21 Jan 2014

'Genius': Carra hails £100m star Benitez tried to sign for LFC. Worth more than Suarez?

In 2012, Rafa Benitez revealed that he tried to bring Chelsea star Eden Hazard to Liverpool, an idea that - with hindsight - seems fanciful given everything that's transpired at Liverpool over the last four years. Since signing for Chelsea, the Belgian attacker has quickly become one of the Premier League's best players. Reds legend Jamie Carragher is a big fan of Hazard, and he's hailed the 23-year old as Chelsea's best player this season.

Discussing this week Hazard's impact at Chelsea, Carra argued that Hazard is Chelsea's 'standout player', and suggested that he's heading for another PFA Player of the Year nomination. He told Sky Sports:

"He [Hazard] is a bit of a maverick but we've seen him grab games by the scruff of the neck this season. We've seen it against Liverpool, which was one of his best performances. He's got that little bit of craft and genius."

Liverpool were heavily linked with a move for Hazard in year preceding his transfer to Chelsea, and in a 2012 interview with Sporting Life, Benitez claimed:

"Eden Hazard, we wanted him at Liverpool. We couldn't sign him. In our list, maybe he was here [top] but we have to go for this one [lower down].

Hazard at Liverpool? That would've been one hell of a signing, but the 21-year Belgian would've, perhaps, been too young during Benitez's Anfield reign, and probably made the right decision to stay at Lille and develop his game.

I doubt the transfer even got to the negotiation stage though; Liverpool were probably priced out of any deal, and given the money Benitez wasted in his last two seasons at Anfield (not to mention throughout his entire tenure), it's no surprise the board put the stoppers on any further big-money transfers.

Earlier this month, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho claimed that Hazard is now worth £100m (!), but is that true? For me, that's a gross exaggeration. Yes, Hazard is a very good player, but I can't see Real, Barcelona, Bayern etc paying £100m for him.

If Hazard is valued at £100m, then that would mean he's seemingly worth more than Luis Suarez, who generally seems to be valued around the £60m-£70m mark.

Is the Belgian worth more? Hell no (IMO) Okay, they're different types of players, but there's arguably far more chance of the Uruguayan attracting that kind of transfer fee in the current market, and I'm sure that will emphatically underlined during the upcoming World Cup.

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18 comments:

  1. in my view suarez worth 45-80m and hazard 50m thats fair

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  2. Player wages make up majority of a clubs expenditure so this is something that is very much relevant when it comes signing players.


    How much do you think Van Persie is costing UTD per season? He is on 250k a week so that means his wages over 4 years will add up to 48 million pounds excluding bonuses. Add the 24 million transfer fee and it becomes a rather expensive exercise. He is not much use to them being injured is he?


    If UTD fail to make the CL for next season then they are going to be screwed.


    Why do you think FSG having been slashing the wage bill? If you can answer that then we can discuss things further.

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  3. Cost of players is relative.



    Were we not after Mhkitarian, Costa and Willain regardless of Ilori? So it seems to me that they were lookig at the now and the future, but the lack of CL that you speak of was prohibitive to who we could attract.

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  4. Good points. For me, a player of Aspas's age - 26 - will find it harder (from an ego perspective) to play third-wheel to Sturridge and Suarez. Coming into his prime years, he will want to play regularly. Additionally, prior to joining LFC, he was a regular for Celta Vigo, so to go from playing every week to 10 minute cameo performances every week would have an impact. It's human nature.

    A 20-22-year old striker with minimal experience won't have the same expectations, or sense sense of entitlement. He wouldn't expect to play often, and would probably be grateful for the chances that came around. Plus, in terms of age, he would fit into the natural pecking order.


    From a man-management perspective, it's much easier to manage (IMO). Plus, the expectation to perform wouldn't be so high. I would argue that many fans are down on Aspas mainly because he's experienced, and at 26, they expect him to perform. A fledgling striker wouldn't operate under the same pressure.

    Also, unlike the Ilori situation, competition for striker roles is nowhere near as fierce, and with Sturridge regularly injured (and Suarez suspended at the beginning of the season), this young striker I propose would've definitely got game time to keep him satisfied.

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  5. And you need to spend more time discussing things in a civil manner. Please drop the snide comments in future posts.

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  6. Logan - please drop the snide comments about people who disagree with you. Deal with it.


    Please provide some historical/empirical evidence that proves, even slightly, that Ilori and Alberto will become 'massive stars' for LFC.


    Thanks.

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  7. That is why I said if and when...

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  8. Hazard would sell for more, but Suarez is worth more IMO. Suarez's reputation knocks his transfer value down.
    Plus Chelsea are in a much stronger position to be able to barter if someone were to bid for Hazard.

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  9. Hey everyone. Here's the latest update on Jason Carr. Don't worry, he's doing well!

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  10. Yeah, it's like we wasted all our transfer mojo on squad signings and then had nothing left for the real quality. I'd be pissed if it was a money issue but I think we just got bumped by better teams. Let's be honest, we were not really an attractive prospect. Aspas and Alberto would indeed end up being wasted if we don't find that next level of player, what use is a squad full of almost-players when you still end up stuttering outside the top 4.

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  11. I don't mean to hijack this thread!

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  12. But would that young striker have done any better? Aspas at least we know has quality and he's shown it in patches, at least I've seen something. Whatever happens in his head, and he can absolutely still recover from this, he has the proven skills. I think what happens is, like you say, that we as fans are simply more disappointed with Aspas because he's experienced and cost money, but if we afforded him the same support we'd give a young player coming from that Academy then we'd be perfectly happy with his form. It makes sense to hold him to a higher standard but I just don't understand the angst over a guy who was essentially bought as a backup striker. He's quality, has a good goal scoring record in La Liga and, given some luck and a run of form, could bag us 5-10 goals before the season end. I'd rather hope on that than write him off just yet.

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  13. These are tbh the guys I miss the most too... I love reading JK's updates/stories but since those 3 were banned reading the comments isn't the same any more. Commenting here on this page isn't the same any more if you know what I mean ..

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  14. cause they are one day good and the another day mid players, like johnson right now
    now

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  15. Hazard kicked a ball boy. At least Suarez has never abused children!(Ok the ball buy was like 17, but still)

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  16. but what about Aspas then??..he hasn't been good for a single day yet..

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  17. Scoring goals is not our problem, conceding goals is

    After 22 games
    2013-14 F53 A28
    2012-13 F35 A28

    So were we stand now, we are scoring a lot more goals, but we are conceding the same .... So everyone will have a different opinion here but there are 2 options
    - go for more goals
    - try and concede less

    For the sake of watching enjoyable football ... Lets go for more goals (FYI Man City have conceded 25)

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  18. Sounds great, but they have Toure, we have lukas...

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