17 Jun 2013

'I refused to sign' - LFC still want to buy 'incredible' €11m contract-rebel.

Liverpool continue to be linked with a move for Porto winger Christian Atsu, who recently admitted that his 'childhood dream' is to play in the Premier League.

According to Sky Sports last night:

"A host of Premier League clubs have joined the chase for Porto's Ghana international Christian Atsu [who] wants to leave after turning down the chance to sign a new deal.

"He has expressed an interest in moving to the Premier League and Liverpool are tracking his situation".


Speculation linking Atsu with a move to Anfield has intensified over the last month, and reports last week claimed that Liverpool are 'in talks' with Porto over a possible transfer. When quizzed in early June about transfer interest from the Premier League, Atsu told Sky Sports:"

"I refused to sign a new deal and I hope we can reach a resolution soon. It has always been my dream to play in England and it is flattering to be linked with some big Premier League clubs. My future is in England and I hope I will have more news soon".

A few months ago, Tony Yeboah argued that Atsu could 'shine in the Premier League' and achieve everything he wants to' in English football, and this week, the Leeds United hero urged Atsu to join Liverpool. He told Portuguese newspaper Jornal Record:

"“Liverpool is the biggest team in England with a lot of tradition. They are playing some good football and their new manager allows the youth to play. It [a move to Anfield] is a nice opportunity to take his [Atsu's] game to the next level. It will benefit his development. "

21-year old Atsu - who won the Primeira Liga with Porto last season - has £10m (€11m) buyout clause in his contract, but in recent months, he's fallen out of favour at the Estadio do Dragao due to a refusal to sign an extended contract.

Atsu is reguarlaly labelled the 'Ghanaian Messi', but it's not a nickname he cares for, as he told BBC Sport recently:

"That tag ‘Messi’ doesn’t put any pressure on me. Messi is my idol. There's no Ghanaian Messi, there is no other Messi in this world. I can never play even one percent of what Messi is doing. It's impossible."

Marseille star Andre Ayew - also currently linked with a move to Liverpool - is convinced that Atsu is destined for great things. He told the BBC recently:

"Ghanaians put too much pressure on him [Atsu], but I believe that he's going to be a great player."

Former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan agrees with that assessment:

"I've seen all the games that he has played for Ghana and he's been incredible. If he continues this way he's going to be a star."



Jaimie Kanwar


43 comments:

  1. Enough potential already. We need defenders and a DM. If we get the targets we've made progress on that will be enough for this summer.

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  2. liverpool4life5651:05 am, June 17, 2013

    Do we need anymore up top? Width wise we are okay, aspas,coutinho,downing,sterling,Sturridge,ibe lets sign defenders after we've sorted Luis Alberto,mignolet,mhiktaryan,llori deals :-) they all seems close.

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  3. I agree. And if/when Suarez gets sold, we will have a huge pot of money to play with.

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  4. Gary Hooper anyone?

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  5. tello is still in picture also Atsu defenders and d mid needed . suarez has still 4 year deal but if he goes benteke

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  6. i would rather have seen atsu at anfield than some players we have signed,or seem to be signing,big week this week i expect suarez and caroll to be sorted one way or the other ,but will not hold my breath ,hope they do not rumble on to the start of the season

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  7. Probably Celtic :-) We have Borini anyway, so no need for Hooper.

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  8. How long does the Confederations Cup run? My guess would be that no Suaréz deal will be done while he's away on international duty.

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  9. suarez did look very friendly with the real players today shacking hand putting hands around them

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  10. In case Real make a good enough offer and Suaréz hands in a transfer request, I hope they sign Evra, too.

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  11. Mr. Point Of View8:04 am, June 17, 2013

    and ivanovic as well

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  12. So much attacking midfielders. kops need a quality left and center back.. Also a 20 goals striker if Suarez cowardly leave.

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  13. the final is on june the 30th then he will go on a break

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  14. break in spain i bet ;)

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  15. The way he's been talking about Real Madrid, he surely would fly to Madrid for a medical and to sign a contract. He can send his transfer request by fax to us and his agent will do the contract negotiations for him anyway.

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  16. Guess Sturridge will score 20 goals when playing a full season.

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  17. just hoping we will get enough money for him!
    but his daily talks about real, it really pisses me off..

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  18. I see red people10:12 am, June 17, 2013

    If Atsu cannot perform at the top level then he ain't good enough so I am still struggling to see why you would rather see him at Anfield.

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  19. His goal/assist ratio is really poor, in the Portuguese league, there are only 2 teams at the moment, the rest of them is struggling to achieve anything, if you're at the top team of your league, with all other teams sucking as hell, you surely have to create/score/assist more than he does.
    Just for you Jason, borini played in a better league, had better stats in Italy than atsu has in portugal...

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  20. and the players we have signed cannot even break into the top level

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  21. Hope so but need a back up still. The kops should of got the Sunderland keeper instead of the stoke one. and we need a defensive midfielder like diame for an example. Hope BR sees that.

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  22. as long liverpool got strong competition in every department on the field then we should be ok to challenge more than just top four as we always have more possession and shot on target more than other teams in the league. its time to convert those chances away

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  23. He's got what last season for us? 11 goals in 16 games? I think he will get 20 goals for us next season.

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  24. Wonder whether Real are impressed with his behaviour. Do they really want a player who voices his displeasure through the media? I don't know. When they signed CR, they claimed that he would sell a lot of shirts, too. Suaréz isn't as glamorous a person as CR, he won't sell that much shirts. And he behaves like a complete tool, too. Well, maybe not to different from CR then.

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  25. Don't know and it shouldn't be our problem anyway. If they can't afford to sign Suaréz, they won't sign him. My guess would be that they'll sign either Bale or Suaréz this summer.

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  26. It currently seems as if we are close to signing the Sunderland keeper, and not the Stoke one.


    Agree about Diame, or someone of his ilk, though.

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  27. Funny thing is that during the second half of the season, when our results got better and were more consistent, we actually didn't dominate possession as much as we did before. Rodgers has changed our style of play somewhat during the season. For me that is the sign of a good manager, as opposed to a stubborn one. Hope he can grow into a great manager in the next few years, too.

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  28. Just hoping his injuries dont hold him back..
    he's a class player - undoubtedly

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  29. When he's fit he seems to score for fun. That's good enough for me, as long as he's not our only option up front.

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  30. I believe in BR still, what you think of Torres coming back

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  31. Did we get that midfielder play-maker for 20m

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  32. Yeah, true. I hope we don't sign any Carrolls and Downings any more. All they did was break into the English national team, which is, as you've correctly pointed out, a far way from the top level.

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  33. Torres? No thanks! Handing in a transfer request mere hours from the end of the transfer window didn't go down well with me at all.
    I've supported him while he was with us, but even then I thought he was way too much in love with himself, caressing his hair during matches and stuff like that. In his last season with us he didn't put in a shift either. He can stay right where he is.

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  34. Replying to yourself, touch master? :-)

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  35. Any more rumors on defoe

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  36. Sterling and Ibe are set for season-long loan moves. Downing is on his way out. Sturridge demands to play centrally and Coutinho prefers to play centrally, although is effective from wide-left (where he'll probably start IF Mhiktaryan arrives). That only leaves Aspas and Borini, neither of whom are actual wingers.


    So YES we do need wide players. Especially a left-footer (to replace Downing), plus Luis Alberto as we're trying to build a squad with competition for places, not just a decent starting XI who's form fades once results don't go our way like in recent seasons.

    The window hasn't even opened yet and fans are wingeing that we haven't strengthened in certain areas. Utterly ridiculous! All sorts could be going on behind the scenes that the media have picked up on.

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  37. they would wind up best mates in 1 week

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  38. another reason to favor barca. LS will fit in with the evil Real.

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  39. out

    carroll 15

    shelvey 7

    reina 6

    skrtel 9

    assaidi 2

    suarez 40

    total out 79

    add 20 budget summer

    79+20 =99 wow

    in/prospects

    Mkhitaryan 2

    llori 4 ( really like this kid seems very precocious plus cant teach speed)

    aspas 8

    tore 2 (fees)

    alberto 7

    migno 9

    sub total 52

    speculative striker as suarez replace

    benteke 22

    or J Martinez 28

    so 52+28 = 80

    leaving us 19 for left back or DM or we can spend on the Greek CB Papa

    I just read LFC pays about 650k year to ayre (likely)
    just settled our transfer targets lol ill take half his salary for this work.
    ill take half

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  40. I don't think so.

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  41. And the guy he bit in the Netherlands plus some players from Ghana. Fun guaranteed.

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  42. I really don't see this one happening at all - we already have similar players in Sterling and Assaidi as backup wide-men waiting for the opportunity to step in. No point in spending more good money on our bench...

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