28 Sept 2013

'Big clubs want him': Agent responds to LFC interest in €20m striker 'phenomenon'

The Agent of Udinese striker Luis Muriel has responded to specific rumours linking the Colombian goalscorer with a move to Liverpool FC.

Liverpool monitored Muriel over the summer, with multiple reports claiming that Reds planned to replace Luis Suarez with the South American striker.

Indeed, according to Italian newspaper Tutto Mercato:

"Scouts from Liverpool and Barcelona were in attendance last night [8th August 2013] to watch Muriel against Siroki Brijegin [in the Europa League]".

Last night, when asked specifically about Liverpool's interest, Muriel's Agent, Helmut Wennin, told calcionews24:

“Muriel is a player of talent and potential, so I think it is normal that big clubs want him. However, I have had no contact with any English clubs. I haven’t had official contact with Italian sides either, but I don’t know if the Pozzo family has discussed the situation"

It all seems moot anyway as Udinese recently announced on its official website that Muriel has signed a new five-year deal until June 2018.

When quizzed about LFC's interest after Colombia's 1-0 victory against Serbia last month, Muriel appeared open to a move away at some point. He told Eldeportivo:

"The Pozzo family supported me and wants me to have another year in Udine. This is what they told me. The idea is to grow, and in the future to go to a bigger club" .

Manchester United are also £18m-rated Muriel, but Pozzo insists that the striker is worth much more than that. He told reporters recently:

"He [Muriel] has a price. I don’t put clauses in contracts but €20m euro for a striker of great worth is nothing. For [Edinson] Cavani the price is 60m euro"

Muriel's strike partner, Antonio Di Natale is certainly a big fan of the Colombian, and when asked about Muriel's qualities in June, he told FIFA.com:

“Make a note of the name Luis Muriel. He’s got all the qualities needed to become a phenomenon, and in a few years Luis will be a great champion.”

The new contract doesn't necessarily mean he will stay in Italy for the whole five years. As Muriel said in June, he wants a move to a 'bigger club' in the future, and signing the new deal gives his club an element of protection, and ensures that Udinese will get a decent transfer fee when Muriel is sold.

A viable candidate to replace Luis Suarez at some point in the future...?





NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


22 comments:

  1. Lius Muriel is not going to replace Luis Suarez..Suarez will stay at Liverpool, he's not going nowhere!!..Luis Muriel will be a Liverpool NEW player though

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wouldn't mind Muriel in addition to Suarez. If Suarez goes I'd still like see some else fill that position.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just like most of the rumours, its all talk. He'll probably end up with Spurs, Swansea or even Southampton.
    Every player that LFC monitors ends up elsewhere. Monitoring does not translate into showing the player that they are really wanted.Sigh!

    ReplyDelete
  4. whose monitoring the monitors thats the real question

    ReplyDelete
  5. That kid berahino is a great prospect at 20. Also Javier pastore, koke from athl and RB and we are set. Only a dream though

    ReplyDelete
  6. JK,

    What is Muriel's scoring totals over the last few years?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Completely correct, sadly........

    ReplyDelete
  8. Will we sign bale too?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Even if he doesn't have the long term track record, Muriel passes the naked eye test and you can clearly see the potential/quality in him on the pitch

    ReplyDelete
  10. we need both muriel and suarez
    every top teams should have 3 top strikers
    we also need mata and will hughes

    ReplyDelete
  11. we also need messi, and ronaldo, and falcao, and xavi, and falcao, and yaya toure.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Add naymar And ramos to that list!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Do you regard Luis Muriel in the same bracket?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes, Ilori, Sakho, Aspas, Sturridge did end up somewhere else.

    ReplyDelete
  15. mata in january marquee signing due
    good oppertuanity to break transfer record
    40m mata , 10m hughes and we are sorted

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fair play to schmeichel, very good point on MOTD2 Extra.. Had Suarez been involved in a scratching incident yesterday not Torres, there would only be one story on the back pages. As is, no outcry, no calls for ten match ban. Not defending Suarez, just criticising the the double standards in media.
    Just shows, for all their moral outrage over the example Suarez sets to the youth of today, it simple comes down to what will sell papers. A suarez scandal will, Torres not so much.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I totally disagree with this; it's just typical conspiracy theorising re Suarez. Every time there's an incident with some other player, the response 'but if it was Suarez....'. The Torres incident wasn't as bad as people are making out, and if Suarez did that, I sincerely doubt the media would make a huge fuss out of it. For example, when Suarez admitted last season that he 'invented a foul', the media covered it (as they would) but didn't go overboard, even though the opportunity was there.

    There might possibly be a little extra coverage, but that is entirely normal when you're dealing with a player who has a long history of negative behaviour on the football field. He's been banned for 19 games in 2 years! Of course, the spotlight will be on him, and it's a deserved by-product of repeatedly bringing the game into disrepute.

    Torres, on the other hand, is a saint compared to Suarez, so why would they media be on his back?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Has anyone else noticed that Willian hasn't even played for Chelsea yet? I wonder if he knows he's been a pawn in Jose's little transfer game.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Just want to say again I'm NOT defending Suarez or his actions, he deserves to be tainted by them.
    But i definately think its a valid point that if an editor this saturday was given a still frame of Torres digging his nail into Vertonghens face (and it didnt look to pleasant to me), and next sat they got the same image with Suarez in place of Torres, the second image makes the back pages every time in my opinion, and would be raised by every comment column in every tabloid.
    I dont have a persecution complex when it comes to Suarez, he has made a disgrace of his reputation. But what sickens me a little, is that for all the revulsion and condemnation we would hear in the name of protecting our precious children, these same columnists, analysts and pundits rub their hands in glee for a scandal involving Suarez, for the simple reason it will be more sensational.
    Thats to me where the moral high ground is lost to a great extent.
    Its never going to be any different i know. But each individual incident of misconduct in football is not judged on its de-merits alone.

    ReplyDelete
  20. No! We also need Bale, Neymar, Ramos, Ribery and Schweinsteiger!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Actually don't know. Never seen him play. They never really played much La Liga and Serie A on tv here in Australia until literally a few days ago, when Fox Sports grabbed the rights to televise the 2 leagues for the next 2 seasons, along with the Premier league. I did however attend a live Roma-Udinese match last year (Roma won 3-1 in the last few mins) and Muriel may have well been playing.

    ReplyDelete