4 Mar 2015

Game On: Boss confirms Liverpool can sign 'world-class' superstar for 'huge money'

Liverpool continue to be linked with a move for 'world-class' Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, and after heavy speculation over the last few months, Jose Mourinho has finally admitted that the giant 'keeper is for sale.

When asked Tuesday about the possibility of Cech leaving this summer, Mourinho told reporters:

"I don’t waste my time trying to persuade him [Cech].

"If he wants to leave I will tell him my opinion: that he is one of the three best goalkeepers in the world, so [he will cost] huge money.”


In January, Cech enjoyed a brief run of starts for Chelsea, but despite three clean sheets in a row, Mourinho dumped him back on the bench after Chelsea's 4-2 FA Cup defeat Bradford, and since that time, he's been an unused substitute in six out of eight games.

Cech is unlikely to be satisfied with the way things are right now. Indeed, he's already expressed his dissatisfaction with his ongoing marginalisation at Chelsea. In October, he told reporters:

"The situation is not the way I would imagine. With the 2016 European Championships in mind, there is no time for me to sit on the bench and not to play. If the situation will not start to improve for me then I will want to solve it."

Last week, Chelsea's goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, also shed some light on Cech's ongoing frustration. He told ESPN:

"It's difficult for Cech, who has been first-choice for 14 years in the clubs he's been at and who has been voted the Premier League's best goalkeeper several times, to be passed by a 22-year-old kid".

€14m-rated Cech is a popular choice amongst Liverpool fans. I recently conducted a poll on the site asking fans to select one goalkeeper out of the seven currently linked with Anfield:

* 10450 (approx) visitors participated in the poll (which is still ongoing)
* 55% of participants chose Cech as Liverpool's next goalkeeper.
* Sergio Romero was 2nd-favourites with 11% of the vote.
* Only 3% voted to keep Mignolet as LFC's number 1.

Since the turn of the year, Simon Mignolet has resurrected his flagging Liverpool career with a series of excellent performances, but despite the upturn in form, he still (IMO) needs to be replaced.

The Belgian's current form is arguably the exception (for his career to date), not the rule, and if Liverpool are to consistently challenge for the biggest trophies, a more commanding, reliable goalkeeper is needed.

Can Liverpool get Cech, though? As always, money talks, but after playing second fiddle to Thibaut Courtois, there's almost certainly no chance of sealing the deal unless Rodgers guarantees to make him the club's number-one goalkeeper.

That will inevitably mean relegating Mignolet to squad player status, but as harsh as it may appear, that's what needs to happen. After last year's mixed performances, the Belgian blew it in the first-half of the season, and the club can't risk that happening again next season.

Judging by Mourinho's comments, the transfer fee may be an issue, but given Cech's age, it's doubtful that Chelsea will be able to command an extortionate price. As such, if Liverpool end up pursuing Cech, what is the absolute maximum the club should pay?

For me, around £10m-£12m is a fair price for a goalkeeper of Cech's talent, experience, and consistency.

online survey


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61 comments:

  1. We were kinda desperate in the January and splashing the cash made sense as Cech is a very good keeper. But with Mignolet returning to his form(don't forget we brought him as a very good keeper) we should go for a young promising keeper who would be satisfied with some cup games in next two years.

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  2. At the moment he's as good as any other keeper in the PL, hence I'd say he doesn't need to be replaced. To be fair he never needed to get replaced, all he ever needed is some serious competition and with Jones not able to challenge Mignolet for the No1 spot we should definitively be interested in signing another keeper.
    But IMO Liverpool should go for a younger keeper (probably a german one, because they produce the best keepers)

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  3. If he stays in England, I'd say he'll go to Arsenal so him and his family can stay in London.

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  4. exactly, a young keeper who's hungry and who is able to keep Mignolet on his toes would be ideal for our current situation

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  5. Keep Mignolet as No1 and get a young up and coming back up
    Liverpool has a transfer policy that BR has bought into and will stick with .

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  6. German keepers have the healthiest environment to develop in- with the speed of the league they have to learn to play with their feet and even if you are in Bayern the opposition that is in the relegation zone is likely to have at least two really good shots. Plus the fans are sane people and allow room for mistakes if you are committed.. Great league all in all, a shame you have Bayern there..

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  7. So some tall guy from Ethiopia?
    This isn't racist, is it?

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  8. We haven't had two good keepers at the club at the same time, all the top teams do; City, United, Chelsea and Tottenham all do even Arsenal have competition for the top spot. Not saying we should dump Mignolet, just sign a slightly younger keeper to keep him on his toes.

    Either Bruno Leno, Marc-André ter Stegen or Mattia Perin

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  9. yeah, Bundesliga is really boring these days because of bayerns monopoly position. that's what I love so much about the PL, every year is totally different

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  10. Frankie Fletcher9:07 am, March 04, 2015

    I would just like to make a point here. Why is there never any talk of a young keeper coming through the youth system and showing signs of challenging for a number 1 spot? It happens a lot with outfield players (especially attacking outfield players) and it's not just at Liverpool. Why can't we look at the possibilities within? (I am genuinely intrigued)

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  11. Believe it or not I wondered the same... No big club(and I use the term generously) I can remember produced a decent keeper, let alone world class.. Maybe it is because it takes them longer to mature which means club would have to pay his salary for too long till he fully develops. And you can't become a good keeper without practice in the forst team- so loaning them to lesser leagues would make sense, wonder how many keepers we have on loan....

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  12. Yeah, Neuer would do nicely!

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  13. Frankie Fletcher9:25 am, March 04, 2015

    Good shout that.

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  14. Danny Ward is good .
    Keepers mature later and play longer

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  15. If Mignolet maintains it until the season's end, I don't see the logic in bringing in a replacement. A challenger for sure though

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  16. Frankie Fletcher9:30 am, March 04, 2015

    Ye good point. Plus with the price of goalies being low, it probably makes sense to just invest in a proven goal keeper from another club. It is a shame though that an academy keeper can't challenge for at least getting a few starts in the F.A cup and league cup now and again :/

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  17. You talking just in England? because Iker Casillas -Real Madrid, De Gea - Atletico, To be honest England number 1 Joe Hart has been at city for almost 10 years since he was 18 or something so he kinda counts.

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  18. Frankie Fletcher9:32 am, March 04, 2015

    We should maybe then give him a few starts in the pre season friendlies and early rounds of the cups next season. Then if Mignolet starts flapping again Ward will be more prepared to replace Migs or we can buy a keeper next January?

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  19. It repeats a stereotype with a racist undertone: that Africans are tall and strong, and therefore well-suited to the manual work to which the European empires subjected them.

    In reality the country with the tallest average height of men in the world is, or so I remember reading somewhere... the Montenegrins! So go and knock on some doors this morning and send a few strapping lads to merseyside mate please ;)

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  20. I knew about Iker, but that seems like it has nothing to do with today's football, had no idea about DeGea(or Hart)..

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  21. Yes, that would be romantic...

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  22. Second in the world me thinks, first in Europe.. Being hungry is what I was getting at, they say that about Montenigrians too and I don't mind even though I am skinny tall Montenigrian so I thought it was all right..

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  23. Heh, to tie Migs' laces...

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  24. Oh well then. Making jokes about Ethiopians being hungry isn't necessarily racist it's just... not very nice?

    Who's tallest then? Slovenians? Hehe.

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  25. In England the tallest boy who is worst at football is put in goal. And that's that. We've produced frighteningly few decent keepers as a result over the last 20 years. I see signs of that changing now. But still, it's really dismal.

    The problem is with the coaches. The one kid who loves playing in goal and is really good at it in my son's school team is played by the coach in midfield because he's "too good to go in goal". It's totally stupid. I'm talking about 9 year olds here. It's depressing!

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  26. NO,we dont need CECH,WHAT we need is a quality young keeper like Perin or that Bryan i hear from belgium league

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  27. think it is norway. and slovenians can't be the best at anything, cheap pr!cks:-)

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  28. Part of our ongoing prehistoric attitude to football ... along with launching it to a big guy up front

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  29. Frankie Fletcher9:54 am, March 04, 2015

    Iker casillas broke through over 15 years ago, Joe heart was bought from shrewsbury, but yes fair enough City gave him the chance, and De Gea kind of proves my point. giving a chance to the youth keeper looked bad at first but now he has shown his worth. but to be fair that is 3 keepers in about 15 years? that is pretty poor numbers. I can't think of anymore apart from buffon but that was even longer ago.

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  30. Danny replacing mignolet is never going to happen.Since BR selects his team on merit(as he constantly argues),Brad jones been appointed infront of him prior to his injury is prove WAR is not up to the task

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  31. Mignolet is a superb keeper.As long as he stays fit and work on his feet,distribution,he will remain at liverpool for a long time.Its nice to acknowledge his improvements on timing the crosses and command to his defence

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  32. Haha! I saw you arguing with some other guys on here the other day, a Serbian and a Croatian reliving the war in the form of internet comments :) It made me laugh a lot. Crazy people.

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  33. Ha yea I saw that too. Nutters

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  34. I t was m who actually started it calling Lovren a racist he is.. Did it because here on Balkans we always enjoyed bit of national banter and his comments often take that to the unwanted level and we are back fighting over borders instead of economy within our borders..

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  35. Glad to know we are something to laugh about to people from civilized countries. Still...

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  36. I was all in for Peter Cech before the resurgence of Mignolet. I think we will keep Mignolet this summer and add some competition. By competition I mean someone young but competitive. That way we can also find a long term goal keeping solution.


    If we want to buy Cech then there is no need to keep Mignolet and he should be sold in the summer. There is no way he will ever outperform Cech. After few months on the bench he may start moaning about first team football which can disrupt the dressing room atmosphere. I think we should go for a young goalkeeper with huge potential.

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  37. Not sure about that. Ospina is doing good. They also have Schwesney and one more keeper I guess. Arsenal will have to sell at least two to get Cech.

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  38. I posted later on that "I predicted Liverpool to lose both of its last two premier keague games. Now I predict that we won't finish in top 4. ;-)"

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  39. That is great, but I just don't undertand how can a Liverpool fan not believe his team is capable of doing what we did that day... I'm sorry I am annoying but I just hate you a little bit for not believing so I had to reply that "?!?"

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  40. No offence meant dude

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  41. Not taken. Actually, I am offended, but not blaming you- we are morons who are not doing enough to change your perception of us. And our reality, which is even more important...

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  42. Man City destroyed Newcastle in their previous match and we couldn't even score against Besiktas. I was just being honest. A team which crashed out of CL and EL so easily would normally find it difficult to beat teams that are fighting for league championship. I think City played really bad that day and our goals were extraordinary. I am not giving an excuse but I do feel that we were very lucky against Southampton and produced wonder goals against City which might not happen every time. All I hope now is we score goals from normal play like last season. That is only possible if we play Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho and Lallana all at once. Hopefully, we will only improve from here as I believe that our best is yet to come.

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  43. We scored wonder goals but missed clear cut chances, it is one or the other- we can't miss them all. Regarding how City played, well it is not easy making chances with our mids(including Lazar and Moreno, plus Sterling) charging at them like that and they made 3 or 4 good ones, just couldn't find the target, so I would call it a good performance from them..

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  44. A few days is a long time in football and i had the feeling the Europa was secondary to us anyway.

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  45. Tongans i think are the biggest.

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  46. I think it was as it's supposed to be- let's get a result if we can, but EPL is more important.

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  47. Migs out Jones out Ryan and Cech in thats what i am hoping for i dont think Mignolets performance against City was that good he just wasnt made to pay for his mistakes.

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  48. We had one eye on the City game. The Southampton game may have been ugly, but not every game can be beautiful. Bear in mind it was atrocious conditions. At the end of the day, Liverpool had the fortitude that only some teams have to pull out a result.

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  49. Scott Carson was a Liverpool player once. By no means incredible but he'd have done the job as a very competent backup

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  50. Szczesny is definitely going by the look of things and he was caught smoking more than once. Wenger always likes two decent keepers there.

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  51. Didn't mean to mock the situation, just the guys you were arguing with yesterday. I remember that war... The siege of Sarajevo and what not. It was horrendous. As a former soldier myself, I will never underestimate the impact a war has on not just the country involved but the surrounding nations as well

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  52. Frankie Fletcher3:50 pm, March 04, 2015

    This is true. This country seems to lack the ability to see long term benefits.


    It's the same reason we lack any David Silva/Coutinho type players. In England only the big or strong or fast players get picked, which often over looks the players who use their brain, technical ability and football knowledge to overcome their physical limits.

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  53. Bring back AC #whydontwehaveaplanB

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  54. A former soldier?!? Damn.. Now admit what you did to nevergonna! What war(s), or is that confidential?

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  55. 2 tours of Afghanistan, 1 tour of Iraq.
    Haha m sure code is still around...

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  56. Now I don't like you as much I did...

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  57. Sorry to disappoint you dude...

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  58. Naaah, I still love you man...

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