24 Apr 2013

'Fantastic' £15m star admits: I'm 'happy' to be linked with LFC transfer. Bid...?

Liverpool have been linked with a whole host of goalkeepers over the last year, including Stoke City stopper Asmir Begovic, who has admitted that the thought of a move to Anfield makes him 'happy'.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, claimed that he is 'not thinking about speculation', and revealed his delight at being linked with several top Premier League clubs. He said:

"Of course I'm happy. Everybody is happy when he is linked with such clubs as Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.

"I'm glad my name is mentioned in these stories, because this is the proof that I'm doing well.

"We will see what will happen at the end of the season. But for now the most important thing for us is survival.


The arrival of Jack Butland at Stoke seems to suggest that the Potters are preparing for life without Begovic, and in a recent press conference, Potters Assistant Manager Dave Kemp told Reporters:

“Will Begovic be sold now Butland’s here? Not necessarily, but if there is a situation where Asmir moves on to a top club offering big money and we didn’t have a Jack around, we’d say, ‘What a mistake that was’. It’s a guarantee, it’s insurance.”

Liverpool were linked with Begovic earlier in the season, and in mid-December, the 25-year old keeper revealed his happiness at being linked with a move to Anfield.

"It is very flattering. It's positive feedback from other teams that people are looking at you and mentioning you with those teams. It's no secret that everyone has their own ambitions and they want to be playing at the highest level possible"

Fellow Bosnian Edin Dzeko believes Begovic is destined for great things. Speaking to Reporters in early January, Dzeko enthused:

"He [Begovic] is in fantastic form. Stoke have the best keeper in the league. I know him better than most people because I have trained with him [for the national team] and [he] is a great keeper who will go on and play for a bigger team."

Begovic cost Stoke £3.5m in 2010, and he's now rated in the £15m bracket, which is (IMO) slightly overpriced.

How good an option is Begovic? Is he a serious contender to replace Pepe Reina...? Some OPTA stats from this season:

* Clean sheets: 11 (Same as Reina)
* Saves: 98 (Reina = 65)
* Conceded: 41 (Reina = 33)
* Save ratio: 42% (Reina = 51%)



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


33 comments:

  1. How old is he? If he has a few years, then it could be worth it. But I think anything over about £8 million is too much.

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  2. Decent keeper, Reina definitely needs competition, as much as I like Jones as a person he doesnt have the quality to push Pepe. Begovic is very good, not sure he would be happy on the bench for most of the season though. I guess he could feature in cup games, but would he be happy with that?

    Jussi Jaaskelainen would be a brilliant signing, but again not sure he would be available or indeed happy playing second fiddle.

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  3. We don't need to be replacing top players; we need to be STRENGTHENING.
    All this talk of top four next season will be worth nothing if the few decent first teamers we do presently have are shipped out....

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  4. he is a good keeper and Reina at times still looks a bit sus. However I`m split on if we really need a new keeper or not just yet. Guessing that money will be tight I would rather it go on a new Central defender first and a new DM. Lucas is good but I still think we can do better in that area. It would mean selling one of two of the mids as we have a few too many in that area. Shelvey would be the one I would sell. Purely as out of Hendo and Shelvey I think Hendo is looking better and will progress better. Allen seems ok to sell too although I`m guessing we will keep him as a back up mid. If we did sell Allen too then I think a new DM and AM would be a good call. We would have 2 players in each center position then that could cover and rotate.


    Lucas
    Gerrard
    Hendo


    New DM
    Gerrard or Hendo
    New AM.


    Continho though could play that AM role if we got another attacker in. I actually think Continho would be really good in that area too.

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  5. Theycallmemrburt1:02 pm, April 24, 2013

    buying keepers for 15m usually only occurs when the rest of the jigsaw is in place. We need to be clever with our keeper situation and buy young and cheap or 35+ and cheap. I think Ceasar would be a great keeper for 2-3 years until we are in a position to buy someone with the future in mind. However at 33 ceasar has at least 6 years in him and would offer experience and class at a reasonably cheap price.

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  6. no thank he may be younger than pepe but thats about it and if hes 15million then we would not be upgrading imo

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  7. 10 games ban for suarez - sorry out of context, but i just had to say that..

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  8. In this summer we should not be going after a goal keeper as rumours suggest that there is not enough money for transfers. I say sell Downing, Carrol and Borrini then we will have about 45m(from sales+initial 20m) I say buy De Vrij,Diame, Erikson and wiflried Bony.
    .............................Reina..............................
    De vrij..........Skrtel............Agger......Enrique
    .............................Diame.............................
    .................Erikson...........Gerrard................
    Suarez...........Bony/Sturridge.........Coutinho
    Isn't that a good team to challenge for top 4

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  9. 25 years old and almost 2meters high. (sorry i have not the least inkling of the british inches etc...)

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  10. Exactly as I forcast the independent an ud commision would give a 10 game ban just in ase we come good at the start of next season. the last "independent) was headed by frgussons mate smith.

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  11. They are punishing the player, not the offence, are the f.a. saying this is worse than racism?Ivanovic is available for chelsea,s next game, wasnt hurt at all, i fully expect similar punishments the next time a player smashes his elbow into a players face or goes studs up in a tackle. Fergie & his brigade will be creaming themselves

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  12. weres jaimie now with his articles about sportmanship and fairness the fa are the biggest cheats in the game also jaimie please do not run a thread about the fa not being fair as it will get expensive for me as it will cost me a window and a laptop

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  13. absolutely ridiculous. a headbutt to the face from fellani got a 3 match ban didnt it? yet a bite gets 10? or i should say a suarez bite gets 10 and a defoe bite gets a yellow.

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  14. Suarez deserves a 10 match ban. End of story.

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  15. liverpool4life5655:14 pm, April 24, 2013

    10 games is harsh.... Should be 3-5 games only...

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  16. well thats sets a prescient...i fully expect deliberate elbows ..butts ...kicks to also get the same ban...funny i bite is deemed far worse than racism..or is it just that john terry plays for England and Chelsea...massive double standards once again from the FA....

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  17. 10 is too much...Its not consistent with other bans,So in the eyes biting someone is worse then racism? IMO its not,Its terrible but nothing is worse then racism.I mean how the hell can Defoe get a YELLOW card and Suarez get a 10 MATCH ban...Its wrong simply because its not consistent

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  18. unbelieveable, ridiculous, silly, foolish, stupid, absurd...
    thats the word that come in my mind. think about Popov spitting on Walkers? thats a 3 match ban because of a red card not more? Aguero stamping on David luis? Torres "ellbowing" Carrager? Fellainis headbutt on Shawcross? I just cant see whats worse about suarez? I mean ok, he deserves a ban - until the rest of the season (3 Games) this would mean he cant get the Golden boot + the POTY award. Isnt that enough? Just think FA wants suarez to get out of the PL. They dont want him here. i just cant explain it anyhow else..

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  19. he deserves a ban, but 10 games - thats harsh. You know jamie im not Suarez biggest fan, i´m really dissapointed how he behaves don the pitch and how hes putting bad impressions on LFC BUT:
    . think about Popov spitting on Walkers? thats a 3 match ban because of a red card not more? Aguero stamping on David luis? Torres "ellbowing" Carrager? Fellainis headbutt on Shawcross? I just cant see whats worse about suarez? I mean ok, he deserves a ban - until the rest of the season (3 Games) this would mean he cant get the Golden boot + the POTY award. Isnt that enough? Maybe another 2-3 games more, so hes missing the first games of the next season, but hes missing the first 7 games of the season - i dont really think he deserves that. I dont want to search the misstakes of other players, but if you compare them, you can see how much the media and some Sir F.´s (i dont want to speak their name our here) are enjoying their influence in an "apparently objective" FA, that is absolutely unfair to some players here. I dont think its fair to disgust some players out of the PL

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  20. me neither jason, going to burn them all together and make a nice bonfire with my mates - grill some stakes on my old shirts and enjoy them with some bear, while laughing about the FA! This story is just ridiculous!

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  21. **these are the words

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  22. WHat do you think would have happened if suarez spit on walker?
    Whats your opinion to evra joking about suarez bite in front of the ManU fans? I would really appreciate to read about your opinion on that? why does he deserve that much, while others would emerge unscathed for the same action?

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  23. I'll help you burn them - I'm Scottish ;-)

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  24. There's a million and one things I could write on here regarding the Suarez situation (sorry, Jaimie for not waiting on the appropriate blog) but I'm not going to waste any of my time on it. I am sick of it, though: the FA etc and I'm about ready to turn my back on the whole football thing altogether. Same as UK politics, I'm sick of them too so I'm moving to Lanzarote later in the year to live a peaceful life in the sun with my wife. Going to stick to writing books, at least that way I'll decide the outcomes myself.

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  25. End of story? He might in your opinion but not in a lot of others

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  26. GOOOO AWAAAAAAAY KANNNNNNNNNNNNNWWWAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR

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  27. What about writing a Liverpool-book ;)
    wish you enjoyeable time in lanzarote - a great place to be. I myself am getting sick with that English
    media, their overdoing ...






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  28. Biting someone is worse than intentionally ending someone's career, that much is clear. It's also worse than two counts of racism.But in fairness Suarez actually only got 3 games for the biting incident. He got the other 7 for being a foreigner.

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  29. Begovic seems a good goalkeeper. The thing with Pep is, you gotta love the guy for sticking around when his compatriots all left. He clearly loves the club and the city. And I can't really put my finger on what would be wrong with him. Maybe it just feels like we need another GK just because people keep saying so but I don't know what to look at. Should we find a better shot stopper? Maybe someone who brings the ball into play better? Is more involved in open play? Better at handling crosses? I just don't know what we're expecting to improve by replacing him really? I can't think of many goals this season where I feel he was at fault.

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  30. Jaimie, your saves ratio is incorrect. You need to divide saves by total shots, i.e. Begovics is 71% (98/(98+41)) and Reinas is 66% (65/(65+33))

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  31. Hi DBM - If Suarez had spat on someone, then the FA would be bound by much more precedent than the biting incident. Evra joking about Suarez's bite is just harmless banter, and I don't see a problem with it. Your contention that 'others would emerge unscathed' from a biting incident is pure supposition. The Defoe incident is irrelevant as the referee saw it and and dealt with it at the time, so the FA could not intervene. The opposite happened with Suarez. I'll be posting an article about the 10-game ban later today. Hold onto your hat because people aren't going to like it (What a surprise, eh?)

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