25 Aug 2013

Carra: 'Excellent' £15m LFC target Will Hughes has a 'big future' ahead.

Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal continue to be linked with a move for Derby County's Will Hughes, and according to Reds legend Jamie Carragher, the 18-year old midfielder has all the attributes to become a future star.

Earlier this week, The Independent claimed:

"Liverpool are close to agreeing a deal for the £10m-rated Will Hughes.

"Hughes has been watched extensively over the last six months by Liverpool's chief scout, Barry Hunter".


In his column for the Daily Mail yesterday, Carra highlighted Hughes as one of the top young players in the country. He enthused:

"His [Hughes'] reputation is growing by the week and he was excellent when England’s Under 21s demolished Scotland 6-0 earlier this month. The way he carries himself and the way he passes the ball suggest he has got a big future".

Rams boss Nigel Clough confirmed this week that 'no offers' had come in for Hughes, but conceded that he'd be allowed to leave if 'someone came in with a substantial amount of money'. He told reporters:

"There is interest but at the moment nothing is happening with Will. If somebody comes in through the front door and makes an official enquiry or bid, we will have to react to it. At the end of the transfer window anything can happen"

When asked last week about speculation linking him with a move to the Premier League, Hughes - recently described as 'a real talent' and 'exciting to watch' by Stuart Pearce - told reporters:

“I have not heard anything or been told anything about any speculation since my injury and I prefer to keep it that way. In a way, that is a relief. I just want to get on with my football and keep my mind on my football, which I feel I have always done.”

Derby County youth team coach Darren Wassall is convinced Hughes is destined for greatness, and during an interview in May, he raved:

“Will is a great example and a great inspiration. He hit the ground running in July from the very first training session and he just got better and better as the weeks and months went on"

Reports this weekend claim that Derby have put a £15m price tag on Hughes (!), which seems excessive, but inflated transfer fees are par for the course when it comes to English players. Plus, that kind of price tag would put a major burden on the youngster's shoulders.

I can see Liverpool splashing out £10m, but £15m? Seems unlikely, and I'm sure many Reds fans would prefer to see that kind of money splurged on an experienced player who can come in and make an immediate impression on the first team.

Carra also highlighted Liverpool youngster Jordon Ibe as a player to watch this season:

"Ibe made his Premier League debut on the day that I retired last May. He is a fearless young winger, quick and strong with an eye for goal. He has done well during the pre-season and I expect to be hearing a lot more about him".

Ibe hasn't had a sniff so far this season, but I'm sure he'll get a run out during the Capital One Cup game with Notts County on Tuesday.





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54 comments:

  1. will hughes is an lfc fan , a big one at that.
    bid 8m , and loan back

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  2. I thought 10m was too steep for HUGHES but this 15m valuation is crazy.For the same amount of money we could get ERIKSEN who has CL experience has played in a WC and has won a Dutch league title.But the most important thing is he's a better player.
    WH on the other hand has played 35 times for DERBY.He has the technical ability to fit perfectly into a BR team and I know it a unwritten law in this country to slightly overpay for British talent but this price tag is crazy!

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  3. what Saturday proved is we need another goal threat and maybe a big man , I think signing DAIMARO would be perfect him sturridge ,suarez and coutinho will rip the league apart.
    and PAPADOPLOUS would also be a nice signing , maybe skrtel should leave

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  4. Theycallmemrburt9:12 pm, August 25, 2013

    Like Adam Johnson many years ago this is an Englishman with REAL flair and technique. He's competing with Ibe and Ross Barkley for most exciting young player player in the country at the moment. Notice I did'nt mention Sterling...............

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  5. utd paid 15m for zaha
    16m for jones , 10m for smalling , 30m for rooney , arsernal walcot for 12 m and ox for 15m and spurs 10m for bale , 15m looks fair
    probably thought the same when we had the chance to sign Cristiano ronaldo
    look how that turned out.
    Sometimes you have to take the risk for potential

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  6. I think the aston villa match has shown how Rodgers has grown in a year.
    Changing tactics for when it is necessary , bringing on an extra left back like rafa did and winning, the result is more important.
    he is also playing the best players for each match unlike last season when allen would just start.
    The performance reminded me of when man u won their 1st pl lots of 1-0 wins , "boring arsenal "which won the title and jose mourinhio in his first season, just grinding results out.

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  7. Liverpool have a player as good as Hughes who plays in the same position - Rossiter.
    No need to buy Hughes (although he is good) Rossiter showed against the Mancs U21s he can mix it at a higher level and he is only 16/17 years old.

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  8. It is a very risky buy for that amount of money.. maybe too much risk.


    He is a very young player with no PL experience.


    There have been quite a few Championship players who have been brought by PL clubs for a lot money and have disappointed.


    The question is can Liverpool afford to take a 15mil gamble on such a young inexperienced player.


    If lets say we did buy him for 10 - 15mil and he did not live up to expectations and couldn't cope, every fan will slam BR, the other hand if he did become a success he would be lauded for buying him.

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  9. I think rossiter is different type of player a real English player , while will hughes plays a bit like a Spanish player.
    anyway we have to maximise the probability of a new young midfielder to replace gerrard.
    at least one out of suso , chirvella ,rossiter , and maybe will hughes
    make it

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  10. crazy we can get get toby and erickson for that money......we need some proven or as close as you can get to proven players....

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  11. another point is British players dont seem to have a sell on value like Brazilians or Spanish ...they flop and the price plummets while Brazilians seem to keep more of there appeal to a foreign market if it doesnt work out

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  12. Anyway the utd game , I think we should go full ticki -tacka on them and go for their throat, nothing to lose , the team they struggled most with over the years is barcaloena.
    so we should set up like them , three in midfield coutinho,gerrard and lucas.
    and three attackers Sturridge,aspas and sterling

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  13. i think we should stick with the team which started against villa........why do people want to change a winning team wheres the reward for winning...what has sterling done to merit ousting henderson

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  14. it does look fair but there are better players imo out there for less money

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  15. no way is he worth 15m, we need some quality in now not 5 years time.

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  16. Same as you, its a winning team.


    You could argue that the performances haven't been great but so far they have done the job.

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  17. I pretty much made that same point the other day but 15 million is again quite a bigger risk than 10 million. The way I see it, we have to buy for right now. If that means we miss out on this kid, there will be another Will Hughes somewhere next year or the year after but we need to get back into the CL right NOW. So for us to spend 15 million on a kid when we have little more than that to spend in the first place, I prefer we buy a winger/AM and a CB first and then worry about a player who may be of use to us two, three years from now. Once we're back inside the top four, by any means sign players like this. Just not right now

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  18. just think we need that extra pace on the wing , to trouble their full backs which is probably their biggest weakness especially Rafael and sterling can do that.
    would not mind the same team though

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  19. I've been to pride park with a few Derby mates. I had a chance to see him. He looks a decent player, definitly premier league standard. £15m would be way to much. £8m would be the ideal price IMO.

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  20. I have only see Hughes play once and that was for the U21s against Scotland. Because I knew we were looking at him I tried to pay close attention (as much as you can on TV) and have to say I wasn't impressed. He seemed mediocre whilst other players on the pitch were made to look world class by the hapless Scots. But that was just one game. He didn't look bad, just not eye catching IMO in a very easy game!!

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  21. no wonder the clubs go for foreign talent ! 15m is too much to be asking unless he is a superstar in the making and I mean superstar .

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  22. who is Daimaro ? no really ,who he is he ?

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  23. why don't we throw in a couple of youngsters who are not going to make the grade with us and a few bob too?

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  24. He's got the same potential as luis Alberto and he cost us 6/7 million roughly. Because he's English 15 mill is wayy too much. Then the media complain about clubs not buying British. Ridiculous!

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  25. liverpool4life56510:57 pm, August 25, 2013

    Moses on loan? Replacement for downing, to me good deal, pace, and can score.....

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  26. I hope not our youths would be better long term

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  27. liverpool4life56511:19 pm, August 25, 2013

    Yeah but okay for the short term.... Plus Chelsea don't want to sell for some reason..

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  28. If we went for him we'd be favourites as he is a Liverpool fan and he's at the age and at the sort of club he'd rather play for his favourite team than play champions league football. Oh, and if we do sign him I will go back to a reply on an older one of JK's posts and just laugh at the guy who took the piss out of me saying we should go for Nathaniel Clyne as challenge for Glen Johnson. I don't hold grudges ;)

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  29. I remember being linked with him back when he was at Palace and I remember him saying something like I would never sign for Liverpool? I maybe wrong so don't quote me on that haha

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  30. Moses?? Noo wayy neverr! What are we west brom(no disrespect). That'll make us seem smaller than Chelsea and we are not! He's not even good anyway..he's worse than downing. Get yarmolenko or tello(loan), ljajic or give sterling and Ibe and even assaidi a go.

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  31. Probably Leandro Damiao the brazilian stiker - just guessing

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  32. That's one of the reason the english players never get far because of the heavy price tag,just look at carroll and downing before they they were being sold.

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  33. Lets get CD taken care of first!

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  34. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva4:25 am, August 26, 2013

    That's because they don't rate British players that highly in the first place and they think that if the Brazilian player had a better manager who understands the way he wants to play, then its the manager who can't get more from him not the player.

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  35. Zaha, Jones and Smalling are average players. Before last season Walcott was (as arsenal fans would put it shite). Bale was so hated by spurs(much worse than Konchesky) that its kind of an irony how they were singing his praises as the best player in PL. Also non of these players are MFs. It is impossible to judge midfielders at young age. We've already risked £31 million on Hendo and Allen (Everybody agrees one of them is a failure). £6-8 million + % of future transfer fee = good deal.

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  36. Make 8m bid and capture him for lfc.

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  37. Im all for signing the most talented youth players we can find.
    All ive heard about this kid is positive but for 15m??? seems a bit steep.
    I just dont think we are currently in the position to be throwing 15m around for a player based on potential.
    We already have talented young players to play centrally in Suso, Teixera, Rossiter and Coady.
    Ok they may not play exactly the same position and he may show more potential but for 15m i'd stick with the guys we have.
    If he was guaranteed to become the next Gerrard then yes spend 15 but theres just as much chance of him becoming the next Michael Johnson so no thanks.

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  38. Even 10M is too steep. you can get coutinho for 8m and this guy for 10-15??? Absurd!

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  39. adam johnson?.... lol...

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  40. Moses as a squad player yes please, as long as we bring in a top player, Moses are our start signing then they are having a laugh

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  41. I can only imagine BR doesn't rate Alderwiereld and Erikson at all. To me these signings seem like no brainers and everyone would be happy with them. Maybe a combined 25m, means a net spend of 20m, thanks very much business done

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  42. exactly coates all though not brazillian has kept the same value why not playing

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  43. Way too expensive. People underestimate the ability required to prosper in the BPL. I think you only have to ask the new players at Manchester City about our league. It's the hardest and the best in world football, so for £15m you have to cut it now! That is why the likes of Joe Allen have flopped for us, although he is still a young lad the guy has failed to match up to that price-tag. Sometimes common sense needs to prevail. Young players who have not played at the highest level should not be costing more than £8m, especially if they have only ever played in the Championship. I am sure the lad has a lot of potential and everyone can see he has great vision and skill, but for £15m we could get a quality defender (e.g. Pappadopulis). As crude as it sounds, Liverpool need to muscle their way into these sort of transfers, get the players head turned and wanting a move a way (from Derby), and get the price down to £6m max. It's not the most honorable way to do business but everyone does it. You only have to go back at the way Chelsea tapped up Ashely Cole (In the end all the bad media it caused for the club has been worth it). YNWA

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  44. As a Derby fan, I would be outraged at anything less than £10m. He's the best young midfielder to come out of ANY academy in years, and I thought we've paid our dues in selling future stars for peanuts. Time for us to show some backbone and not be bullied into 'giving' this lad away.

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  45. Eriksen is not British ,forget Eriksen he is costs more than Coutinho if i may add .

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  46. He's english, there is bound to be a premium. I see a bit of Gerrard in him with out the exploviness and the shooting, basically the way Gerrard is now as apossed to his best. So at 18 he could be the long term replacement for him (obviosly a lot of development need to get to the great man's level). So what I am saying is that I like the kid, but there is always the risk that he may not live up to his potential. Real price is prob 6m, but we will probably have to pay 8m to secure him. Then I think we should loan him back for the season or so.

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  47. hahah sorry to laugh but your quote i see a bit of Gerrard but without the explosiveness and shooting ,,,,,,is like saying i see a bit of Gerrard but without the ability

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  48. Alcantara would wipe the floor with him is proven at a higher level and costed 18 mill i know which one i would take.

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  49. exactly, he is more like Xabi

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  50. he might be talking about English Academy

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  51. 15 milion pound is too expensive price player like him.LFC can go fishing to an others option for 15 milion.Why not make faster acting to sell out Borini and Skrtel?With resale money LFC add more budget to get much better players.I think atleast just get sign pair Ajax players Eriksen and Toby will enough to get strongest squad.Papadoulos is just realy2 good bonus but important player for LFC planning.Sim him and do not wasting many times.....


    LFC...Don't ever you dream to get sign world class players if you are NO MONEY and scare to break the bank.You just can get shoping poster of players you want stick it on the wall. Only that thing you can do it.You are lucky Sturridge and Coutinho can fullfill our expectation.If they are fail......you will struggle again.Please do not too stingy about development the team with marquee signing.Quality is related to the big budget.FSG should sell out LFC team to another richest paerson or mega company if they not able to provide enough money to secure any players target.Very sad and angry to look 1 by 1 our target players miss to anothers clubs, especialy when see they join our rival clubs like MUFC and Spurs......I hate to lose something like this.LFC must sell out best players to fund more budget for get new players.Every season must start again and again.....this is why the team cannot give consistant performance.Best players must be sold out and start with new players who will take times to adapt new situation at the clubs.LFC also must ship out passenger players like Downing, Borini and Skrtel who only want high salary with small contribution for the clubs.

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  52. Time for signing squad players are over. He would've been signed along with Alberto and aspas by now. He's looking for first team players. Moses?? On loan?? You can't get any mediocre than that. I'm surprised he didn't try get Scott Sinclair ON LOAN..I hate it when he wants former players.

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  53. I think that you will see the current Gerrard still has a lot to offer without his explosiveness and shooting. His vision his short and long passing, his crossing, his controlling of the tempo of the game and so on. So I disagree with your interpretation of my words. To find a Gerrard at his pomp is going to be near impossible; he is a once in a life time type of player and we were lucky to have had him.

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  54. That is a great shout and on reflection, I think you are probably more accurate with your simile. I think sometimes I just get a little blinkered and can't see past our players.

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