15 Nov 2012

It's serious! LFC send Academy Chief to watch coveted €6m 'English Messi'. Bid?

In September, Blackpool winger -and former Liverpool youth player - Thomas Ince admitted that he was glad he left Anfield in 2011, and explained that he'd rather take a risk at a smaller club than 'sign a 4-year deal and not play'. Ince's move to the Seasiders has worked out fantastically well, but Liverpool could be on the verge of a January bod to bring the 20 year old back to Anfield.

According to The Mirror:

"Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is ready to bring Thomas Ince back to Liverpool, just over a year after the 20-year-old was given away.

"Liverpool lead the hunt, and Rodgers is keen to do a deal for the young England star – son of former Anfield midfielder Paul – and is lining up a £5m (€6.2m) offer".


The club are clearly serious about a deal - Academy Director Frank McParland went to watch Ince play for England's Under-21s in their win over Northern Ireland at Blackpool on Tuesday.

Ince - dubiously labelled the 'English Messi' - grabbed 16 goals and assists in 29 starts for Blackpool last season, which is a great return for a 20 year old, and if not for a cruel late goal in the play-off final, the youngster could've been playing against Liverpool in the Premier League this season.

Ince is doing well this season too, grabbing a creditable 9 goals and 6 assists in 14 games so far, a return that has also attracted the attention of Manchester United.

Many Liverpool fans feel that the club let Ince go too early, but the reality is it was his choice to leave, and the youngster has no regrets about doing so. He observed:

"I worked with some great people [at Liverpool] like Steve Heighway and Hughie MacAuley and I had a great schooling, but I didn’t want to sign a four-year deal and not play.

"Blackpool gave me the stage to play regularly and I haven’t looked back. It was only right I put my faith in Blackpool because they had put their faith in me. They have helped me become the player I am and they are the reason I have got this chance with England."


In an Interview a few weeks ago, former Blackpool manager Ian Holloway - who also signed Reds midfielder Jonjo Shelvey on loan last season - revealed some further details about why Ince left Anfield. He explained:

"What held him [Ince] back was he went to a club [Liverpool] that had an academy and there was no way through. He got fed up with that so he came and learnt his trade here.

"God knows what he could do with one of their [Liverpool's] shirts on now. He has been absolutely unplayable for us and has been outstanding in such a short period of time.


It took some guts to leave a massive club like Liverpool, but I'm sure if the chance to return arose, Ince would take it, and this time, he would almost certainly get games in the first team.

Should LFC try and bring him back?



Jaimie Kanwar


28 comments:

  1. If they do, then they are stupid. Mainly because we let him go for free. We could have at least loaned him out.
    This is why the club is lingering in mid table, because they are constantly allowing people to take the p!ss out of them in transfer market.
    No way would I sign him for £6 million, purely because it would make Liverpool look like a joke.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry but it would be ridiculous!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. he'll go to a bigger club than liverpool probably man utd or newcastle

    ReplyDelete
  4. He does'n't look too startling in this video???

    ReplyDelete
  5. poor video of him to be fair the lad is a different class and getting better and better every week brilliant skill direct good finish and creates a lot of goalscoring opportunities

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not good enough to feature in KK's plans but now BR is doing a U-turn to buy him back?

    ReplyDelete
  7. we shud bring him in.together with carlton cole or austin for striker

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sterling is the 'English Messi'. Mark my words - he will be one of the best of his generation worldwide.

    Ince is not a priority for us - we hae enough young players. Now, we need, er... players.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We did not let him go - he was free to leave and did so.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't believe the hype about this guy, he is just an average footballer, who can make it in premier league but don't think he is good enough to be a top player.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 6 million plus Joe Allen would be worth it

    ReplyDelete
  12. Why did we let Ince go but keep (albeit he's on loan) Spearing?? Personally, this is another sad indictment on KD's regime! To think Suso was also going to leave!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Liverpool are entitled to 35% of any fee Blackpool get

    ReplyDelete
  14. no we need allen who else can pass back with such consistancy in the lfc team its a art you know so i keep getting told of fellow posters if we did not have allen we mite get someone who attempts to go forward heaven forbid

    ReplyDelete
  15. because he thought he was better than us hes like his dad a bighead kn&b him and rodgers would have trouble getting into the changing room with the size of there heads

    ReplyDelete
  16. agreed.ibelive west ham have a big target man worth a bid in jan?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Bring him back !. We all make mistakes; he's young, fast, lots of skill, hungrey and fits BR approach and criteria.

    ReplyDelete
  18. English Messi? what a joke, Sterling will be 3 times the player he is in a seasons time. And last time I checked Ince had the attitude of a stuck up pre madonna. He doesnt track back and never did give his all for his team....that's exactly the opposite to Messi. I would rather pay 5m for Nathan Dyer tbh atleast he will try his best and he is in amazing form and can count himself unlucky not to be called up by England.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I agree with the last part; Nathan Dyer has been great for the last few seasons for Swansea. He should have been capped by now !.

    ReplyDelete
  20. No point in bringin him back only to watch him sulk because he plays twenty matches in stead of fourty every season. His dad had an attitude problem of being too lazy to put up a fight and obviously, from his decision to step down a league, he does as well. Look at Suso, the guy is fourteen times as talented and he stayed to fight for his place because he knew he was good enough. Ince left to look like a player in the Championship at a small club but he'll be quickly found out when he joins the Premiership and gets kicked about every week. We shouldn't not buy him because we would look foolish, we should not buy him because in spite of his obvious talent, he doesn't have the mentality to deal with being at a big club like Liverpool. If you want a Messi, no need to look further than Younes Belhanda at Montpellier.

    Belhanda, Jelle Vossen, Alvaro Pereira, Ratkitskiy in January and Cavani for the big wammy in the summer. What? No Ingurland players? Emm, no.

    ReplyDelete
  21. He's very overrated, but 5m would be an ok price for him. Wouldn't go over that for him as there are better players than him on the continent.

    ReplyDelete
  22. He is great in the championship still not good enough for Liverpool as a club we need more proven players and Ince does not fit the bill.
    As for the English Messi bit lol.

    ReplyDelete
  23. As good as 9 years old Messi...

    ReplyDelete
  24. He's mediocre. Good in spells in the Championship. McParland wasn't there watching him though. He was watching Henderson, Robinson and Wisdom. Supporting our own players.

    ReplyDelete