1 Dec 2012

Transfer tragedy: Rafa Benitez claims he could've saved LFC £35m in fees...

Last week, beleaguered Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez revealed that he tried to sign wing-wizard Eden Hazard during his time at Anfield. The Belgian cost Chelsea a whopping £32m, but I'm sure most Reds fans would consider that to be better value that the £35m Kenny Dalglish wasted on Andy Carroll. Almost two years after FSG negligently sanctioned that catastrophic deal, Benitez has revealed that he almost signed the striker for free.

Speaking to Reporters on Friday, Benitez - whose Chelsea team lost 3-1 to West Ham earlier today - said:

“He [Carroll] played in the FA Youth Cup at Anfield in 2009 and we were watching him, a young player with power.

“It was an option [to sign him], and he was cheaper.

"Take the three off the £35m. And the five. It was quite cheap!”


Benitez's recollection is a little fuzzy; Liverpool didn't play Newcastle in the FA Youth Cup at any point in 2009. The game to which he refers took place on 20th March 2007, and Liverpool won 3-1.

At that point, Carroll was 18, and it sounds like Benitez is suggesting that he could've nabbed him for free, or for a nominal fee. Peer Crouch was at the club back then, so perhaps that's why Benitez decided against the signing?

To be honest, it would've been a much better to get Carroll back then; at least he could've been moulded into a different player, with better technique, balance and football intelligence. By the time Liverpool signed him at the age of 22, he'd already developed permanent bad habits.

Carroll suffered what Sam Allardyce described as a 'pretty severe' knee injury during the midweek defeat to Manchester United, and he'll be out for at least two months. It's a tragedy for Carroll, but if FSG had any cost-cutting designs on recalling him in January, that's no longer an options.

The club's owners now have no excuse whatsoever for not signing at least one striker in January.

< Jaimie Kanwar


31 comments:

  1. hunterlaar, bent or bony I would take any of the 3 in that order of preference

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  2. I wonder who will take the striking role against west ham or will we be playing the false 9 with shelvey up-front again that wasn't too bad last time as he did manage to score but I hope that morgan or pacheo can take the role with assaidi on the left and sterling on the right

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  3. its typical rafa..we could have signed jovetic,we could have signed distin,villa blah blah and now carroll..what about the money you wasted???take responsibiilty for that rather than keep talking about who you could have signed...

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  4. They may have no excuse but FSG have a few weeks yet to come up with one. Where they're concerned, since the Summer the balance sheet will always be put before the team sheet. Randy Lerner MK11

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  5. Not trying to be an arsehole here but it's good news that he's injured because every game he plays his value as a striker depreciates. His value as a defender and/or doorman rises though.

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  6. The way things are going, we're going to need Bony AND Clyde.....

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  7. and why is that good news means the club get less for him

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  8. i think they have already struck at the bank of fsg lol

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  9. if we could swap downing for bent would be good, because it seems that funds for crimbo window are sparse. Then if funds for summer are larger, a higher calibre of player can be acquired. Lot of the players will look at league standings and fob us off, unless they receive mercenary wages.

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  10. West ham wont cough up the reported £18 million anyway mate, by the time he leaves we will be lucky to get a tenner for him

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  11. Rafa this and Rafa that. He could have signed any player on the planet, but who cares. Shouldn't he concentrating on training his lot at Chelsea. First manager since don't know when to not win in his first three games in charge there. With those players at his disposal. Oh, almost forgot, he's told the world that they are not fit. Guess it went down pretty well with the overpaid prima donnas. Maybe these players are too good for Rafa to manage. He should sign Djimi Traore and get Igor Biscan out of retirement. He'd work wonders with them, fact.

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  12. Why blame FSG for King Kenny spunking 35 million notes on Andy carroll?

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  13. It wasn't Dalglish's money, was it? FSG signed off on the deal and ok'd the cash. Even someone with no knowledge of football should know that spending 35m on a player with only 6 months experience in the PL is utter negligence.

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  14. Don't be silly Jamie...that signing is Kenny Dalgish's fault and nobody else's!

    If FSG had not 'signed off' or 'OK'd' it as you put it then YOU would be criticising them for not backing 'king' kenny. You really just enjoy criticising, I know you'll come back with what you think is a 'smart' answer but you need to actually face the truth sometimes!

    Just stop trying to be clever and unnecessarily using 'big' words and you'll be much better off!

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  15. agree so what was the point of loaning him out and paying his wages if rodgers did not want him we should have just sold him and cut our losses imo i would have kept him for this season

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  16. Scouting properly helps, maybe we will learn that lesson???

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  17. It's great to see Benitez doing so badly, just like his miserable stint at Milan. All his supporters at Anfield must be wondering how this tactical genius manages to get it wrong so often. Keep losing Rafa!

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  18. hey Donut ....Most people convieniently forget that Camolli neg the deals for players not King Kenny and FSG appoint Camolli to make these deals .....Stop blaming KK for ALL liverpools problems ... DONUT

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  19. really tired for the KK bashing ....the man is a true Liverpool legend and has done more for the clubs than we all put together ...Firstly let forget that as a player and manager he has won us the League / F A and Champions League ...but he came back at Rafas request and help our in the Academy , helping us get players like Suso and sterling .....then he helped us when old Hoggies was sending us to the toliet and toke us for 13th place at one point up to 7th , that coupled with the fans demand made FSG keep him as manager but they did it grudgingly as they felt he was no the right guy ......forgetting he was the last manager to win us the league PLUS they put in CAMOLLI as DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL to make the transfers happen as per the WHOLE MONEYBALL BULLSHIT .....thats the reason why Carrol , Downing and hendo were signed and Camolli agreed the high fees ...

    King Kenny made mistakes last season but the football played was exciting and we got to 2 cup finals winning one and was on the road to recovery ....Its seems the very people that were crucifing KK last season for not finishing 4th seem to be happy with BrenDOM midtable meadioracaty ....i meen we draw with Swasea and he was extatic , lost to Spurs and the boys played amazing and only be Southampton 1 nil ...I guess that was he call a fortess ....
    Get REAL guys stop blaming KK for ALL our problems ...WE LIVERPOOL SUPPORTERS , SHOW SOME RESPECT to a GREAT ......
    if anyones to be blamed for the price we paid for the signing its FSG hiring CAMOLLI

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  20. Oh don't you know? Its not his fault that he is doing badly Chelsea, just like it is never his fault for anything that goes wrong at a club he manages(!)

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  21. KK should never have been interested in Downing at any price, even if Villa offered us money to take him off their hands. A manager should know how much money he has got to play with and what level of price is the limit for each player he is interested in, especially he wants to bring in more than one player from that transfer budget. KK had a part to play, regardless of how big, in how to spend the transfer budget, along with Comolli. I think it would be naive to conclusively absolve KK of any blame as to the value placed upon those players by us.

    Its all their fault, KK, FSG and Comolli, imo.

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  22. like i said KK did make mistake but who doesnt ...if you got sack for making a mstake in the first year of your job , most of us would be unemployed , and it was the whole Camolli / maoneyball/ stats saga that identified Downing ...Anyways to crucify KK for everything that went wrong is pathetic ....

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  23. Did KK take responsibility for signing those players? If so, it is plausible that he had a part to play in how to make use of the transfer budget, along with Comolli.

    KK: "I have brought every player here. End of story. I have made the decision on every player who has come here and I will continue to make the decisions."

    I haven't crucified KK for everything and in fact, I wanted him to be given until end of December, despite my criticism of his reign. What would be pathetic is to deny the possibility that KK had a role to play in how the transfer budget was utilized, especially when there are quotes from the man himself that opens up the possibility.

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  24. Rafa for Man U I say

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  25. RAFASdaysWEREtheGLORYdays1:50 pm, December 02, 2012

    Rafa is entitled to speak so leave the guy alone.Dalglish is graeme Souness mark 2 a bloody disgrace,hes a very selfish man trying to buy his way to instant success so he can get the limelight and massage his enormous ego.Rafa created the wealth at LFC so he was entitled to buy.Dalglish when he took over said he would spend the money as though it was his own,hes a liar he didnt.I cant stand the guy taking everyone for a fool with his mumbling excuses.I hope Rafa comes back in May i really do the only decent players weve got are wgat Rafa left

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  26. Don't think Rafa would have given Suso or Sterling the chance. How many were brought through during his time? ( genuine question)

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  27. The only decent players we have this season is due to rafa. Sterling wisdom suso to name a few. He was half way through a long term project cut tragically short by shite owners. We would be even lower in the league were it not for his legacy. The second place we achieved under him ain't gonna happen again any time soon. Fact or should I say fuct?

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  28. Rafa should just stop making comments on LFC. He has bigger problems at Chelski now. Probably will be booted out over the next weekend. He will never manage LFC. Not with FSG as owners.

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  29. Rafa is never coming back. And calling KD a B..... D........ is wrong. KD has done so much for the club and the people of Liverpool. You must be ashamed for your comments.
    If you want Rafa so much go support Chelsea.

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  30. The only currently brilliant player we have is Suarez, in terms of form, current quality and importance. Most of these young players are mostly potential at the moment, they haven't done anything in the long term to start singing and dancing about Rafa's legacy now.

    'we would be'

    Woulda, coulda, shoulda, ifs & buts don't mean much, as we aren't in a parallel universe to prove what would have gone on at the club if different things had happened.

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