29 Dec 2014

BR Wants Me: €20m 'phenomenon' confirms that 'Liverpool made an offer'. Replace Balo?

In March, Italian newspaper Tutto Mercato claimed that Liverpool are planning a €20m offer for Udinese star Luis Muriel, who was reportedly one of Brendan Rodgers' top summer transfer targets. The Reds missed out on the deal, but it appears that Rodgers is still interested in the Colombian striker.

In an interview over the weekend, Muriel revealed that he intends to 'change clubs' very soon, and confirmed Liverpool's interest. He told reporters:

"Liverpool, Southampton, Fiorentina and Milan recently made offers, but I think Sampdoria will be my destination. They are playing a wonderful football, and are fighting to get into the Champions League"

Liverpool monitored Muriel last summer, with multiple reports claiming that Reds planned to bring him in to replace Luis Suarez. When specifically asked in September about Liverpool's interest, Muriel's Agent, Helmut Wennin, told calcionews24:

“Muriel is a player of talent and potential, so I think it is normal that big clubs want him."

Antonio Di Natale - who describes Muriel as a 'phenomenon' - is retiring at the end of this season, so Udinese will probably want to keep hold of Muriel, but it seems like he has his heart set on leaving.

As he notes in his comment above, Sampdoria is Muriel's preferred choice, but nothing is set in stone. Money talks, and if Liverpool offer him more money, I have no doubt he'll suddenly start believing that Anfield is the ideal destination. Is Muriel worth it, though? Based on his creative stats, I'd say no.

* This season: 0 goals/1 assist in 11 appearances (371 minutes of pitch-time)
* Last season: 8 goals/3 assists in 31 apps (Goal/assist every 2.8 apps)
* Udinese total: 19 goals/7 assists in 65 apps. ( Goal/assist every 2.5 apps)



Author:


48 comments:

  1. First time i agree on your emphasis on stats those are shocking
    Bony or Lacazette if we want to narrow it down Jaimie
    Otherwise bring in Origi

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  2. This season: 0 goals/1 assist in 11 appearances (371 minutes of pitch-time)
    - I would say he would fit right in with the **CURRENT** state of affairs at LFC.....unless something drastic happens...:(

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  3. His games to goals ratio is poor. We need someone who is a proven goal scorer

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  4. Has anyone got any views on Lavezzi? We're being heavily linked with him again.

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  5. I've not seen much of this kid but his stats are pretty underwhelming. We badly need the finished article up front, not another developing youngster

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  6. Not for me. He's one of those players who has promised much but hasn't quite lived up to expectations, despite some great goals and clever assists along the way. I've even heard him likened repeatedly to Suarez in style, probably because he runs around a lot and is from S. America. Unfortunately that 1 assist (for a Di Natale strike I believe) represents the high point of an otherwise totally underwhelming 2014 season. If Liverpool are to sign one forward then we need considerably more bang for our buck.

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  7. If Rodgers doesn't go out and pay what it takes for Bony then he has no business being Liverpool manager, he's harming the club with these so called prospects, Bony ticks all the boxes, get him in and watch the points pile up, I guarantee it!

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  8. Some news BBC: Kolo Toure named in the Ivory Coast squad for the Africa Cup of Nations from 17 January to 8 February finals in Equatorial Guinea.



    His brother, Manchester City midfielder Yaya, is also in the 23-man squad.



    Swansea's Wilfried Bony and Newcastle's Cheick Tiote are the other Premier League-based players selected.

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  9. So there is no point buying Bony in January
    We need a striker who can help us straight away
    i would expect Sturridge to be fit by then and Sterling to eb an accomplished striker

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  10. he looks good but unless we come up with a serious fee and serious wages we will be no where in the running

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  11. Nah no way, he is fat and out of shape. If he chooses Sampdoria over Liverpool then that just sums up his ambitions.

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  12. i dont think he would get in our team hes a lot like tino but a touch faster but hes no cf

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  13. Alot of people really fancy Bony but I really dont think he is the answer. Yes, he is powerful but I see him as someone who CAN score goals as opposed to someone who is a NATURAL goal scorer. Dont get me wrong, Bony is good but we really need a special player in this position, no?

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  14. Berahino and Delph for the combined sum of £20m...according to Mike ( who may or may not be in cahoots with FSG group....)

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  15. So even if signing Bony was possible it might not be preferable.

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  16. Berahino will be great. He has that insane movement that will fit right into our system and his finishing is very composed for someone so young. Just hearing that Alan Pardew is very likely to be leaving Newcastle to become Crystal Pace manager - if so, we should make a proper tempting offer to Mike Ashley for Moussa Sissoko - unbelievable player and a great box to box upgrade on Hendo.

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  17. lacazette please...

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  18. Yes, he CAN score goals but is he special? Is he a Fowler, a Van Persie, a Suarez, an Henry or an Aguero? I just feel feel that for such an important position, we should be aiming for a better quality striker. I really dont believe that he is a player that can take Liverpool back to greatness. There is a big difference between excellent average players and special players.

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  19. I agree. 8M is being mentioned presently. although the figure was £17M in the summer. He's supposedly the alternative to Sanchez. Still not an out-and-out striker.

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  20. Well, Rodgers seems to have a penchant for converting players to alternative roles. Sterling to striker, Can to centre-back (not his favoured position), Gerrard to defensive midfielder. He might fancy the challenge.

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  21. Does he have the big club mentality though? Lovren, Carroll, Downing, Charlie Adam etc etc. To spend £30m on Bony which is what Swansea will be asking is a massive risk. We need to stop overspending on players from clubs that finish below us in the league. Obviously this season we ain't going to finish top 4 but we need to stay clear from overpaying for players and having to sell them at a loss when it does not work out.

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  22. Also do not believe Bony is a player that we need to be aiming for.

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  23. Report on talk sport said he was unhappy and wanted to leave and we could get him for 8m- that's a silly amount of money and can't see PSG accepting that

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  24. We should have tried to sign him instead of spending £25m on Lallana and £16m on Balotelli. We desperately needed a demon up top and wasted far too much money on players that were never needed.

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  25. its to early to judge bera but hes 8-10m very tops coming off the bench ...we need the real deal up front someone who wont bottle it and wants to play and score

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  26. Problem is, will FSG shell out much more than that on a 29 year old, who doesn't quite solve the striker problem - his scoring stats ain't that great either.

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  27. I am not fully inclined to sign Bony. I was just stating that he was a natural goalscorer. We need that big name player for sure.

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  28. A player in Muriel whose progress has stalled Berahino another who has done very little may as well give up the next couple of seasons at least with that recruiting mentality.

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  29. And that's the problem with Rodgers.

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  30. He tops the scoring this season though.

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  31. The Colombians have some great players. Muriel isnt among them. Hes alright. For Samp or Southampton

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  32. All the strikers you mentioned were not the finished article until they played in the prem. Henry was a left winger. Fowler worked his way into the first team. Van Persie became excellent . Aguero and suarez were probably the two who were on the way up before coming here. The only players you buy who are special, are special in this moment- and they are older players like for example- lewandowski- Costa- Benzema- Reus. what I'm gettin at is FSG's policy is to buy low and sell high. Special players cost a lot. Fsg like to Buy potential and make them good. We don't buy ready made first team players. We should have a balance of potential and established, but we don't buy this way. Lacazette, Muniain, Muriel , berahino, Dybala are examples of players who have potential but need to be trained into special players .

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  33. Oh ffs man...It's not about his spelling. HE CALLED LOVREN CROATIAN. My point was how does he get that wrong when Cech's name even sounds lik the name of his nationality (Czech)!!

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  34. Ha ha, because it's an opportunity to genuinely strengthen the team. We have deficiencies up front, at defensive mid and goalkeeper so who are you or I to say which is most important. Personally, if we really want to finish top 4, we need to upgrade all 3 positions and quick.

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  35. That's how you troll! With good-natured humour and the absence of malice.

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  36. Bony is the poor man's Costa!


    And you'd think coffee didn't get any cheaper...

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  37. Yes I agree with that. Similar to how some saw Suarez when he initially played for us.

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  38. Worth twelve bids, but Ian Ayre will probably offer him a trial.

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  39. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa2:30 am, December 30, 2014

    This is Aspas MkII, all over again.

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  40. Hey Nige, I understand what you are saying but all the players that I mentioned had/have something special that cant be taught or learned. This is my point of Excellent Average players v Special players. I mean, Micheal Owen worked really hard and scored a lot of goals compared to Robbie Fowler who was naturally gifted in the way that he could almost effortlessly score goals. Another example would be Sterling v Coutinho. Sterling works very hard but it is clear that Coutinho has special qualities. You are right, special players are very expensive, hopefully we find them at the right time in their careers.

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  41. I agree, it never stopped us before though!
    Lord Djibril Cisse...

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  42. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa9:27 am, December 30, 2014

    Jaimie must have edited his article because I don't see any Croatian in his article.

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  43. Can't look at stats really. Look at how bad Henry was at Juventus and Bergkamp struggled at Inter.. Came to Arsenal and destroyed PL defences. If Muriel has pace, strength and the willingness to fight for the cause then he could be a wonderful signing.

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  44. that is the second one in the row I don't understand, along with the one with January and the streak...

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  45. Like Dracula, Mignolet is scared of crosses - OK?


    A streak is a naked run definitely not something to do in January - Yes?


    In short I have a very odd sense of humour.

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  46. I actually quite like it, just don't always understand it...

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