15 Jan 2015

Legend insists: If 'unplayable' £28m star signed for LFC he'd be 'ahead of Balotelli'. Big mistake?

Another one bites the dust! Wilfried Bony is the latest high-profile player to seemingly reject a move to Anfield, and Wimbledon legend Efan Ekoku has warned the Ivorian that he may regret his mercenary? decision to sign for Manchester City.

Recent reports claimed that Liverpool were 'considering' a January move for Bony, and when asked about the striker in a recent press conference, Brendan Rodgers raved:

"He [Bony] is a natural goalscorer, you have seen it with his country. The combination of Bony and Sigurdsson is as good as any in the league. Bony is strong and powerful, and he gets goals".

Reacting to 'unplayable' Bony's £28m move to Man City, Ekoku admitted that he's 'disappointed' with the striker's decision, and suggested that he would've been better off at Anfield. He told the Evening Standard:

"You’d hope that [Bony] would be smart enough to say ‘Okay, Liverpool may not win the [Prem] but they’ve got a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. He’d be ahead of Balotelli and Lambert, but maybe Liverpool weren’t interested."

At £28m, I'd certainly hope Liverpool weren't interested (!) As much as I rate Bony, £28m is far too much, and I'm glad the Reds didn't attempt to outbid City with a ridiculously inflated offer.

This deal just illustrates once again that contracts in football are utterly worthless. Bony signed a new deal just TWO months ago, yet he's now left the club. Clearly, Swansea knew he'd leave, and got him to sign a new deal to ensure that any interested club would have to pay through the nose to seal the deal.

As usual, it all circles back to Liverpool's incompetence in the transfer market:

* Liverpool pursued Bony in 2012, and at the time, his agent confirmed the club's interest: "Liverpool are one of the clubs who have been considering him [Bony]. We have been in talks with them".

* For whatever reason, Liverpool failed to act, and Bony signed for Swansea for a comparatively meagre £12m.

* After two years of regular goalscoring (including being the Prem's top scorer for 2014) Swansea have made a tidy £16m profit.

It should be Liverpool making that £16m profit right now, and it should've been the Reds - not Swansea - benefiting from Bony's goals/assists over the last two years.

Instead, the club is lumbered with the wretched likes of Lambert, Balotelli, and Borini (combined cost: £32), who've collectively contributed a lamentable 4 goals all season.

How long with this damaging negative trend of failing to snap up affordable top-class players continue?

Missing out on the top-tier elite like of Costa, Sanchez et al is disappointing but perfectly understandable; repeatedly failing to land mid-priced, heavily-linked players (i.e. Bony, Erikson, Michu, Shaqiri, Wanyama etc) is, in my view, transfer negligence of the highest order, especially when huge wads of cash is then wasted on utter dross (Aspas, Alberto etc)

As I've illustrated many times, Liverpool's transfer record in the Premier League era is simply embarrassing, and it's summed up by one irrefutable fact: Between 1990 and 2012, Liverpool, OUTSPENT Manchester United on transfers, yet have no Premier League trophies to show for it.

The trend continues to this day, and there's a very obvious correlation between the club's ongoing 24-year failure to win the league, and the hundreds of millions wasted on the wrong players.

At some point, something surely has to change, but the problem seems ingrained in the very fabric of the club. It doesn't matter who owns or manages Liverpool, the same transfer problems persists, and under FSG, it's become exponentially worse (in terms of managers wasting available transfer funds).

When all is said and done, though, (seemingly) refusing to pay over the odds for Bony is a micro-step in the right direction, but will it last?

History suggests this is the exception, rather than the rule...

Author:


22 comments:

  1. We've outspent manu because good players want to go there(or chelski, arsenal, city...), and than we overpay for what's left.

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  2. I love home cinema and I want to make my life easier as I am entertainment geek, but I want to go on the Untravelled path too Jaimnie?

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  3. Patrick Ó Fearghasa7:18 pm, January 15, 2015

    I don't think Bony would've suited Liverpool, same way Balotelli doesn't suit us. City have players that put good delivery into the box, Liverpool mostly play on the counter attack with pace.

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  4. ----------------Can
    -------Hendo -------Lallana
    Sterling------------------------Ibe
    ---------------Sturidge


    Damn that looks good. And we have Gerrard, Lukas, Couts and Markovic on the bench...

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  5. Well I have to correct you. Contracts are still worth it. They reward you get much more for your player leaving. At least something.

    Sincerely you want a striker? Get s. Doumbia! Worth every penny. But I don't see BR able to indentify such a player....

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  6. Well I liked how markovic, coutinho amd gerrard played mostly the last games... Might be just me tho...

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  7. Say that was Besiktas and in the league you change- Lallana- Couts, Sterling- Gerrard, Ibe- Markovic. That is why we've spent all that money...

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  8. As far as I can see he made the right decision for an ambitious player with confidence in his own ability

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  9. We could of had bony in the summer for 19 mil but refused to pay that ... Instead went for balotelli at 16 mil that is utter incompetence to say the least...

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  10. He cost £25m and if he was a mercenary he would have signed for a club like Liverpool with no chance of winning anything surely? He surely would have signed for the champions of England a club in the Champion's league with every chance of giving him trophies??? Strange person. maybe he could have got much enjoyment out of telling people what he could of won with Liverpool if he had a time machine though and just maybe that might of conviced people he hadn't just signed for Liverpool for the money as to be fair there's nothing else is there? You if hed of signed for you lot defo because he'd have been a merc!

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  11. 'At £28m, I'd certainly hope Liverpool weren't interested'


    Didn't Liverpool pay £35m for Andy Carrol?

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  12. Let's hope the recall of Jordan Ibe is to make use of him and not to let him rot. Would rather have him playing than Balotelli or Lambert.

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  13. Bony will do well at City but whether he would have been suited to LFC is another story. Younger version of Lambert.

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  14. Bony ain't worth that when he will need somebody to feed him the ball ala David Silva. Still one of the most intelligent attacking midfielders in the EPL.

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  15. Lacazette looks a player very suited to Liverpool. Lucas Vietto should be bought as Luis Suarez replacement and he is the 'new Aguero' genuinely top class player.at all cost we should buy Vietto and we need 2 strikers anyways so we can either buy Lacazette or Yarmolenko. both players with the direct ability LFC fans love to see. get the ball, cut in shoot pass, get goals and assists. these are the players LFC fans like to see. why we have targeted players like Borini, Lambert and Aspas is beyond me. Yarmolenko has got 16 goals/15 assists for club and country this season( hatrick for ukraine and 13 goals for Kyiev) and hes got 88 goals/57 assists in 240 games and 18 goals in 40 games for his country, hes a top player very suited to our game, off Right wing deadly and up front in a partnership or on his own hes deadly. Robben/CR7. Lacazette is on 19 goals in 20 games so hes definately an option, and hes 2 years younger at 23, but hes an out and out striker and if were going to build a team around Vietto who is a roaming forward like Sanchez, Suarez and Aguero. and then complete with Moussa Sissokho for £20M to replace Gerrard. Sissokho is a wonderful player, one of the fastest in world football, strong, skillful and creative with a long shot. so Vietto for £13M, Yarmolenko for £17M and Sissokho for £20M.

    ---------Emre Can-----------Skrtel----------Sakho

    Sterling--------Sissokho--------Lucas------------Moreno

    ---------Yarmolenko-------------------------Coutinho

    --------------------------------Vietto


    Markovic on for Coutinho, Gerrard on for Sissokho and Hendo on for Moreno, Sterling on the left like how Markovic played


    and with sturridge fit

    ---------Emre Can-----------Skrtel----------Sakho

    Sterling--------Sissokho--------Lucas------------Moreno

    ---------Yarmolenko----------------------Vietto

    ----------------------------Sturridge



    this still gives us Sterling pace and wide play, Sissokho and Lucas are great passers and very solid, Sissokho with energy to break lines and Deadly front 3 of the Vietto, Sturridge and Yarmolenko all with movement to complement each other. Yarmolenko coming in on his stronger foot like he always does to pick a pass or take a shot. Vietto feeding off Sturridge and coming in off the left as the striker and Sturridge as the main outlet.

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  16. Torres scoring two tonight. His return to A Madrid will reignite his love for the game.

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  17. Just as well he only cost £25m then eh? Can't think where city could get a player like David Silva from though, if only they could!

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  18. FSG should get rid of the useless Transfer Committee at LFC and appoint a new transfer committee right here on this site! We seem to know more about which players suit the club more than they do.

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  19. I'm glad to hear that.

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  20. Yes, and that was one of the biggest transfer mistakes of all time.

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  21. Then why say 'At £28m, I'd certainly hope Liverpool weren't interested' as this writer did, as they 'certainly' did with Carrol. I mean it's not as if Liverpool don't spend big money totally un-carefully is it?

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