The proposed deal for Liverpool transfer target Henrikh Mkhitaryan has descended into farce over the last few days. The Armenian appears to have gone AWOL to push through a move; Shakhtar Donetsk's CEO confirms that the attacker 'has not appeared for training', and Ian Ayre's transfer negotiation incompetence could conceivably kill the deal altogether. There may be some light at the end of the tunnel, however, and it's now up to Liverpool to get its act together and make the deal happen.
On Tuesday, Shakhtar CEO Sergie Palkin told reporters:
"He [Mkhitaryan] has not had any contact with Liverpool. I am confident that reports of negotiations are just rumours. Liverpool have not made an enquiry about the player".
Things appear to have changed over the last few days, though, and in an interview earlier today, Palkin confirmed that Liverpool have made an offer for Mkhitaryan. He also set out the terms upon which the club is willing to sell the Armenian. He told German newspaper Bild:
"We are ready to let him [Mkhitaryan] go for 30 million euros. The offer is valid for the next ten days. If a club pays this amount in one installment for him, we will let him go".
Clearly, Liverpool's offer is not enough at this stage, and if the club really wants Mkhitaryan, then it seemingly had 10 days to sort out the deal.
The Guardian reported recently that FSG have signed off on the transfer, but discussing the potential deal on ESPN last weekend, Nicol warned:
"He [Mkhitaryan] has talent. He scores some goals, but I’m getting worried now because every player that’s linked with Liverpool is an attacking midfielder. The guy's a good player, but I don’t know where he’s going to fit in"
Nicol does have a point - Many of LFC's transfer targets at the moment seem to be attacking midfielders (Mkhitaryan, Eriksen, Aspas, Alberto etc), but this is (arguably) a good thing. Over the last few years, Liverpool have lacked regular goals from midfield, and at present, the club lacks strength and depth in that department.
€30m roughly is almost £26m - is Mkhitaryan worth that much, and will cash-conscious FSG sanction that amount for a single transfer...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
On Tuesday, Shakhtar CEO Sergie Palkin told reporters:
"He [Mkhitaryan] has not had any contact with Liverpool. I am confident that reports of negotiations are just rumours. Liverpool have not made an enquiry about the player".
Things appear to have changed over the last few days, though, and in an interview earlier today, Palkin confirmed that Liverpool have made an offer for Mkhitaryan. He also set out the terms upon which the club is willing to sell the Armenian. He told German newspaper Bild:
"We are ready to let him [Mkhitaryan] go for 30 million euros. The offer is valid for the next ten days. If a club pays this amount in one installment for him, we will let him go".
Clearly, Liverpool's offer is not enough at this stage, and if the club really wants Mkhitaryan, then it seemingly had 10 days to sort out the deal.
The Guardian reported recently that FSG have signed off on the transfer, but discussing the potential deal on ESPN last weekend, Nicol warned:
"He [Mkhitaryan] has talent. He scores some goals, but I’m getting worried now because every player that’s linked with Liverpool is an attacking midfielder. The guy's a good player, but I don’t know where he’s going to fit in"
Nicol does have a point - Many of LFC's transfer targets at the moment seem to be attacking midfielders (Mkhitaryan, Eriksen, Aspas, Alberto etc), but this is (arguably) a good thing. Over the last few years, Liverpool have lacked regular goals from midfield, and at present, the club lacks strength and depth in that department.
€30m roughly is almost £26m - is Mkhitaryan worth that much, and will cash-conscious FSG sanction that amount for a single transfer...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Give them the money :-) rather have this guy than a defender haha! Already ok in that department...
ReplyDeletewhere did you get this info from? i cant see any article that suggests Liverpool making an offer. Only Dortmund have made an offer
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how having a bid declined means he's incompetent. So far our transfer business has been done very quickly and to me that's a good thing. I would expect the transfer for the most money would take the lingest to hammer out. Either way we will see, I think he's worth it but who knows if we'll land him in the end. Maybe Dortmund hit the number before we do.
ReplyDeleteI seen what the CEO said and he didn't mention Liverpool. I may print out this article for my afternoon poo!
ReplyDeletei thought Dortmund made the offer?
ReplyDeleteLike it!
ReplyDelete'Ian Ayre's transfer negotiation incompetance?'
ReplyDelete4 signings already this window....seems to be a fair bit of sneaky russian monkey business going on, why you picking on Ayre?
Why not they paid 35mil for useless Carroll , Sell Suarez and get this guy plus a Ash Williams and one good Striker then we are good to go
ReplyDeleteJeez, the inability of people to read properly is really disturbing in this day and age. It clearly states in the article that Palkin made his comments in an interview with german newspaper Bild.
ReplyDeleteThey probably have, but according to Palkin, LFC have mad an offer too.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have heard this, what is the source for this report. ???????
ReplyDeleteWhy slate Ian Ayre? How do you know that its his incompetence that is the problem here. I don't know what he does and I suspect that you do not either. Criticising for criticising's sake in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAaaaghh! READ THE ARTICLE! The source is clearly stated. *shoots self*
ReplyDeletewhy is the ceo changing his statement the other day he said we had not made an offer,also if what we read is believed to be true that means we have ten days to sort the suarez situation out ,because imo signings of this kind of money ,will be dependent on the suarez sale,although it would be fantastic if it was not
ReplyDeletefair enough, the only article i saw on the topic had a very similar quote to the one in this article but no mention of liverpool.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we have put a bid in, atleast our foot is in the door lol
welcome back jaimie i see the rest as left you all relaxed and easy going;-)
ReplyDeleteYou can keep banging this drum but it's already been established than Mkhitaryan's purchase is NOT dependant on the Suarez deal.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot if money on someone who plays in the Ukrainian league. Bar Champions league games, it's too steep. That's not to say he isn't good, but it's a risk. We have bought big recently- Downing £20M, Carroll £35M, Henderson £16M, Allen, £15M. These deals haven't paid off. Lost £20M on Carroll, downing wouldn't sell for more than £7M- £10M, Allen was heavily overpriced after 1 season in the prem. Henderson I guess has been the only one to improve.
ReplyDeleteWe've bought better when it's been less money- Coutinho- awesome start. Skills, assists, link up play. Sturridge- banging them in. Looking confident. Both for the price of a Downing. Coutinho has done more in the short time he's been at LFC than downing since he signed from Villa!
Good players aren't always top prices so I am optimistic about Aspas and Alberto. I only wish though, that we could sign Thiago from Barcelona. Competition/replacement for Allen. This player is the real deal.
And where did you see this article? The original source is Bild; that is who Palkin spoke to, so that is the most accurate source, and in that interview, he states LFC made a bid.
ReplyDeleteNumerous sites are stating one thing, but on bild i didnt see him mention LFC. but the article i saw on bild had only one quote
ReplyDeleteEnough of the attitude, i asked a simple question in very polite manor and to clarify ... I cant find an article that states Liverpool making an offer. This is what Palkin said ... “I do not know where Mkhitaryan is. Only his agent knows this. Borussia sent a proposal for £19.5m.“I contacted Mkhitaryan’s agent. I wrote to him about the official position of the club. We are prepared to sell Mkhitaryan for £25.5m.“This offer stands for the next 10 days. If Mkhitaryan wishes to leave, they have to pay this amount for him.”
ReplyDeleteWell edited Jaime I saw the exact same article in Bil and you have just substituted Dortmund for LFC. Your a fraud...
ReplyDeleteFor the love of God (!) - Click through to the link. It clearly states that LFC have made an offer. I'm not really interested in what 'numerous sites' are saying, only the original source.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I would love to have this guy...size, speed...seems to have all the tools. Something about ultimatums and information locked behind stone walls makes me feel like something's wrong. Why has this guy all but disappeared? Red flags are going up all over.
ReplyDeleteWas Jaimie born with an attitude of Hitlers pet poodle or has he had to work at it you think?
ReplyDeleteI knew they were lying about not having any contact, total liars or what???.............let's get the money down and bring the lad to Anfield!!!
ReplyDelete'auch liverpool bietet mit' - sounds about as speculative as anything else out there at the moment. Bild is not a great source either, in my humble opinion, of course...
ReplyDeleteTake it easy i aint attacking you on this, im just saying i saw something different. As i stated earlier i hope we have made contact
ReplyDeleteBild did not make that statement; Shakhtar's CEO said it.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if I agree we're ok for defenders but I think the deal is pretty straightforward. Either we pay the 30 million euro or we pull out. As for attacking midfielders, we're bound to lose one or two this summer too and Mkitharyan can play central in midfield, Gerrard role, as well. And I'm not too sure Alberto and Aspas are two players we want to be overreliant on to get us qualified for the CL.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of money... And his behaviour is not professional... We all know what happened with masch, and i was pissed off at that time...
ReplyDeleteSo, for that price, i would scrap the deal altogether... Though he is an exciting player, we cannot spend so much on an area where we do have some options...
fair enough, sounds like a bit of an add-on though.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of harping on, why the 'Ayre-bashing'?
ok i see where im off. The article i seen had "Offensiv-Rakete Mkhitaryan will Donezk verlassen, fehlte jetzt beim Trainingsauftakt des Oligarchen-Klubs. Auch Liverpool bietet mit."
ReplyDeletebut it wasnt a quote on the one i saw, it was implied as a comment by the author or just a typo or most likely my german is way off lol.
Need defenders too looking at Skrtel and Coates efforts last season and have decided this is not who the club needs and do not see him coming anyway
ReplyDeleteI think he is using Liverpool to get a better contract elsewhere.
In the online version, the questions are in bold, and the replies are in normal type, and that part is in normal type, which signifies that it's a quote.
ReplyDeleteRe Ayre: amongst other things stretching back to the start of his reign:
ReplyDelete* Spoke to the wrong Agents during the Iago Aspas deal
* Failed to realise Mkhitaryan's part-ownership situation.
ok thats makes alot more sense now, i just assumed "quotations" was the only answers
ReplyDeleteYou could be right, but I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that bold = questions and normal type = quotes. That's the standard, and that's the way it's set out in the article.
ReplyDeleteIn our fluid 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 system we play with 3/4 attacking mids so that we can control the game. Getting attacking mids that are techincally brilliant goal scorers that press hard is the key us getting top 4.
ReplyDeleteHenry Mac ticks all the boxes and can play in any of the midfield forward roles so sign him up £26m is not that much when you consider Fernandinho cost £30m.
All i know is from now on i will defo be reffering to him as "Henry Mac" lol nice
ReplyDeleteIt was Aspas that appointed other agents to take care of his business how can Ayre be culpable.
ReplyDeleteThey want 30m.
ReplyDeleteI want to date a super model.
We can all keep dreaming.
He's culpable because he should've known that. It's his job to know that.
ReplyDeleteThe player never was AWOL at all, he is busy sorting out his transfer.....................:-).
ReplyDeleteSorry Jamie but how could he know if his agents were not properly notified i mean there is a protocol that was followed and Aspas should have shown more caution.
ReplyDeletelol lets hope so eh....? :)
ReplyDeleteHe does seem like a really good player but I would still love to see Eriksen in red plus Im fairly sure he'd be cheaper
ReplyDeletei remember reading something about these other agents having written permission from aspas and that his brother was the one handing the offers to Celta so they wouldnt know that the other agents were involved so i do agree that maybe Ayre isnt too much at fault.
ReplyDeleteBut didnt an accusation happen with Carrols transfer to liverpool along the lines of LFC dealing with different agents to push a deal through? also i am aware that Ayre wasnt doing those negotiations but i figured id try throw in something lol :P
about 10m cheaper :P
ReplyDeletewrong again, Jamie - nowhere but nowhere but NOWHERE does it say lfc have made an offer
ReplyDeleteWe don't know if a bid was lodged or an inquiry made for Mkhitaryan before the co-ownership was disclosed. Shaktar could well tackle inquiries as if the player belonged solely to them to weed out the serious contenders. Very harsh to be too critical there, I think. Transfer waters appear to be very murky in South America and eastern Europe...
ReplyDeleteAspas engineered the agent confusion by switching agent (possibly breaching contracts) to presumably push through a move to Liverpool. If an agent is nominated by a player, I don't see how it becomes Ayre's fault... should he be initiating validity checks and contractual inspections on all of the agents of players he hopes to sign?
As for the other things stretching back to the start of his reign... well, that's widening the scope a little more than I have time for! To be honest, I was just curious as to why you were having a go - now I know and although I feel it's a little harsh, I do appreciate where you're coming from - fair enough.
well i have scowerd the web and 99.9%are still saying only dortmund have made a bid,hope your right jaimie ,as this is the kind of transfer that the club needs
ReplyDeletejaimie on the subject of hk,would you want him at the club imo what he his doing(refusing to return to his club )is worse than what suarez is doing (talking about other clubs)
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, you can't compare the signings of Downing, Carroll and Henderson to the signings of Allen, Coutinho and Sturridge. The first three were bought by KD and Comolli, they were the ones that set out the price they wanted, Ian Ayre only negotiated to get them at that price, Rodgers however knows what Allen can do, so felt he was justified to buy him for 15m, and being that Rodgers was bringing his own philosophy into the club, he needed players who he knew could play that style of football. Sturridge and Coutinho were bought with a new scouting system. And people saying we overpaid for Henderson, it just may prove to be a bargain if he continues the way he is. As someone recently said, the only British player in his age bracket who is better than Henderson is Wilshere.
ReplyDelete25millions is too much IMO, but then we did pay 35millions for Donkey Carroll. I think 25millions is too much for him even though he's a class player but who knows if he doesn't click? That would suck and we'd be hating on Rodgers then. IDK if 25millions is the right price.
ReplyDelete"It clearly states that Liverpool have made an offer."
ReplyDeleteBild states LFC made an offer, the CEO didn't. I suggest you re-read Bild. The CEO is only quoted as saying that 'A' club will need to pay 30m Euro in the next days.
He also CLEARLY states that LFC have NOT made an enquiry.
He's worth the risk IMO. Considering the sort of money we have paid on stupid transfers over the years its about time we invest serious money in a truly exciting player. I've only felt this way about 2 players in the last few years. The signing of Torres and Suarez for similar fees never seemed a risk to me (other than Suarez's discipline which has proven to be a burden) and I feel the same with Mickey. Gerrard isnt going to be contributing 20 odd goals a season anymore. Hes rediscovered his form but in a completely different role. We need someone to fill that void.
ReplyDeleteNo he didn't, Bild state this not the CEO. Read it again.
ReplyDeleteOr delete my comment again lol
""Mkhitaryan will Donezk verlassen, fehlte jetzt beim Trainingsauftakt. Auch Liverpool bietet mit"
ReplyDeleteIt clearly states that Liverpool have made an offer."
That is from Bild, not from the CEO, again I implore you to fact check!
On the one hand, attempts of signing a guy who has disrespected his current club by refusing to appear in trainings do not ring well to me; On the other hand, I am delighted to see we are signing a number of midfielders, which must be a testament that Rodgers has recognized the incompetence of the 80 per cent of players of the last season's midfield line.
ReplyDeletelike chinese whispers this..
ReplyDeleteYes, of course I want him at the club. Comparing him to Suarez is like comparing Jack the Ripper to a shoplifter. Mkhitaryan does not have 'baggage'. Plus, I have not called for Suarez to leave because of his big mouth in the press; I want him to leave because he's a biting, stamping, diving cheat. Mkhitaryan is none of these things. However, if he didn't turn up for training as an LFC player, I would highlight it, just as I'd do the same for any LFC player.
ReplyDeleteaccording to a site anzhi have put a bid of 30million plus in for hk,hope thats not the case ,because unless he refuses the switch we will not be going that high
ReplyDeletethere is not turning up then theres retiring lol,and if hes willing to do it to shakhter ,no doubt if he,s a success at anfield he will do it again if a bigger club comes calling(in my eyes there is no bigger club than lfc)also you forgot murdering rascist;-)
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Ayre, while I would agree previously he hasn`t been great with doing Transfer deals, I think it is a tad unfair on him to aim any faults during this window. So far we have signed four players and the window hasn`t even opened yet. In regards to this actual deal I can`t see where he has done anything wrong. There manager seems to talk as much as Whelan and seems to be trying to force a bidding war for his player, which is fair enough. The steep price asked and rumours of third party ownership might explain the slower movements by Ayre and tbh I`m happy about that. I don`t want us over paying purely so fans can go "well done Ayre your fast" or making rash choices when a player is being priced higher daily. Taking a bit of time seems the correct thing to do.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the price. Yes its about 10mil to much and for 26mil we could get a different player just as good and prob have some cash spare imo. However a player is only worth what he is worth to the buying club and if the club feels he is one who will get us to top four and above then I would rather spend a bit extra on him than sign someone who wont get us there but is 10mil cheaper.
23mil tops though. Even that is over the odds.
I don't know much about the player but is he really that good? Barely heard of him a year ago and money being touted now is big money for such a player. I guess because I've seen very few games of him, I am somewhat conservative and nonplussed about him.
ReplyDeleteOh Well at least in 10 days we know if there is any truth to this transfer
ReplyDeleteI can see that point as well buddie, but the club as a whole spends its money, whether it be KD, an old scouting system or Brendan. You don't have to be a football 'expert' to realise £35M on Carroll and £20M on downing is ludicrous. Anyhow, I'm feeling optimistic about this season. More so than this point last summer... YNWA
ReplyDeleteHere is an update from this evening, direct quotes from the Russian National newspaper.
ReplyDeletehttp://hereisthecity.com/2013/06/27/mkhitaryan-mind-set-blanks-35-million-approach-liverpool-still-f/?
I don't get it, why not just either put the direct quote showing him state we've put in a bid or the link to the story? Surely that would save all the fuss?
ReplyDeleteAt that price he's more expensive than either Suarez or Torres, arguably our two most successful signings in the past 5 years. I'm not convinced he's really that good but I don't base that on anything concrete, just a vague impression. A player worth that much you expect to have an immediate impact, he's certainly not a project. I don't doubt that we're interested, that seems obvious enough, but I think we've set our price and Shakhtar are now wanting more. I hope LFC fans keep themselves in check and don't end up having a predictable rant at the owners or Ayre if it doesn't happen. If we don't sign this guy it will be because either he didn't fancy coming here that much or we refused to move on our evaluation. As a club it's our prerogative to do business in a manner that is best for us, that doesn't see us getting ripped off or screwed around. Most of the excitement around the player has come from news outlets so it could be fair to say that Liverpool are not desperate to sign him.
ReplyDeleteWe can get more for that much money!
ReplyDeleteI said it before & I'll say it again. Get Kasueka honda, for a similar typed player at a much affordable price. We've seen done before big price tag can't always guarantee success & BR proofed it in Jan transfer.
ReplyDeleteWhen we wanted to buy Suarez for 24mil a lot of people also questioned if it was worth it, saying the Dutch league is this and that and he's unproven at the highest level (despite getting into WC semis) and to me he's proved to be worth 50mil now. I think Klopp knows his football so for CL finalists Dortmund to bid for him is good enough for me that he is worth the gamble. In a way we are in the market for both spectrums of players. Alberto and aspas for the cheaper options and mkitarhyan for the expensive option. Of course if we could go for someone more proven that would be better but these types of players will only go to CL clubs or super high wages like Monaco and would require at least 40mil. So I think this is worth a bid.
ReplyDeleteMkhi is a lot cheaper and much better at £25m than we madly spent on Carrol at £35m.
ReplyDeleteBring it....
ReplyDeleteThis lad is pure class!!!
If he arrives, Suarez can leave in my opinion!!
Need players like this and get rid of drama queen;s...
According to arturpertrosyan on twitter, Mkhitaryan is owned by Shaktar 50%, and 50% by two oligarchs.
ReplyDeleteHe claims that Liverpool made an offer and that it was the other part owners held up the deal, not Shaktar.
He also claims that negotiations were ongoing but not with Shaktar.
Palkin allegedly has little influence in the deal and it is other parties that control Mkhitaryan's rights that are obstructing the deal. Unfair to blame Ayre here
He is too expensive and unproven yet. For the same money or even less we can land in proven scorers like Lewandowski or Higuan
ReplyDelete