16 May 2013

'LFC interest is concrete' - Reds want 'top' £19m star on 6-month injury lay-off. Risk...?

Last week, German newspaper Bild, claimed that Liverpool are interested in Schalke star Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Transfer rumours are ten-a-penny at this time of year, but Norwegian Scout Tor-Kristian Karlsen has today confirmed the Reds' interest in the 21-year old defender.

Karlsen - who is currently CEO at Monaco, after a recent promotion from Sporting Director - tweeted that Kyriakos is 'one of the best center-backs in Europe', and claimed that several Premier League clubs are chasing the youngster:

"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.


Papadopolous - who has a €22.5m [£19m] buy-out clause in his contract - made his debut for Olympiakos at the age of 15 years and 283 days, breaking the record for the youngest ever player to feature in the Greek League. At the time, Schalke general manager Horst Heldt explained:

"They [Zenit] have made an offer and are being very persistent, but we do not want to lose the player"

Soon after that, Heldt accused AC Milan of making an illegal approach for Papadopolous. He told reporters:

“It would be nice if they [Milan] would warn us next time before they come to hold talks with the player. I can confirm that AC Milan held discussions with Papadopoulos’ advisors. Interest is there on the part of Milan – but there is no interest on the part of the player”

In September, Papadopolous - who at the age of 21 already has 16 appearances under his belt for the Greece national team - signed a contract extension until 2016, and pledged his long-term future to the club:

"I feel very good at Schalke and look forward to playing for the club for many years to come"

In a recent interview with FIFA.com, the youngster - nickname 'Papa' by his team-mates - spoke about his rapid rise to first team football with both Schalke and the Greece national team:

“I think a blend of talent and hard work has got me where I am today. My parents were very sporty and I guess I was born with talent, but you need a huge amount of work to make the most of it. It's a very special feeling to be one of the youngest players at Schalke. I'm just delighted at the chance to represent such a huge and successful club"

Papadopolous fits the FSG transfer template, but with three years left on his contract, he won't come cheap, and if LFC are to spend €10-€15m on a defender, it should be an experienced, established player (IMO).

Additionally, Papadopolous been out injured for almost SIX months, and the last thing Liverpool need is to risk money on another (potentially) injury-prone defender.





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22 comments:

  1. liverpool4life56510:53 pm, May 16, 2013

    He be back for pre season, also he a very good defender,commanding,and is a threat from corners and can get goals! And he only 21 I would sign him.

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  2. These are the type of players we should be aiming for, much rather be fighting with the top clubs in the window then trying to pick up freebies. He looks a beast. Get the feeling FSG will pay whatever for quality kids and ignore the 20 mill limit the media say we have. Just wondering if BR would have kept the old heads when he came, cause I doubt he will be aloud to sign any.

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  3. He is a beast, I was watching him when he was only 15 years old starter with Olympiakos and he was looking like a man and his older teamates like boys!!! He has unbelieveable power, he is quick enough, he can jump to cut or score goals, he has remarkable technique and that is why he can play as defensive midfielder as well. And one last thing: He is fearless... For me the possibility to be a pair with Agger is very exciting!!! YNWA

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  4. He has recently extended his contract, so I would be extremely surprised if we'd go after him. Buying a player who is happy where he is with a long contract is about the most expensive way to purchase players. Whoever creates those kind of rumours must think that the people running our club are entirely off their head. Why pay 20m for Papadopoulos when Douglas is available on a free transfer? Makes no sense at all.

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  5. So who would you have in defense then jamie

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  6. I love what I've seen of this guy. He charges the ball down without turning his side or back to the ball, he takes the ball cleanly in tackles and often leaves the forward in a heap. and he can give us a threat from corners we rarely see these days.
    Give him a blonde brush cut and he looks like Ivan Drago from Rocky 4 !!

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  7. he fits the bill, i mentioned before that i would expect us to go for this type of player. If you look at the signings we have been making of late, we seem to be going for risky ones as they are cheaper. Sturridge has had injuries and also not enough game time, he was a risk which looks like it is working, and his risk value is why he was cheaper. Coutinho was the same. He has had injuries and also not hit the potential that people expected of him. I can see the pattern forming that we will go for these types of players. They come at a reduced rate and have less amounts of other top teams after them due to the risk. Some will work amazing and we will get real bargins, others will fail.


    You can see the moneyball idea in place here. Sign them when the chips are low on them, due to injury or not getting game time, or having great promise which hasn`t been met, then try to turn them around. The players all have skill and ability and clearly just need to be managed well and this is something which can be done. The result is getting players which should be worth a lot more for less.

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  8. I like the fact that we are associated with someone like this.


    BR is going to have to raise some major money through player sales in order to make a splash this summer.


    I have a feeling we are going to see a shocking transfer sale that no one sees coming. And I'm not including Suarez.

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  9. It's been too long since we've had a big lump of a defender from Greece with the name Kyriakos! ;-)

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  10. Kurt Zouma for liverpool?
    Acoording to his agent, "Today Kurt is ready to leave. (He could) leave to sit on bench, but it is better to be on the bench of a big club like Liverpool, with all due respect to Saint-Etienne."

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  11. Sounds good, he seems to be one of the most promising young defenders - why not ?

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  12. That's good news!

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  13. Would be extremely happy with a player like zouma

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  14. beast of a player. yes please

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  15. Mr. Point Of View8:40 am, May 17, 2013

    when come to defender i hope FSG can loosen up bit on age "thing".
    Experience is more important at this area right?

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  16. Couldn't disagree more. He is an incredibly talented young defender with a huge degree of potential and that is exactly the type of player we want to be making a move for. If we could snap him up in the 10-15£ mark it would be an absolute coup on our part. I would much rather FSG spent that kind of money on one of the worlds most promising young defenders, one that has been attracting interest from a host of top clubs, than on Ashley Williams (nothing more than a glorified pub player at a lesser team )

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  17. from insidefutbol. think jk has just started a new thread on this.

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  18. Because he is better than Douglas and younger.

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  19. Thanks! Yes, I have seen that thread, too.

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  20. I still don't think that it would make any sense at all to spend our entire transfer kitty on one player.

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  21. he's a great talent but why would he move to Liverpool? He can play Champions League with Schalke for years to come, something that Liverpool can't give him. As a Schalke fan, I can only say that he is a crowd favourite and has extended his contract long-term. Our defense has been rather shabby since his injury and I doubt we would sell him.

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