24 Dec 2014

On the Brink: LFC close to signing 'unbelievable' €30m striker. Deal to be done in early Jan

Last month, coveted striker Saido Berahino confirmed that he's interested in leaving West Brom at some point in the near future, and with the 21-year old allegedly at the top of Brendan Rodgers' wishlist, new reports suggest that Liverpool are planning to aggressively pursue Berahino during the January transfer window.

According to multiple reports this week:

* Rodgers wants to bring in Berahino to replace Mario Balotelli.

* LFC are hoping to do the deal 'early in the January transfer window'

* Rodgers is 'happy' to spend €30m (£24m) on Berahino.

When asked in November about rumours linking him with a move to Liverpool, Spurs, or Man United, Berahino - recently hailed as an 'unbelievable finisher' by team-mate Victor Anichebe - admitted that his 'aim' is to play in the Champions League, and made it clear that moving to a big-name club is very much on his agenda. He told The Guardian:

"If that [a transfer] is what it comes to it has to be that. I appreciate what West Brom have done for me [but] I have a big vision and hopefully I can reach my goals. I have the chance to progress even more. It's up to me to take it with both hands."

Speaking to reporters this week, West Brom boss Alan Irvin claimed that the Baggies have 'had no enquiries whatsoever' about Berahino, but conceded that a January exit is possible:

"January will reveal what is going to happen. We may well get some offers for Saido and if we do the club will deal with them"

Some info about Berahino:

* Current contract expires in 2017.
* This season: 8 goals/1 assist in 20 apps.
* Total WB: 17 goals/3 assists in 49 apps.
* 21 goals in 45 apps for England youth teams.
* 2010: Helped the England U17 team win the European Championship.

Berahino is an interesting option, but £24m? You're having a laugh. Liverpool already overpaid for Lallana, Lovren, and Markovic this year, and with Rodgers' transfer history, it shouldn't even be a question. The Reds need to stop overpaying for players, and £24m is a massively inflated transfer fee. Additionally:

* I don't see how signing Berahino is anything but a massive risk. With only 56 games of top-flight experience, he is nowhere near the finished article.

* Any striker that comes in will be under intense pressure to hit the ground running, and putting all that pressure on an inexperienced 21-year old is (arguably) counter-productive.

* Liverpool can't afford to take any risks - the club needs a striker capable of making an immediate impact, and that means signing a proven, experienced *older* striker with a track record of consistently scoring goals.

Rodgers is under intense pressure, and he can't afford to make another costly mistake in the transfer market. He needs to get it right, and the next signing Liverpool make is arguable the most important of the manager's tenure. As such, he needs to stop spending big bucks on young players, and start signing proven players with the capability of making an immediate impact.

Nothing is guaranteed. Lovren and Lallana fit the 'proven player' description, but only insofar as they're experienced in the Premier League. Rodgers has failed to sign any players with significant experience in the Champions League/Europe, and/or experience of playing at one of Europe's top clubs.

As an example: Sturridge and Coutinho - Rodgers only two successful transfers - came from Chelsea and Inter Milan respectively, so they were used to the pressure/expectation that comes with playing for big European clubs. As such, it's no coincidence that they've consistently performed (thought the jury is increasingly out on Coutinho).

Conversely, many of the players Rodgers has signed from smaller clubs (Southampton, Swansea, Celta Vigo, Sunderland, Heerenveen etc), have struggled to adapt. Of course, there are always exceptions - Balotelli came from AC Milan, and he's struggled, but overall, I maintain that the best policy for LFC *right now* is buying experienced, proven players who are used to operating under intense pressure.

Author:


73 comments:

  1. Rodgers is happy to spend the 30m because its not his ...maybe if there was a caveat where his pay was linked to transfer losses and gains then maybe he wouldn't be so happy to over pay on average players

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  2. Yet another bullshit report from a feature writer who hasn't got a clue about LFC targets. Won't happen. Period. Stick to reporting facts not speculation and fabrication.

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  3. I don't think the point re: Sturridge and Coutinho works since we were only able to buy them after they had failed to prove themselves at big clubs (Chelsea and Inter).

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  4. Say it ain't so! Prefer to have Cavani, just think he would hit the ground running and I like to see him in red.

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  5. I can assure you that B R has nothing to spend in January except what he can raise in sales = not one penny more. B R will only keep his job if he qualifies for Champions League - otherwise ADIOS

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  6. But, both of them had way more experience then the others we have brought. Sturridge played in the Champions League and played for two big PL clubs wehreas Coutinho had played 100-150 odd games when he signed for us.

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  7. What do we employ scouts for watched Berahino last season and his value would have been 10 mill tops similarly the same with Lallana the season before.
    Why are we paying top dollar for these type players?
    If you are going to get talent on the way up possibly buy low for gods sake.
    This will be another waste of money we will lose more money on this.

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  8. For that money buy Bony

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  9. Somebody save us if we buy Berahino to save our season. He is an alright player and one I would like coming out of our academy but leave him where he is. He is nowhere ready to play in a team with high aspirations. One name which we used to be linked with but has always slipped my ming is Gignac. He is scoring goals for fun in Ligue 1 and his team are on the top of the table. At this point we need a player who knows where the net is and he is your man.

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  10. Like the idea of Alcacer and Lacazette but getting them would be difficult and Lacazette will be expensive Gignac sounds decent why not.

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  11. why would any up and comer sign for a club like liverpool or rodgers and have there career derailed.....this is the liverpool strategy ......1) sign young player 2) label him the best thing since sliced bread ( albeit with out seeing him play ) 3) play him out of position 4) usually in a cup game with a weakened team 5) panic if he doesn't score a hatrick in game 6) loan him out to lower club 7) sell at reduced fee or free transfer........... its a hell of a plan

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  12. Alcacer is unproven right now has has played the same number of games as Berahino. Gignac has been doing the business for some time now and he might sound like a good deal. Another great goalscorer is Stefan Kiessling.

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  13. I imagine Alcacer would be a fair bit cheaper than Berahino but in my opinion more talented Sid Kiesslings a funny one we had been linked to him for years and nothing happened.

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  14. I just don't think scouting players by ticking boxes is effective or realistic. It's nice if you can say someone is proven in the Champions League, but it's a luxury you don't often get without paying a premium.

    Coutinho and Sturridge had played in the Champions League but is that really that important? If either had played particularly well in the competition it'd be impressive, but neither were key players for their teams. No-one was saying "I'd love Liverpool to buy Ryan Bertrand because of his Champions League experience" in the summer, despite Bertrand having started in a Champions League win, which is more impressive than Sturridge/Coutinho's achievements in the competition.

    If you look at some of our best transfers of the past decade or so, you can see the fallacy of judging players based on this standard. Torres had never played in the Champions League. He did have international experience though with the relatively poor (up until 2008) Spain team. You couldn't really be sure of the 'big club' credentials of Arbeloa or Hyypia or Agger but they proved to be bargains, one and all.

    I'd also dispute the value of them having played for big clubs. As I said, both players failed at these big club and specifically re: Sturridge having played for two big clubs, City finished 10th in Sturridge's last season with them- they weren't a big club.

    By Wikipedia's Coutinho still hasn't played 150 games, so I'm not sure about that stat you've put in.

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  15. No way
    Berahino
    Charlie Austin
    Danny Ings


    if Rodgers and comittee signs any one of them that is the final straw
    They will get a knock on their door

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  16. Are...are you going to kill them!?

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  17. hes going to team select them to death by boredom

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  18. Really
    Are you Ian Ayre under cover?


    You seem to have a lot of in the known information

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  19. I will hand Rodgers a 200 page dossier
    on what he is doing wrong


    Then give him three envelopes of all the people that will let us down
    all three envelopes will have the same name and his initials are BR

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  20. its best to wait a few years so every other club has a look and then pay over the odds by 30m

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  21. Giganic as another big man will fail here
    what we need is pace in behind

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  22. That's why I said odd games. Sure, credentials might not be the most important thing but signing a player with little to no credentials is always a risk. While Torres or Hyypia might have succeeded, so many others have failed. By playing at a big club, your level automatically increases. Just by playing with higher quality players in training raises your level a la James Milner. I think that is what is happening with Downing right now. He came to us, had a mid-table mentality, upped his game in training, sold and found out that his new teammates were nothing compared to him. You get the experience of winning and you get that mentality.

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  23. Berahino is not in Lallana class
    Berahino is only a half season wonder
    who steve clarke did not even rate

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  24. Alcaser has no pace and mobility

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  25. hell fit right in with our attack then

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  26. Berahino is doing better at 21 than Lallana was at the same age.

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  27. well if steve didnt rate him case closed

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  28. Knock Knock


    whos there ?


    doctor


    doctor who?


    haha

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  29. take away all the penalties berahino scored how many does he really have?

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  30. bulldust also he is a better finisher than Berahino.

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  31. knock knock

    whos there

    sheikh

    piss off

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  32. Rather have him than Berahino
    but valencia have new rich owners so he will be expensive and like i said he lacks natural pace and cannot go past people

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  33. Look there's Steve in the park coaching the under 11s

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  34. all these players are fine as long as they are bought at the right price

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  35. Like i said Rodgers has to stay away from players like this
    Berahino,Ings,Austin,Sakho from West ham ,Delph,Jay Rodrigueze ,


    I ma sure if theese transfers happen any of them


    Anfield will have had enough


    and WE WILL RIOT , BIG RIOTS
    we will take all the food in the cafeteria , we will spray paint Ian Ayres motorbike ,draw a mustache on Gerrards poster
    Trash Rodgers office

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  36. He will be Andy Carroll Mk II. A few months with occasional glimpses of good form in the Prem does not constitute what we need in any players bought this Jan.

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  37. 2m and below

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  38. Send Jason Bourne round. He should be able to make them see sense after knocking on more than just the door.

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  39. 4 goals in the league
    only 4


    to give you a good idea about how bad that is suarez scored 4 in one game without taking a single penalty

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  40. This news is absolute rubbish!!!!! Or Really Rubbish!!!

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  41. Look i dont know where you get the impression i want Berahino i dont.

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  42. Rodgers and co how the right idea last January
    Konoplayanka and Salah


    Now get players of this quality but up front

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  43. What has Brian Ruiz done?

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  44. I will give you another guess
    His initials are B R
    and he loves a guy with first name Joe

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  45. Rodgers, Pascoe and Marsh OUT!!!!!!

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  46. Ian Ayre , Glen Johnson , Steven Gerrard, Brad Jones,Fabio Borini , transfer Committee ,Mario Balotelli,Rick Lambert, Joe Allen


    as well !


    That is the spirit
    The new Anfield order is raring to go , me and john are there now who else wants to join?
    @SidLFC do you want to join i might let you write an article one day

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  47. You said Coutinho had played 100-150 odd games when he joined us, but he'd only played 60-70 before he joined.

    I think you're Downing point only undermines your argument though. He came to us. He learned. He got better. He still wasn't good enough. Some players have a big club mentality, some don't. It's very hard to know unless someone has proved themselves at a big club, in which case there is almost always a premium with that.

    Look at Soldado. Came through Castilla, played for Real for a couple of years, has a good record for Spain, but is a busted flush for Spurs.

    It's nice if you can point to someone having 'big club' experience, but players with that experience rarely come up for sale and when they do, it is at a price.

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  48. Not sure FSG will be giving Rodgers another 30 million to waste...Think thats being kept for the new guy. FSG will no doubt give him a (you raise it during Jan budget then you can spend it in Jan) budget

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  49. BR should concentrate on the players that he has currently. I don't think FSG will spend that kind of money.

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  50. im beginning to think sturridge was let go because ofhis injuries and it wasnt some master transfer coup

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  51. Shaqiri,Joel Campbell/Stefan Jovetic,

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  52. You are being plain negts now
    Chelsea were really angry with the success of Sturridge
    It was no one liked him

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  53. probably because he strung a run of games together when they thought he wouldn't be able to ....thats now been put right

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  54. if tino is rated a success whats a failure he should be called the judge hes on the bench that much

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  55. its dream land stuff .....next rodgers will be saying hes failing because fsg are not backing him

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  56. That is unfair

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  57. rodgers for me has fell into the trap that a lot of low club mangers make when they step up and have a bigger kitty hes bought players he wants rather then buying players the team needs

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  58. except that the committee bough balotelli,sakho,Aspas,,alberto,Can,Moreno
    when he never wanted them

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  59. you just keep buying that line and watch out for santa coming down your chimmney tonight

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  60. a fact is neither fare or unfair it is

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  61. i wouldnt trust rodgers with the butty money at breakfast

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  62. thats 3 players we wont be signing

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  63. Judges are highly respected though.

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  64. Even with his fitness problems £12m is cheap, I'd say. Hoping this season's mega-injury proneness is a World Cup inspired anomaly and he'll eventually return to his former slightly less injury prone self.

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  65. Chelsea can afford to let good players go anyway. De Bruyne couldn't even get a game for Chelsea.

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  66. Fair point. Certainly some evidence of that. Though some blame has to be shared with the committee.

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  67. the '' commitee '' or the wheel tappers and shunters club it sounds like my dads old labour club

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  68. Lets be honest here. We need a #2, #3 and #4 striker. Sturridge is our #1. All our others suck. Nuke Balo and Borini YES! Berahino might be perfect for the #4 slot but at 24M that is insane! I would think there are others who are more accomplished and cost around the same. We need to fill the #2 and #3 slots with whatever money and cost recovery from sales we can string together before we address the #4 striker. lastly, 24m for the #4 guy is ludicrous................

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  69. anyway id like to wish all forum members a merry christmass even the ones who dont like me and lets hope Liverpools season turns around ....well it is the season of miracles

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