Last week, Ukrainian newspaper Gazeta claimed that Liverpool were 'close' to signing Dynamo Kiev attacker Andrey Yarmolenko, whose current contract expires in 2015. Since then, the Reds have reportedly put in a €23m bid for the Ukraine international, but would he be a good fit for the club? Norwegian Scout - and Former Monaco CEO - Tor-Kristian Karlson doesn't think so, and he's warned Liverpool to steer clear of signing Yarmolenko.
Discussing Liverpool's alleged bid, Karlson - who has scouted for several European clubs - argued that the Reds' interest is 'strange'. He explained:
"I find it hard to believe Liverpool have bid for Yarmolenko. It Seems odd that Liverpool would sign players from Ukraine, which is hardly a "value market".
"I certainly wouldn't [spend] £20M on Yarmolenko. He's a decent player, but not worth anywhere near that even in this crazy market. Ultimately, and most importantly; Yarmolenko wouldn't really improve the Liverpool squad"
AC Milan tried to sign the 23-year old last summer, but according to his Agent, Mikhail Gulordava, Kiev rejected the Rossoneri's €20m bid:
“Milan made a €20 million bid for Yarmolenko, but the only way to tempt Kiev’s president is to make an offer that he can’t refuse. My client obviously wants to play for a club like Milan. He would like to follow in the footsteps of Shevchenko. Premier League clubs are also interested."
Ukraine legend Andriy Shevchenko certainly doesn't agree with Karlson's assessment, and in a recent interview, the striker heaped praise on Yarmolenko, who is described by national coach Oleg Blokhin as 'unstoppable'. Sheva told Yahoo Sport:
"Yarmolenko is a great player, talented and quick. Even though he doesn’t play in my position up front, he still manages to score plenty of goals. If he works hard, he could reach the highest level like I did"
Yarmolenko is probably not the 'marquee' name LFC fans are hoping for, but there are some clear positives to his potential signing:
* 39 goals for Kiev in the last three seasons. Double figures every year.
* 11 goals in 32 games for the Ukraine national team.
* At 6'2, he's strong and powerful, a good contrast to Sterling/Coutinho.
There's still time for LFC to complete this particular transfer. Worth Pursuing...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Discussing Liverpool's alleged bid, Karlson - who has scouted for several European clubs - argued that the Reds' interest is 'strange'. He explained:
"I find it hard to believe Liverpool have bid for Yarmolenko. It Seems odd that Liverpool would sign players from Ukraine, which is hardly a "value market".
"I certainly wouldn't [spend] £20M on Yarmolenko. He's a decent player, but not worth anywhere near that even in this crazy market. Ultimately, and most importantly; Yarmolenko wouldn't really improve the Liverpool squad"
AC Milan tried to sign the 23-year old last summer, but according to his Agent, Mikhail Gulordava, Kiev rejected the Rossoneri's €20m bid:
“Milan made a €20 million bid for Yarmolenko, but the only way to tempt Kiev’s president is to make an offer that he can’t refuse. My client obviously wants to play for a club like Milan. He would like to follow in the footsteps of Shevchenko. Premier League clubs are also interested."
Ukraine legend Andriy Shevchenko certainly doesn't agree with Karlson's assessment, and in a recent interview, the striker heaped praise on Yarmolenko, who is described by national coach Oleg Blokhin as 'unstoppable'. Sheva told Yahoo Sport:
"Yarmolenko is a great player, talented and quick. Even though he doesn’t play in my position up front, he still manages to score plenty of goals. If he works hard, he could reach the highest level like I did"
Yarmolenko is probably not the 'marquee' name LFC fans are hoping for, but there are some clear positives to his potential signing:
* 39 goals for Kiev in the last three seasons. Double figures every year.
* 11 goals in 32 games for the Ukraine national team.
* At 6'2, he's strong and powerful, a good contrast to Sterling/Coutinho.
There's still time for LFC to complete this particular transfer. Worth Pursuing...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
no
ReplyDeleteHard to tell if he'd be worth it but I'd say we'll buy him or the likes of him in January, we've done well this window so no need to get greedy expecting more.
ReplyDeleteToo late anyway, everyone is gone to the Shanks Birthday bash. Business finished for this window, Shay Given deal dead also, Villa thinks Kenny is still in charge, and want £30mill.
ReplyDeleteI feel our transfar for this window are done and dusted, a very productive one that puts us in a good position for the rest of the season, TOP 4 has to be a real prospect now...YNWA
ReplyDeleteI don' think there is time.
ReplyDeleteHow well have we done in this window? We've signed some really good players, but a different assessment could be:
ReplyDeleteNo attacking marquee signing. Instead we spent £20-25m on two centre backs both in the last year of their contracts who played a handful of games for their clubs last year, when we have 3 solid performers plus Kelly already. Good negotiating? Do we need 5 plus Kelly?
We signed 2 players from Spain who are going to take a while to bed in, but who don't look near to being physically ready for the premier league.
Toure, cissoko and Moses look like good additions and are risk free.
Can't think of anything bad to say about the keeper - he's been superb!
My initial view is this has been a 7/10.
I would've liked to see another attacker come in this window. With borini loaned out, sturridge injury prone and Suarez one bite away from a ban, we are a bit light up front. Although IMHO (bar injury) we now potentially have the best back line in the league.
ReplyDeleteHappy with what weve got,keep whatever money we have in case we need someone in January,we did well last January
ReplyDeleteUnless mata fancies playing in red,lets give ibe,sterling more game time
BR tried to obtain an Attacking player but nothing materialized unfortunately, he wasn't for trying. IMO i feel we will wait until Jan for this type of player.In regards to your view on the 2 new center backs and lack of football, Iloris is 20 years of age and is one for the future not so much now, where as Sakho will be a 1st team player he moved to us because of the lack of 1st team game time and IMO he is a real coup for us. 7 mil for Iloris is a fair price in today's market as is the (reported) 16m for Sakho so i personally think its good business but as i said this is MY opinion. A summer net spend of about 17m not bad considering we have 8 new players through the door.
ReplyDeleteI'm not unhappy either believe me.
ReplyDeleteShould we have sold one of the existing guys or did toure's injury put paid to that until January? A lot of us wanted an attacking signing, but we have kept Suarez and signed two gems in January. I hope my 7/10 is going to be turned into 9 in the next few months!
BR says we're done. Yes a marquee forward/winger would have been great. Don't think it was lack of effort. TBH would rather wait till Jan or next season rather than make a desperate or risky signing.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, if we still look good for top 4 in Jan it might be poss to attract big names. Am really confident that BR knows what he's doing - our signings last Jan have proved fantastic.
From what I have seen of him I definitely think that Yarmolenko would add to our attacking depth and would provide a much needed outlet when we need to relieve the pressure in the 2nd half of games. All too often this season we have had to defend a slender lead for long periods and other that Sturridge, do not possess a player with Yarmolenko's speed, height, strength and ability in the final third.
ReplyDeleteI think the injures to both Toure and Coates put spanners in the works to offload both Skrtel and Coates, also the performance of Skrtel against Scum on Sunday probably gave BR something to think about as he was absolutely outstanding, such as his performance it warranted him staying that little longer to prove his worth, if it doesn't work out he will probably be sold in Jan and Coates next summer once he recovers from his injury.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly. There's that rumour that we bid for Mata and I hope it's true (even though we don't get him) because come January, chances are, Mata will want to leave if Jose keeps benching him. Especially when you consider its a world cup year and Spain have more than enough talent to replace him. He won't want to play second fiddle to Bryne, Shurrle, Atsu, and Willian and this late bid will hopfully see him thinking about Anfield in the Jan window :)
ReplyDeleteSigned Rafa paez(19) centre back from Real Madrid, think we love our CBs.....
ReplyDeleteI see Steve Nichol is spouting his usual half baked garbage again, having a go at Suarez(although Suarez should have just kept quiet) then telling us all that 200 game Sakho is inexperienced and still learning his art, and saying that Moses is our most exciting signing.
ReplyDeleteGreat player. Useless pundit.
Mata would be a dream- maybe January will give us another shot if he wants to stay in the UK. WE tried and failed for 3 big signings, and failed to get them, but overall we addressed all the other problem areas with the possible exception of DM - and that's because BR feels we are covered in that area (plus Ilori can play there)
And we kept Suarez, which I didn't expect.
If we get 20+ goals each from Suarez and Sturridge, with our new back 4 depth( we may even play 3 at the back sometimes) we are really looking to go for that top 4 spot. Maybe that marquee signing will come in Jan if we do...
Wow, Everton did a good job offsetting Fallaini loss. Lukaku is a horse and McCarthy is solid as well. Didn't Alize Moses and Lukaku are similar in age since Moses just looks older. Would have presented Lukaku but Moses is a good player hopefully on the very of something far greater. I was hoping Everton would be shut out but nice job, dammit........
ReplyDeleteFellow LFC junkies,
ReplyDeleteI think FSG and BR did pretty well at the end of it all. I hope we find goals from someone other than Danny. For all their movement, Aspas and Coutinho haven't really challenged the net and neither has Stevie. I hope with some off the front guys can gel a bit and figure out how they can spread the scoring. This way we are not a one trick pony like we were with Suarez. They start pounding Danny, we have to find other scores starting with Moses. I know there was much clamoring for a defensive mid but I think BR know that Ilori's speed and Cissoko's strength make them defensive mid material if needed......We are still miles ahead of a year ago.
I don't think there was genuine interest, just a few rumours. I'd guess we made an enquiry but that fee seems too high. Does he really offer much more than the players we've already got?
ReplyDeleteIt would be an interesting move, to have simply registered interest in Mata, then wait to see what happens the first half of the season. If he ends up sitting on the bench and we do well and stay near the top of the league then he might see us as a genuine option.
ReplyDeleteWe now have a few months to sort out our best CB pairing, establish the hierarchy in the team. You'd assume Sakho will really push for a regular starting spot so it will be up to Skrtel to really try and get past the others if he fancies a stay. Then January is a good time for other teams to pick at our over-loaded defensive squad if they need some reinforcement. Whoever is least likely to fit in can be moved on, although it kind of needs to be Skrtel or no one. We won't sell Toure although Agger might be one to consider. If Barca were genuine in their interest and the money was good enough ...
ReplyDeleteGreat to see the depth of defence has been seen to i think comparable with anybody in the league and Sakho is a great signing.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is our best effort in years only thing i am a bit worried about is loaning Borini he could be very handy if Suarez and Sturridge become unavailable.
For all those that think Rodgers and FSG are doing badly well think again.
Definitely illory can play as DM he is very much comfortable with ball and can make incisive pass really impressed with liverpool scout
ReplyDeleteI think aspas will be a good signing you guys should have noticed aspas would have scored but sturiddge never passed him and fired straight to chech these small things will come together when they play together and gells with time...
ReplyDeleteYes mister Adam, mata can play at wide on left wing and can also operate as attacking midfielder so it would have been genuine signing, dont worry after a long time I believe Liverpool scout is finding real talent...
ReplyDeleteMy gut feeling is saying among these 3 late signing illori will best the best very smooth and silky player with ball
ReplyDeleteYou make a good poing and Aspas actually has me thinking about Dirk Kuyt again. Kuyt could score buckets of goals if given the chance but his record for Liverpool was inconsistent. I always thought that it wasn't his fault however - he would just be the guy who was always picking up the pieces and when the team didn't play well he simply ended up spending too much time doing donkey work and not getting into scoring positions. He was incredibly unselfish and worked entirely as a team player, never for his own stats. So when the team needed him to track back he did so, or when the team needed him to come deep for link up play he did that too. That really reduced his time in front of goal, banging in chances.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling Aspas will be the same and doesn't have that over-powering personality to ultimately demand goals for himself. He'll do exactly what Rodgers asks him to do and if that happens to mean he ends up in a good goal scoring position then he'll get the chance, but if no one passes him the ball then he'll end up making countless good runs for no personal reward. He might just spend most of his career running into space and distracting a defender just so Sturridge or Suarez can get an extra half a second to release the shot.
The end result are the goals for the team, not the individual. I know strikers are judged on goals but ultimately if the team is scoring and winning then it doesn't matter who is doing the scoring. So far Aspas has been part of the attacking line up for all of the team's 3 wins so I think he should be judged on that.
Looks good on paper for Everton, but I wonder if we got the player more suited to what we are trying to do. Moses will run at players from a wide position, like a more powerful version of Coutinho. Lukaku would be effective in any team but we don't really play to his strengths. If we were talking to Chelsea about players on loan and Lukaku was available then I'd guess we would have asked. Likely we knew what we wanted and got the player that was best for us.
ReplyDeleteWell it's all water under the bridge now. I think we'll see one more coming in in January if we are still inside the top four then. I'm still convinced we should be looking at central midfield rather than attack though. Up front we now have Sturridge, Coutinho, Suarez and Aspas in the middle and Coutinho, Sterling, Ibe, Moses, Alberto and Suarez out wide. That's 8 players for four positions. Small squad with players challenging each other and opportunities for everyone. In the middle though we have Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson and Allen. That's also four players for two positions but with one injury prone, another one 33 years old and the jury still out on another one, that seems thin to me. One last thing, has anyone else noticed how Gerrard has taken up the Gary Mac role this season? Calm, composed, picking fights with players so the rest of the team can focus on their game. His experience and leadership is really shining through this season. Probably because Carragher being gone and him playing deeper in midfield. It's really nice to see though.
ReplyDeletei think everton have done great business...but what is moyes doing at utd ignored the release clause then paid 4m more has he got shares in everton thats crazy
ReplyDeleteIAN AYRE - I owe you an apology - YOU DID BRILLIANT IN THIS WINDOW - I SALUTE YOU
ReplyDeletewhats with that
ReplyDeleteI don't believe this was ever real .
ReplyDeleteI believe this is his agent doing his job linking him to liverpool
So he can move on from His current club.
Talking about trouble, is having Victor Moses on loan really a smart move? He plays for Chelsea, so whatever he learns in the Liverpool training ground, could go into Mourinho's ear. Unless there is a procedure in treating and accomodating Loan players from rivals. I know Rodgers and Mourinho are friends, but you never know, especially with the pressure of playing in the Premier League. I have nothing against Moses as a player, I think he is a good addition, and will be better than Downing. He is direct like Henderson, may not have the same engine, but good enough for rotation.
ReplyDeleteWe could field a side of defenders now, but these signing wont make a difference to us. We should have got a defensive midfielder and a creative midfielder, plus maybe another striker. Then you would have seen an improvement.
ReplyDeleteI think Illori 'll play as DM. He has got everything to become a top quality DM - physique, speed, ball skills, passing vision & aerial ability. He looks a bit skinny now, but he is just 20 & I think in three years time he 'll be a man mountain with finesse & vision. BR 'll not need 4 CBs & illori 'll not like to play in Cup ties as substitute only.
ReplyDeleteBR has done a very intelligent business. CBs are long term investment as a pair can play for over a decade. He has got an outstanding CB in Sakho who might play over 100 Internationals & had there not been a relationship break with PSG, not only LFC, even Real or MU won't have got him out of there.
I also am not convinced with Yarmelenko, not for that sort of money. Though he is physical & skillful, but I don't think he is a significant improvement from what we have now. We should spend & spend big for someone significant improvement from what Sterling or Ibe is right now. This is a very good young squad, may be by Jan we 'll be in a position in the table which 'll encourage someone like Mata to join us.
I too would have liked a genuine attempt at signing Mata everyone at the club new that this bid was for the fans, i did, but a part of me wanted to believe that FSG had come around to what BR has done and thought hey lets give him some real money for this one, anyway i guess they think they have enough IMO we don't as someone pointed out above Suarez is a time bomb waiting to explode again, Cortinho i believe we rely too much on someone so young, Aspas is not ready needs more time as does Alberto and if Sturridge gets injured then we are in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI can only hope that Moses will be a force to be reckoned with but that could be bad for us, for next season, if he is great CFC will up the price to a ridicules amount so we can't compete.
Ibe, Sterling are great talents but are not ready for a full season, what people seem to forget that yes these guys are young and show great potential but not all footballers for fill their potential, some drop in form and never find it again and some just don't have that next level.
Anyway i have so far been happy with the results not with the way we are playing yes the defence has been great but eventually if the midfield and the strikers can't keep the pressure off our defence then we will start to have problems. I hope I am WRONG.
Going to be an interesting season, if we concentrate enough on the tittle, just week after week then everything should fall into place with a bit of luck with the above.
I would agree about the defensive mid bit and yes another mid would have been nice but they are rebuilding and maybe the big money will be spent next season on those spots.
ReplyDeleteI reckon you've got it spot on there, Lukaku plays best as a lone front man, like Drogba. We are just not set up like that any more
ReplyDeleteI think you're wrong, we definitely need upgrades at CB esp Sakho's aerial strength. Ilori may well play as a DM, I think BR will try him there in training to see , as he's in a long queue for CB and he's very quick and tactically astute by all accounts.
ReplyDeleteWe did try for a creative midfielder, one with goals would have negated our need for a striker now Suarez is staying
I said this a long time ago, and people were slating me "cause i've never watched him play". It's pretty simple when it comes to players who are valued at £20m+. If other big clubs aren't competing for the players signing then they are probably not worth the valuations coming from the players club. Yarmolenko would definitely NOT improve our squad. I'd rather sticking to Ibe and Sterling. Raw but worth it in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWell time will tell obviously quick enough foot wise lets see if his brain can keep up.
ReplyDelete