27 Oct 2014

Confirmed: 'Unbelievable' £20m star has 'spoken' with BR about LFC transfer. Try & sign?

New QPR goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has explained why he rejected a transfer deadline day move to Liverpool, and it seems that Brendan Rodgers' powers of persuasion leave a lot to be desired.

Liverpool were linked with McCarthy during the summer 2013 transfer window, and earlier this week, the 24-year old revealed that Brendan Rodgers made a last-ditch attempt to sign him.

Speaking to reporters over the weekend, McCarthy insisted that has no regrets about rejecting the Reds this summer, and also revealed that Rodgers just couldn't persuade him to sign for Liverpool. He explained:

"Harry was a big part of me coming here. The things he said to me swayed my decision. I'd spoken to both managers [Rodgers and Redknapp], but everything the gaffer here said to me I liked, and that's why I'm here now"

Rodgers worked with McCarthy during his ill-fated six-month stint as Reading manager in 2009, and after he watched the 23-year old thwart Liverpool in April 2013, he hailed the 'keeper's performance as 'absolutely staggering', adding:

"That's arguably the best goalkeeping performance I've ever seen. He [McCarthy] has all the attributes to be a top, top keeper - he makes unbelievable saves, is good on his feet and is very calm and assured despite being very young"

After these comments, I predicted that McCarthy would become a transfer target for Liverpool, and that's exactly what happened (though based on Rodgers' eulogy, it's hardly a leap to draw that conclusion!)

Pepe Reina was also impressed with McCarthy's performance, and after the game, the Spaniard swapped shirts with him, after offered some words of encouragement. In his post-match interview, McCarthy revealed what Reina said. He told reporters:

"He [Reina] just said 'well played', and said he didn't know how I made some of those saves. It's nice for someone of his ability to say things like that"

QPR have not disclosed McCarthy's transfer fee, but Reading defender Jem Karacen believes that he is worth big bucks. Last season, he toldthe Daily Mail:

"He's amazing. [He is worth] around 15 to £20million. You see how much young English players go for - there are some crazy sums out there. I don't see why he shouldn't be in that bracket."

The ironic thing here is that given Liverpool's receding faith in Simon Mignolet, McCarthy may have actually played quite a lot at Anfield. If he'd come in and taken his chance, then he might've relegated Mignolet to the bench.

I can understand McCarthy's reluctance to take the chance, though. He probably sees the situation at Liverpool as similar to Man City last season: Manuel Pellegrini dropped Joe Hart for a while, and Costel Pantilimon came in for a few games, ostensibly to give Hart a kick up the backside. Soon enough, though, Hart regained his place, and has stayed there ever since.

Perhaps Rodgers plans to do the same thing after signing a new 'keeper: drop Mignolet for a few games; hope the experience will spur him on the greater heights, then ultimately bring him back into the team as the club's number one.

With this stratefy, Liverpool will find it hard to sign another goalkeeper. In my view, no top class 'keeper is likely to come in just to provide competition (i.e. no real chance of becoming no 1 - just in the squad to make Mignolet feel under threat).

Rodgers will have to convince any incoming player that there's a genuine chance of dislodging Mignolet, otherwise the club might as well just stick with Brad Jones.

Perhaps there's still a chance to sign McCarthy at some point in the future? If he's ambitious, I doubt he'll want to spend the best years of his career at QPR, and if the Hoops get relegated this season, Liverpool will be presented with a golden opportunity to sign the 6'5 stopper.



5 comments:

  1. Valdes would have been perfect, even a year deal or something along those lines to challenge Mignolet and make him fight for his place.

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  2. I think any keeper with any kind of ability would fancy staking his claim for the no1 Jersey at Liverpool given Mignolet's continuing inconsistencies.
    Anyway from what I've seen of Harry this season, he looks like he's not that interested anymore so we'll see if he still thinks he's made the right decision next season when he's playing in the Championship and Harry's retired

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  3. We should go for Julio Cesar ex-QPR. He's good and can provide competition for Mignolet.

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  4. Perfect - maybe! Let's see how 'Zebedee' springs for 'Beaker' with a gammy knee before we make that assessment. Personally, I feel Rodgers has dodged a (not so) high velocity bullet in not signing the 'over the hill' keeper. Had he been good he would have been offered a new contract. McCarthy was an inexcusable miss IMO.

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  5. jaimie i dont like the way you write the headlines in a way that would make us click. you are kind of misleading us with the way you write the headline.

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