Reds fans are desperate for Liverpool to sign another striker in January, and with the team only four points off the Champions League places, things are perfectly poised for the club to climb the table over the next couple of months. Whether Liverpool can make it into the top four remains to be be seen, but scoring lots of goals will certainly make that more of a possibility, and ex-Reds striker Neil Mellor has urged FSG to pull out all the stops and sign one of Spain's top marksmen.
Discussing Liverpool's striker situation on LFC TV, Mellor - who scored some vital goals during his Anfield career - said:
"He’s out of contract, and he would be expensive when it comes to personal terms, but I would love to see [Fernando] Llorente at Liverpool".
Luis Suarez has scored 13 goals for Liverpool this season in the central striker's role, so if Llorente came in, where would that leave the Uruguayan. Mellor continued:
"I would play Luis Suarez behind him; he doesn’t get into the box enough anyway, so I’d play Llorente in there and have Suarez floating around the edge of the box making runs".
The Spaniard - nickname 'El Rey León' (The Lion King) by Bilbao's fans - is definitely leaving the club, as he confirmed last week:
"Yes, I'm leaving on June 30. I want to try other things. Let it be clearly stated - it is not an economic issue. Athletic's offer was irresistible"
Llorente's current deal contains a €36m (£29m), and given the striker's obvious value, it seems unthinkable that Bilbao will let him leave for nothing next summer. What kind of financial sense would that make? Despite Bilbao manager Marco Bielsa's insistence yesterday that Llorente 'will not leave in January', if a decent offer comes in for the player, surely they'd have to take it?
It's no secret that the Reds are long-term admirers of the Spanish star, and Llorente himself confirmed earlier in the year that representatives from Anfield 'came to Bilbao' to negotiate a possible transfer.
Llorente got 30 goals for Bilbao last season, and despite making only 5 starts this season, he's still managed to grab two goals and two assists. If Liverpool can finish in the top four this season, which I personally feel is definitely possible, then Llorente could be a very viable target, especially if he's free.
Suarez has proved for both Ajax and Uruguay that he can thrive playing off a main striker. Indeed, between 2007 and 2009, Suarez and Klass Jan Huntelaar grabbed over 125 goals/assists between them.
Rodgers has an important decision to make in January: if he decides to go for wide players instead of an out-and-out goalscorer, it will be a massive mistake IMO. Yes, Suarez is scored goals this season, but he's also just gone 5 games without scoring, and as good as he is, the club needs another striker to plug those costly gaps when they arise.
On a different note, Mellor will always be remembered for some vital contributions, especially the following:
Last-minute winner v Arsenal:
Goal vs. Olympiakos:
Assist for Gerrard's wonder-goal:
Jaimie Kanwar
Discussing Liverpool's striker situation on LFC TV, Mellor - who scored some vital goals during his Anfield career - said:
"He’s out of contract, and he would be expensive when it comes to personal terms, but I would love to see [Fernando] Llorente at Liverpool".
Luis Suarez has scored 13 goals for Liverpool this season in the central striker's role, so if Llorente came in, where would that leave the Uruguayan. Mellor continued:
"I would play Luis Suarez behind him; he doesn’t get into the box enough anyway, so I’d play Llorente in there and have Suarez floating around the edge of the box making runs".
The Spaniard - nickname 'El Rey León' (The Lion King) by Bilbao's fans - is definitely leaving the club, as he confirmed last week:
"Yes, I'm leaving on June 30. I want to try other things. Let it be clearly stated - it is not an economic issue. Athletic's offer was irresistible"
Llorente's current deal contains a €36m (£29m), and given the striker's obvious value, it seems unthinkable that Bilbao will let him leave for nothing next summer. What kind of financial sense would that make? Despite Bilbao manager Marco Bielsa's insistence yesterday that Llorente 'will not leave in January', if a decent offer comes in for the player, surely they'd have to take it?
It's no secret that the Reds are long-term admirers of the Spanish star, and Llorente himself confirmed earlier in the year that representatives from Anfield 'came to Bilbao' to negotiate a possible transfer.
Llorente got 30 goals for Bilbao last season, and despite making only 5 starts this season, he's still managed to grab two goals and two assists. If Liverpool can finish in the top four this season, which I personally feel is definitely possible, then Llorente could be a very viable target, especially if he's free.
Suarez has proved for both Ajax and Uruguay that he can thrive playing off a main striker. Indeed, between 2007 and 2009, Suarez and Klass Jan Huntelaar grabbed over 125 goals/assists between them.
Rodgers has an important decision to make in January: if he decides to go for wide players instead of an out-and-out goalscorer, it will be a massive mistake IMO. Yes, Suarez is scored goals this season, but he's also just gone 5 games without scoring, and as good as he is, the club needs another striker to plug those costly gaps when they arise.
On a different note, Mellor will always be remembered for some vital contributions, especially the following:
Last-minute winner v Arsenal:
Goal vs. Olympiakos:
Assist for Gerrard's wonder-goal:
Jaimie Kanwar
The fact that Suarez and Huntelarr have scored 125 goals between them in two years proves that they can work well together. Liverpool need to sign good players coming this transfer window, we can't afford to waste money on another Caroll, Adam or Downing. Thats way I'll prefer the former Madrid man
ReplyDeleteLlorente or Huntelaar..... both are proven and consistent... Can't work out the sturridge link, he's been pants all season.... We need top quality....
ReplyDeleteWhy has he only made 5 starts? Injury?
ReplyDeleteHe proved last season he is a weapon up front. Something I have noticed about Liverpool is despite all the talk about passing we do attempt a good few crosses and having someone like Llorente on the end of them could be good.
I totally agree! Sell Downing 10m, Henderson 10m, Carroll 15m, Cole free...
ReplyDeleteBuy: Falcao 35m, Erikson 20m, Diame 8m & Ba 7m!
Net cost 35m and a team that can change accordingly to what is happening at the time of a game! Not to mention resting players! This would ignite us to not only top 4 but fighting for 3rd this year and competing for the title next season!
he mite sign if all he cares about his money and fsg pay him enougth but i fear he will want tropheys
ReplyDeleteReally hope the prevailing rumours about sturridge are wrong, dont want us to sign this guy
ReplyDeleteon another note nice to see fulham drop there charges against lfc after our chairman admits that they were totally out of order and under handed,how far will we drop under this regime the mind boggles ,and were talking about a player of Llorents calibiar i do not think so
ReplyDeleteagree total waste of time and money
ReplyDeleteand messi and pigs mite fly
ReplyDeletemite have something to do with sturridge being pants to has why were linked to him because thats the type of signing we have to look at players the big clubs do not want
ReplyDeleteJust like former red Neil Meilor I like Llorente at Liverpool ofcourse. Anybody with an active pulse knows what this player is capable of. He is a target forward who is physically strong and can hold up the ball till help arrives when needed. Being Spanish means that Llorente would posses great technical control on the ball. If Rodgers can pull this off he would go down as one of the greatest managers in recent history for the club. Unfortunately Liverpool doesn't compete well with other big clubs when it comes to signing players. We are good at paying a lot for players nobody wants but not paying a lot for players everybody wants.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hunterlaar it would seem that we have already lost the battle for his signature to Arsenal. The players representatives are stating that the player is hoping to go to Arsenal. The Dutchman is in fine form at the moment and I believe would work well with Suarez since they scored 125 goals between them between 2007 and 2009. Unfortunatley I believe that Sturridge might be the best we can do this window. So sadly Liverpool should not build up hope for a prolific striker like Llorente or Hunterlaar this January. Not unless FSG has a change of heart in their spending policy.
Sturridge might be a masterstroke, but we can't afford to take a risk here. There's no way Falcao would come to LFC, whoever said buy him must be on something. But Llorente/Huntelaar/Ba etc- I don't see why not if we win our next few games and are in contention for 4th by January. Don't forget we have £18m coming for Carroll, plus loser a big earner as W Ham are not going down this year...
ReplyDeletei love the way we are constantly linked with players that are nicknamed 'el' something or other. the only 'el' i want us to sign is an 'el of a good player' who scores an 'el of a lot of goals' !!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSaid publicly he wants to leave, that is kind of a punishment from the club.
ReplyDeleteIf things were that simple...
ReplyDeleteSteven. I wld take it that u r not a true liverpuldian and you just stumbled on this site. And u decided to comment. Or you have been playing fm2012 as a man city coach for too long. This is liverpool, owned by FSG. If you don't know what that means. I would explain. Small cash injection, large results. Besdes I stl believe we shld stl hld on 2 cole for now.
ReplyDeleteI think he's too similar to Carroll in terms of stature and physical characteristics, I don't see why Rodgers would be interested in buying him otherwise he'd of persisted with Carroll and hoped he'd of reached his potential. Of course, he has got a good record of scoring goals but I'm not convinced Rodgers would be interested. A more mobile striker like Bony seems a more likely and tactical acquisition
ReplyDeleteIf he wants a trophy in May- he shouldn't come, if he wants to wait till next- we can make it happen, plus cl football.
ReplyDeleteaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. Ever watched him?
ReplyDeleteJust tired of people saying he doesn't have pace or can't score by foot and comparing him to Carroll?!?
If FSG spent money more wisely then the team suggested is a real possibility!
ReplyDeleteBa has a buy-out clause at 7.5m
Diame has on similar due to free transfer to hammers!
Erikson favours EPL move and can be bought at 20m
Falcao will be sold for 35m!
The players I look at would fight for titles not mid table with Sturridge and Ince who I might add KD sold for 250k lol!
What a joke!
Would love Llorente here. Got the technical ability to play in our style, as illustrated last season at Bilbao where they play a even quicker variation of the style we play.
ReplyDeleteHe is far far far better than Carroll when it comes to technical ability, bringing others into the game as a target man as well as working hard off the ball to close down. Yep, scored quite a few goals from crosses last season but if you watched Bilbao last season, short passing was the majority of their very technical playing style and Llorente fitted in fine, more than fine. You don't get picked by Spain if you aren't technically good. Very good in a short passing game for a big man.
ReplyDeleteRodgers bought Danny Graham at Swansea, used as the main striker and he was hardly what I would call mobile. So I wouldn't rule out a technically good big man just yet.
Only problem is with his contract up in the summer, all any team needs to do is agree personal terms on Jan 1st and he'll be their's and there is nothing Bilbao can do about it. If I was Rogers I would either a) make sure that I'm the team to put a good offer on the table Jan 1 (in 20 days) or b) agree a fee with Bilbao now and personal terms with the player before Jan 1st because there is no way that a player of Bilbao's quality will fall into our laps. BR needs to send people to Bilbao and get this sorted out because there are a lot of clubs interested in aquiring strikers. Striker this good don't run out their contracts and if BR sleeps on a deal like this, it will be, imo, equivalent to the transfer blunder of the year when he loaned out Caroll w/out a replacement
ReplyDeleteTrue, but he's not getting any younger either.
ReplyDeleteHe is 27, twenty-bloody-seven. 27 is hardly OAP stage in a player's career and throw in his contract situation, got a potentially very good signing for a player that is coming into the prime of his career. Llorente has gotten better with age. Drogba was still proving wonderfully useful for Chelsea into his early 30s. Van Persie isn't getting any younger either and he is doing alright to say the least. So I don't agree at all with the possible implied notion that Llorente is too old, whether it be from you or Rodgers.
ReplyDeletei think falcao will be more than 35mil plus you will need the rest of the money for his wage demands.
ReplyDelete