9 May 2015

Confirmed: 'World-class' £250k-a-week powerhouse '90% certain' to 'leave' soon. Sign for Liverpool?

There's no way around it: Steven Gerrard's Anfield exit this summer will leave a gaping hole in Liverpool's struggling squad, and right now, there don't appear to be any outstanding achievable candidates to fill the void. In recent months, the likes Asier Illarramendi, and Miralem Pjanic have been linked with the Reds, but what about Yaya Toure, who will almost certainly be available this summer?

Liverpool were linked with Toure over the summer, and again in September, when according Daily Express claimed:

"Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea [are] in the race for Toure [whose] time at the club could be drawing to a close"

Toure seems to be on the brink of leaving Man City, and on Thursday, his agent fanned the flames of speculation when he told reporters:

"It's 90% certain he [Toure] will leave Manchester City this summer. Nothing has been decided - we are waiting until the end of the season"

Toure has come under fire for his performances this season, and in a recent column for the Daily Mirror, Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish slated the Ivorian's 'disappointing' form, and criticised his lack of application. He explained:

"He [Toure] isn’t showing anywhere near the same energy he put into matches last season. He looked interested when he had the ball, but then he looked uninterested when he didn’t have it, and didn’t work nearly as hard when City were trying to win it back".

Toure - recently hailed by Samir Nasri as 'world class' insists there's no problem at City, but actions speak louder than words, and when a player feels undervalued, and/or is unhappy, it usually manifests itself on the field.

£22m-rated Toure is precisely the kind of player missing from Liverpool's squad: a big, strong, athletic box-to-box midfielder, with the power, skill and stamina to regularly make an impact on games.

Toure clearly needs a new challenge, but will he come to Anfield?

With Kolo Toure already at the club, Liverpool appear to have a major advantage when it comes to attracting Toure to the club, and if the price is right, it could be a viable option.

At 31, though, Toure junior is not that much younger than Steven Gerrard, so he'd hardly be a long-term solution. With the purchase of Lambert, FSG have shown that they're willing to sign older experienced players, and the big midfielder still has 2-3 years left at the highest level.

Given his age, the world's top clubs are (arguably) unlikely to pursue Toure, and his reported £250k-a-week wages will also be an issue. However with high earners like Gerrard, and (possibly) Johnson off the wage bill this summer, the cash will be there to make the midfielder a decent offer.

At Liverpool, Toure would be the main-man, and he'd almost certainly be guaranteed regular game time. Worth Pursuing?

Author: Jaimie K


45 comments:

  1. He was awesome until this year - given his cost I would avoid - Henderson will be asking for a wage rise within a month of his arrival besides Cann will be a year older and more powerful

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  2. If it happens I will eat my hat and kilt

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  3. If it was last season, I would have said yes but not now. I think he is very moody and will have issue if someone fails to wish him happy birthday. We might need to bid 25mn plus a cake.

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  4. Just don't eat mine, I've got a wedding today

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  5. Funnily enough I was going to say Jamie's kilt but realised people might be having their breakfast ;-)


    Looks like it will be a good day for a wedding - as long as it's someone else's

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  6. Can't see him being willing to take about a 50% pay cut to join us which is roughly what the club would expect of him. Anyway he's a big diva and who's past his peak. Not worth the bother

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  7. Great player I'd love to see him at LFC. Interestingly if he did join he'd join another former Man City player in James Milner.

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  8. It is. I'm the bridesmaid's plus one. Won't know a soul there and she'll be off doing all the official stuff. Nightmare

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  9. Stan Dinaround8:59 am, May 09, 2015

    No thanks, and I'm not even sure this question was even worth asking....

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  10. Stan Dinaround9:01 am, May 09, 2015

    I'd take Milner if I had to pick between the two...

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  11. Don't tell me you're driving too

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  12. I agree 50% is a bit much and unfortunately I can't see it happening also. Although I think a lot was made with the birthday cake issue. Toure said that he helped his team win the league last season and scored 20 goals from midfield. When the owners came to congratulate the players (which happened to be on his birthday) they totally ignored him but congratulated others player who didn't do half of what he did. To a point where he felt disrespected. Following his career I haven't seen too many reports of his diva antics.

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  13. Really? Millers got a good work ethic but Toure is a match winner with that X factor that I think LFC needs.

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  14. Yes the cost issue is a big turn off really.

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  15. Thankfully not

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  16. Perhaps your right. The birthday cake claims were made by his agent if I recall correctly? Anyway, whatever really happened he came out of it looking quite foolish

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  17. Only if we keep Kolo.

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  18. If Liverpool pushed the matter for Yaya I would think we would stand a fair shot as he has a lot of respect for LFC and the fans, he wouldn't move to Manc Utd because of city, Chelski's a possibility but where would he fit in? But I doubt he's even on the radar as he's over the age of 12 but in the unlikely event we did sign him he would be a great signing that would toughen our midfield no end.

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  19. Stan Dinaround9:24 am, May 09, 2015

    Toure would be better off on the X-Factor this season... His poorest ever.

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  20. We don't need another box to box mid - already have Hendo & Can....Toure is fantastic going forward but can't play as a holding mid - that's what we need at the moment. We concede when Lucas isn't playing

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  21. On another note - if LFC give BR a choice between the sack and working with a DoF - his position has weakened considerably this season...this would be alternative to sacking BR

    It's so depressing to see us lose the race for genuine talents like Depay and this will not change until we have an internationally recognised figure in charge of transfers

    I would like to get someone like Frank Arnesen

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  22. On the bright side, it counts as a date. In theory.

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  23. Get 100% every match with Milner, don't know which yaya toure would show up.Milner has won a good few games for city this year, even playing as a striker. Would be happy seein Milner come. At least he knows where the goal is and doesn't try to walk it into the net, like a few players we have, afraid to take a show, pass to someone in a worse position

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  24. Careful, aparentely no one is allowed to say we dont need a player when we already have players in the same position, look what ppl on here were moaning about yesterday, Brenden is meant to ignore spending the money availible on new strikers, but another left winger for instance so home grown players like jordan ibe would never be first team

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  25. if we had frank arnesen would he wave a magic wand and magicilly appear a new stadium we need so theres no wage structure put in place by fsg anymore? or would he use the force to get depay to suddenly turn on van gaal and the alleged agreement they allready had?

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  26. I can understand the need for wingers - only those who are going to score and create goals - We need a striker who will score 20+ League goals & wide players who will score 10+

    Coutinho has recently improved his goal scoring & I'm hoping Lazar steps up - for £20m I would expect him to score a goal roughly every 3 games

    Sterling & Ibe look a threat & Lallana will also do the business

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  27. I meant someone like Arnesen who could attract the calibre of players we need...

    We've lost out on Depay so no use crying over spilt milk but can't see the pattern (of us chasing players for months & then losing out) changing until we have a DoF

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  28. Thats fair enough, the point i was trying to make is its not about persuative skills as much as wages a club is able to offer, since the rules must be in place probably that the star player would get 150k a week here, and young players 80k, even the european golden boy was offered 80k, and then 100k which sounds like the extreem, in the chance sterling would leave, and yet depay as an example of a player of a similare age will get 120k straight away, more than the european golden boy, and would have the chance to work up to 300k, not 150k

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  29. Last season liverpools goal tally record was shattered scoring over a hundred goals beating our seventy odd held before, and we didnt even have wide players, sterling played central like the old kaka role and scored 9 in 24, this season hes played there three times and scoring two

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  30. Quite possibly the most pointless article I have ever read!!!

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  31. Theres been worse, aparently big players signing for clubs is simply down to the managers "pulling power", thats why eden hazard turned down Sir Alex Ferguson so he could play under assistant manager and temporary manager Roberto Di matteo who was a proven world class manager, not an amature like Alex Ferguson

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  32. Are you new;-)

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  33. OMG, the silly season is almost upon us.

    Don't think i can take another 20,000 stories about, "45 million Spanish superstar is yet to sign a new deal in Spain...bid?" and/or "Real Madrids Brazllian playmaker tweets hi to Couts...sign?"

    I know JK has to keep the site ticking over and there're aren't many, if any, things to write about, but geez...
    ...we sign no-one good anymore...just over-priced or over-rated or under-developed players. Or just plain old shite (Balotelli).

    We either cannot attract top players (Bodgers?) or cannot close the deal (Ayre/FSG?). It's driven me mental the last couple of years. I don't understand how lesser clubs can keep finding good players for cheaper than we pay for average players.

    Honestly, we just can't compete with the big boys in attracting players anymore : (

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  34. I agree with you about Milner. Always liked him since we were a few mil short and ended up with Riera for c.£8mil in what, 2007? Something like that. Milner went for about £12 mil or something, so i was gutted then about it and still am a bit now lol.

    Milner would play ahead of Allen almost every time, for me. Different players, but Milner gives more.

    As for Markovic, didn't like the signing at the time. Maybe in a year or two he might grow some cojones, which should improve his game. But, I just don't see why he's so highly rated.

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  35. Summer tansfer shopping list:

    1. A decent striker
    2. Another decent striker
    3. A decent back-up striker

    Sure, there are other holes, but there is stat out there I read in a newspaper (someone also repeated it on here the other day)...

    Evertons 4 defenders have scored more goals than our 4 strikers.

    Evertons 4 defenders have scored more goals than our 4 strikers.

    If that stat isn't enough to fire the transfer decision makers, nothing will be.

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  36. lol, and it's gonna get much, much worse yet! We've got 3 more months of this to go : (

    And we won't sign anyone good, which makes it 100 billion times worse. Maybe 105 billion.

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  37. if the internet had allways been this big, the man utd site might have had its own JK in the old days:
    "ferguson 6 years and still no title! sack?
    "Ferguson 7 years and still no title! sack?

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  38. Agreed, Luckily the tranfer decision makers are not the fans who think they know more who are appalled that rodgers wasnt interested in signing another winger, who wasnt intereted in playing for us in the first place and who would have left BR with 25m less to spend on where its needed, yet ppl dont see it like that, "it was Rodgers lack of pulling power" which is "the fatal reality"

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  39. Toure at 20% is worth 11 Milners 200%.Milner might give you 100% but 100% of sweet fa is not worth having.but he is exactly the sort of deadbeat we don't need that I'd expect are transfer committee to be going after.on a par with Borini, Lambert & Lovren.

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  40. He is exactly the sort of marquee player we should be going after.experience in abundance.great box to box player.& would certainly make other marquee signings consider us a more viable option.start the talking yesterday.

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  41. Yes cannot disagree with that at all.

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  42. Ha ha nice. I can see what you like about Milner. I'm not aposed to him as he has quality, but give me Toure anyday.

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  43. Marquee yes...mid-fielder no. We need the marquee striker.

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  44. Do you see a crowd of marquee strikers beating down BR's office door.when Stevie G leaves toure will go along way to replacing him.+ as my previous point stated having him at LFC would certainly help in getting other marquee signings including strikers.

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  45. No. At 31 his legs are clearly going and his wages would be huge.
    In our current situation, it would be a poor signing.
    We need a younger, more dynamic and cheaper version to fill that role.

    The stumbling block however is that Rodgers doesn't seem to think we need a defensive midfielder, and even if we did get one, would he play him?
    Its just so depressing at the moment because we desperately do need that position filled, but I just don't see us in the market for a player of that type.

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