15 Jan 2012

Spain STRIKER: "Liverpool came to Bilbao and spoke with the club..."

Liverpool desperately need a new striker, and Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente is once again being linked with a move to Anfield. What are the chances of a transfer actually going ahead in January?

One thing is for sure: Liverpool have definitely been interested in the played in the past, as Llorente told Radio Marca a few months ago:

"Liverpool came to Bilbao and spoke with the club, but it was obvious that they [Bilbao] weren't going to sell me".

In the same interview, Llorente hinted that his loyalty to Bilbao may only be transitory:

"For the moment, my future is here at Bilbao and I am going to give my all."

Llorente's current contract is up in 18 months, and he's in the process of negotiating a new deal, so now is probably the ideal time for Liverpool to renew their interest in the player.

A few days ago, Bilbao's Sporting Director Jose Maria Amorrortu provided Marca an update on Llorente's current situation:

"We are very confident that Llorente stays with us. He is a very important player. We are working on its continuity, but we have not gone any further.

"I'm optimistic. Fernando has been here for 11 years. This club is a club of values and Fernando knows this.

"We must transmit values and reinforce them because they are what make us different."


If Liverpool tried to sign Llorente before, it's conceivable that they could try and sign him again...?



Jaimie Kanwar


40 comments:

  1. no just sign soldado, remy or cavani

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  2. We need someone. That's for sure. Dirks never been prolific and I honestly believe Carroll will come good and has age on his side but we need someone NOW. Luis wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders so I don't buy into all this 'lets blame Carroll' crap. We haven't been scoring with him in the team and without him in the team to be fair. Yesterday was so disappointing, how many times did we not clear the first man? So basic, but also, there was one or two players in the area that was it, and Stoke offered nothing up front at all so we should have filled the area. To be fair it's difficult to break a disciplined team with eleven men behind the ball down, but it's been all season really.

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  3. Get Llorente in and get rid of Carroll. Cavani will never sign for a team not in the champions league. Infact, neither will Soldado with the way Valencia are going this year. Remy again is a player that plays in wider positions. We need someone who will be deadly in the box and someone like Llorente, Jackson Martinez or even Negredo all fit the bill.

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  4. All wishful thinking I fear. We are on our way down to 9th or 10th as we ignore the non-existence of a strike force...

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  5. Llorente would be a great signing but without quality wingers even he won't have much success at Liverpool.

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  6. Cant see it happening in this window, KD has bizzarley already said he is happy with the squad so either he has no money available to him after the mass spending last year or he is being stubborn in the hope the British transfer project works.
     
    I have been saying for months that purchasing another striker is an indirect admission to the failure of Andy Carroll, KD has aggresivley backed him and has come across as a manager who is overly sensitive regarding Liverpool and Britians most expensive player - I dont think KD will sign another striker as he would lose face / credibility based on how much faith he has expressed - and at times it has been patronising to fans to say things like the club are happy with his progress - sorry Kenny but Carroll is the worlds 8th most expensive signing EVER so the scrutiny is completley justified.

    Two weeks into the window and you would think that the club would have planned in regards to the Luis Suarez ban and goalscoring problem we have and identified someone early but the fact it hasnt happend and Kenny is supposedly happy with the team shows that we are not going to get another striker despite having a massive problem up front, but it is possible FSG have said no to another signing as we are all assuming we have funds to spend.

    The more you assess the situation the more you realise how bad the decisions in the summer have been, we have two out and out strikers whilst United , Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and City boast 4 + and yet we used 20 million to sign a midfielder for the "future" and practically showed a perfectly good portugese midfielder the door. Would it not have made sense to keep Meireles and spend that 20 mm on another striker back then instead of gambling with only two out and out strikers for the season?

    I will not jump on the bandwagon and start calling for Kenny to be sacked, but fans need to view him objectivley and not as the King / Legend / Clubs greatest player - If another manager made these choices there would be more discontent from fans and thats the danger here.... because it is Kenny Dalglish the scrutiny from fans, pundits, ex players is completley watered down. Imagine another manager spent this amount of money, was responsible for the worst LFC team in front of goal for many seasons, and then gave press confrences claiming they were happy with progress ? I doubt Anfield would be so quiet at the final whistle after the 7th home draw of the season after just 21 games...

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  7. Cant see it happening in this window, KD has bizzarley already said he is happy with the squad so either he has no money available to him after the mass spending last year or he is being stubborn in the hope the British transfer project works.
     
    I have been saying for months that purchasing another striker is an indirect admission to the failure of Andy Carroll, KD has aggresivley backed him and has come across as a manager who is overly sensitive regarding Liverpool and Britians most expensive player - I dont think KD will sign another striker as he would lose face / credibility based on how much faith he has expressed - and at times it has been patronising to fans to say things like the club are happy with his progress - sorry Kenny but Carroll is the worlds 8th most expensive signing EVER so the scrutiny is completley justified.

    Two weeks into the window and you would think that the club would have planned in regards to the Luis Suarez ban and goalscoring problem we have and identified someone early but the fact it hasnt happend and Kenny is supposedly happy with the team shows that we are not going to get another striker despite having a massive problem up front, but it is possible FSG have said no to another signing as we are all assuming we have funds to spend.

    The more you assess the situation the more you realise how bad the decisions in the summer have been, we have two out and out strikers whilst United , Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and City boast 4 + and yet we used 20 million to sign a midfielder for the "future" and practically showed a perfectly good portugese midfielder the door. Would it not have made sense to keep Meireles and spend that 20 mm on another striker back then instead of gambling with only two out and out strikers for the season?

    I will not jump on the bandwagon and start calling for Kenny to be sacked, but fans need to view him objectivley and not as the King / Legend / Clubs greatest player - If another manager made these choices there would be more discontent from fans and thats the danger here.... because it is Kenny Dalglish the scrutiny from fans, pundits, ex players is completley watered down. Imagine another manager spent this amount of money, was responsible for the worst LFC team in front of goal for many seasons, and then gave press confrences claiming they were happy with progress ? I doubt Anfield would be so quiet at the final whistle after the 7th home draw of the season after just 21 games...

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  8. I totally agree with the guy above , if this was another manager we would be calling for his head.I for one have lost faith in KK .

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  9. true madness....ynwa

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  10. LIVERPOOL SIGN IN:
    1) Higuain (for striker)
    2) Podolski (for left winger)
    3) Ozil OR Hazard (for right winger)
    4) Aquilani (bring back him & play him)
    5) Gary Cahill (Defender)
    .
    SELL OUT:
    1) Carroll
    2) Kuyt
    3) Downing
    4) Aurelio
    5) Joe Cole

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  11. To be fair; I would love some of the players people are mentioning on here. However, until we prove we are consistent again for champions league football then sadly the likes of Higuain,Hazard, Ozil and cavani will not be coming to liverpool. Look how our top players have left in the past few years ripping a solid spine of the team away from us. We have to understand that liverpool is no quick fix and we will have to re-buid, this may take a few years but i would rather give kenny time and let him get it right. I truly believe all liverpool need is someone to convert all our possession and chances into goals.

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  12. His goals look frighteningly similar to the ones Carroll scored for
    Newcastle. If Carroll is struggling to fit in, I wouldn't be too
    optimistic about Llorente. I'm gonna be a broken record player and vote
    for Castaignos!

    Some players are just remarkably similar stylewise:
    Carroll : Llorente
    Tevez : Lavezzi
    Dzeko : Ibrahimovic : Drogba
    Aguero : Torres : Higuain : Shevchenko
    Soldado : Cavani : Sturridge : Forlan : Eto'o
    Ba : Benzema : Hasselbank
    Villa : Giuseppe Rossi : Giampaolo Pazzini
    Jackson Martinez : Luuk De Jong
    Bergkamp : Suarez
    Henry : Castaignos

    I
    personally don't think any old good striker will do. Every team that
    sets foot on the pitch is a balance of 11 different styles and some
    players are clearly going to do better in some teams than others. Loic
    Remy would be a revelation at Spurs, but I'm not sure how well he'd do
    for us. Going by Sheva and Torres, Higuain will probably fail at
    Chelsea. I also feel pretty certain that if no one buys Ba now, Man U
    will buy him in the summer, seeing how long they've been coveting
    Benzema. Louis Saha was pretty similar in his prime too. Martinez and
    De Jong have the tools to become Van Persie like strikers, but they're
    nowhere near the finished article - they could become Kuyts, but no
    Llorente for me, we do not need another Carroll!

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  13. Kennys got it wrong. Bought wrong players and it's showing. We are terrible and can't unlock basic defences. No goalscorers in our squad. Need to buy

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  14. who do you propose pays for those players

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  15. suarez???? oh forgot hes had a terrible season and cant hit a barn door.
    the players have let kenny and the club down (new players)
    not enrique

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  16. Aside from Suarez, Enrique and Bellamy all Kenny's buys have been shocking. Overpriced and lacking technique.

    Compare Liverpool's style of football to that of Spurs, Arsenal, Man United or Swansea.

    No pace, skill or technique after 100m plus expenditure in the last 12 months.

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  17. Bang on mate. Carroll has looked slightly better every game he has played (maybe not yesterday) and I think it is only time before he makes an impact. That aside we desperately need someone but I honestly think money has been capped for the time being. The Americans aren't stupid, they can see has happened and may now only release funds in the summer. And as for all these names being thrown around, I won't name them as there are too many, people need to get real and realise that these players will only consider liverpool when we have secured champions league.

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  18. wats the point in signing him, we cant give andy carroll the chances with any decent crosses etc (only a few from stevie g)
    before you start telling me hes as good on the ground as he is in there air, he is hardly going to be bursting with pace.

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  19. Hay que traer jugadores de la cantera. ellos sentiran el amor por la camista.

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  20. We have to bring youth players. They will feel the love for the Jerseys.

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  21. i will agree with a fellow who said if the 20m we spent on a midfilder for the future could have been spent on a high profile striker back then things would have been different....why sell raul,why loan aquaman top quality players...this shows and proves that what lfc needs now is a top class manager...lets agree kenny will always be a legend....so we just have to tell him to step down with all the respect...and let us get a world class manager,one who will do the right signings,one who knows how to organize a team...get us a striker or your out......

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  22. Mike Judithroberts12:22 am, January 16, 2012

    All this talk about players won't come to Liverpool because we are not in Europe or we are not looking likely to qualify for the Champions league is a load of old tosh!
    It's about MONEY ! If we offered stupid money to other clubs for Top players like Hazard, Ozil , Bale ..... And many more then those clubs WOULD SELL!!! Also the players would want stupid money like man city offered to there star players when they were not in Europe! We as a club need to up our game and smash the barrier down on wages . We need to throw money at this problem because bogging else seems to work .
    Years ago we all agreed that money wouldn't buy you a title..... Well that changed a long long time ago as we have seen Jack walker do it for Blackburn in 1995, Chelsea do it in the last few years and now Man city are doing it.
    We have the money and the backing to do this. If we don't then we are going to be holding on to olden day principles that the club had 40-50 years ago that don't work anymore.
    Liverpool Football Club needs to be draged kicking and screaming into the present day of money and greed .... If we don't then we will continue the slid down the table, and only talk about what we used to win. Let's be honest we haven't win the title since 1990-1991. That's 22 years ... And there is no sign what so ever of us threatening to make 19 titles.
    The answer is this. Spend at least £200 million and offer the players we want £150,000 - £200,000 per week . Build a new stadium at least 75,000 -80,000 (which would be filled every week with our fan base) and watch the club become the biggest and best team in world football.

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  23. I know mate your right. The thread about our formation is embarrassing. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion but some people really shouldn't bother. We're improving, have lost 4 games all season and aren't that far off the top four despite our form. I think people seem to think we're entitled to beat everyone we play. Chelsea have had loads spent on them and look where they are? And Arsenal have had years of consistency and look where they are. We've had the same manager for a year and 100 mil spent and everyone expects top 4 and us to be smashing teams apart. But apart from City, who is?

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  24. Im gonna go against the stream here. On the contrary i think kd has done an amazing job. its a new look liverpool, rarely do you see the opposition dominating possesion or dictating the play apart from the tottenham 0-4 game. 66% possesion against city in the league and earned a well deserved away win in the cup against them - knocked out chelsea in the same competition and i have to say i am confident about our manurd fixture in the fa cup. the only thing missing from the equation is goals and more importantly to convert our chances, but how on earth is that kds fault that we dont? In adam downing and henderson he signed the players that created the most chances last season. theyre still creating the chances apart from the odd gamw but nobody is putting them away, suarez with 5league goals to his name is not good enough in my book both he and carroll needs to improve but we're playing to the strenghts of suarez so how will andy ever improve

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  25. At last. a rich man's Fernando Torres.

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  26. I still think we could do with just about any striker to be honest! It is getting so bad, I'm on the verge of joining the 'Play the kids' mob (not to be confused with the 'Play with kids' mob, NAMBLA, which will see you get more negative press than Luis Suarez). I think until we get someone we should put all our eggs in the Carroll basket, for better or worse.

    Llorente is a more complete player than Carroll and for that reason, I would support his signing (it isn't my money, right!?) but we should learn from this saga and get someone who can recreate the Forlan/Suarez combo. Remy could be good because he is quick and can head the ball (6 headers scored this season apparently). Wouldn't cost mega bucks either.

    Some of your equations don't really match up in my opinion. Ibra is pretty different to a Dzeko or Drogba, he is only a 'big man' in terms of his size, not his play. That isn't to say Drogba or Dzeko are 'big men' in the Carroll sense either but aerial play is a big part of their games. Cavani is more in the Drogba/Dzeko mould than Ibra and more han he is a Soldado, Forlan, Eto'o type.

    Suarez is more of a Tevez, Lavezzi ie. scrappy South American forward with skill who creates as much/more than he scores. We want to avoid these types (excellent as they are).

    Sheva and Torres have similarities but neither Aguero nor Higuain resemble each other or the other two particularly closely. I think Higuain would actually provide a very good foil for Suarez but would personally like some more raw pace than Higuain has because it would help to get some in the team. Pazzini would have been good if we got him before we went to Inter, though he lacks big pace too.

    Castaignos, from what I've seen, looks a great prospect but I think we've missed the boat on him and we could do with someone at least semi-proven (proven over a decent period in a lesser league like Remy or Wolfswinkel).

    At the end of the day (sign of a brilliant point about to be made), the perfect foil for Suarez would be Torres. I'd still take him back! I'd take him back on the off chance that he might come good for Chelsea which would be the realisation of some of my worst nightmares. Not my very worst though, they involve walking in on a menage a trois with Suarez, Gerrard and Fergie and seeing a pair of signed contracts at the foot of the bed.

    I trust that covers everything.

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  27. our fate has been written.
    what we can do without a good striker.alas....!

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  28. DALGLISH WILL NEVER BUY OTHER PLAYERS THAN ENGLISH (FACT)

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  29. We have gone backwards, not improved, since our form of the second half of last season where we were really good. Our form is nowhere near as good as that part of last season. 'improving'? hah

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  30. Cavani can also play out wide too. 4-3-3 with interchanging forwards would be good to see but unlikely to happen under KK.

    We really ballsed up in not going for him as we had Suarez already, but no, we had to go for Carroll. 

    I doubt Cavani would have cost much more than Carroll.

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  31. they will buy some shitty englishmann and stay nr 7 at the table.shitty players shitty team.

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  32. Are you kidding me? We can't have a guy called Negredo in our team. What if Suarez call's his name because he wants the ball.
    "Negredo pass the ball, Negredo! Negredo! Come on Negredo!"
    He will be suspended for a year.

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  33. But I'm comparing our form to the beginning of last season, and the second half of this season I will compare it to last season and I'll wait and see where we are at the end of it rather then call for Kennys head after half a season. If we where playing awful an being steamrolled by teams I could understand but we aren't. Our defence is better, we're controlling games. In fact the only thing that has gone backwards is our finishing of chances, because we're still creating-bar the Stoke game where we didn't create much. I find it crazy that the same fans who at the back end of last season thought Kenny was the messiah, are now calling for his head. Really really fickle and I find it embarrassing to be honest.

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  34. He will, on championship manager 2012.

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  35. I think Kenny was responsible for Bellamy and Carroll, possibly Downing, however, Suarez, Enrique, Henderson and Adam look like Comolli buys.

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  36. This Fernando Torres, Mark 11. Get him at all costs and forget Bent and Defoe. They are all poor man's Fernando Torres.

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  37. We've got more skill and technique than Spurs and Man U, so does Swansea. It's pace our squad doesn't seem to exhibit, but our players don't play that way. In Agger, Johnson, Enrique, Downing, Henderson and Bellamy we do have very pacy players, but the dominant pressing style our team plays does not create the spaces for these players to utilise their pace. If we aren't playing a big team, our boys have nowhere to run. Our attackers are never released and we remain pointlessly compact too often.

    If there's any signing that's about right to point a finger at right now, it's not one of our underperformers, it's Adam who's actually been okay. Adam has been great with picking passes and passes well, but he can't control tempo, which is what our play currently demands right now. Although Lucas hasn't got Adam's range of passing, he used movement to control our tempo, which allowed Adam to do what he does best. Our underperformers like Downing and Henderson aren't going to take the initiative to make things happen, but they have qualities the team can make use of, so it is up to one of our central midfielders to play them in. Most of Spurs' players aren't very gifted, they're just ridiculously fast(Bale, Walker, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Adebayor, Defoe) but Modric is a master at playing them in. If we kept Aquilani, he could make Carroll, Downing and Henderson look very good and money well spent.

    Our players do indeed have the quality, and it shows in how much possession and completed passes we have from match to match. The amount of shots we have also highlight we aren't short of creativity in the final third. The problem is we are headless as a team, and if you want to compare us to Arsenal, they aren't very different - but they do have more skill. They only seem to be doing better because they have 1(2 for these 2 months) very good finisher(s). Take Van Persie out and they'd probably win less than we do, and maybe even lose more!

    Compared to Man U, once again, we beat them hands down for skill and technique. They only have 3 world class players currently fit and firing in Chicharito, Rooney and Nani. They typically play worse football than a mid-table club, and yet they win almost everytime, but that is down neither to skill nor technique. Their collective sense of timing as a team is possibly the best in the league. When they counter attack, they truly make it count by having at least 3 pacy players advancing together. I don't think Valencia nor Young are any better than Downing and it shows when United aren't on the counter. The key difference between us and them here is that when we counter, it is often with only 1 player, and the support only arrives with the rest of the opponent's backline. We are better equipped than Man U to beat a team like Barcelona or AC Milan, but Man U has a certain understanding throughout their team that allows them to consistently win even without bettering their opponents in the league. We Pwn3d Norwich at Anfield and dropped 2 points. The same Norwich outplayed Man U at OT and left with nothing.

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  38. It is the fault of the coaching team to neglect drilling our players in effective counter-attacking and getting enough bodies into the opponents' 6 yard box when it matters and out of the 18 yard box when there are too many bodies there. When this happens, we will be getting goals for the fun of it.

    Our squad is being geared towards playing a more organic game based on intuition and natural ability, which is the way Barca and Arsenal do it. It is very obvious in the way our boys play and it certainly makes them highly entertaining to watch again, however, most of our players don't have the right balance between technical ability and footballing vision, or if they do, the right belief.

    What our situation is looking like to me is that the 1st team is restyling itself on the reserve squad and hoping to make it a success before our kids get dropped in. With the players we've got, with their individual stats, a little more discipline a la Rafa or Mourinho would certainly see us winning more games, but we only see that in our defense. Our attacks are undrilled and uncoordinated and that makes them ineffective. Our reserves had passed through the youth academy being taught how use the ball intelligently and therefore don't need that level of discipline.

    Our senior players have not been raised to use the ball intelligently and those who do possess the know-how by virtue of natural talent. If we want Downing, Carroll or Henderson to do well, perhaps they need to be told exactly how they should be playing and put through the necessary rehearsals - is this not the responsibility of the coaching staff? Of course, the players are now enjoying their football and it shows and this is credit to Kenny, but maybe he cuts them too much slack.

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