In May, Liverpool made a €5m bid for Sporting Lisbon Centre-half Tiago Ilori, who has a €30m buyout clause in his contract. Unsurprisingly, that bid was - according to Portuguese newspaper A Bola - summarily rejected by Sporting, and the Reds have now upped their offer in a bid to land the 6'3 defender.
According to Portuguese newspaper Ojogo today, Liverpool have increased their bid to €7m, with €800,000 in performance-related bonuses.
Ilori is only two games into his senior Sporting career, but he has already tasted success at Sporting - he played in the Sporting B team that won the national title last year; the same team also competed in the NextGen tournament against Liverpool, and beat the Reds 3-0.
Despite his height, Ilori is one of the fasted players in the Portuguese League, and in tests conducted at the the club's Alcochete Academy, he recently broke the club's sprint records previously held Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Liverpool have a good relationship with Sporting - The club already poached Joao Teixeira, and the scouting team is also tracking Ilori's team-mate, Bruma.
Earlier this week, the Agent of Kyriakos Papadopolous emphatically denied that the Greek defender will move on this summer. He told Bild:
"I can tell you we have no interest in a transfer away from Schalke at this point in time. Kyriakos is happy being at this club - he is fully focused on being fit when Schalke start pre-season training in the next few months. He looks likely to be ready for it."
With Papadopolous seemingly out of the picture, Ilori looks to be top of the list of young central defensive options at the moment, and if he signs, where does that leave Sebastian Coates, who has barely got a look in under Rodgers? Also, what about Martin Kelly and Andre Wisdom, two promising players who can play at centre-back?
Surely, the signing of another young centre-back would be a strong indication that Rodgers doesn't see Kelly and Wisdom as future central defensive options?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
According to Portuguese newspaper Ojogo today, Liverpool have increased their bid to €7m, with €800,000 in performance-related bonuses.
Ilori is only two games into his senior Sporting career, but he has already tasted success at Sporting - he played in the Sporting B team that won the national title last year; the same team also competed in the NextGen tournament against Liverpool, and beat the Reds 3-0.
Despite his height, Ilori is one of the fasted players in the Portuguese League, and in tests conducted at the the club's Alcochete Academy, he recently broke the club's sprint records previously held Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Liverpool have a good relationship with Sporting - The club already poached Joao Teixeira, and the scouting team is also tracking Ilori's team-mate, Bruma.
Earlier this week, the Agent of Kyriakos Papadopolous emphatically denied that the Greek defender will move on this summer. He told Bild:
"I can tell you we have no interest in a transfer away from Schalke at this point in time. Kyriakos is happy being at this club - he is fully focused on being fit when Schalke start pre-season training in the next few months. He looks likely to be ready for it."
With Papadopolous seemingly out of the picture, Ilori looks to be top of the list of young central defensive options at the moment, and if he signs, where does that leave Sebastian Coates, who has barely got a look in under Rodgers? Also, what about Martin Kelly and Andre Wisdom, two promising players who can play at centre-back?
Surely, the signing of another young centre-back would be a strong indication that Rodgers doesn't see Kelly and Wisdom as future central defensive options?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Kyriakos Papadopulos is a greek international you moron. Does his name sounds Turkisk to you?
ReplyDeleteI see Kelly and Wisdom at right back :-) but its all about competition for places keep everyone on there toes.
ReplyDeleteor maybe rodgers knows he has to buy a young cheap centerback as its is only option ,we need experince not more for the future the future may never come
ReplyDeleteNot really, having a young player is good, they learn from the older player, Coates going we are replacing him with another younger player.
ReplyDeletewhat older players were selling them all
ReplyDeleteBR is building his vision, his way... I have no problem with that as I can see we are improving!
ReplyDeleteWisdom and Kelly are now right backs, no matter their position previously, I don't expect them to be used unless as emergency cover.
Clearly a guy for the future and the stronger the squad going forward, the stronger our future.
Early days yet, the transfer window doesn't close for nearly three months, so I'm happy to wait and take a more balanced view 1st September.
We are not selling our older players. If this guy joins he be joined by agger and Toure two older heads who will help him out.
ReplyDeleteI think there may still be a chance for Coates but Skrtel is as good as gone if we sign another CB.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Papadopoulos is out of the picture, Coutinho also said that he was happy at Inter as did Borini and Allen. The transfer window is like poker, the club and the representatives want as much money as they can get which is why they don't let on that their clients are interested.
ReplyDeletei am getting some lfc shirts imported they are £100 they are slightly different to the ones you buy in the shops under the liverbird they have fsg instead of lfc no doubt you will want one ,infact i have got one with an extra large neckhole so that you do not stretch it
ReplyDeleteJason, I speak the truth you know I'm right because you change the subject, I don't need to make things up to suit my point like you. And no you can keep it :-) then you can speak to the "FSG" saying how much you hate them.
ReplyDeleteJason, why do you support LFC?
ReplyDeletelol I was going to say the same thing about Popa :D one thing id say will happen is he will leave Shalke but will he be a red is the more important question
ReplyDeleteRodgers should get another experienced defender like papadoulis,Alderweireld,who will come and organise the defence i would have prefered Ashley williams only for less than 8m to partner Agger,then Toure as a back up option beaause it wont be fair to wisdom and kelly who seem to be promising youngsters enwe Toure will offer strength,experience,leadership and may be get Papadoulis but his fee is too much 15 to 20m for an injury prone defender but though his good,buy Eriksen from the Carroll sale and possibly from the likely departure of Suarez 50m buy Muriel or Dzeko and to some extent buy Gomes for 30m and buy Wanyama and Ada Turan
ReplyDeletei support lfc because they are my team i may slag them off on here (because at the moment they are just not good enough) but in real life i will never here a bad word said about them by a rival fan its called putting your money where your mouth is ,and any fan who thinks this is exceptable is in denial as i have said before where did it all go wrong
ReplyDeleteonce we could attract any player in the world
now we are fighting over scraps
once we had highway on the wing and dreams and songs to sing
now we have limited hopes and settle for second best
once we had glory on the fields of anfield road
and i for one want them to return it will never be the same again
but just a glimmer of hope would be nice
you speak the truth as you see it thats all ,and as for you being right time will tell lets see what happens this summer
ReplyDeleteon another subject i thought i heard the commentator on the england game say hodgeson feared for sturridge in the auturm fixtures bad news if true
ReplyDeleteEveryone sees it, just not you, you make things up for some reason. :)
ReplyDeleteThat the past, we had owners who screwed us before we are now rebuilding. It takes time to get back to where we was also scraps? Abit harsh on players like coutinho and Sturridge, I rather have them type of players who will work for Liverpool. Not a big head who has a a big ego who only watche his bank balance.
ReplyDeleteif i may point out wisdom has really poor marking skills on numerous occasions headers have been scored because of his marking and many a times people have dribbled past him not sure if i want him marshlling defense yet we should send him out on loan to a champ club and make sure he gets loads of games .......
ReplyDeleteDefinitely worth signing both him and Bruma. Hope we get another defensive type midfielder or a bit of a playmaker like Thiago at Barcelona
ReplyDeletelol do you really think suarez is moving for the money give your head a shake,and did i name any players no you did to suit your argument as usual,your starting your usual crap so go play with yourself,
ReplyDeleteDid I say anything about Suarez? I said I rather have players who want to get better and work for Liverpool. Not big players because they come with big egos, also you said "scraps" so your saying our signings are scraps also I named players as examples of who we have signed, not that hard to understand . Your stuck in the past get into reality and see where we are at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThere are better young defenders for that price whom we have been linked with. Personally with the signing of toure and carragher, Coates and skrtel all departing, ideally we should be looking for a more established young centre back. Not one who has just come out of his academy. Papa is my first choice with lovren and de vrij being good shouts.
ReplyDeleteWhere are we fighting for scraps.
ReplyDeleteDo you realise how much rubbish the club has signed over the last 20 years?
We have always managed to sign some good players though.
Give me a player like Allen any day over a money hungry waste like Aquilani thank you very much.
Do you ever stop moaning? All I see on every article is you moaning and talking shite
ReplyDeleteOff topic, but for every football fan who wondered how exactly a waterlogged pitch does look like. It's actually the stadium in Jena, Germany.
ReplyDeleteThe transfer window hasn't even opened yet!
ReplyDeleteI think we'l bring in Papadopolous (Come on, just because they say they're not interested in a move doesn't mean they won't sell.. Apparently Suarez isn't for sale right?) as our main defender, along with a young defender (maybe Illori) to go with Toure. That would make a very good set of purchases for defense. Skrtel will (IMO) be sold on to fund these partly, even though I think it would be rash to sell him now because of a 'poor' season (We turned down £20+ million for him a year ago from City). If we kept him, it would give us fantastic strength in depth at the back, as well as someone to either replace or understudy Reina in goals, we've have a great defensive 5 and more! But, as usual, I dont think it will pan out to be so fantastic..
ReplyDelete:-)
ReplyDeleteKelly in skill and ability, is as good a central defender as Agger is. Problem is, he gets injured a lot. If he can stay fit he doesn't have to worry about anyone being in the team ahead of him. That's why we've given him a 30k a week contract despite the fact that he hasn't been able to "work" 26 weeks a year in years now. That's how much the club believe in his ability. But it's good to see the club is also looking at alternatives because we simply can't wait around for years hoping that Kelly will stop getting injured all the time. Yes there are examples like Gerrard and Agger when they were younger but there is also Owen or Kirkland.
ReplyDeleteSturridge may be out for 4 months with ankle ligament damage, we need to buy another striker, aspas and another one.
ReplyDeleteAlderweild is the obvious choice. I see him starting for Liverpool next season ;)
ReplyDeleteWell agger and skrtel, lucas etc, were not world class signings when we signed them at all, any they have all developed into very good players at liverpoo, theres no reason to be pessimistic about llori as there is every chance that he could develop into a world class centre back
ReplyDeleteandy carroll is also out injured so I cant see any one buying him looks like a very expensive treatment room till September. borini and the new Spanish player. we need to sell suaerz asap to get some spending money and buy a couple of forwards.other wise its the two players I mentioned as our strike force .even if we keep LS his ban will take him into sept .don't look good at themoment.
ReplyDeleteDid they have to call off the game?
ReplyDeletef"ck me England games finished stevie copple Jamie rednapp and now we have lost sturridge for 4 months . I would do away with international football cos its shit and no one except if your from down south is F"ckin intrested
ReplyDeleteI still think the Papa deal will happen.
ReplyDeleteThis guy sounds like a great prospect though.
A shame there isn't more footage of him out there, so I can get a proper idea of whether or not there is anything to him.
f"cks sake I hope they don't turn the floodlights on
ReplyDeletedid u notice Sammy lee in the 3 foot end
ReplyDeleteUnder FSG we have made 6 of our 15 most expensive ever signings, yes we need experience in the group with Carra gone.
ReplyDeleteBut we need to balance that, A few years ago we had Kuyt, Bellamy, Maxi, Aurelio, Joe Cole, Kyriakos. Not to mention the dreadful Poulsen, Konchesky, Jovanovic. All on high wages all over or around the age 30 and we we're in a no better position (in fact worse) and none of them had long term futures at the club. I wish we had kept some of them (I still believe Bellamy, Kuyt and Maxi we're all still here as they were useful players).
The picture you paint is overly bleak, as if unless FSG spend 40 million on a 28 year old world class player they cannot do right by you. I can see flaws in FSG's plan 100% we need to add some experience as we have the youngest squad on average in the league but we are building, we don't have Man City, Chelsea or even Utd money without the champions league and we can't attract their level of player either. But your overly pessimistic attitude doesn't help anyone, it isn't realistic and only serves to depress you and people you speak to.
Let's give FSG and Rodgers and chance this summer, rather than slating them from the off. We have progressed this season getting rid of high wage players and dead wood like Adam etc. and improving our points/league position whilst changing our style of play to be more attractive. Let's just give Rodgers this full season, he will have a proper summer and we shall see.
I see his arrival as the end for Coates and still believe Wisdom and Kelly are still central options in Rodgers mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Kelly is IMO the best 1v1 defender in our team and with his injuries i believe alot of them have been soft tissue injuries (besides his knee), So hopefully not running up and down the wing all game with put an end to them.
ReplyDeleteInternationals are definitely not LFC's friend thats for sure.
ReplyDeleteJason, i sometimes suspect you of being the alter ego mouthpiece for Jamie K. Someone with whom Jamie K can argue to prove his point, :)
ReplyDeletehahahahaa
ReplyDeletestefan if that was true jaimie would be clark kent i would be superman lol,but its not i have been barred from this site more times by jaimie than suarez as by the fa lol;-)
ReplyDeletecheers m8 much appreciated
ReplyDeletetransfer values are going up so to say we have made bigger transfers under fsg is hardly suprising
ReplyDeletelost complete interest in the natinal teams years and years ago i am often asked what would you rather see england win the world cup or lfc the league there is no doubt lfc every time
ReplyDeleteFootball transfers have increased yes, but since 2008-2009 they haven remained relatively stable in fact the average premier league transfer fee was highest 2008 and has continued to fall up until 2011 (I have no figures for 2012-13). So we have made our 6 of our 15 biggest signings under FSG all whilst not being the champions league and prices declining in the prem since 2008.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally H&G took over in the 2006-2007 season, they were owners of the club for 4 years. FSG have been a marked improvement, they have been in charge 2 and a half years. H&G made 8 of our biggest signings while we were in the champions league, I would say without champions league money FSG have done reasonably well almost matching H&G in almost half the time in terms of signings and not putting the club under the financial stress and near bankruptcy we faced before. Additionally LFC are making a manageable loss, but this still means any transfer funds are out of the owners pockets directly and anything raised by player sales, some people don't remember that LFC debt was at a high of almost £500m and we were close to going the way of Portsmouth.
Consider for the minute those issues we have faced and we could be in a far worse position. Let's give FSG some time.
It's now the third time I've watched this clip in full and I keep wondering what I'm missing here. All I see is a kid with no composure on the ball, a lot of unchallenged headers with no direction, Jackson Martinez getting a shot off whenever he wants to and his goalkeeper and team mates bailing him out. From this clip, I really can't see what is so special about this kid who probably just plays because Sporting are struggling financially.
ReplyDeleteMcLaughlin will be a better right back than Kelly and Wisdom. You have to Consider that Toure is 32 and has about 2/3 years left at the top of the game, and Agger is 28 but as previously stated injuries will force him into early retirement. Sama will not make it. so that leaves, Kelly, Wisdom, Ilori and L.Jones as 4 young prospects of which two, maybe three if we are lucky will make the grade. This signing wont affect Kelly or Wisdom at all, it'll give them competition so they up their game.
ReplyDeleteThink they agreed on playing water-polo instead of football.
ReplyDeleteNice. Heard Jena are now rivalling Real for the signatures of Bale and Suaréz as they look for players who are good a diving.
ReplyDeleteDidn't he just sign a contract extension a few weeks ago?
ReplyDeleteSince when do you believe agents Jamie? Papa is coming.
ReplyDeleteCoates,ms and carra to be replaced with these 3.
ReplyDeleteAgger ,papa and llori for first team, toure and Kelly back up.
ReplyDeleteI hope not....
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong. One of our alleged targets in the Netherlands has, according to reports, just extended his contract. I may mix it up a bit.
ReplyDeleteWould be pleased if we signed Alderweireld and de Vrij.
Reports are that it's curently a stalemate with LFC offering 4.2m plus 800 performance related, with the parent club demanding 7m. Expect a compromise soon I guess. But this is an interesting potential signing that indicates intelligence in recruitment. Here we have a young talent on the way up, who could potentially join an old head who's won trophies (Toure). Add a real proven talent who can walk into the team (Papadopoulos for example, has bags of skill and experience at only 21) and you've got a good policy of mixing ages and levels.
ReplyDeleteOn the wider issue of transfers and related policy that the headline touches on, let's hope the club stays smart. The big fees and big names are for when you need to maintain success and have the pressure of champions league (or mountains of cash). We can focus on potential and should bracket ourselves with clubs such as Dortmund and Newcastle (prior to the least season). Let's hope the recruitment team find the next Lewandowski (bought for 4.2m), Kagawa (bought for 308,000), Tiote (bought for 3m), or Cabaye (bought for 4.4m). The players don't have to be babies, just players with potential that the really successful clubs don't go for because they are unproven in the big leagues. There's no doubt these players exist and it's great that the club seems to be waking up to that fact
we are and pray never will be portsmouth sick of everyone going on as if fsg are some great saviours they are not they are here for the money and more fans will see this as time gos by
ReplyDeleteNo owner buys a football club to make a loss. Unless there filthy rich like man city and Chelsea owners. Football has changed, clubs are brought to make money, but our owners are still spending £££ even without CL money over spending more than united and arsenal who get CL funds coming through.
ReplyDeletePersonally I do not rate Coates at all.
ReplyDeleteI think BR does rate both Wisdom and Kelly,but I feel Wisdom needs more time and experience before you can consider him a first team player and Kelly, whilst he does have a lot of experience now, his injury record lets him so it makes it difficult to count on him.
You clearly don't understand economics or finance in anyway, at the moment we are losing money. Therefore our owners are losing money, they may get a dividend or a wage but it will be small in comparison to what they are putting into the club.
ReplyDeleteI don't quite understand your gripe with FSG aside from some vague ramblings, is it that aren't investing enough money? They have a poor transfer strategy? Liverpool this fiscal year made a 40 million pound loss and still made a net spend of £41 million, in comparison Man Utd made a profit of over £3 million, Arsenal profits of £18 million. These are facts instead of assumptions and accusations. No one is calling FSG heroes, but you're judging them when money out of owners pockets is coming out. We are a club with a huge wage bill coming off years of champions league revenue with now none of that. You seem to expect instant rejuvenation with no realistic approach or way about how we can go that, that we as a club will conjure money out of thin air. We could of course do that, we did under H&G with under financed loans underwritten by the club to make big signings on high wages that almost bankrupted the club.
Yup. They were my 2 number 1 picks for us.
ReplyDeleteAlderweild would be a fantastic buy. Nice and versatile aswell AND i also believe he would go for a relatively low price.
I'm not convinced by Papa tbh,yes, he is a physical beast, has good positional play, BUT he tends to get beaten on the ground on a regular basis and isn't the best on the ball especially for the money that is been mentioned.
If you turn on the floodlights, you could make football soup.
ReplyDeleteTastes like...chicken.
So far I haven't entirely grasped the hype amongst fellow Reds about Papadopoulos. Maybe because the rumoured price is 16m not 6m for de Vrij. Marquee signing and such thinking. Anyway, we don't have a say when it comes to transfers.
ReplyDeleteWisdom and Kelly would be future defenders, they would offer competition for places along side Agger Toure and any other young centre half we buy. You need to remember Carragher started of Right Back and turned into a great Centre Half, I see the same for Kelly if he can remain fit. Learn your trade at right back, gain experience on the big stage and make the transition in to the middle when ready
ReplyDelete