14 Jan 2015

'He was going to LFC': Expert reveals inside-info on LFC's move for £7m Barca star. Farce?

In the first few months of the season, Liverpool were heavily linked with a move for Barcelona legend Victor Valdes, but despite allegedly being keen on a move to Anfield, Valdes ultimately chose to sign for Manchester United. Given the Reds' poor record of signing proven, top-class players, the failure to seal the deal is no surprise whatsoever, and according to Guillem Balague, LFC's legendary incompetence in the transfer market is the main reason Valdes rejected Anfield.

Speaking to Sky Sports today, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague claimed that he was 'absolutely convinced' that £7m-rated Valdes 'was going to Liverpool', adding:

"I have very good reasons to say so and I know a lot of people in Liverpool who also thought he was going, but he felt that he was being trialled at Anfield.

"Very cleverly, Louis van Gaal said 'we're not going to trial you - just come and train with us', But in a way, it was the same thing. It was just the choice of words he used, so Valdes decided to go there instead".


I can totally understand Valdes' decision. The Spaniard is a multiple trophy winner with one of the greatest clubs on the planet, and Liverpool arguably demeaned his status as one of the best goalkeepers of the last ten years.

The decision to offer Valdes a 'trial' (if indeed that's what happened) smacks of inexperience and amateurism, and Man United's approach to the situation perfectly illustrates the difference between Van Gaal - a wily, experienced manager with a track record of success - and Rodgers, who is a comparative pauper in the game.

Yes, Valdes is recovering from a serious injury, but given his peerless experience, and undoubted ability, he deserved to be treated with more respect. Ultimately, when push came to shove, an exceedingly simple act of reverse psychology is all it took for Van Gaal to gain the upper hand.

Clearly, Liverpool didn't make Valdes feel wanted enough, and that's a recurring problem at Anfield. Indeed, over the last few years, several players - including Christian Eriksen, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and Henrikh Mkhitarian - have hinted and/or explicitly stated the same thing, and until that issue is resolved, the Reds will continue to lose out on players.

In my view, the minute Valdes became available, Liverpool should've immediately offered him a six month deal, with the option to extend for another 2-3 years. That would've shown the club's intent, and also given both parties six months to see how things work out.

Instead, Van Gaal - who recently hailed Valdes as a 'special' goalkeeper - swooped in and made a mug of Rodgers and his infernal transfer committee.

Now, with De Gea and Valdes, Man United arguably have the strongest goalkeeping options in the Premier League, if not Europe.

Liverpool have Mignolet and Jones.

Author:


56 comments:

  1. I don"t believe Liverpool had full confidence in Valdes due to the injury he sustained and possibly his age although not old for a goalkeeper.
    I believe the club is looking for some body a few years younger who can develop with the team as we are "still" in a rebuilding phase.
    That is likely one transfer where the club where extremely cautious good on em pity there isnt more of it there may well be less flops.

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  2. You got to be joking about when you say 'Man United arguably have the strongest goalkeeping options in the Premier League'. How about Chelsea with Courtois and Cech ?

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  3. It is difficult to know the truth of this matter. I do though seem to remember . reports at the time suggesting he was unhappy about the possibility of being on trial. Once those reports came out it did not take a master tactician to work out that a different approach might work.


    However, it should be remembered too that it does no player any harm to praise his new club/manager especially at the expense of a rival.


    I am always reminded of the quotes from Joe Cole when he joined........and then after he left.

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  4. Yes, one of the best goalkeepers of the last ten years. Also questioned every year with his critics saying Barca style of play is the reason why they concede so few goals, and not his goalkeeping ability. Even before the injury he was a dead man walking there.
    A trial? Yes atrial which would prove we dodged a bullet there. I hope he will be their keeper for 5-7 matches a year this and the next season- that should keep them out of the CL...


    And his critics I am mentioning were respected football pundits and journalists from Spain, including Catalunya.

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  5. Arguably sounds about right to me. I am not sure which combo is best

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  6. Are you being serious? Courtois and Cech both World Class, Valdes wasn't as good as either of those even at his peak let alone now.

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  7. And Courtois is now merely a benchwarmer at Chelsea..... (joke)

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  8. I believe we asked him to prove his fitness which is much the same as a trial or just training with the club. Anyway if he's still such a diva at the age he is now, that after a serious injury, he's gonna get the hump because a club asks him to prove his fitness before offering him a massive contract then I'd rather not have characters like that in our dressing room. Never rated him anyway

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  9. Agreed. Chelsea have probably got the strongest goalkeeping options in world football right now

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  10. Well, arguably is the key word. Cause that's exactly what you are doing..

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  11. He'll just further increase United's already gargantuan wage bill and put them deeper in the financial mire if they fail to qualify for the champions league. Expensive league cup goalie for them

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  12. My thoughts exactly. And now with FFP getting stronger out of CL would hopefully mean they'll soon have no players worth trading... Damn I hate them...
    That transfer also showed his lack of ambition by the way- we sure don't need that guy...

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  13. Yeah but you never know when your currently preferred goalkeeper might get injured. and if he is you want the backup to be confident that you rate him ..... doh!

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  14. I think his agent is the same as Di Maria, Falcoa, Ronaldo and others who have had on going financial relationship with United. We on yhe other hand said a while ago we wanted to limit agents fees. I would not be surprised at all if it was more about the agent convincing players due to his own benefit than anything else.

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  15. Actually on reflection you're right

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  16. I'll be the first to agree with any criticism of our transfer committee but I'm not too torn up about this one. He wasn't right for us anyway.

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  17. Poor management by the manager. Totally no PR esperiences

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  18. Good shout. I'm wholly behind the club limiting agents fees as much as possible. Those leeches have played a big part in why football's finances are in the state they are. I've always respected Rodgers for not having an agent

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  19. Would Valdes have been the ideal goalkeeper to sign ? Arguable. Would Jones, Mignolet and Ward be better than Valdes, Mignolet and Ward ? No chance. I would accept missing out on Valdes but only if there is a better plan.
    This feels like not agreeing a deal for Bony in the summer and then gambling on Balotelli and we know how that has turned out.

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  20. A bad plan is worse than no plan at all

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  21. If the case is that he didn't join because of the way the offer was worded then he can rot on the theatre of nightmares bench...no need for childish characters in the dressing room thanks

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  22. Transfer Comittee is wrong, Not signing Valdes is right..

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  23. This would be funny if it weren't so serious and again expose the Transfer Committee ineptitude.
    I have been warning you all for many months now about this approach and clearly this is a example of it not working.
    Until this is changed expect more this kind of feedback on how we approach players and why we can't attract ESTABLISHED INTERNATIONALS like Valdes.
    Couple this with the Gerrard comment that if he's been offered a contract earlier he would have stayed.

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  24. chelsea have stronger options IMO

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  25. I don't disagree with you often Stu but got to say Chelsea have the best keepers O can think of. Valdes isn't close to either of those lads.

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  26. I think he's an imposter;-)

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  27. Valdes won't be a viable keeper for another couple of months yet, recovery from an ACL reconstruction is usually a year to get back to full fitness. United are actually taking quite a risk. Plus in my view Balague is just covering himself. He was dead wrong about where Valdes was going and now he wants to say something so as to not appear a total fool. I see no reason to believe what he's saying given he was so far off the mark in the first place. There was never any indication that Mhkitaryan felt less than strongly wanted by Liverpool, you're simply making that up, and as for Eriksen ... well it was the player who said that he wanted to come to Liverpool but clearly the club never made a concrete offer. The suggestion that the player knocked the club back is nonsense. Where do you get the idea that Siggurdson felt unwanted by Liverpool? By all accounts he chose Spurs because he believed them to be a better placed team, those were his own words.


    This is a total non story. It's just as likely that Liverpool never decided to move on Valdes because, as is quite clearly the case, he's not fully fit and will remain an injury risk. He's of no use to the club at this point in time because he can't play. What's the point of signing a keeper who hasn't played competitively in nearly a year? Clearly there were talks between the club and the player and his agent but at no point did Liverpool seem to put an offer on the table, there is simply no evidence of that.

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  28. His agent explicitly denied those reports of there being a "trial", he said that there were simply discussions going on.

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  29. I accept all the points JK makes in this article.

    However, why would Valdes want to join MU as a bench warmer when he had the opportunity to be #1 @ LFC and play week in week out?

    I truly do not understand how footballers think.

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  30. Absolutely. Either Valdes is a moron and is easily duped by mere word-play or he's a total dramatist who got upset because Liverpool were honest with him. Either way he's not a Liverpool player and I'm really not that fussed.

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  31. I find this whole situation quite amusing, Valdes has basically turned down first team football over a choice of words... Come train with us amounts to the smae as a trial, had he not demonstrated that is able, he wouldn't have been signed... Alas his ego is too big and clouding his judgement... There is absolutely no way he is going to force De Gea from the top spot, the only way that'll happen is if De Gea is on his way to Madrid... Utd have the FA cup I suppose, maybe depending on how far they get, he'll get 4 games, max... and if they do make the Semi's or even the final, I doubt De Gea will be left on the bench for the managers first chance at silverware.... So ultimately Valdes has turned down guarenteed first team football for probably 3 games.... Good Luck with the rest of your career then.

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  32. Bayern with Neuer and Reina

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  33. Nor is DeGea. One decent performance against us in three years and hes a worldbeater all of a sudden.

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  34. That's why as an explanation it doesn't make sense. So his price was hurt being asked to gonna trial yet being second fiddle is fine? Nah, there is more to it we are not aware of.

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  35. Then clearly you don't accept everything the author stated.

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  36. Bolaise(25) is class and quality but Montero(24) is awesome. Either one would be better than Redmond(20) of Norwich and now ageing Lavezzi(28).


    Montero(24) and Bolaise(25) one vs one vs any full back when they are confident , fully fit and injury free .


    The damage they could do, These two wingers would bring the best out of Coutinho(22), Lallana(26), Markovic(20), Sterling(20) Balotelli(24) and Sturridge(25).


    Top class young attacking talents competing and training with one another around the same age. B Rodgers should bring in Montero(24) this transfer window and maybe bring Bolaise(25) to club in the summer

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  37. Oh God please what is exceptional about Redmond? HE is English. So is Ibe. if Redmond is exceptional then Ibe must be "out of this world, unbelievable, incredible, unplayable".

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  38. I will start judging Balo when Studge is back playing with Balo.

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  39. Not even as a free and we are given two otrher players from Norwich. Goddamn NO!!

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  40. De Gea has grown into a great keeper there is no getting away from that although i would still take either Chelsea GK's over him at the moment.

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  41. That's the problem of taking anything at face value. People make up stories and everyone seems to have an angle whether stating something or even denying it ;-)

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  42. Indeed. At some point, once a story has got momentum, it doesn't matter what you say. If you deny it, you're covering, if you admit it then it'll explode, if you say nothing then the press will make up something even more absurd.

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  43. this is nonsense. A good player is able to do his job in different formations/roles. Balotelli can't perform as a lone striker and i judge him on that

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  44. then you basically didn't want him to come to us, but his price tag was quite reasonable at that time

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  45. I can't blame the club for this... He is up in age, coming off a major knee injury, in a position where 'explosion' off your line is key... Not to mention he would probably be demanding high wages. Man U has already been possibly burned by this once (see Falcao) this season, so they did the right thing in letting him train first... But, LVG already had an existing relationship with Valdes, so convincing him was probably easier than for a young manager, who he doesn't know, like BR...

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  46. his replacement at Soton who took about 2 minutes to "get used to life in the Premiership. that replacement came to a club that thought it would be success not to get relegated, and Liverpool thought about fighting for the title. bOTH mARKOVIC AND lALLANA are better than Tadic- he is in the small lake enjoying football with a great manager- no pressure. Totally different ball game here..

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  47. What is the difference between proving fitness and a medical which is done with every transfer? Something else must have been the problem and I am confident it is the wages part of the deal as we always stumble when it comes to that.

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  48. Couple of definitions of Jock on the web. Which did you have in mind when making your nickname?

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  49. Have you not noticed the guy in the Kop on a horse?

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  50. thexcuriousxwanderer2:37 pm, January 14, 2015

    I don't think you can say he has terrible attitude since he has come to Anfield. Coming from a position where he doesn't press, he has done a lot of adjustment and his fair share of work on the pitch (he is not just adjusting to the league, but also a different style Liverpool plays.) Given we already knew this when we bought him, we can't pin the fault on him.

    So far, I don't think there has been any report saying his attitude in training has been poor. I think it's just been people who make the link from past reports and try to match it with the current situation. Personally, if Balotelli has the capacity and hunger to learn the off the ball movement and pressing, he could be very good indeed. And imagine when they sell this to him - "You want to be like Messi? Like Ronaldo? First work on your movement, and your work rate." That ought to spur him on.

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  51. Yeah, thanks, keep confusing me..

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  52. thexcuriousxwanderer2:40 pm, January 14, 2015

    I think you're the one spouting nonsense. He was bought to pair with someone up front, so you can't judge him on his lone striker capabilities, which he is still learning now. You can't buy an apple and complain it doesn't taste like a pear.

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