27 May 2013

'He's strong as a bull' - Molby urges LFC to sign 'dominant' €16m star. Risk...?

Liverpool legend Jan Molby has thrown his support behind Brendan Rodgers' bid to sign 21-year old Schalke centre-back Kyriakos Papadopoulos.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for the Greek international several times over the last month, and over the week, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported that the Reds have put in a €16m offer for the coveted defender.

In his column for the Liverpool Echo on Saturday, Molby insisted that Papadopolous 'fits the profile' of the type of player Liverpool 'want to build a team around', and shrugged off worries about the young defender's injury history. he enthused:

"When I’ve seen him [Papadopolous] in Champions League matches, I’ve been impressed. he’s a talented young player with real potential.

"He is as strong as a bull, dominant in the air and very good in one-on-one situations.

"He hasn’t played since before Christmas due to a knee problem but I’m sure Liverpool will have received reassurances that he has made a complete recovery".


Last week, Former Monaco CEO Tor-Kristian Karlsen described Kyriakos as 'one of the best center-backs in Europe', and claimed that several Premier League clubs - including LFC - are chasing the youngster. He tweeted:

"Liverpool interest is concrete. Has been on the shortlist/highly rated by many European top clubs (including Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd). Nice transfer coup for Liverpool if they manage to land Papadopoulos.

On Thursday, talkSPORT and ESPN football analyst Rafael Honigstein confirmed Karlsen's contention, and claimed that Papadopoulos is 'close' to an LFC move:

"Liverpool are pretty close to landing Kyriakos Papadopoulos. There’s no fear he will be affected long-term [by the injury]. Schalke have three very good centre-backs, having picked up Felipe Santana from Dortmund for €1m. That makes it easier for Papadopoulos to go."

'Papa' looks like a good player, but he's going to need time to get back up to speed after his injury; adapt to a new country/lifestyle, AND adapt to the Premier League. As such, it's slightly risky (IMO) to bring him in as the replacement for Jamie Carragher, or indeed Martin Skrtel.

As such, I sincerely hope Liverpool also sign another experienced central defender who can come in straight away and hit the ground running.





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18 comments:

  1. Looks a bit like a bull too. Replacing Skrtel I hope not. Agger, Touré, Papa and Skrtel would be a quartet of defenders no other club could compete with. Defensive solidity guaranteed!

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  2. Mr. Point Of View3:54 pm, May 27, 2013

    i never seen him play b4 so no judgement. I hope he a quick defender whom can deal with lot lot counter attack.

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  3. From little I have seen he can be Hyppias replacement. I know that seems like too much, but he is so young and has everything and more that a cb his age should have

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  4. he is very quick but i believe hes in the same ilk as kelly. with Martin kelly naturally being a centre back deployed at RB, he has lots of pace. and hes 6 ft 3 and fresh off a injury. although i like papadopolous, i dont think we should blow our budget on him. however we are in need of 2 centre backs, a defensive mid, attack midfielder, right winger and an attack midfielder/striker

    Mohamed Salah - RW 20 yrs- world class talent. we can get him for around £6M if not, then Tom Ince for the same fee
    Henrikh Mkhitirayan - AM/ST 24 yrs - world class pacy midfielder who likes link-up play. 30 goals 12 assists this season says it all. we can get him for £12-15M
    Keisuke Honda - AM 26yrs - you all know about honda. well hes up for free in november. this summer he'll go for £3M
    Mohamed Diame - DM 25 yrs - he will finally give our midfield that strength we need £3.5M
    Facundo Ferreyra - ST 22 yrs - Argentine with Italian dual citenzenship so work permit is not an issue. causing waves in Argentina. 17 goals in 23 games this season. 17 goals in 18 starts. £6M
    Leandro Paredes - AM 18 yrs - another causing waves in argentina. hes both footed and literally just has that touch of gold. incredibly skillful and football wise. this one could deputise for 1st team but it would be wise to put him in the academy to learn his trade. cost us £4.5M
    Kolo Toure- CB 32 yrs - i would have never suggested it, but who can reject FREE champions league/PL experienced talent. hes also a good player. FREE
    Tiago Ilori - CB 20 yrs - well he is the fastest centre back in world football. £3.5M



    looking good for the future and present. YNWA

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  5. Definite buy. He's extremely poised for his age and, let's not forget, has extensive European experience for his Age. He should be able to handle the rigours of the Premier League with aplomb.

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  6. liverpool4life5655:47 pm, May 27, 2013

    He would be a great signing, sell skrtel for 13 million and Coates would bring in 5/6 million. Then get Toure on a free, and llori for 4 million. Sorted

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  7. If only we could unearth another Sammy

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  8. I'd be happy to see us go for Toure, Papa and Illori. They could replace Carra, Skrtel and Coates. Add in Kelly as a challenger for centre-half (I still see Wisdom as a back-up for full-back for now) and I think we have a decent complement of centre-halves.

    The size of Papa's head alone convinces me that he is the right man for the job. He looks like the Thing (Marvel, not John Carpenter).

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  9. I really like the look of Mkhitirayan.
    That seems like exactly the kind of profile of player we should be going for.
    I look forward to watching him play for someone else next season.

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  10. He looks like a big character too.I think we have to many passive personalities in our squad.Another big voice in the changing room could help form a winning mentality!

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  11. martink kelly possibly ? i think he should be a centre half

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  12. He`s a player I really want at the club.

    Lots of people list loads of new players but I think that disrupts the team and your back at square one. Personally I would like this window to be kept simple. Four players signed and sell any spare parts, but keep enough so we still have depth.

    Papa - CB 12.5mil
    Toure - CB Free
    Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Right side of attack (can play other places to) 15mil
    Diame - DM 4mil

    Job done. total spend = 31.5mil

    Sell AC - 15mil

    Sell Coates - 4mil

    Net Spend = 12.5mil

    I`m sure we could afford that, and we would look a lot strong. Nothing major needed, and by keeping Skrtel and other players we will still have a lot of strength in depth.

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  13. i thiink thats a gd shout but i would like digne( dont know much about him except he got big reputation and then enrique can on occasions play further forward like lw in certain games gives alot more options), toure ( for same reason he got experience and was quality and i think he still has juice in his legs still), papadouplos ( to replace carragher but we could save money by not getting him and using kelly at centre back to free funds for another position), mcmanamen (salah for that price be better move), j macarthy (because of his work rate which is similar to henderson but i think he has alot more technical ability, and very similar to a young gerrard and wears heart on his sleeve.), illori for the same reason as u said haha , and new keeper to challenege reina. a. macarthy possibly ?
    promote jordan ibe to save money who reminds me a bit of chamberlain... have faith in our youngsters who do look very gd also wisdom to me is a possible future top player.
    and rossiter looks good but hes a bit too young still.

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  14. I think Henrikh Mkhitirayan, Keisuke Honda, Facundo Ferreyra and Tiago Ilori are good options for LFC. But among the list of players you mentioned, who is interested in moving to LFC? More importantly, LFC is interested in who in the list?

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  15. good list except for Diame and Honda, Honda is average but we need someone with more quality at AM , at least at Coutinho level! And a much better DM than Diame, someone like Wanyama.

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  16. Okay so you've plucked figures out of thin air for the values of these players, now work out how much it will cost to buy them wages wise and also signing on fees, bonus clauses etc.

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  17. when a team has a budget for buying players, its not just the transfer fee involved, its the signing on fee, the wages, the expected bonuses etc that have to be added up.
    Someone like Papa would cost around £15m guessing from all reports. then add in a signing on fee of 10%, the expected agents fee of a similar amount, wages of around £40k a week (2m a year) so looking at forking out £20m for a player who has injury problems.
    Toure - Freebie yes but he will demand a huge signing on fee probably in the region of £3m-4m plus wages around £80k a week (5m a year) so thats £9m
    so thats £29m spent on two defenders this summer.

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  18. I agree wholeheartedly.

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