25 Jan 2013

Barca star to Anfield? LFC offered chance to sign exciting winger. Risky...?

With only five days left of the January transfer window, time is running out for Liverpool to sign another attacking midfielder, and with the deal for Philippe Coutinho looking increasingly unlikely, the Reds may have to look elsewhere. One option could be Barcelona winger Isaac Cuenca, and reports in Spain today claim that the 21-year old could be on his way to Anfield.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, the Reds are ready to bring Spanish youngster to Anfield if the deal for Coutinho falls through.

The forward underwent a therapeutic arthroscopy on May 31 last yeat to correct an injury to the meniscus of his right knee. On November 26 he returned to training and on Monday this week, Barcelona confirmed that his recovery process is now complete.

Prior to his injury, Cuenca impressed former boss Pep Guardiola, awho lavished praise on the attacker after Barcelona's 3-1 Champions League victory over AC Milan in April 2012:

"He's a kind of player we don't have, he always plays well. I put him in the team and he done his work perfectly, absolutely perfectly. Let's see if he ever loses possession one day. I don't know if anyone else in Europe can do what Cuenca done in the game against Milan"

Along with Cristian Tello, Liverpool were previously linked with a move for Cuenca in the Summer of 2012, but the proposed deal never got off the ground.

Cuenca may have good ability, but it would (IMO) be madness to sign a player returning from a serious injury. Liverpool have signed enough crocked players in the past, and the club doesn't need any more. The same applies to Coutinho: why is the club trying to sign him if he's injured?

Anfield shouldn't be used as a rehabilitation centre for the players of other teams, and there must be other *fit* players out there that the Reds can target. After all, what is the point of signing a new scouting team if they can't find fit players?!

So far, the club's new scouts don't appear to be doing a very good job.



Jaimie Kanwar

NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


38 comments:

  1. Tottenham and Southampton dont need scouts they just jump on who ever we are looking at!!!!! Frustrating !

    ReplyDelete
  2. lol... yeah, our scouting team has done excellently - for other teams!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't know, really. We'd have to trust our physio team to cancel any transfer if the player could have some serious problems.
    Why not offer a loan deal with a 2m buying clause inserted?

    ReplyDelete
  4. To be fair besides Aquilani (who went on to play two seasons while contracted to us) and Aurelio and Carroll, who else have been crocks?

    ReplyDelete
  5. First off, it'll probably come to nothing like most of these rumours.

    I agree that we need fit players ready to go straight into the team.

    But at the same time, I think the club are trying to be 'creative' in their signings. 

    It looks like they are trying to find very good players whose value has dropped for one reason or another.

    If that is indeed the case its obviously a risky strategy. Some will flop miserably whilst one or two may turn out to be bargains.

    I'd be happier if LFC took these players on loan with the option to buy at an agreed fixed price. We all thought Sahin was going to be a good signing and many were very unhappy we hadn't bought him outright.

    To a certain extent the club cant win. We complain when they pay over the odds and we complain when they seem to be looking for imaginative solutions.

    They have obviously been trying to reduce the wage bill and balance the books prior to Financial Fair play, so it would seem £20million plus signings are out for the time being........

    ReplyDelete
  6. i agree, what is going on with the scouting network at liverpool?. And another player picking up a big wage while spending more time on treatment than on the pitch IS the last thing LFC need.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Until recently, Daniel Agger. Plus, Philipp Degen.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Some of our youngster coming through are quite often injured, namely Kelly and Flanagan.

    You named over 50m worth of crocks there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It may also just be a tactic to tell the likes of Blackpool and Inter that there are other players out there and available, so we wont be held to ransom (or is that just wishful thinking?)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your article looks like its saying we sign injured/crocked players. We dont. Agger and Degen werent injury prone prior to signing. Maybe the physical nature of our league does something to them?

    ReplyDelete
  11. With respect, Chucky, Agger had an injury history prior to joining LFC, and in the season before he signed, he was out for 4 months with an injury.

    http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2012/08/43-brutal-truth-about-why-lfc-must-sell.html

    Same applies to Degen: he made only 16 appearances for Dortmund in the season prior to joining LFC signed him, and he was out because of injury.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Then you have players just coming back from time out, i,e Sturridge (who i wanted, just pointing out he had been out a while) Assaidi (pretty sure) plus others

    Then both Coutinho and Cuenca have been out injured up until today. 

    The worry for me is, you never know if the same player will return after a injury. Now if we were getting them dirt cheap for say 2mil, due to there injury, I might be thinking ok fair deal. In Coutinhos case though, we are paying over the odds, for a player who has spent a lot of time out injured, and not even back properly yet.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Just read Degen played 68 games though in two seasons and prior to that was a regular and Agger having 4 months out didnt make him a crock-when we signed him. My point is that i dont think we sign crocks really i think every team has them. Personally i think Cuenca and Coutinho would both be worth a punt. Tbh i think when you look at United buying Zaha and see that Ince has outscoted and outassisted him i think maybe he is worth bringing back too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. And Bellamy was quite injury prone, too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That is  option I have thought of, along with us trying to rid ourselves of the aweful summer were we paid silly money for players. It crossed my mind, that after that summer every team was trying to charge us way over the odds knowing we would pay, we got treated like Man City do, so thought maybe they decided to low ball for two windows, to make people think were broke, then use the summer to get the players we want at the right prices, then I thought, that is way to clever a idea lol

    ReplyDelete
  16. This guy is absolutely fantastic. Guardiola saying "if he ever loses the ball one day" says it all. To be honest, Barca would be insane to let him go but if we are to sign him, it should be on a permanent deal. If not, his recent injury is too much of a risk I agree. You just know that if we sign him on loan he either plays two matches and is injured again or he plays fantastic, we all get excited and then Guardiola signs him for Bayern Munich. But if ever there was a player who would pesh all over Stoke thugs, it's this guy.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Players with a history of injuries come cheaper. It's a bidding tactic...

    ReplyDelete
  18. What is starting to grate on me, is we seem to offer really low amounts for players, whos clubs or agent then tells everyone, then we never put in a new bid which matches other teams who have bid, basically letting the world know we got outbid for a player by this team or that. I`m all for not wasting money, or paying over the odds, but it is getting a little embrassing now seeing us lose out time after time, and deals get dragged out for weeks and weeks then lose out. Is it all smoke and mirrors to just make it look like we are busy? is it Arye not being god at his job? Just us being broke? I don`t understand how we could lose out to Southampton on two players, maybe three, same for spurs etc. If the players aint good enough, then don`t put any bid in. I worry when it is like, that player is worth getting for 5mil, but not 7mil. Hang on, if he aint worth the extra 2mil, don`t waste 5mil on him either cause clearly you don`t rate him that much

    ReplyDelete
  19. He also has that thousand yard stare a real killer has. And he prefers the number ten which happens to have just opened up :-) Really, him on the left, Sterling on the right, Sturridge in between and Suarez behind him....I could see us not lose a match for the rest of the season...for once I hope you're right Jaimie...

    ReplyDelete
  20. but do they tho? was Aqua cheaper? does Coutinho look cheaper? was Carroll cheaper?

    The risk side of it is massively increased. Not only is there the normal risk a proven player has, of will they fit in the prem, gel with the team, you add will they recover ok, will they lose nay pace, or get more injuries. Plus we add another risk, as we go for unproven young players, so you have that extra risk. 

    ReplyDelete
  21. Whats interesting with Agger is, once we got him, he was out so much for us. This must be the most games he has played in a while.

    Something worth noting tho, BR reckons he has a better way to treat injury prone players, and reduce injuries in players. Which does seem to be working (Gerrard having best fitness season in years, same for agger etc). It is something to do with how he trains them (im guessing not over working or something).

    ReplyDelete
  22. Agger was a massive crock, he hardly ever made more than half a season for us. I always used to think, he would be a good player if he was ever fit.

    ReplyDelete
  23. just pissed they weren't there to take the carrol and downing deals of our hands but they had more sense i guess

    ReplyDelete
  24. Finally Jaimie you have found a player that you have said LFC should not sign, now if you keep this up we will both be on the same page.

    ReplyDelete
  25. thats why medicals are put in place to ensure that players will make full recoverys but i do agree signing injured players is a huge gamble not that we should be taking any more of those considering our transfer hitory over the last couple of years

    ReplyDelete
  26. considering how much they paid for zaha ince is looking like more of a bargain but don't think that a deal can be done this window more likely the summer as they are saying that karl oyston has fully blocked contact between the 2 sides

    ReplyDelete
  27. All the same Agger has been great signing!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Not sure if any of you listened to Peter brukner interview on talksport the other day? He suggests that injury prevention wasn't in order which is why we see the likes of Agger and Gerrard much more these days! 

    http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/kickoff/130124/dr-peter-brukner-studio-190091

    Great interview!

    ReplyDelete
  29. he looked good when he played,but jaimie you don,t say how much hes going to cost,at 4to 5million he could be a bargain

    ReplyDelete
  30. Within reason, and out of interest, Jaimie, who would you like to see in a Liverpool shirt? 
    What would your ideal starting XL be, within the constraints of the FSG financial policy?

    ReplyDelete
  31. If Coutinho wasn't injured, fsg might have to bid 20m. (was Carroll injury prone before we signed him?)

    Seriously though, I have no idea what we are doing nowadays most of the time when it comes to signing players.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Rather get John Barnes out of retirerment

    ReplyDelete
  33. agree with everything.. except shawcross/agger.. danny is miles better

    ReplyDelete
  34. Look at it as us not getting ripped off. Football transfers have been getting bigger and bigger over the years, I think as fans we get desensitised to the amount of money involved. There simply has to be a line that you draw. That's how business works and it's how any deal involving money would work. Just think of how you would handle it with your own money e.g. like buying a house. Would you pay an extra 20,000 quid for a house that you knew was already slightly over priced in the market? If we paid an extra 2 million for every player in the team, in an squad of 22 players thats 44 million. Try and put that in perspective for a second, it's a massive amount of money and it doesn't just magically appear from no where. All we're doing as a club now is putting a figure on what we think a player is worth and not going over that mark. Obviously we're willing to spend, there have been signings. It's just that as fans we get so involved in the players that we don't get, we believe every rumour and think that it's like we're missing out, but in truth we're still getting players that we want and need. If other clubs want to pay over the odds then that's great, let them do it. They'll end up spending more money and not having the same quality team. Our team will take longer to build but it will be slightly cheaper and of the quality that we want. Honestly, that's all it is: patience. We'll get the players, just not right now. 

    ReplyDelete
  35. Yes.....  Barnesy.  

    ReplyDelete
  36. I suppose the medical team would determine what sort of risk Cuenca is but on sheer ability i say yes yes yes.
    On the scouting comments i do think many of the signings are Rodgers and i do not think the scouts had much say in the recent buys.

    ReplyDelete