13 Nov 2014

LFC Priority? BR fighting to sign 'irreplaceable' €24m Brazil star with Suarez-like stats

Prior to signing Lazar Markovic, Liverpool were linked with a move for Hoffenheim attacker Roberto Firmino, and with Brendan Rodgers' summer signings struggling to make a consistent attacking impact, it appears that the Reds plan to make a new move for the Brazilian maestro during the January transfer window.

Over the summer, Liverpool allegedly considered making an official bid for Firmino, and according to new reports this week:

* Liverpool are still pursuing Firmino.

* Man United, Chelsea, and Arsenal are also interested in signing the attacker.

When asked in July about the interest of 'top clubs', Hoffenheim manager Markus Gisdol told SportBild:

"Roberto is currently in excellent form. He fits the way we like to play football, but he has a contract here, so I'm not worried"

When pressed about how Hoffenheim would cope if Firmino left, Gisdol added:

"He is irreplaceable, and no club in the world can directly replace their best players when they leave"

Last month, Hoffenheim's sporting director Alexander Rose still seemed confident of keeping Firmino at the club:

"I'm relatively confident of [his] stay here. The possibility of a farewell is not something that concerns us in the short term. Sometimes a sale is inevitable, but this is not the case."

€24m-rated Firmino seems to have a different take on things, though, and when asked this week about interest from Liverpool et al, he made it clear that a move away is very much on the agenda. He told reporters:

“It is very nice to have a lot of clubs interested in me. I will continue to work even harder so my dreams come true.”

Last season, Firmino really came to the fore at Hoffenheim:

* 22 goals/16 assists in 37 games.
* Overall: 38 goals/assist in 37 games.
* Goal every 1.6 games.
* Goal/Assist every 0.9 games
* League Only: Goal/Assist every 96 mins.

38 goals/assists? That's a stunning achievement in one of Europe's best leagues, and with 10 goals/assists in 11 games so far this season, it's no surprise that Rodgers remains interested.

Firmino recently received his first call-up to the Brazil national team, and if LFC are going to spend €20m+ on an yet another attacking player, then it should definitely go on a player with incredible creative stats.

Firmino is currently proving himself to be one of Europe's most prolific attacking players, and I personally would've preferred him over Markovic, mainly because he's older, more experienced, and his creative output is significantly better.

That said, nothing is guaranteed, and it's still entirely possible that - like Markovic - he would've struggled with the transition to the Premier League.

Worth a bid, or will Lallana and Markovic (combined cost: £46m) come good?



Author:


22 comments:

  1. top player but dont make sense signing him now when he was available for the same price as Lallana and Markovic. plus we got Coutinho, Sterling who also play down the middle and Rodgers clearly messed up not signing Firmino. when he tried for Mkhtiryan who also had great stats in a forein league and Yarmolenko, i thought players like Firmino would regularly be signed and we would be like Dortmund and Atletico who go out there and buy players with great stats (immobile, reus, falcao, griezman etc) players like this are always out for the taking and i think we should sign Jackson Martinez or Doumbia up front who both have 76goals and 84 goals from 100games respectively, Diame in the centre and Ahmed Musa who is a world class young winger 10x the player markovic is and 10x the experience and goals/assists. literally. if we can get Firmino great, but Musa, Martinez and Diame essential.


    ----------------emre can-----diame
    musa------------------------------------coutinho
    -----------------sturridge---martinez

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  2. We are buying players according to stats? Wow no wonder there is no team. Saurez played with passion and win at all cost! That what's makes him a good player. The assist do not include what he does with the ball when he is holding and fighting to go forward!

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  3. No1 on my summer transfer wish list & i hope BR hasn't missed the boat! Also i ser the rumour mill starting to pick up where other clubs are concerned so LFC better get their finger out to complete this deal. I said before that the only thing Firmino is missing is a big stage to prove how good he is, boy i hope that stage is Anfield not old toilet, the bus depot or the emptihad!
    COYRs..... fo fi fi fo i want lol

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  4. Agreed stats are only an 'effect' whereas the attitude, fight, commitment, aggression along with talent and correct use of physical attributes and spacial awareness being the 'cause'.



    The premier league, above all leagues, due to its physical nature and incredible pace require the causes of the the effects first and foremost. The Moneyball system doesn't really take this into account. In baseball you can get away with it due to the nature of the sport but football requires a more holistic approach to scouting and assessment of players.

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  5. On another note isn't it incredible the effect Teddy Sheringham has had on West Ham's offence? I've never really been one for specific coaches for particular areas of the pitch but maybe the club have to put someone in place to work with our team defending the way Sheringham works with West Ham's team attack. He has proved it can have an effect. I'd grab Tony Adams right now and let him loose (Even though Portsmouth were crap at defending :) )

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  6. How many No 10's do we need?
    Already we had Coutinho, Sterling and Suso who all favor that position.
    Then we spend 25m on Lallana... and now possibly Fermino?
    I know he's a quality player, but it really makes no sense, because all those players prefer the No 10 role.



    The problem so far this season is the lack of movement and options in front of our current No 10's...
    That means we need quality strikers, not more No 10's.

    Priorities for the team right now are a striker and a defensive midfielder.
    To me, those two positions would make the greatest impact in addressing our current problems.

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  7. This is the core of our attacking problems. Attacking midfielders can't function without top quality strikers moving in between the lines up front. That said our midfielders getting goals is another worry as none of our mid players are scoring goals
    This again goes to strikers not opening up and making spaces for the no.10 to score. Rodgers tactics this season is a big question mark????

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  8. we have three priorities:
    GK Begovic is a great idea
    DM Carvalho would be nice or schneiderlin
    striker

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  9. Just read that Origi wants to cut short his loan at Lille and join us in Jan

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  10. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:35 am, November 14, 2014

    I have said it once i have said it a million times
    we need doumbia


    firmino is an attacking midfielder not what we need


    .........................................sturridge
    sterling.............................lallana...............coutinho.............doumbia
    .....................................................can


    with origi coming in the summer and henderson playing when he has some form
    this should be the format lfc simply dont ahve the money after last year to go out and play a luxury player liek firmino

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  11. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:37 am, November 14, 2014

    Bony would be good
    but doumbia has pace,skill,stamina , agility and versatility

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  12. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:38 am, November 14, 2014

    what is this obsession lfc fans have with diame ?
    west ham fans were happy when he left
    the guy has his only good games against us
    like borini vs newcastle

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  13. seeing a lot of reports that Liverpool are willing to pay extra to bring Origi to Liverpool in Jan..


    BR is seriously losing the plot

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  14. So is anyone who believes all the reports in the press.....:-)

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  15. Usually I would agree however rumours usually disappear after a few days, this one is getting reported more and more.

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  16. Neither will the reus rumour

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  17. I'm sorry but if i were FSG I wouldn't give Brendan ANY MONEY.
    He's squandered the money from Suarez on players such as Markovic and Ballotelli.
    It seems to me that Brendan had done better with little or no funds looking at his record at Swansea.
    I'd be asking how come we LOAN OUT IBE AND BUY MARKOVIC?
    How come Suso can't get a game ?


    I'm not impressed with Brendans purchases, in game team changes and his refusal to drop under performing players.

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  18. Lallana will probably come good.
    Markovic probably won't in the near future.
    It would have been wise to have picked him up at the end of last season. Now though we need to be careful of falling foul of FFP.

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  19. Completely agree.


    There seemed to be this desire to buy for the sake of buying while we have/had players here already who could contribute.


    Would have saved the club money, and furthermore, it would have shown the younger players in the academy that there is a potential for light at the end of the tunnel. If you work hard, and perform well in the academy, look at the chance that Jordan Ibe is being given, or Suso, or Teixeira.


    Instead, we seem to not have any young players getting serious consideration.


    I'm all for buying and reinforcing the team, but there needs to be some sort of balance between purchase and development.


    Right now, it's all out of whack.

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  20. I'd rather they take that "extra" and contribute towards a Reus purchase. Whether in fee or (more importantly) in wages.

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  21. because for the fee mooted hes a good squad player

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  22. B Rodgers needs to bring in Experienced , Proven players who will hit the ground running straight away.


    And that is why in January B Rodgers needs to ship out these 6 dead wood players in January:
    GK: B Jones(32) CB: K Toure(33) RB: G Johnson(30)


    DM: L Leiva(27) CM: J Allen(24) FD: F Borini(23)


    And then in the summer clear the rest of the dead wood on clubs books:


    AM: Alberto(21) RW / LW: Assaidi(25) FD: Aspas(27)


    But in January B Rodgers needs to replace the 6 dead wood players with 6 class quality players:


    Defensive Players:


    GK: A Begovic(27) Of Stoke for £8-£10m to displace S Mignolet(26) from the first team


    DM: Y M'Villa(24) Of Rubin Kazan for £8-£14M to dislodge S Gerrard(34) from DM Duties


    Attacking players:


    CM: Y Cabye(28) Of PSG for £15-£18M to compete with E Can(20) and J Henderson(24)




    RWF: Pedro(27) Of Barcelona or T Walcott(25) Of Arsenal for £17-£26M to compete and Cover R Sterling(19)


    RW / LW: Y Konoplyanka(25) Of Dnipro for £10-£14M to compete and cover L Markovic(20)


    FD: L Adriano(27) Of Shakhtar Donesk for £15-£18M to compete with Balotelli(24) and Sturridge(25)

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