27 Apr 2015

New Target: Liverpool desperate to sign 'excellent' €20m attacker with 38 goals and assists in 52 games

Another day, another untested teenager linked with a move to Anfield, and the latest talent allegedly on Liverpool's transfer radar is 19-year old Nigerian striker Moses Simon.

According to the Daily Express today:

* Liverpool are 'desperate' to sign Simon, who plays for Jupiler Pro League side Gent.

* The Reds are hoping to beat Tottenham Hotspur to the youngster's signature.

Yes, I've never heard of him either. Some info about Simon:

* Spent his formative years in the Slovakian league with AS Trencin.

* 17 goals/10 assists in 38 appearances for Trencin.

* This season: 6 goals/4 assists in 9 league games for Gent (13 goals/assists in 13 games in all competitions, including one hat-trick)

* Gent are unbeaten in the league with Moses in the team (7 wins/2 draws).

* Career total: 38 goals/assists in 52 apps (Goal/Assist every 1.3 games)

* Dubiously dubbed the 'Nigerian Cristiano Ronaldo' by the media.

In a recent interview, Gent Technical Director Michel Louwagie outlined Moses's main strengths:

"Moses Simon is an excellent player; very lively and powerful. He has everything. He is versatile, and an effective goalscorer, but he's also a team-player".

Louwagie also slapped a ridiculously inflated €20m price tag on the youngster. Explaining that decision, he told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad:

"€20m is not unfounded. In recent years, prices have risen in Belgium, and I think €20 million is a realistic price for Moses Simon, who is only 19"

On the subject of Moses' immediate future, Louwagie added:

"Our position is clear: we want him [Simon] to stays with us next season. However, if he continues his progression, Gent will not be able to keep him for very long".

Simon himself seems happy at Gent, and when asked in March about his future, he told reporters:

"My talent in front of goal comes from God. I am very happy to have come here. Gent is a very good club for me and I'm happy to play in Belgium"

38 goals/assists in 52 games is an impressive achievement for a 19-year striker, and it's clear he's having a major impact on Gent this season.

€20m is, however, way too much for a player untested in one of Europe's best leagues, but if Liverpool can get him for £7m-£10m, then it may be a deal worth pursuing.

Gent is not a footballing superpower in Europe, and when it comes to negotiations, the Belgian club won't have a very strong bargaining position, so there's arguably a strong chance of securing a deal for a reasonable price.


Author:


34 comments:

  1. I wouldn't mind doing this deal.
    Now obviously, we need to bring in senior reinforcements, but just because our focus needs to shift to established players doesn't mean we can let the youth intake slack.
    Our scouting team has been rather lackluster for awhile, but I'd rather take a chance on these type of hidden gems than just more British/Spanish/Italian talent from the lower depths of the league.

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  2. Going to replace Suarez's goals?


    We may save about £15m and give Jerome Sinclair a chance.

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  3. Not so much drops as lobs

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  4. I understand your point. However, that's a bit unfair to Rodgers. That's because the only player that Rodgers has sold that he's supposedly wanted to keep was Suarez.


    Everyone else (Downing, Carroll, Cole, Sahin, etc.) that was sold had a falling out with him because he didn't want them.

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  5. I was going to go with scarlett but went with kate only because when I saw her last on the advert off the tele the last thing I remember before coming too the next day was being mesmerised wide-eyed by the two 'puppies' stuffed into her dress - the power of hypnosis....

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  6. "Obviously we need to bring in senior reinforcements."


    I'd like to see more Sinclair (and Yesil too for that matter) as well, but he's not exactly having the most productive loan spells. And on that note, I would probably send this kid on loan to a more notable European club too, perhaps a Championship side.

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  7. I was going to go with scarlett but went with kate only because when I saw her last on the advert off the tele the last thing I remember before coming too the next day was being mesmerised wide-eyed by the two 'puppies' stuffed into her dress....

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  8. Nah, she can't walk on heels..

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  9. I am not missing the point. Lallana and Markovic combined cost 45m + wages.


    Di Maria cost £60m plus wages.


    Would UTD have payed £25m for Lallana and £20m for Markovic and even Chelsea?


    Please mate, give a proper answer.

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  10. Hmnn.. but that falling out.. why did it occur?

    Could it be:

    a) the players were crap, and they needed to be got rid of
    b) they did not fit into his system
    c) they did as they were told but still were not good enough
    d) BR just talked b***ocks

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  11. Code would certainly take us in another direction thought

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  12. I agree with you fully. You are NOT missing the point..

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  13. I was going to go with scarlett but went with kate only because when I saw her last on the tele the last thing I remember before coming too the next day was being mesmerised wide-eyed by the two 'puppies' stuffed into her battle dress - the power of hypnosis....

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  14. By way of Jamaica perhaps

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  15. But apparently she has many "other" talents ;-)

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  16. e) All of the above

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  17. Would love to test those- but a women must walk her heels!! If she wants to have that pull..

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  18. Yes I am sure that part of Africa would feature

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  19. You see that's where the problem is.

    Did you mama never tell you to look straight at the ladies, but to look down ;-)

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  20. I can offer 4 days in Mne for you and a guest of yours for £300. Rafting, beer and everything.. Cmon?

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  21. And that's my problem with BR.

    As a coach, can we actually say with certainty that he has "coached" or improved any of our players?

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  22. Brave *crazy* man...

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  23. As Larry David once said... "Yes, because you wore that dress with the hopes that I'd notice your shoes"

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  24. More faces than Doctor Who

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  25. .....My eyes are opening wider and wider; in lost hope I can control them...
    I can feel my nostrils flare with the effort; my broad idiotic smile straining to hold my composure together. My head is tilting now trying to keep focus and eye contact is now so laboured its beginning to hurt...
    My brain is screaming at me 'resistance is futile'; the nerves to my eyes are screaming at me 'I'm giving her all she's got captain - she's canna take anymore - she's gonna blow'.........


    And then it happens; with everything on my face twitching furiously....


    Oh f**k, my eyes are dropping, I can't hold 'em up...


    I'm dribbling now as my full focus is on them beautiful, round, pleasure domes I'm labelling her 'puppies'...


    What's that..? Through the corner of my eye I can see a woman's palm arriving swiftly......

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  26. You see, I don't see it that way.

    Yup the players have improved.. but how much is it down to being coached or just the players getting old and wiser and knowing their game better. I could be wrong, but for me it seems like BR throw all his cards in the air, some landing correctly and others flew away. His story is too much of hit and miss to qualify as coaching...

    For me coaching is showing a player they can do more and offer consistency and an end product, eg Rafa when he pushed Gerrard wide right and scored goals for fun.

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  27. He's going to have to do things a bit quicker in the PL.

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  28. He isn't a striker, he has played on the wing for most of his career.


    I still think it should be a no. Players like Ojo and Sinclair have not even been given a chance yet, so why fix something that's not broken?


    We need PROVEN world class players. BR made it clear that he will be looking to improve the squad this summer, lets hope he follows up on it now, because he has a history of going back on his word.

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  29. Then there obviously is no point spending £15m on Simon Moses as we already have Origi, Yesil and the likes of Sinclair.


    Wasting money is not an option anymore.

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  30. Perhaps you misunderstood me.. I didn't really make myself very clear.


    Buying this kid certainly shouldn't be a priority, especially over senior transfers. However, after all our business is completed, if we have some extra money left over, and he's available for cheap (5M or less) I wouldn't be object to a transfer.

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  31. I agree... I'd rather start giving some of our academy players opportunities.


    Or take on the Chelsea model and start loaning out young players left and right, thereby retaining ownership of them and hoping that other teams build up their value for us.


    We've tried it to an extent with Luis Alberto, Ojo, Ilori, Origi. But it's just a start.

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  32. Add De Bruyne and Courtois to that list as well

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