16 Apr 2015

Dream Deal? Liverpool chase 'extraordinary' €25m midfield maestro who wants transfer to 'big team'

On Wednesday, Jurgen Klopp announced his intention to quit Borussia Dortmund this summer, and as is usually the case, a new manager often means a mini-exodus of players brought in under the previous regime. Dortmund have a whole raft of players coveted by rival teams, and Liverpool are reportedly waiting in the wings to sign one of the club's top midfield stars.

According to the Daily Express:

* Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool are 'extremely interesting' in signing Ilkay Gundogan.

* The German international wants a move to the Premier League at the end of the season.

Liverpool were linked with Gundogan during the January transfer window, and at the time, the £25m-rated midfielder revealed his ambition to play in England. He told reporters:

"Playing outside Germany is one of my big goals. If one day I leave here, I'd like to play in Spain or for one of the big teams in England."

After losing Robert Lewandowski to Bayern Munich on a free transfer - and consequently losing a massive transfer fee - Dortmund will be desperate to avoid the same fate with Gundogan, whose contract expires next summer.

If he wants to leave, then cashing-in this summer makes the most sense, but according to sporting director Michael Zorc, Dortmund want to keep Gundogan at the club:

"We want to continue to work with Ilkay and will continue with the [new contract] talks."

With Steven Gerrard leaving in the summer, Liverpool need a top-class midfield to help fill the void, but is Gundogan the answer? According to Jurgen Klopp, the German is an 'extraordinary player', with the following qualities:

"Ilkay brings a great attitude. He has a great passing game, is a complete player, and fits perfectly into our footballing system. He is willing to learn and is very smart.”

Sounds great, but with only 12 goals/13 assists in 110 games for Dortmund (1 every 4.4 games), he's clearly not a creative powerhouse, but the biggest issue to avoid this deal is the injury history:

* 13 separate injuries since 2010.
* 501 days on the sidelines (108 games misses)
* Recent spent 403 days out with a spinal injury.

In my view, irrespective of talent/potential, Liverpool should avoid any player with a significant injury history. It's just not worth it, and the club is already crawling with sick-notes.

Gundogan is a talented player, but way too injury prone. Avoid.

Author:


108 comments:

  1. There's something about his name that makes me want to like him

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  2. Exactly. He's got one of those surnames that makes you want to go outside and scream it to the heavens, a la Superintendent Chalmers with 'Skinner'.

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  3. The best signing we can make this summer is one Jurgen Klopp. Unfortunately he is going to be chased down by many other clubs.


    Get this guy and see us slowly but surely get back to where we want to be.

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  4. How do you like Loganmufc? ;-)

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  5. So is that going to be it? Surely you can do better than that ;-)

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  6. I can, but I'm not giving away my best ones (just in case).

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  7. MUFC has to be the worst one. Really would not bother me one bit by adding that to my profile name. The only thing that bothers me about them right now is that they finished 7th last season and will play CL football next season.

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  8. I quite like the idea of Yannick Bolasie on the left, that would be a decent signing for under 10mill if possible.

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  9. Apparently LFC, Arsenal and City have been beaten by Chelsea signing Nathan Allan de Souza. 19yr old Brazilian attacking midfielder.


    Chelsea have got it all going for them right now. Top coach, financially stable, proper transfer plan helped by having a top manager and on their way to win another EPL trophy.


    If things do not work out for this De Souza lad then Chelsea sell him on for a profit. They have become one of the most astute clubs when it comes to selling and signing players.

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  10. We need better than that I am afraid. Good player but not a player who is going to bring you titles.


    And in any case, if we had to go to a club like Palace and ask for 'one of their best players' then they will hold us ransom i.e. Lallana, Carroll, Downing, Lovren etc etc.


    Stay clear.

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  11. Shevchenko and Torres are probably their most astute signings

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  12. Luis? Sold him for £60m. Mata £40m. They are not going to have a success with every player but have put us to shame in the transfer market. Having quality managers/coaches season after season does go a long way.

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  13. Slowly and surely..... we have that now.... and you want to sack him....???????????

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  14. Again......?????

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  15. I really don't get why these young players sign for Chelsea.


    I feel like other than Hazard and maybe Oscar, no young player steps right in there and plays.

    The spots typically go to the established veteran player.


    Is de Souza that good that he is going to play consistently there?

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  16. Not the point though. They will sell him on for a profit if it does not work out.


    They made money off LFC via Markovic just like Bayern Munich made money off us when we signed Can.


    Just look at how inept LFC have become in the transfer market compared to a club like Southampton!!!

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  17. Buy and sell... Thats Chelsea's policy.. The number of kids they have on loan is ridiculous... most will never wear a chelsea shirt in a competitive game.

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  18. How exactly did they make money from Markovic, he was never a chelsea player...

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  19. I get Chelsea's point of view.


    I don't get the player's point of view.


    Why sign for Chelsea to be loaned elsewhere? Why not just go elsewhere (unless Chelsea is offering the wages)?

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  20. I agree with Jaime about injury prone players. Our talent pool.isn't big enough to put up with losing our best players to injury. Not yet anyway.

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  21. Logan's nipples get all pointy whenever he thinks of the back of Rodgers.

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  22. Chelsea had first option to buy Markovic. Go do some research mate.


    Chelsea could have signed Markovic for far less and we were the ones who ended up paying £20m for him and gave Chelsea their cut too.

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  23. Why sign for Chelsea = trophies?

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  24. Naughty.... I know he's been working out alot recently, new woman and all... Maybe thats why.....??

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  25. Do you get to claim success in contributing to the trophy if you're on loan when the trophy is won?

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  26. Chelsea having first option means just that, they had an option, not that they had a financial stake in him....

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  27. Its ok, if we buy 4 injury prone players for every position, we should be fine.

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  28. Beetter than playing for LFC when they see players like Sterling and Henderson refusing to sign knew deals...

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  29. See what you're saying. I think the kid has potential, his speed, strength would give most top teams probs including us. For the right price I'd consider it.

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  30. Will have a great rotation so that as guys get injured others come back, and so on and so forth

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  31. Just like Bayern Munich with Emre can.


    Both Bayern Muinich and Chelsea made money off LFC.

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  32. But that's partially to do with the fact that Sterling and Henderson have built up their value by playing at LFC.


    Nathan (for example) is all hype at this point and he's not going to play for Chelsea (at least right away). He's going to be on loan.

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  33. Yes, I think that was implied.

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  34. At Palace's price the right price is not going to be in our favour.

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  35. Looked up and found nothing saying CHELSEA PROFITED, only they missed the chance to buy before he went to Benfica, and that they had an agreement to buy him for £12.5m with the investment firm that owned half his rights, but again, they missed out....Nothing to suggest theymade anything anywhere...

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  36. Hendo has agreed his new deal and is about to sign it soon, keep up.

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  37. I missed the implication :)

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  38. how is nipples allowed when something like f a c e goes through moderation?

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  39. I wasn't being completely serious though.

    They may have some areas of the club well run but certainly not all. How many youngsters have come through their academy into the first team? I'm also not a fan of their 'revolving door' manager policy, although it's obviously brought some success

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  40. Everyone likes nipples mate, not everyones f a c e is likable

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  41. yeah that sounds reasonable!

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  42. Luiz, £50m Mata, £37.5m but whatever...facts just get in the way.

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  43. Ah ok, so Benfica were willing to sell Markovic to Chelsea for £12.5m.


    So why on earth did we pay £20m for him?

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  44. There is no news of Henderson agreeing a new deal. It would have made headline news.


    Sorry for you.

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  45. Not if they get the very contagious 'Balotelli disease'

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  46. Not me mate.... I read before I write... You told me to do some research... How about you do the same....

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  47. What does it matter how many players they bring through.


    How many players have we brought through OF OUR OWN since Gerrard?


    Pot kettle black.

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  48. I have done my research thank you very much.

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  49. It's in the mirror from 5 days ago.


    100k per week

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  50. It's in the mirror from 5 days ago.


    100k per week.


    Other post went to moderation when I tried posting the link.

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  51. Chelsea is the best English club right now, by a fair distance.

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  52. The agreement was with the investment group that had a 50% stake in him. I can only assume the agreement happened when he signed for Benfica, and we got him a season later...I think...Does hurt alittle knowing they would have got a better deal... Hopefully he lives upto his fee...

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  53. It has not been cnfirmed by LFC so better luck next time.

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  54. Mate, if Chelsea were able to sign him for £12.5m and we paid £20m then Chelsea having a clause in his contract of first option would have resulted in £.


    Just like Bayern Munich who had first option to buy Emre Can and made a small profit for themselves.


    What you want to make of it is your prerogative.

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  55. Could not agree more.

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  56. Klopp is well ahead of Rodgers. I want to see Rodgers go to the Bundesliga and take a struggling team to win the Bundesliga TWICE in a row.


    I would like to hear your argument.

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  57. Because maybe I do not believe he is going to take us any further than he has?


    What is going to change next season with Chelsea, UTD, Arsenal and City all being stronger than us?

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  58. Makes no difference :-)

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  59. Was the "Chelsea made money off of our Markovic buy" confirmed by Chelsea?

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  60. It doesn't work like that, the agreement was purely a you have first refusal, nothing else....

    Bayern may have put a clause in the deal they had when they sold Can to Bayer Leverkusen, I don't know, but it wouldn't suprise me, LFC have done the same thing with players they have sold, Tom Ince being the obvious.... But that only occurred because Bayern actually owned and sold Can in the first place..... That clause is just a resale clause, for example, LFC sold Ince to Blackpool for £250.000, but both teams agreed that if Blackpool were ever to sell Ince, they would have to give LFC 35% of any fee...

    Chelsea never owned Markovic...

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  61. 2nd last season (should have won the league). Flashes of brilliance this season (also, I admit, some displays I wish to forget).
    How is going back to the proverbial drawing board with a new manager going to improve our chances of overtaking the aforementioned teams?

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  62. Did Bayern Munich own Emre Can?

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  63. I think our best option for a replacement of Rodgers would be Rafa, but I'm not certain that he could necessarily improve the results.


    I'm not sold on Klopp being a realistic target. And the obvious managers who would improve the club (Mourinho, Guardiola, etc.) would not come here so they aren't realistic.


    So to get Rafa for the sake of change isn't really a selling point for me.


    I don't necessarily disagree from the standpoint that Rodgers may have maxed out on what he can achieve here. But I'm not sure that another manager who would come here can do that much better.


    What we really need is to spend better on the players we bring in and get better players by default.

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  64. Did not have to be.

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  65. Yes!... They sold himtoo Bayer Leverkusen the season before LFC bought him.. Can wanted to leave so he could play regularly, but Bayern always intended in buying himback for a nominal fee that the two clubs agrred beforehand, but when LFC came knocking, it was too soon for Bayern, so they pulled out of their option, and allowed LFC to go ahead and buy him without any conditions...

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  66. Our best option according to you is Rafa?


    The world IMO has gone mad.

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  67. Like I said, what you want to believe is your prerogative.

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  68. Sterling, Ibe, Flanagan and Wisdom have played a number of games.
    Suso and Jack Robinson played some games prior to moving.
    Branagan, Williams and Rossiter in the match day squads.
    Ojo and Sinclair are potentially next.

    Ok you can argue Sterling is the only regular but can you comprise a similar list for Chelsea. The path to the first team is improving rapidly under Rodgers but I wouldn't expect any 'anti-Rodgers' fans to applaud that

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  69. But the new Henderson deal with LFC needs to be confirmed by LFC before you believe it?


    The article in the mirror states that the deal will be completed by the end of the season. LFC is not going to confirm a deal before it's officially signed.


    I'm not claiming the Mirror is 100% accurate and has every detail nailed down. But there is at least an article here.


    I couldn't find anything concrete about the Markovic-Chelsea ownership (except what Stan found).


    But you'll accept the Chelsea-Markovic story in spite of it not being confirmed by Chelsea, but you won't accept the Henderson-LFC story from the Mirror because it's not confirmed by LFC.

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  70. Did AFC Bournemouth officially confirm they made money off of the Lallana deal from Southampton to LFC?


    Why exactly would they want to do that?

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  71. I'm not asking Bournemouth to. I'm not asking Chelsea to confirm anything. I'm not even asking LFC to confirm anything.


    Just seems odd that you won't believe something because LFC won't confirm, but you'll believe something about Chelsea even though they won't confirm it.


    By the way, just curious... do you have a link about the Markovic-Chelsea thing? Would be interested to read it.

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  72. Mate, I tried to explain in simple detail about Markovic and Can alike, but there seems to be no getting through to him, so I'm going to stop speaking with him....

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  73. The best most realistic option at this point in time.


    Hence why I went on to talk about the best possible options but that they aren't realistic.

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  74. Sterling is not a product of LFC.


    Flanagan's contract ends at the end of the season and Wisdom does not seem to have a future at the club.


    Name players of our own who have established themselves in recent times like Carra and Gerrard.


    Not young players the LFC have signed.

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  75. Funny he should use that as an example, because they did, there was a big fuss made by the media about the amount of money Bournemouth would make from the deal, 25% I believe...and yes they were spoken to many times by the media, but your wasting your time trying to get through to him.

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  76. But my point is like AFC Bournemouth, why would Chelsea want to confirm such a thing?


    Did Bayern Munich confirm that they made money of Emre Can's sale?

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  77. That's the way I remember it too.


    Bayern essentially had an option to buy him at an agreed-upon price, and declined the option.


    I don't recall whether they actually received any portion of a sell-on fee.

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  78. I believe they would actually have to report that in their annual statement that determines whether teams abide by FFP or not.


    But I'm not debating whether Chelsea confirmed anything.


    Do you have the Markovic-Chelsea article you referenced so I can get a chance to read it?

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  79. Signing Rafa = will leave us in the same situation as Napoli = going nowhere. No thank you.

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  80. I am really not even going to bother. FFP has nothing to with it at all.


    Chelsea do not have to confirm anything about player contracts, clauses etc.

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  81. Best club in England, definately, best english club on the other hand.....

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  82. I don't know that either... But the fee they recievedin the first instance would probably have been sufficiant...

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  83. Hahhaha! you crack me up!

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  84. Dortmund are currently 10th under Klopp.... come on...

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  85. No, I don't think you would.

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  86. Somebody may have been sniffing some CFC's...I am fairly certain there is a hole in his ozone.

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  87. I crack many people up.

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  88. Comprise me a similar Chelsea list first?

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  89. It is very unlikely that you actually have players who have been in your setup from the beginning make it to the end. I would say Kelly has become an established PL player whereas Rossiter and Brannagan look to be the future ones. Rarely does that ever happen. I think the point being made is that Chelsea have no academy. Apart from Terry, who else has even been an academy product.

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  90. Thanks Sid and I don't think he sees it, I forgot about Kelly!!

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  91. Any luck with that Markovic-Chelsea link?

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  92. City have a fairly old team so next season isn't looking great if they're crumbling now. Where as we field the youngest team in the EPL have had a major influx of players that needed time to bed and have progressed defensively and offensively all season. We're on the rise, with a few solid signings we hold a better prospect than city who need to dump and overhaul with youth.

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  93. It was announced like 3 days ago hendo would be signing...

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  94. Qualifying for CL after finishing 7th the season before? Hmmm that reminds me something...

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  95. Markovic was never "owned" somehow they had some first option buy clause for chelsea. Chelsea didn't make money, same with bayern on can it was a first option buy back but they rejected it.

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  96. To be honest, we and MCI are the only top PL teams that would be considering a manager. But we have a much more youthful team and I'm certain that will be a factor in his decision. This is all assuming he wants to join the Prem though.

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  97. How's your list going Login?

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  98. It may reduce the amount of antagonistic to-ing and fro-ing if you just post links to support contentious issues like these Logan

    If you've done the research already, how much easier would that make things instead of all this.

    Boards like this are great places for fans to learn more about their team as well as debating opinion. it's not about winning an argument..

    As it happens, Bayern received a parachute payment for Can in the LFC deal. I suspect you know this, but want to encourage dissension in order to later prove your point.

    It's far easier and considerably more helpful just to post the link don't you think?

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  99. It's hardly rocket science though is it? With a bottomless pit of money, buy scores of young talent in the hope that 1 or 2 comes good in the future. Gets around FFP and every now and again you might get lucky,

    Chelsea have around 40 players out on loan I think, just waiting for pathetic odd Courtois....

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  100. There was actually a story about that at the time of him signing. Can't recall the details. Apparently lots of fees to outside parties. Not sure if Chelsea were one of them.

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  101. Yes he is he has come a long way since 14 and so has Ibe they dont have to turn up at 9 to be a product geez.

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  102. I actually appreciate the tactic... I think using football to fund football has to be applauded.... Shame they had a billionaire at a time without FFP to get a headstart....

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  103. Jay Spearing, Neal Mellor

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  104. I think personally some of them, especially non-eu players from very different cultures, come as much for the footballing education from an academy with premier league facilities that is doing well in its own right, as they do for the money (however much that is). I wouldn't be surprised if some of the young players have people advising them that if they do well in the academy but don't make the first team, they still have a good chance of a move somewhere else.

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  105. Thanks NonEventHorizon. I did think of Spearing but I think it was Dalglish who played him not particularly Rodgers. Mellor was more the Gerrard and Carragher era.........still no list from Logan :)

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  106. Henderson signs long term deal. Officially announced by LFC.


    @Stan Dinaround

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