21 Oct 2014

Done Deal? BR set to sign 'world class' €12m 'leader' who dreams of LFC transfer

Marseille star Andre Ayew has been linked with a move to Liverpool many times in the past, and new reports this week claim that the Reds are moving closer to sealing a deal for Ayew, who reportedly 'dreams' of a move to Anfield.

According to reports this week:

* Liverpool are 'set to sign' Ayew, who has refused to sign a new deal with Marseille.

* The move is being prompted by Rodgers' alleged frustration with Mario Balotelli,

* Rodgers is considering a 'cut-price' deal during the January transfer window.

€12m-rated Ayew has preference for Liverpool, and when interviewed last season on French TV show Telefoot, he enthused:

"It [The Premier league] is a league I always think of. I am Ghanaian and an English speaker, and I have a strong preference for England. As for Liverpool - I followed them as a child"

When asked about his future recently, Ayew told reporters:

"Everything is possible. I'm under contract and proud to wear this jersey. I could have left it two years ago, but I stayed, had finished second. We'll see"

Ayew's versatility probably makes him an appealing option for Brendan Rodgers. He can play as a winger, or a striker, but is he prolific enough, though? Stats for the last few years:

* 2010-11: 13 goals/3 assists in 51 appearances.
* 2011-12: 16 goals/4 assists in 39 apps.
* 2012-13: 13 goals/5 assists in 45 apps.
* 2013-14: 8 goals/3 assists in 29 apps.
* Goal/Assist every 2.5 games.

When your joint top-scorer is 'own goals' (3 so far, with Gerrard and Sterling also on 3 goals) then it's clear that there's a problem up-front. As such, bringing in another goalscorer is arguably a priority (!)

Former Ghana head coach Kwesi Appiah is convinced that Ayew is the real deal, and earlier this year, he outlined what makes the striker such a special player:

“Ayew is a player of world-class level and tactically he is good. He is also a leader. When the team is in trouble he pushes all his companions to fight and not give up.”

Sounds like just the type of player Liverpool need, and the polar opposite of Balotelli. There's a world of difference, though, between scoring goals in France, and doing the business in the Premier League, and Ayew's goalscoring stats are not that great to begin with.

With Rodgers' signings failing to deliver so far, he needs to get it right with the next deal. Is Ayew the answer?



Author:


33 comments:

  1. He is a really great guy....works is socks off on the pitch.ps Im Ghanaian

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  2. some good premier league players in this list


    1 saido berahino 10m borini on loan and wisdom permanent
    2 fabian delph 12m contract running out and can play accross midfield
    3 nathaniel clyne 15m a proper right back like sheamus coleman
    4 winston reid 10m contract running out could be our sol cambell
    5 Morgan scniederlin 20m a top dm
    6 asmir begovic 15m proved consistently best how good he is
    7 ryan shawcross 10m liek begiovic he is quality
    8 cheke tiote 10m a proper dm
    9 nathan dyer 12m a proper rodgesr type winger superior to ayew




    get 5 0f them we are good to go

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  3. an example of the team we could play:
    ..........................................berahino
    dyer...................................lallana...................sterling
    ..........................henderson...........delph
    moreno...............lovren.................reid..............clyne
    ...........................................begovic


    looks really good

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  4. hmm watching chelsea and bayern tonight i cant help but be blown away by the football these teams play. i am a firm believer in the rodgers project simply because we have improved considerably from where we were when kenny left. but thinking 6-7 years down the line will we be as dominant as those European power houses ? i am certain rodgers will lead us in the right direction and make us champions league regulars in that time even premier league champions but will he be able to lead us into the pantheon of teams and reclaim our status as a footballing colossus ? i dont see that.

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  5. Well...Well... Remy has just pulled up right after scoring for Chelsea.. Maybe the physios were justified in their worries..

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  6. Not really, anyone can pull a muscle after shooting! The concern was always about his heart. So far he's made an impact everytime he's played. I still think we'll regret not buying Remy. Now we're linked with Ayew who really is more Courinho-esque as opposed to be a profilic striker. So the cycle of wasting more money continues if we buy Ayew. Another panic buy!

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  7. No it looks average at best.

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  8. Is the dutch league the better league to scout from. Bony came from the dutch league and recreated his form quickly, Pelle and Radic seem to be for Southampton now (though it is early days). Perhaps too small a pool to be making assumptions. There is he who I shall not name too.

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  9. Looks like a made up rumour to me. Ayew actually plays in center midfield for Marseille so I don't see how he can be considered as a solution to our problems in attack, let alone a replacement for Balotelli.

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  10. He made zero impact in his last game for Chelsea. Only managed one shot and was a complete passenger

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  11. Wasn't it his skilful turn which got the Palace player sent off! This evened things up.

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  12. Hmmm... It's minimal but I'll grant you that one. Other than that he was rubbish. I totally agree with you however that we missed a trick there

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  13. Bayern were frighteningly good tonight. They absolutely tore a very decent Roma team to bits

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  14. Terry McDermotts perm10:01 pm, October 21, 2014

    Liverpool need players to take them to the next level. This guy is not going to help do that and more money will be gone.

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  15. any news yet on moreno's availability ?

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  16. He is available he was just rested. Didn't need two fullbacks on the bench and Manquillo can play both.

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  17. Only guys out of that list I would get are Begovic, Schneiderlin, and possibly Berahino or reid. The rest are honestly worse than we have now...

    PS: As much as you've been commenting, why don't you just make a diqus or google account so you can edit your comments and appear as a guest?

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  18. if we wanted somebody to press defenders, we should not have gone near balotelli. we shouldn't have gone near him full stop. what gets me is that he is being viewed as a 16m gamble? in that case i would rather have gambled on bony or remy. oh, and please brendan, grow a couple and stick to a regular side, that way they may learn to understand how to play together. it's an old way of thinking but play your best 11 then if the others want a place, they will have to up their game...simple really, but then essentially football is, it's others that complicate it.

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  19. And Eriksen, Blind, Jaanmat among many others. The Eredivisie are well known for great talent development, but the style of play is not nearly as high as other leagues. While there is a certain pattern of success, its still a gamble because playing well in the Eredivisie simply cannot be compared to playing well in the EPL. I mean yes, people tend to play well from there, but there's always this "But what if they don't work out?" aura around these transfers.

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  20. Give the poor bugger time. Even LS7 took an awful long time to adjust to PL. He just started scoring consistently last year and it took him like 3 months to score his 1st goal if I remember correct......... GIVE HIM TIME before tagging him as a Carroll

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  21. Hah correct me if I'm wrong, but did Suarez not score off the bench in his first game against Stoke? Also, to say he only started scoring consistently last year is a myth, was it not for the ban the season before, he probably would have pipped RVP to the Golden Boot. BUT I do agree we should give Mario more time.

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  22. So it seems one of the differences between Suarez and Ballotelli is that Suarez can play pretty much any role you ask him to. He can play the 10 role, the false 9, he can play wide, as a lone striker, as part of a front two ... it just doesn't matter. Suarez will always contribute wherever he plays. I honestly expect the same from Balotelli. Top class players produce the goods no matter where you put them and that's what we should expect at a club like Liverpool. Balotelli is a striker for goodness sake and no, he didn't call himself a number 10, he simply said he likes to be involved in lead up play and come deeper at times. I flatly refuse to accept the notion that Balotelli fancies himself as a top class football player but then restricts himself to a very specific role or position in the team. He is a highly skilled football player and he should thrive no matter where he is in the front line. Yes, he'll be better in certain roles, but even when he's not in those preferred formations he should still be a good player, he should still show his class and skill and general football credibility. If he suddenly turns into a useless player because he's a lone striker then I would suggest he's not good enough to be at Liverpool.


    If Mario needs a strike partner then maybe we use Borini. He has the legs and the work ethic and he'll allow Mario to sit a bit deeper and create a bit more. Defenders will have no choice but to pay attention to Borini, despite his lack of career success at Liverpool. Play the Diamond with Sterling at the point and two strikers up front and then use all of the front third players to press hard and try to upset Madrid playing out from the back. This is not the kind of game you want to start Lambert, although he could be useful in the last 10 minutes of a high-tempo game when the defenders are a bit tired and unsure of how to play him.

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  23. Bayern Munich have been the most complete team over the last 3 years.They play counter attack and possession based football at such a high standard.
    I think winning the Bundesliga title so early damaged their chances of winning the CL last season.They took their foot off the gas.
    Roma are the best footballing side in Italy.Like you said Jock, Bayern Munich easily swept them aside.A big statement win!

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  24. perhaps as FFP rules continue to tick over we'll see a slow evening of spending throughout europe. That doesn't stop rich teams spending money, but Liverpool are one of the big earners and it means we should consider ourselves as capable of spending big alongside City, Chelsea and United. Much of what Chelsea and City have achieved has been down to the money they have spent. If they are not able to continue that kind of spending then it will catch up with them eventually.

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  25. "Champions league football is probably one of the main reasons why Balotelli signed for Liverpool, so losing out on that - especially against Real Madrid - will probably demotivate the striker, which could have a knock-on effect on future performances"


    Dont care. His performances have not warranted a CL start. If he wants to play at the top level he needs to score. Hopefully he gets dropped and sees that he needs to step it up.

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  26. Dude forget it you are wasting your time.....I cannt believe some fans still defend Balotelli.

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  27. I'm Nigerian! He's not what we need. We desperately need a DM like Essien in his prime & a striker. Ayew is none of these. He may have been an alternative to Lallana!

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  28. Yea mate they were very impressive

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  29. For sure mate. There is no magic formula. We look at Ozil and are surprised by how dead certain successes can look like failures, but I was just thinking perhaps our scouting system should look there a touch more.

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  30. I disagree with your logic to keep playing balo. "He's our problem now" misses the point completely. If he's a problem, then bench him. Liverpool is trying to win games. Not stick with a falling stock in hopes that it will turn around. 16MM is nothing to liverpool. Nice experiment but it didn't work. We can all move on. No one feels insulted that markovic is on the bench and he cost more than Balotelli.

    Balo is crap. He wouldn't make liverpool in a tryout in 100 years. Rodgers is only playing him out of a stubborn refusal to admit he was wrong.

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  31. Right direction...are you blind??? He wasted 100+ millions on average players, and did we make any progress, will be lucky to get out of CL group and get CL qualifications next season. And all that after last season title push?! Believe me without Suarez he is nothing!

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