5 Nov 2014

Exciting Deal? LFC desperate to sign 'world class' €18m star who confirmed BR transfer bid

Last month, Bayern Munich star Xherdan Shaqiri confirmed that Liverpool tried to sign him during the summer (for €18m), and with Brendan Rodgers' summer signings abjectly failing to fill the Luis Suarez void, it seems that LFC - along with Tottenham and Arsenal - are planning to make another move for the Swiss attacker during the upcoming transfer window. and according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Reds are close to sealing the deal.

In September, Liverpool Shaqiri - hailed as 'world class' by Munich's Sporting Director Mattias Sammer - told reporters:

“Liverpool made a bid for me before the World Cup but Bayern put their foot down and told me, ‘We’re not going to sell you"

According to reports this week:

* Liverpool remain 'eager' to sign 22 year old Shaqiri.

* Brendan Rodgers is a big admirer of the attacker, and will make a move for him the January transfer window.

* The Reds face stiff competition for Shaqiri from Spurs and Arsenal.

Based on Shaqiri's recent comments, staying at Bayern doesn't seem like a viable option:

"I'm not going through another year like this. I am disappointed because I have played less. I am young and need to develop myself. I want to play in the big games from the beginning, and the Champions League is important to me."

Well, so far this season, Shaqiri is yet to start a Champions League game for Bayern, and Pepe Guardiola has only granted him a measly 28 minutes of pitch time in the competition. Additionally, he is a bit-part player once again in the Bundesliga, and with the huge array of top players at the Allianz Arena, that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

The writing is on the wall for Shaqiri, and has been for a while. Clearly, if he really wants to 'develop himself', the best thing for him to do is leave, and he may have to force the issue to achieve that. In a recent interview, though, Shaqiri indicated that he may even extend his contract, which seems strange given his ongoing marginalisation at Bayern.

Still, the attraction of the German giants is obvious. Shaqiri may not play that much, but he mixes it with some of the best players in the world, and plays under one of the world's great managers. Plus, he's practically guaranteed medals every year.

If it comes down to a straight battle between Arsenal and Liverpool, then there's probably only going to be one winner. Arsene Wenger remains a huge draw for top players, and presence of players like Ozil and Sanchez at the Emirates will probably be a huge attraction for Shaqiri. Plus, there's the London factor to consider, which is one of the main reasons Sanchez chose the Gunners over the Reds this summer.

Just imagine if Liverpool had signed Shaqiri instead of Markovic over the summer. There are no guarantees, but I feel confident that he would've had a significantly greater impact on the club.



Author:


18 comments:

  1. World class? Rodgers does'nt do world class.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:32 pm, November 05, 2014

    Like you said you have no guarantees about who would do better markovic or shaqiri
    dzeko , de gea, henderson, vidic,henry ,ronaldo,berbatov ,lucas ,lamela
    all struggled at first

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:33 pm, November 05, 2014

    markovic could go on to win ballon dor you never know so early into his career


    apparently people at lfc thought 20m was a snip because in a few years his value will triple

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:35 pm, November 05, 2014

    team for
    chelski:
    ......................................balotelli............borini
    .................................................sterling
    ....................................coutinho...................henderson
    ....................................................gerrard
    .................................moreno.....lovren.......skrtel.....manquillo
    .........................................................mignolet


    desperate for lovren to succeeded

    ReplyDelete
  5. FSG are not going to make more money available after spending £120m in the last window. Will be interesting to see what happens by the start of January if results have not improved and we are out of the running for a top 4 place.

    ReplyDelete
  6. we have enough attacking players its the whole team system thats missing

    ReplyDelete
  7. we don't need him. or any other player of that type, bar Reus.
    somebody like Cabaye would be more useful, I recon.
    and another full-blooded striker.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Always thought Markovic was our second choice after Shaquiri

    ReplyDelete
  9. i thought marko did okay in parts last night but .hes not as quick as is made out though , the problem hes having is that because the team is playing bad any errors ( unless your gerrard) are highlighted by everyone.He would benefit by having A WORLD CLASS dM in the team because when manquillo goes forward he doesn't drop back and in the system rogers plays with pressing fullbacks hes constantly looking over his shoulder and has to keep himself in check, and i think this is inhibiting him from expressing himself, no doubt as he gets older this aspect of his game will improve.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wenger is not the draw. Rodgers is not the draw.


    Money is the draw.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I believe they will for a player like Reus depending on the amount being spoken about (in this case 32m).


    Other than that, I think it's going to be about selling players (Johnson) to fund spending.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Is this sarcasm?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I don't think NGCTC is capable of sarcasm.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Perhaps this is part of the code to crack!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Shaqiri imo is overrated so Arsenal can have him. He's not blistering had a more than decent World Cup, I just don't see him adapting well to the premiership. I could be wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Agree, Shaqiri was probably first choice before Markovic but since we've made that signing now are we really going to go back for him again? Do we need both players? I wouldn't object, I think we need someone like Shaqiri who has a bit more attitude and balls on the pitch, be a bit more determined and aggressive. But it would go a long way to ensuring Markovic is a waste of money. I think having to go for 2nd or 3rd choice signings has put the club in a difficult position.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The difference I'm starting to understand between Mario and what we're looking for is a lack of determination to get into the box. He lead up play is OK, I don't mind a striker coming deep but once that work is done he needs to bust a gut to get forward and be a scoring threat. That's what Suarez did so well and being involved in lead up play didn't hamper his ability to get in the box.


    Mario is trying but it's a work in progress and I agree, not having the team play well around him is hurting. Coutinho and Sterling are struggling with that final ball and these are the two players that Mario needs to be on top of their game. If those two were a bit more in control and Mario could start to see exactly where balls were going to come in the box then he'd eventually get it. At the moment it's mostly just lost possession and poor final passes. If you are a striker and the final pass consistently goes wrong then you're just not going to do the work required to get in the positions needed. You don't believe it will be worth it. Given that Mario is probably short of confidence and still learning his role it's the worst thing that could happen to him right now.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Never gonna crack, never gonna crack ... crack. the. code.

    ReplyDelete