Liverpool legend John Aldridge recently described Liverpool's failure to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a 'blow', but with Aston Villa star Christian Benteke officially handing in a transfer request, this particular transfer debacle may yet have a silver lining.
Responding yesterday to the 22-year old striker's transfer request, Villa boss Paul Lambert told reporters:
"We are hugely disappointed that Christian has put in a transfer request.
"We are trying to build something strong and vibrant here at the club, and we want Christian to be a part of that."
A further statement by Aston Villa confirmed that the club would let Benteke leave:
"Having received his [Benteke's] transfer request, we have also informed him that should we receive an offer within an appropriate timeframe during pre-season which meets our valuation, we would act upon it"
According to several UK sources today:
* Liverpool are ready to make a move for Benteke.
* Brendan Rodgers is hoping to get in ahead of Arsenal, Man City and Spurs.
* The Mirror claims that Villa 'will hold out for more than £26m'.
£26m for a player with one season's experience in the Premier League? You're having a laugh. Benteke may be worth that much, but (IMO) there is no way that any club will pay over £17-£20m for him.
The amount of goals he scored is irrelevant; Benteke is comparatively inexperienced, and his worth is not consistently proven over several years. Additionally, transfer fees for similar strikers over the last five years suggest that Villa are being ridiculously optimistic with their valuation.
The Belgian - recently described by Lambert as 'absolutely incredible' - clearly wants to leave, which reduces Villa's bargaining position somewhat, and the young striker has already made it clear that he will not countenance being forced to stay at the club. He told reporters in May:
“If Aston Villa say I must stay, I won’t necessarily accept that. I do not in any way want to feel I didn’t get the most out of my career. I have no fear of falling out of the team. There is no point in me getting into a tug-of-war with Villa."
Brendan Rodgers is a big fan of Benteke, and in an interview with TalkSport in mid-April, he enthused:
"[Christian] Benteke is one of the very top players at this level. He makes great runs and scores goals, and he caused us lots of problems."
Liverpool legend Jan Molby also believes Benteke is 'an option worth considering', but he urged the Reds to be cautious about splashing the cash this summer. He told Eurosport:
"You might be able to get Benteke for £15m, but I would like to see if it is more than just his physical power that has given him an advantage over defenders this season. I want to see him improve maybe 10 per cent before you dive in with heavy money"
Understandable caution from Molby here, but I personally would love to see him at Anfield. Villa fans will, of course, scoff at the idea, and argue that he'll only go to a Champions League club, but that is by no means a foregone conclusion.
With the failure of the alleged Henrikh Mkhitaryan deal, and the cash from the Carroll/Shelvey transfers, Liverpool should have enough money available to sign Benteke.
Should the club purse the Belgian...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE to Villa Fans: You're welcome here, but any snarky, snidey, abusive posts will be deleted, and the poster banned permanently. If you disagree with the content of the post, make your points in a civil manner. Thanks.
Responding yesterday to the 22-year old striker's transfer request, Villa boss Paul Lambert told reporters:
"We are hugely disappointed that Christian has put in a transfer request.
"We are trying to build something strong and vibrant here at the club, and we want Christian to be a part of that."
A further statement by Aston Villa confirmed that the club would let Benteke leave:
"Having received his [Benteke's] transfer request, we have also informed him that should we receive an offer within an appropriate timeframe during pre-season which meets our valuation, we would act upon it"
According to several UK sources today:
* Liverpool are ready to make a move for Benteke.
* Brendan Rodgers is hoping to get in ahead of Arsenal, Man City and Spurs.
* The Mirror claims that Villa 'will hold out for more than £26m'.
£26m for a player with one season's experience in the Premier League? You're having a laugh. Benteke may be worth that much, but (IMO) there is no way that any club will pay over £17-£20m for him.
The amount of goals he scored is irrelevant; Benteke is comparatively inexperienced, and his worth is not consistently proven over several years. Additionally, transfer fees for similar strikers over the last five years suggest that Villa are being ridiculously optimistic with their valuation.
The Belgian - recently described by Lambert as 'absolutely incredible' - clearly wants to leave, which reduces Villa's bargaining position somewhat, and the young striker has already made it clear that he will not countenance being forced to stay at the club. He told reporters in May:
“If Aston Villa say I must stay, I won’t necessarily accept that. I do not in any way want to feel I didn’t get the most out of my career. I have no fear of falling out of the team. There is no point in me getting into a tug-of-war with Villa."
Brendan Rodgers is a big fan of Benteke, and in an interview with TalkSport in mid-April, he enthused:
"[Christian] Benteke is one of the very top players at this level. He makes great runs and scores goals, and he caused us lots of problems."
Liverpool legend Jan Molby also believes Benteke is 'an option worth considering', but he urged the Reds to be cautious about splashing the cash this summer. He told Eurosport:
"You might be able to get Benteke for £15m, but I would like to see if it is more than just his physical power that has given him an advantage over defenders this season. I want to see him improve maybe 10 per cent before you dive in with heavy money"
Understandable caution from Molby here, but I personally would love to see him at Anfield. Villa fans will, of course, scoff at the idea, and argue that he'll only go to a Champions League club, but that is by no means a foregone conclusion.
With the failure of the alleged Henrikh Mkhitaryan deal, and the cash from the Carroll/Shelvey transfers, Liverpool should have enough money available to sign Benteke.
Should the club purse the Belgian...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE to Villa Fans: You're welcome here, but any snarky, snidey, abusive posts will be deleted, and the poster banned permanently. If you disagree with the content of the post, make your points in a civil manner. Thanks.
Suarez agent come out and said that he want club going for champions league all he wants is good signings .
ReplyDeleteBuy benteke and put Downing in the deal as well .
Especially suarez out for first 6 games PLease FSG make this happen now.
Liverpool will pay £26 million for him, everyone else will pay £17 million.
ReplyDeleteHe is a good player and I wouldn't mind seeing in the Liverpool red.
Also Downing to go to West Ham?
Benteke simply doesnt fit the profile of the kind of players were trying to bring in. Benteke's game is built on strength and physical presence, but our side is made up of players with technical ability. We want players with pace, close control, trickery and the ability to finish, and Benteke simply isnt that kind of player. Andy carroll has been shipped out because he isnt right for the kind of game were trying to play and neither is benteke. Furthermore his one season in the premier league isnt sufficient to warrant a move for him. The number of players that have had a great first season and faltered in their second is extensive and it would be foolish to splash the cash on Benteke for that reason as well.
ReplyDeleteI hope he's forced to stay at Villa, and not with any hike in pay either.
ReplyDeleteThese "professional" players take the pi$$!
No messing around. £15M + downing. That will be a good offer. If Suarez stays, him, Sturridge and benteke up front with Coutinho behind... Goals! Goals! Goals! We'd have Suarez's determination, on the edge style, skills, assists and goals. Benteke's strength, power, heading, skills. Sturridge pacey, skilful. Coutinho setting them all up. That could be awesome. Good blend. I hope we can gazump the other teams!
ReplyDeleteI think he'd be an awesome signing, pace, power, skill, accuracy...I'd go as far as saying it would be negligent to not make a bid...An official 'We want him' bid.
ReplyDeletePeople also said we would be foolish signing suarez that the premier league is to tough . also everyone said Couthino was to small un tried the EPL is to strong for the little Brazillian. they were wrong .
ReplyDeleteApparently Tottenham have held talks. I would love him at lfc but is he not a similar style player to Andy Carroll? Can he play on the football BR wants. Maybe simon mignolet can put in a good word for us?
ReplyDeleteIt all depends if Suarez leaves or not. If he leaves it will be for a lot of money and I'm just not sure if Madrid want him that badly enough to pay £50m, especially with all the baggage that comes with him. If Suarez stays then I don't think we have room for him, unless we sell Borini. Don't get me wrong, I think Benteke is a top player but we've only just signed Sturridge and Aspas so do we need another striker? I personally would like to see us go for Sanchez at Barca.
ReplyDeleteI think he would fit in quite well actually. Just because he is strong doesn't mean he doesn't fit the profile of players Liverpool want. He isn't a player that is all about crosses coming in, and heading them home. He has pace and power, and most importantly goals.
ReplyDeleteI agree though that 1 season doesn't mean he will be amazing this coming season. But its certainly more promising than someone coming to the PL and not settling at all.
it seems as though Paul Lambert's bludgeoning stubbornness will make the fact that no one thinks he's worth 25-30 Mil, completely irrelivant... a bidding war looks set to break out, without question........
ReplyDeleteNot sure of the point your trying to make. Of course there are players that people thought we shouldnt sign and they turned out to be good signings, but equally there are numerous players people thought we shouldnt sign that turned out to be colossal wastes of money, for instance Andy Carroll.
ReplyDeleteCarroll? Come on, Benteke is streets ahead of him in every department.
ReplyDeleteNot trying to wind anyone up here but there is no way that Benteke is going for £15m as Molby indicates. As you know from recent experiences (Torres/Carrol from Newcastle), it is all about who holds the balance of power in negotiations. Benteke isn't holding too many aces. He is on 3 year contract and is probably on £20K/week and next year is World Cup year so presumably he needs to be playing regularly. Villa have shown with Bent, Given, Ireland that they are not worried about reputation if it doesn't help the team. Most thought he would have stayed extra season and signed a new contract on x3, x4 times salary then gone after World Cup.
ReplyDeleteI would expect Benteke to go in next month (Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs all looking for strikers in UK alone) for no less than £25m. Otherwise, Benteke will left training with Villa reserves risking missing out World Cup.
What you cant read your point is that he is a one year wonder . People didn't have high opinion of suarez or couthino . But if Benteke who is more technical then carroll. does good for us. youll love him
ReplyDeleteIf we sell Suarez then yeah we should put in a bid 20-25 million.
ReplyDeleteHe will go for what Villa want or he'll have to stay. Lambert doesn't mess around, he has three years two months left on his existing contract, if the fee set by the club isn't met in the given time frame then there will be no talks with other clubs.
ReplyDeleteI agree two for two therapy has helped me
ReplyDeletelmfao ............. Downing back at Villa ?? he really fits into the 'young hungry' category ... idiot
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is set in stone as to what kind of forward Rodgers wants. I think Rodgers doesn't mind a physical and not-so-agile forward as long as he works the opposition defence with his positioning in a way that creates space for the others. That is what Danny Graham did for him at Swansea (he also had him at Watford I think). That is what Fred did for Brazil. Neither are mobile or quick but they work hard and pick up good positions for the team, not just in terms of goalscoring but also in terms of helping to enable the team's offensive play. Although to be fair, he had a smaller budget at Swansea and they were in the Championship, a more physical league, when they signed Graham. Maybe with a bigger budget, he will sign a different kind of forward. It does seem like he would want a more mobile forward but I don't think it is set in stone yet.
ReplyDeleteThere is a slight difference (read: major) difference between Carroll and Benteke and that is power and speed. CArroll is big but he was easily felled by defenders; Benteke has much greater control of his core. Most critically though, there is a massive speed difference between the 2. It's like comparing a hyena (carroll, pun intended) and a lion.
ReplyDeleteVilla won't sell for £17 - £20m. Has 3 years left on contract and will be frozen out. He wants to play World Cup in 2014. He tried this tactic in Belgium and it worked but not so sure it will work this time. I would expect that a club have approached his agent but its possible not. If this has not happened I expect this will get messy as few clubs would meet Villa's valuation. If there has been an approach I am guessing Chesea or Man City.
ReplyDeleteDid he used to play for Genk during the time where we have/had a partnership with Genk?
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with this. As much as I think he'd be a good buy, he doesn't fit Rodgers' model, I think he could though. But not for the amounts quoted.
ReplyDeleteRemember all those Villa fans who came on your forum to tell you that you have no chance of signing him, and that when he goes it will be for at least £25 million?
ReplyDeleteYeah. I'm here to remind you they were right. And i'll be back when he signs for a better team than Liverpool.
Not for £26 million - you must be joking.
ReplyDeleteSuarez was a proven goal scorer at Ajax and at international level and Coutinho is a fantastic player that only cost £8m.
Big differences in your comparison.
Benteke is class. Theres no comparison to be had between the two. Technically he is very sound Carroll always seemed a bit suspect there and spent most of the time on the ground being bullied by defenders. Benteke is a beast.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure. I think he could leave for less, especially seeing as he has handed in a transfer request. Its a different story if the player hasn't expressed a desire to leave. But he has, and that usually makes the value drop a little.
ReplyDeleteI guess it depends how many clubs come in for him. A bidding war could ensue.
chelsea, man city, spurs and arsenal also interested...yeah we're toast.
ReplyDeleteAre they though? Most of the time its just paper talk, and agent talk to drum up some interest.
ReplyDeleteI could quite easily see him going to Spurs though, they are probably the most in need of a striker.
Villa fan. Personally do not think Benteke would suit liverpools style. Think you are wrong about the price, with is young age, physical presence he will only improve so therefore is an investment for the future and worth at least 20 million. Villa in a good position with his contract and will start a bidding war. Last year Benteke said Arsenal was his club, when chelsea offer 25 million i think is mind could change. Hope he goes as he thinks he is to good for a club and has no loyalty. Up the villa, we are not all rude by the way
ReplyDeleteAgreed benteke is much better but who's to say Andy would not have had just as good a season had he stayed with NUFC? Also both he and Andy are good in the air, power players who hold up the ball. Just don't know how that fits with BR. Don't get me wrong i would love Benteke.
ReplyDeletesay we do sign him and finish fifth and he has a good year .....whats stopping him from putting another request and signing up for someone else too dangerous IMO leave him alone and go for gameiro or menez
ReplyDeleteNo, you are wrong. Benteke will never go for anything close to £25m.
ReplyDeleteSuarez's agent has said no such a thing. The report on the BBC contains 0 quotes. It mainly states that Suarez has said he wants to play CL football which is not correct. He's said that a club like Liverpool should be playing CL football. Obviously British media twist that into that he wants to leave because it better suits the witch hunt but you could of course interpret it as him saying he wants to bring Liverpool back where we belong. As for Benteke, I've said on this forum time and again that the guy is a disgrace and a journeyman and he's proven me right again. The way he's conducted himself in Belgium and now at Villa is disgraceful. Buying him can only end two ways. Het either crashes and burns and we waste 20 million quid, again, or he does well and we'll be back in the Suarez situation next summer but this time with the player actually saying he wants to leave. A journeyman of Anelka proportions imo.
ReplyDeleteHow does it make any sense for Villa to freeze out their top goalscorer and current fan favourite? Without Benteke, Villa would've been relegated; they're not suddenly going to leave him in the reserves all season. Seriously, you actually believe that's possible? Get real (!) The fans wouldn't have it, and I'm sure the club's owners wouldn't have it either. This is not Bent we're talking about here.
ReplyDeletejamie is muppet
ReplyDeleteLet me see Sturridge, Aspas, compared to Benteke. Mmmmm all three and so equally talented it is so hard to pick one who would be the better player for Liverpool. ARE YOU OUT OF YOU FREAKING MIND? Christain Benteke single handedly kept Villa out of the relegation zone last year.
ReplyDeleteHow many goals did Iago Aspas score last season in La Liga? He scored 12 goals last season.
How many goals did Daniel Sturridge score last season? He scored 11 goals in 15 games for Liverpool last season.
How many goals did Christian Benteke score for Villa last season? He scored 22 goals for Villa last year.
The winner is easy to see.
Knowing what you know about the trouble we have getting anyone else other than Luis Suarez to score goals on a regular basis last season. Are you saying we should now pass up on a player who can help us replace the goals we will lose when Luis Saurez finally leaves us. ( He is really leaving us by the way trust me on this, unless we magically find champions league football)
Listen regardless of weather Suarez leaves or goes we need to try and sign Benteke. He is someone who is prolific in front of goal , sadly not many Liverpool players can be described in that manner. Sell Borini if we have to but we need to try and bring in this player. Sign this player and take Liverpool to the next level.
Sell him on for more!
ReplyDeleteah well we can do that but then we will get billed as a selling club ._.
ReplyDeleteWell let me alter my comment. IF they are interested, then we're toast. I have no doubt Mourinho would be interested, Spurs would be, Man City need to replace Tevez, and Arsenal need a striker too.
ReplyDeletewhat are you talking about Joe. Did you speak with Brendan Rodgers , did he tell you that he doesn't fit the profile of players that Liverpool are looking for this season. How the hell do you even know what you know? Benteke is a big man yeah so was Carroll. That is where the comparison with Carroll ends as far as i am concerned.
ReplyDelete-Benteke's game is built on strength like you say
-Carroll's game was built on headers.
-Benteke's takes advantage of his size , has great hold up play
-Carroll gets knocked over by a strong gust of wind.
-Benteke is a regular fixture on the Belgian national team
Carroll is really not a regular on Roy Hodgson's national team that honor in the striking dept goes to Wayne Rooney.
I think that Brendan Rodgers is not fool , We are linked to Benteke because Rodgers might have made inquiries about the Belgian. He knows that this player who you say has no technical ability scored 22 goals for Villa last season to keep them out of relegation.
I just can't see it working......Where will we play him???? Sturridge is doing a pretty good job on his own up front by creating space, so hes hardly going to be shifted out to the side for benteke, he realistically won't be able to play behind sturridge or on the right like suarez......so where will he fit???? also, if hes meant to be a suarez replacement, think of suarez' goal v spurs. Would benteke score from a tight position like suarez does there, which has happened many a time this season???
ReplyDeleteHe is only out for himself. Tallented yes but not worht anywhere near 20mil. 12million yes.
ReplyDeleteJoe isn't making his point based on 'one-season-wonder' but on the STYLE of play we have adopted. If Carroll was shipped out before BR gave him a chance and Gomez was dismissed out of hand, why would we go for another brick sh!thouse in Benteke???
ReplyDeleteWe play with smaller, nippy, football-minded players now. Pity Litmanen isn't 15 years younger......
I would be surprised if they weren't interested.
ReplyDeleteLike I said I think Spurs will be the most likely.
Chelsea are apparently after Suarez? and have Lukaku.
Arsenal are meant to be signing Higuian.
meh mate we sold AC for 15 and get benteke for 12 lol no chance give benteke some respect 20 mill seems to be fair
ReplyDeleteI think his style would suit Chelsea, but they will probably keep Lukaku and ship out Torres. They also still have Ba.
ReplyDeleteI think he's a good player, but as you say, does not fit the style or team pattern we are trying to create. We don't use a target man anymore. That's not having a go at Benteke, just a fact.
For:
ReplyDeletePower and a good eye for goal.
Gives variation in attack, able to hold up play and play the channels.
Heading ability in both attacking and defensive situations
Against:
Would need to fit in with the fast, ever-changing front 3 tactics Rodgers is implementing
Has only shown 1 season- remember Jelavic?
Price- not YET worth £20m, potentially, yes, but not yet.
I would like him for the right price - but he is NOT an elite striker yet. Forget Carroll and Downing prices- this is NOW, and he's not a £20m+ striker, they have scored goals over sustained periods
So glad someone said this. I might be wrong but hasn't sturridge had a better start as a liverpool player than Fowler !! I think we can all agree scoring more goals than God in your first half season is a pretty good start and who knows how the new players will kick off so as nice as it would be to get a "BIG" signing maybe just maybe we should have a little faith in the team that we have.
ReplyDeleteimo best not to even contemplate signings like this ,you will only end up dissappointed ,he may go for 15to17million ithink it will be over 20,either way rules us out unless big players go,and i would rather keep suarez
ReplyDeletewould that be the same team who managed 1 win out of 12games against the top 6,and not much more against the top ten
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, Benteke has the close control, pace to play with smaller nippy players. Weimann has definitely benefited from having Benteke around! I really hope we get him, he's nothing like Carroll!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm.
ReplyDeleteSturridge scored in 73% of his games last season.
Benteke in 64%
Don't think your argument holds water. we only got Sturridge in January remember.
At the moment, he is more prolific than Benteke...
yes it would mate the same team who started to come to form in the second half of the season and are starting to play like a decent side and the same team that might just get off to a good start and keep it up. If we had started last season with sturridge and couthino we would have been good for a few more wins. So who knows about this season
ReplyDeleteDid you not see Benteke's performances last season?!!!!! He has skill, pace, strength. Can header, finish, being others into play, take players on himself. Carroll was just a target player. Benteke is both skilful and strong.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Benteke go on strike at his previous club to force through a move TO VILLA? Looks like as soon as Barca or Real Madrid come hunting if he does sign for us he'll be off in a puff of smoke.
ReplyDeletep.s. good player but we've been warned. When he leaves us for a "bigger" club in about a seasons time, I don't want to hear a peep from our fans about loyalty! He has history. Benteke is a business man, and fair play to him. When he leaves we should wish him well because we go into any potential deal with this particular player with our eyes wide open.
True lad, true but if rodgers is going for another attacking player, I tend to think that he will go for the CAM mould like eriksen, etc. Just signing a striker like benteke for the sake of a "Big Signing" would be a bit reckless.....like you said we cant give sturridge the raw end of the deal after he performed so well!!!
ReplyDeleteDid you see a lot of Aspas last season? Didn't he score something like a third of Celta's league goals? Whilst I would never say that one player kept the team from relegation I'd say Aspas had a good season in a team that struggled to score goals. Sturridge signed half way through the season and scored 11 goals. I'd say that's a pretty good return from a new signing. If you'd read my post again I'm pretty sure I said that Benteke is a top player, my only concern is we at the moment have four strikers so should we bid for him we would need to get rid of one. That may well be Suarez but you don't know for definite whats happening with him and neither do I. Finally, Benteke has had one good season in the premier league, pretty much like Andy Carroll. Didn't get our fingers burnt there much did we.
ReplyDeleteyes we did not have any bad performances after xmas lol apart from the fa cup games and southampton ect
ReplyDeleteHe would undoubtedly be a great signing,but I think that £20m would be better put raiding Ajax for Eriksen and Alderweireld,We'd surely get them tow for £25m? 15 for Eriksen and 10 for Alderweireld or perhaps even less seeing as Vertonghen went for like £9.5m
ReplyDeletehow? If we believe the reports we were going to sign HM for around 20+m how are we ruled out of getting Benteke?
ReplyDeleteJoe what are you talking about. Did you personally speak to Brendan Rogers about Christain Beneteke? How do you know he doesn't want a player like Benteke?
ReplyDeleteYou make you statement based on the fact that Rodgers didn't want Carroll even before he'd seen the striker kick a ball at practice.
Benteke scored more goals last season than Carroll could score in his dreams. i don't think you can make the judgement about Benteke simply due to what happened with Carroll. If Benteke who is a big man can score 22 goal last season why wouldn't Rodgers want him?
I am going to compare Christain Benteke 22 to Andy Carroll 24 to show you that these two players are clearly not the same kind of player.
-Carroll and Benteke are both big men and that is all they have in common.
-Carroll scored 9 goals for 49 starts for Liverpool in his first season. Benteke scored 22 goals in his first season.
-Benteke has no technical skill according to you but his strength comes from his hold up play.
-Carroll gets knocked over by a strong gust of wind and his strength is he is a beautiful header of the ball.
- Benteke might not be a technically gifted player according to you but he is a fixture on the Belgian national team, Carroll is not always on Roy Hodgson's mind.
Liverpool has to be encouraged by what they saw after one season from Benteke at Aston Villa which is why they are preparing a 22 million pound bid for the player. Benteke is not Neymar but he is prolific in front of goal and that is enough for Liverpool. At 22 years old he is just going to improve.
-
No, not for 25million of course. Looking at his value I say 17million should be the max for him but then we paid 35 for Donkey Carroll.
ReplyDeleteAs a number 9 in the "new" LFC formation he might be "it". But lets see:
ReplyDeleteThe guy isn't much of a passer. But he is a beast in aerial duels with his 190cm. He also has pretty decent pace. I know he had a great season last time around, but is he proven? Hard to say. For 25M its a gamble, for 15M it still is but it looks to be on the fair side of the EV +/-.
My biggest question mark is if he is up for pressing LFC style in the final third (given his physique) and if he is; what will that do to his goal conversion rate?
i am not stating that Sturridge is a bad player nor am i stating that Aspas is a bad player. HHHarry we need goals and compared to the strikers on the books no one is near as productive as Louis Saurez has been for us. Sturridge never had a full season with us , but at Chelsea were he had a full season he could get a game. Nothing against Sturridge but he was not seen as good enough to push for a starting position on his last team. Same story at Liverpool. He is a young talent and will only get better. We are fortunate to have him at Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteIt is rather clear cut matter to me that Rodgers will have to let somebody go to make room for Christain Benteke. Yeah technically we have 4 strikers now on the books, Suarez, Aspas, Sturridge, and Borini. No worries we are certainly going to lose Suarez. The Liverpool board will not want to keep him after what he's said. If need be we can also get rid of Fabio Borini because while he has been fit he has certainly failed to impress
Benteke is a strong presence in anybody's offence. He is well respected in the league just after one season. It will take Aspas and Sturridge more time to build that kind of respect in the premiere league. Most coaches in the BPL today would start Benteke on their first eleven squad no questions asked. Can't say the same thing for Sturridge and Aspas after all we saw Sturridge languishing on the bench at Chelsea. Sturridge has been impressive at Liverpool but if paired up with Benteke in attack the floodgates would open and goals would be fast and thick. We wouldn't need to depend on Saurez. Think about it.
Rumor has it that we want to put up a 22million pound bid for this player
If we end up passing Suarez on to Chelsea, lets ask Juan Mata and 20M in cash.
ReplyDeleteIf we pass him on to Real Madrid; lets ask for Modric and Higuain :)
I would much rather us go for Lukaku than Benteke.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to agree to disagree pal. I cant understand why your writing off Aspas before he's kicked a ball for us. From the different bits I've read of him, one from Guillem Balague said that he's a star in the making and we've got an absolute steal for the money we paid. What does Sturridge have to do to earn your "respect"? He scored lots of goals and led the line brilliantly in Suarez's absence. So why does he not have the respect of the premier league? (Not that im at all bothered about that) You also said that we depend on Suarez, I would argue we played better in the time Suarez was banned with Coutinho in behind Sturridge. We certainly scored a lot of goals. I'll say again that I think Benteke is a top player, he really is a handful and he gave Carra a mauling at Villa park but if we buy him and he plays main striker in our 4.3.3, where does that leave Sturridge? Does he play wide where he's not as effective? Or dropped completely, which I don't think he's done anything to deserve. Why don't we stick with Sturridge up top, with Coutinho in behind and spend that £20m on the very best goal scoring winger/wide forward we can find and play Aspas the other side (if Suarez leaves).
ReplyDeleteI would offer Villa 10 million, if they reject it they can go do one.
ReplyDeleteAll we need is to pay 25 million or more and he turns out to be a dud.
Playing for Villa and coming to LFC are two totally different scenarios. Downing anyone? Not even Ashley Young is cutting the mustard at UTD.
There are better players out there for 20 million upwards.
Just reading some comments and 2 say his technical ability is not good is rubbish, great player just not sure about him and Sturridge playing in the same team, although their is an idea Downing and Sturridge 4 Christian B hell yeah!!! Bring it....
ReplyDeletebut we did not sign hk its called double bluff,offer a ridiculas low amount the player goes somewhere else fsg point out we tried to sign this player and that,the fsg fanatics argue there case for another season
ReplyDeleteyou can ask but whos going to pay there wages you?fsg do not want to pay big wages
ReplyDeletewhen was the last time you read that a player we have just signed was shite you have not every signing is a star in the making
ReplyDeleteSeriously JK, are you EVER gonna post the results of the End of Season Awards??????
ReplyDeleteWell the so called 'reports' is we matched BVB's offer,Jase while I know this is pointless me saying this but reserve your criticism until the window is shut,Its early days yet.
ReplyDeleteafter this season has finished lol
ReplyDeletewe matched there offer ,according to reports lol maybe if we had bettered it by half a million we may have got to speak to him,then we maybe could have persuaded him to join our club,and i know its early days but anyone who thinks we are going to sign hk or any player of that kind of pricetag without selling suarez or pepe is deluded in my opinion we still need a cb
ReplyDeleteSo if we offered the same price,we have the money to spend right? So then because that deal didn't materialise it just vanishes? I've been saying for a while and I'll keep saying it lol we should put that money towards getting Ajax's two best players (IMO) Both of their contracts are out next year too making them cheaper,I mean to me its a no brainer but I'm no expert,Just some idiot with an opinion but it makes sense to me :)
ReplyDeleteIm sure Skrtel is happy about this news .. lol
ReplyDeleteWhy not go in for Lukaku, fits in with fsg buying young and has a lot of potential and imo is better.
ReplyDeleteProblem will be to get Mourinho to sell him. Not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteGet all ur money... Spend it on benteke!
ReplyDeleteHHHarry i really want you to know that we are on the same side here. We both care a lot about Liverpool and want to see the level of play elevated more than it has been in a long time.
ReplyDeleteI hear you bro. I will not come out and say that Aspas is a bad player. To be honest with you Harry i don't know this player very well. While i watched La Liga i always watched the Madrid games , Barca games or even Malaga games. I did not know Aspas even existed till we signed him up. Maybe he is the real deal and i just don't know. I do know that i don't get excited over any new signing till i have seen them play. A lot was expected of Borini whom Rodgers had worked with personally at two different clubs and even he failed to impress.( i know it has been just one season) Borini is yet to prove himself. I will give Aspas a chance to earn my respect . He may have been the go to guy at Celta but it is safe to say he didn't have the impressive season that Benteke did.
For some reason you also believe that i don't like Sturridge. Matter of fact i do , but i hesitate to say that i am comfortable depending on Sturridge, and our current pool of strikers to fire us into a top 4 finish next season. With Saurez leaving i have every reason to be worried don't you think? It is true that Luis Suarez really shouldered the clubs goals scoring responsibilities and for that all Liverpool fans everywhere are eternally grateful. The problem here is that other members of the team may have taken their foot slightly off the pedal since they knew Saurez was going to score for them. His absence might allow us to get even more from Sturridge and other members of the team. I have no argument with that. At the same time I feel added insurance of a player like Christain Benteke will help us in making a 4th place finish less of a fantasy but more of a reality next season.
I don't see Benteke coming in unless Suarez leaves - with no European competition, having Suarez, Sturridge, Aspas, Borini, and Benteke in addition to Coutinho, Luis Alberto, and other academy products would be too many players attacking players and not enough games to give them.
ReplyDeleteone has to wonder why it's takin so long...
ReplyDeleteGuillem Balague has nothing to do with Liverpool, he's an independent football journalist who I think talks a lot of sense. He said Aspas, if he can adapt to the English game is a star in the making. If someone you respect says something good about a player then we tend to expect a little bit more from them. But it obviously doesn't always work out that way
ReplyDeleteBenteke, Wanyama and Ambrose (or players of their ilk) would add some serious muscle to our flimsy, lightweight squad. Yet all have enough technical ability to thrive with BR's style of play.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point. We've been warned about character before.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather spend the remainder of our budget on inexperienced and physically weak Spaniards, because we don't have enough of them to mount a challenge for the top 4 (!)
ReplyDeleteFrankie, u get it! Benteke is JUST what we need; young,fast,strong.....
ReplyDeleteYes, Lukaku would be a better buy but don't think its going to happen. Getting Jose to sell him will be a problem and we don't have CL games unlike Chelsea.
ReplyDeletehahhahaha!!!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion we should go for bony. He's the same player as benteke and scored 37 goals in 36 appearances for vitesse. Which is an incredible feat. Bony is also rated over 10 million less than the Belgian forward. However I do believe this is a move that BR is making with the full intent of Suarez remaining a red. Sturridge is a good player. Yes he has an impressive goal talley. But he is the sort of player that scores goals becomes confident and then try's to take on the world by himself. He then often gets what rugby players call white line fever scuffing chances that could of easily been goals. To my recall this is evident in a couple of the games he played for reds this season. And while i like him as a sporadic striker and potential starting winger i dont like him as our goal scorer for that particular reason. we need suarez or no champions league as simple as that. Now back to bony, swansea have launched a 13 million bid for the Ivorian but I think he would be easily persuaded to join the reds for around 15 million and then the extra ten million we would of spent on benteke, could be used to reinforce other areas of the pitch. To be quiet honest though I am rather disappointed we missed out on mikhitaryan. He would of moulded perfectly into the red's system. I hate to say it but in my own humble opinion the reds need impact signings to get us to the champions league as soon as possible. I don't want to see anymore academy signings from BR as 2 thirds of the pitch are already backed up by players under 23 in every position. Some even categorised as future stars e.g suso whom I want to see happily progressing at LFC
ReplyDeleteits funny how people are calling Benteke a player of pure strength and speed. He is more than just that. He also has good ball control. You can feed him a pass and he knows the perfect way to hold it up, and he has great delicacy in his passes as well as a brain. He reminds me a lot of Sturridge to be honest and not Carroll. I can imagine Benteke forming a great partnership with either Suarez or Sturridge. Those three as your front line. Now that would be a sight to behold.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you mate. He is a great player I would be happy with his signing. But 25 million is too much I'm sorry. Especially when we need reinforcing at the back and another goal threatening midfielder to bring in to the ranks. That's why I reckon we should go for bony who is a similar sort of player for more than 10 mil less. He scored more goals than appearances last season and that is convincing enough for a move to me.
ReplyDeletei doubt they will be many surprises
ReplyDeletewe have signed the youngsters so yes i agree with you time for a few seasoned pros
ReplyDeletewe don't need another player who'll leave at the drop of a hat, no matter how good he is
ReplyDeleteWe are a selling club! FSG's policy is to buy cheaper, younger players with potential future resale value - stupid policy if you are not going to sell them and make a profit. That's why Suarez will go - if he doesn't their policy becomes redundant.
ReplyDeleteAny player will leave for a better opportunity and minimum £50k a week pay rise - you and me would too Noel!
ReplyDeleteBecause you are wrong
ReplyDeleteyes, your right about that one. But given the "probable scenario" we got 20-25M available after being close to even steven business wise now there is room for something like this.
ReplyDeleteThe cynic in me reckons thats why he hasn't posted them yet. He doesn't wanna acknowledge the winner of Player and Goal of the year
ReplyDeletelol ;-)
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't want to go to Liverpool, and how do you know what he will be sold for???
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of Bony AND Benteke since Suarez is a goner...........
ReplyDeleteFor £26 million we could land two players instead of one. Instead, Liverpool should opt for Burak Yilmaz , a tested goal scoring machine, and Nacer Chadli another goal scoring winger and both of this two players are as big as Benteke and way better in handling the ball than Benteke.
ReplyDelete