1 Nov 2012

'He's dying to join the others!' - €20m 48-goal star is LFC's 'number one target'...

Schalke recently conceded that star striker Klass Jan Huntelaar could leave in the January transfer window, and with various teams (including Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United) linked with the prolific striker, there will be no shortage of suitors if he decides not to sign a new contract with the Bundesliga club. Huntelaar continues to stall on signing a new deal, and one Dutch football expert is convinced that the 30-year old marksman will be playing in the Premier League sooner rather than later.

According to reports in Holland, Huntelaar is Brendan Rodgers' 'number one transfer target', and in a recent interview with TalkSport, Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan revealed that the player is desperate to move to England. He said:

"You will definitely see Huntelaar in the Premier League in a year’s time. He’s dying to join the others, and he only wants to be in one place, and that’s England".

The Reds were strongly linked with a loan move for Huntelaar during the short-lived reign of Roy Hodgson, but a deal could not be agreed at the time. Speculation arose again during the summer, but on transfer deadline day, Brendan Rodgers specifically ruled out the possibility of signing the Dutch International.

In an interview with Bild in July, Heldt revealed Huntelaar's buy out clause:

"Huntelaar has a €20m buyout clause in his contract, and rich clubs can afford it"

£16m for a player who grabbed 48 goals and 10 assists last season and has a history of scoring goals wherever he goes? That seems fairly reasonable to me, but given the current market, it's unlikely Schalke would achieve that price for Huntelaar. Some stats:

* 48 goals and 10 assists last season
* 194 goals over the last 7 season
* Averages 28 goals a season
* Last season: Goal every 96 mins (league)
* Last season: Goal or assist every 76 minutes (league)
* This season: 7 goals/4 assists in 13 games
* 58% conversion rate

Quite simply, Huntelaar guarantees goals. Whether he would want to make the move to Anfield is another story, but it's got to be worth a shot, surely? The Dutchman is a natural goalscorer, and despite the constant stories circulating that Liverpool don't have any money to spend, I believe FSG would sanction a deal for the right player, and Huntelaar arguably fits into that category.

A reunion with Luis Suarez is an exciting prospect to consider. At Ajax between 2007 and 2009, Suarez and Huntelaar grabbed over 125 goals/assists between them (!)



Jaimie Kanwar


77 comments:

  1. I think he will fail at LFC. In fact, am sure of it.

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  2. doesnt his contract run ou in the summer? if so he should be lot cheaper

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  3. Your mental if you think he will fail, he will be the goal machine we desperately need, the guy is class and we need him desperately

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  4. apparently he could be available for as little as £5 million, which means we will probably go in at about £750.000 cos thats how we roll lol

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  5. In the summer he's a free agent!!! Why would anyone pay £16m in January for a player they can get for nothing in the summer???

    No doubt he's a good player and would be a great addition but he's 30, we'd probably only get 2 decent seasons out of him as he has hit his peak in his career now...

    Rocky

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  6. on what basis would you say that, your "sixth sense?" lol!

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  7. he's 30 years old - how does that fit into the FSG buying policy? No sell on value.

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  8. His last season was excellent, but his form has suffered this season. He seems a bit out of sorts. I don't think I would want us to spend any more than 8 million on a 30 year old who is starting to lose his edge no matter how good of a career he has had in the past.
    I am a bit envious of teams like Necastle, Everton and Swansea who seem to be able to find young gems at decent prices. I think that has to be the ambition and I wouldn't change that policy.

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  9. Ahhhh.... the power of positive thinking.

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  10. 16 million for a 30 year old

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  11. Huntelaar currently plays Champions League football a highly unlikely scenario under Clodagh Rodgers

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  12. americans out we dont want u for lfc to to b able to compete we need billinaire owners end of story fed up wiv wishing this to happen.

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  13. John Henry is a billionaire, he is just a sensible/tight one

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  14. We could not come up with 6ml for 27 year old Dempsey, I doubt we would come up with 16ml for 29 year old Huntelaar.

    We might get some good 4 years from him but at 16ml, that's a bit too much. I wouldn't mind if he was 26-27 years old, but at 29, that's already two years into his prime which means two less years of top notch service for us.

    What we really need is a pacy striker like Torres in his prime. I doubt Huntelaar would manage to play at such level for more than two years. I am pretty sure that if we manage to find a pacy lethal striker like Torres was, we would be in a much better position because right now, our play is (generally speaking) dynamic everywhere apart from upfront. Like Rodgers said after the Swansea game, we cannot always rely on Suarez upfront, and personally, I would rather have a player who can compliment Suarez upfront rather than be his clone in reserve, because it would give us much more tactical options.

    Right now, our attacking options look like this:
    1) Suarez who can unlock stubborn defences
    2) Joe Cole who is able to do a similar job to Suarez but never plays well.
    3) Borini who is a good goal poacher in the mould of Inzaghi but who is currently out injured and has not yet settled in.
    4) Pacheco who looked good against West Brom but is never given a fair run of games and needs a physical supporting attacker to bring the best out of him. (similar to Owen-Heskey relationship)
    5) Yesil who knows where to stand to score goals but is out of sync with our lack of dynamic attacking play and definitely needs more tactical awareness and game-experience.
    6) Morgan who also knows where to stand to bundle in the goals but lacks experience and like Yesil, he needs to understand how to make things happen upfront by digging in deep when needed. Obviously, this requires effort from his team mates to be constantly on the move, something which all our attacking players seem to lack apart from Suarez and Assaidi.

    Analysing our squad, it is clear that we lack a pacy striker who can bang the goals in whatever way necessary like Torres used to do.

    It would also be useful if we could get our midfield players to get into more goal scoring positions. It seems like they all prefer to defend rather than flood the box like Man.UTD and bundle that goal in. In recent games, Shelvey has taken his goals out of his game and reduced himself to a reliable but uninspiring midfielder. He needs to find that back ASAP!

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  15. My, what an obscure reference.

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  16. If he is truly that good, he will go to the club that can offer him the chance to win something in England. failing this, he will put his dick turpin mask on and rape liverpool for 150 000 a week. that is the only way he is coming to the pool. Unless he secretly loves liverpool and has supported them as a child, but that statement normally follows the £150 000 raping as he has to justify coming to liverpool instead of the others!!!

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  17. I know what you mean, but what 22 year-old with a similar pedigree and guarantee of goals is going to come to us at the moment? I'd be tempted to take the risk on this. If it fails, then it's not exactly our fault - we'd have bought him based on his talent, with a short-to-medium term fix.

    I totally understand that there are potential pitfalls, but name some alternatives for around the same price.

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  18. Jaimie, found this:

    http://www.nationalturk.com/en/klaas-jan-huntelaar-have-agreed-with-liverpool-for-the-transfer-season-re-open-epl-transfer-news-27445

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  19. Listien up to Red X, and Felderkirk and allow me to educate you. Liverpool senior management including our beloved manager Brendon Rodgers fucked up in the summer window for a lack of a better word. Plain and simple. Manager and owners had a breakdown in communication that saw Carroll loaned out with no-one else set to replace him.

    In the desperate last days of the window Rodgers tried to sign Allesandro Del Piero who is 37 years old and but Del Piero decided to go to Sydney FC instead turning us down due to the 1985 Heysel tradegy according to an article written by Hannah Duncan on September 6th, 2012 posted on the web site metro.co.uk. I have stated this fact before on a previous posting.

    What this means is that the owners and the manager due to Liverpool's present situation of finding it's self with only one recognized striker are willing to for go their policy of only bringing in younger players. John Henry in his open letter to the fans claims that he is not looking for a "quick fix," well the pursuit of Del Piero shows other wise. The Liverpool of the post Fabio Borini injury is willing to do business with older players provided they are in good goal scoring form.

    So to sum it all up you can believe that Klass Jan Hunterlaar is serious transfer target for Brendan Rodgers. This rumor is making the rounds and it also did in the summer but we all know that Dempsey was the real target then.

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  20. Exactly - and at 30 I can't see anyone paying more than £5 million for him

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  21. jimmyswinningmatches4:15 pm, November 01, 2012

    Go and get him...If ye got two good years out of him it'd be worth it. He could push Liverpool into a champion's league spot...About time we bought someone decent

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  22. To be honest we need the experience. I think he would do well for us, he is in the same mold as RVP IMO.

    And they are both 29.

    Would not mind seeing him a red shirt. There are not many upcoming world class strikers out there. Then again Ba and Cisse weren't a look at them now.

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  23. absolutely right man. he would be perfect for us, one of my dream signings, but i dont think we will get him, clubs like chelsea arsenal ... will offer him CL footbal, this is something a player at the age of 30 years wont get any more at LFC

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  24. would love us to finally close the chapter on the striker saga. For this position experience trumps age in by far. Hunterlaar just scored against Arsenal last week in champions league play so we know he is in fine form. We should be lucky if he is actually willing to forego champions league football to play for us. I am excited at the prospects of someone of his talent and pedigree leading the line for Liverpool. Right now the team is composed of two major recognized experienced respected talents and the rest considered upcoming talent. The Dutchman's inclusion will increase the number of experienced talents in the first team to three. If reports are indeed to believed about the pursuit of Hunterlaar then I can say that this is good news indeed. Let's get him. Hunterlaar might be considering Liverpool as an option due to some healthy endorsement from his compatriot Dirk Kuyt. Anyway you look at it would be the first major high profile signing at the club since we captured Suarez IMO.

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  25. get the money and bring him at lfc he's the right man for us

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  26. Yes...time to change clubs right? City and Chelsea are waiting for fans like you..

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  27. I take it you probably think we'd be better off going for Sturridge or Bent then? lol!!

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  28. Big signings are over at Anfield, all we'll be linked with are kids with potential, around 2-4 million, so they can sell them on for profit, also no champs league = average players, we'll just end up also-rans for years.

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  29. hate to agree but i have to say yes. Making a profit has been the underlying motivation for any deal that Liverpool has undertaken in the post Daglish era.

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  30. Personally, I'll prefer we go for either that PSV winger to play as our RF or we go for Hooper (Celtic) or we just got for both of them :-)...from watching all 3 play, I feel this 2 would be better options than Hunterlaar

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  31. His contract expires at the end of the season so the buyout clause is a non story really. I believe that we could get him for under 3 million . There will only be a few months on his contract and schalke will need to cash in . Quality player and proven goalscorer, excatly what LFC need. even if it would only be for a couple of seasons due to his age. Well worth the risk IMO.

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  32. Dear Santa,

    Yes bloomin please!

    I've been a good boy this year ;)

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  33. Huntelaar is the man for Liverpool without a doubt, Suarez & Huntelaar back together again would be amazing for Liverpool!

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  34. Sell-on value is immaterial if he provides the goals and confidence to the rest of theam to get us to CL. The CL money is then the "resale value" as we'll attract a better quality, younger group of players during transfer windows

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  35. what about suarez and a certain player who was on fire at the end of the season and got shit on from a great height by our new manager .

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  36. he failed at milan and before that madrid? big mistake

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  37. After what has gone on with the FA the PL media, againsLS and lfc,he'll feel like he is being led up the side of the volcano.

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  38. If any of the top 4 bid for him, he'll go there obviously over Liverpool.

    What incentives can Liverpool offer him? Football on Thursdays and Sundays - great.

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  39. I disagree I don't think pace is an issue, it's world class experience in finishing, guile in the box, etc we're missing.
    I think Huntelaar would get more game time at LFC than at other clubs, team up with pal Suarez, finish career writing some more history (hopefully).
    The experience he could give the youngsters in the striking dpt for at least 4 years would be invaluable too.
    It's a no brainer IMO.

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  40. Yeah i know what you mean. We dont have many young gems that we have got at decent prices. The only ones we have like that are Sterling, Suso, Shelvey, Wisdom, Flanno, Robbo, Yesil, Sinclair, Ibe, we definitely dont pick up many gems at decent prices!

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  41. It all depends on how hungry he is for games, at Liverpool we could almost certainly make him top dog, give him the playing time he would presumably need, and the challenge of taking the club back to the heights that it is used to. His goals will endear him to the Kop, and we know what players think of appreciative fans.

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  42. You mean like he was at Real Madrid or AC Milan? Whenever he has made a big move to a big club in a big league, he has frankly failed. He was a goal machine for Ajax and again for Schalke, but he wasn't for Real or for AC.

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  43. The Del Piero thing is fact because a journalist from the Metro created an article about it? The only way I'm going to believe it to be fact is if Rodgers states that he tried to sign him, not the media, who have been known in the past to fabricate stories. There was more than likely no pursuit of Del Piero and who is to say there is actually a pursuit of Huntelaar as well? This is something the media reports, but during the buildup to the transfer window and in the transfer window itself, the media links us with hundreds of players, Rodgers himself came out and said this and said he feels sympathy for the fans because of all the players linked to us and that they aren't even looking at 95% of the players linked to us. After all, the media didn't like us with Borini or Assaidi and we signed them.

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  44. Which is why we bought Allen for 15 million and Borini for 11 million. Both these signings made in the post Dalglish era as you say. Which has only been one transfer window mind you.

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  45. Oh and by the way, making a profit should be the underlying motivation in any deal made. Rafa's deals, majority of his key signings made a big profit

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  46. hes klass available in jan and hes a goal hunter lar, what more can we want?
    and all this nonsense about re-sale value £35mill for carrol how would anyone make profit on that, downing £20? liverpool and spurs are the only prem teams that are good enough for him and can promise him games and the wages he will want.

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  47. Proven goalscorer in the lesser leagues, as soon as he has signed with a big club in a big league, he has flattered to deceive.

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  48. The same reason why Brendan didn't get dempsey. Have luck explaining to FSG

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  49. He could be the final piece to a puzzle...goal scoring mentality is what we need. It makes sense to say he would succeed at Anfield since they create more chances than most teams in EPL (if not the most). And once we sort out the goal scoring issue our defence will become more settled. Since the best form of defence is attack :)

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  50. Get him... need clinical. plain and simple.

    Personally though... I'd break the bank for Falcao

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  51. You must have a bank to break at first place.

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  52. My issue is more with the 16ml tag. However taking into consideration your points about experience and guile, yes, he might be worth all that money and thinking about it now, it is very much one the things we need upfront with Kuyt, Bellamy and Maxi gone.

    For me, pace is an issue because we lack a dynamic, explosive attacking line capable of blindingly quick incisive passes. It's true that pace is not enough because you need game intelligence to pull this off as well, but it is a huge physical asset to have in Rodgers's footballing style. Evidence of this is him getting rid of Andy Carroll, who is more a target man rather than an out and out striker.

    I have been reading reports that we are interested in buying Walcott for a cut price of 8ml. That would be a much better deal long-term and potentially, a huge bargain which might save us money to buy players the type of Huntelaar in the future. Ideally, we would be able to get both, but that seems difficult.

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  53. We can only speculate what's in the coffers... Sell downing and Cole maybe sum up 10 mill... just need to come up with another 30 or so...

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  54. even if we sell 5 players, we can't buy him. His transfer cost 48mn....Agent money 6mn at least...Initial fee to player....4mn....wages 150-180k as he is best striker in the world after messi and ronaldo...
    No way

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  55. and you know this because you are the accountant for FSG?

    Look... Falcao is the ultimate buy. He's #1 on my wishlist is all.

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  56. Good, but wishlists are often far from reality. Am not an accountant but this are the normal fees for a top player.

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  57. Well... based on the fact that we spent 36 mill or whatever on andy Caroll, 2 mill on downing, 20 mill on hendo (sickening I know! as these figures could prob feed several 3rd world countries), why is it ridiculous to think that maybe there is something in the bank for Falcao?

    We have no idea of the bankroll of the club... they say they don't have money, but what people say and what people do is very seldom the same thing...

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  58. Alright bro. The eg you gave are probably the reason why our owners won't spend again. :)

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  59. probably... buuut you never know. Critical transfer window! bank-rollers must show some balls again...

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  60. That is because at Real he almost never starting. He still managed to score 8 times in 20 ''matches''. At Ac Milan he was put as a winger, something that is clearly not his position. At the Dutch team he scored 38 goals in 50 games.. He is a real striker and scores everywhere

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  61. The German League is nothing to be sniffed at. A survey last year found it that it was the second toughest league in Europe, second only to the Prem. It might not be as technical as the Spanish League, but when it comes to roughness there hardly is a better place to prepare yourself for a move to the Prem.

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  62. Paying 5m for a player who is free to discuss a move would be too much IMO.

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  63. If he'd score say 10-15 goals from January on for us, he'd sell a few shirts, too. Plus higher price money for a higher league finish. But you are right when it comes to sell-on value. Hope that FSG take other aspects into consideration as well.

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  64. Go support Man City, Chelsea or PSG then. Shanghai Shenhua are also looking for new supporters, I've heard.

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  65. Didn't know we went for Dempsey two years ago.

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  66. He could join a club that can offer him the chance to win something, right, but he can also join a club where he is a regular starter. He'd be really thick if he thought that he'd start ahead of Aguero, Teves, van Persie, Torres.

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  67. you and gaz obviously aint done your homework on this guy, so i need'nt really respond as matthew and anteater71 have already said what needs to be said.

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  68. i agree, but i would be happy to pay it if a rival moved in for him, we wnt be the only ones looking at him you can be certain of that.

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  69. he hardly got a game for madrid, and was played out of position for milan

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  70. Ok. He stated fact. You seem to just rant...so you need to check facts. Huntelaar is not a big club player. History proves it.

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  71. Yes, we probably won't be the only ones, but how many high profile clubs could tell him that he will be a regular starter. While we haven't qualified for the CL for a few years, our name still got a better sound than, say, Everton, when it comes to world-wide recognition.

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  72. so Ajax is a small club? his goals to games ratio at madrid is hardly poor, behave mate the stuff your coming out with should be in a joke book

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  73. i agree but by all accounts arsenal have an interest in him and he would get games there for definate, but we will see, hopefully come end of january he will be in the red of the pool

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  74. IF Ajax is a big club then we should not need Huntelaar, we already have Suarez..better scoring record at Ajax then him...LOL facts mate facts.

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  75. so he went thru a sticky patch this is one of the best players i have ever seen within a penalty box his positioning being in the rite place at the rite time is unbelievable. i think this move could be the missing piece in a team playing great football without gettin the rewards. i wouldnt see moving to anfield to have any pressure at all he would walk in and do a van persie

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  76. well said son his middle name is clinical!

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