the most tragic club right now alongside tans cardiff and the venkys

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  58. They ave guvnor and Flanagan is useful.

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  59. The sound of this really annoys me, I'd express it if not for the filter. We got rid of Maxi and Kuyt for next to nothing, it wouldn't surprise me if it's the same with Lucas. He's still a good player, perfect squad player, why just loan him out and weaken the squad for no gain?


    If we bought Vidal/Song then fine, laters Lucas, but it's not the case. Unless we get a good 10 Million, I hope nothing develops.

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  60. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:24 am, August 24, 2014

    ibe is nothing
    he just has pace

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  61. Pete i am a bit upset about this but as Logan said there really is not a lot of options out there.
    I really am in a bad mood but JK will exterminate me for a week if i express my real feelings on this.
    Though its not in my Nature to be nice i hope you got all of this i wrote slowly coz i know you cant read very fast.

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  62. Dont abuse Ibe you obviously have not watched him if you think that.

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  63. Nevergonnacrackthecode11:51 am, August 24, 2014

    please the only hard match he had was vs roma


    and he was so anonymous

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  64. I do not get you mate. You have some legitimate comments and some comments that make you come out as a troll. Make up your mind....

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  65. Nevergonnacrackthecode12:27 pm, August 24, 2014

    did markovic do an interview with the sun?

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  66. Nevergonnacrackthecode12:27 pm, August 24, 2014

    New Liverpool signing Lazar Markovic has revealed that he followed Chelsea as a youngster due to his admiration for Blues legend Gianfranco Zola.

    Liverpool fans have no need to fear, however, as their £20million signing also insisted that his new team are 'one of the best in the world'.

    Markovic told The Sun: 'I followed Chelsea because I liked Gianfranco Zola. But Liverpool are one of the best clubs in the world.'

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2733030/Lazar-Markovic-reveals-supported-Chelsea-youngster-admiration-Gianfranco-Zola.html#ixzz3BJ9o7QwW
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook



    just saw this on the mail

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  67. I made this point on another site but Shelvey is good at the 10-20% of the the game. The flash bits, crosses, shots etc. Allen is good at the other 80% positional awareness, closing down, tracking generally all the bits that make up most of footy. He lacks the flash bits. Shelvey has never shown to have much of a football brain. The story of him having to be micromanaged through games as he would just not do what he was told before hand spring to mind. He has been been given a deeper central role recently so perhaps he is learning. He will never be a top player though just a MOTD highlights player. Allen will never be that player but will be dependable to do a job. If he left us though I very much doubt he will ever get in a top club again.

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  68. Nevergonnacrackthecode12:38 pm, August 24, 2014

    i had high hopes for ibe


    but rodgers not playing him shows he has now faith in him


    at this age sterling was playing first team


    while ibe is being loaned out to bolton this could show he is not very good

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  69. Who are Chelsea's four? You counting Shurrle? Or Torres? hehe. Same with Mirelles at Everton or Welbeck. All forwards rather than strikers. I think Sterling could be used there and we currently have four without Sterling not to mention Origi.

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  70. Henderson at the end of the season.

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  71. I think that kind of thing would be good for England. I am generally not that bothered by the national team but I do think that if it were to succeed having most of the players playing in the same team is a benefit. Especially if that team is successful and the national coach replicates that way of playing.

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  72. Lacina Lukaku Naismith and Kone

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  73. the thing i like about shelvey though is he has the priceless ability to score ...even when he plays bad you get the feeling he can stick it in the corner and get the points

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  74. Maybe because Sterling has only played 45-80 minutes as a striker in his whole career while Neymar have been playing there for several years

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  75. at his age Sterling was playing 1st team because we had NO OTHER OPTIONS! Thats when we had Suso, Sterling, Flanagan and Wisdom in the team due to injuries/suspensions etc. There was no choice but to play him and alot of people didnt think he was doing very well. Ibe is developing into a fine player, dont act like you know what Brendan Rodgers is doing. And what is 'now' faith anyway?

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  76. Poor judgement on Ibe your obviously have not watched any youth games. He was widely regarded to have the same if not more potential than Sterling.

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  77. When was Suarez ever rested against weaker teams anyway? Remember Norich?

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  78. Rather see Rossiter come through than Hughes at LFC

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  79. Apparently from what I read

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  80. Whatever happened to that other 15 million superstar kid at Derby?

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  81. Rodgers would disagree with you. He said when he left that he would have preferred to keep him but he didn't want to stand in the way of his development, and they got a decent price for him.

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