28 Jan 2014

Dream Deal: BR wants €40m genius who once said: 'I'd like to play for LFC'. Impossible...?

Last summer, the Agent of long-time Liverpool target Arda Turan reiterated that the Atletico Madrid star is interested in a move to the Premier League, and with only four days of the current transfer window remaining, the Reds are reportedly set to reignite their interest in the Turkey international.

According to the Liverpool Echo today:

"Brendan Rodgers [is] pondering a move for Atletico Madrid winger Arda Turan.

"Liverpool [could] make a play for the former Galatasaray star before the end of the January"


Liverpool have been linked with Turan - described earlier this month by Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo as a 'genius' - many times in the past:

* Apr 2009: Rafa Benitez made a €10m move for Turan, a self-confessed Liverpool fan, but the tricky winger ended up moving to Atletico Madrid.

* Dec 2009: Turan made it clear that he favours a move to Liverpool: told reporters: "I most want to play at Liverpool because of the culture of the club and the fans"

* Mar 2010: Turan reiterated his Anfield preference: "As I always mention, Liverpool attracts me because of their tradition. In Europe, I am a Liverpool supporter, so if I go to play in Europe, I would like to play for Liverpool".

* Oct 2012: Nuri Sahin posted a picture on his Twitter account of Turan in a Liverpool shirt.

* Oct 2012: Liverpool sent an 'observer' to watch Turan in Turkey's World Cup qualifier with Romania.

* Dec 2012: Turan's Agent, Ahmed Bulut, told Turkish television channel TRT: "Arda wants to play for another club, to live a different experience. We are working now to make it happen. Atletico know what our intention is. If all goes well, Arda will leave the Madrid club at the end of this season."

* Mar 2013: Reports in Spain claim that the Reds are lining up a €20m summer bid for the Turkish star.

* Aug 2013: ESPN claimed both Liverpool and Arsenal are 'interested' in signing Turan during the summer transfer window.

* Aug 2013: Turan's agent confirmed that English clubs are on the prowl. He told NTV Sport: "A transfer of Arda to the Premier League this summer is likely. England is where most of the interest in him lies and there have been discussions."

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo is a massive fan of Turan, and he praised the midfielder at a recent press event. He told Reporters:

"We have two fantastic Turkish players, we made an excellent decision in signing Arda Turan and Emre Belözoğlu. They are great people and have amazing talent on the field."

In another press conference, Reporters quizzed Madrid Coach Diego Simeone on Turan's future, and the Argentinean boss gave the following emphatic reply:

"Arda isn’t going, definitely. He has a contract with the club, he’s ours, he’s an extremely important player for the squad and he demonstrates it when he has to".

It's a nice idea, but the deal is clearly a non-starter (IMO), for the following reasons:

* Atletico are joint top of the league right now, and are in with a great chance of breaking the Barca/Real Madrid monopoly this season. Why would Turan want to leave that?

* Turan's recent injury history is a concern; in the last 18 months, he's suffered three separate incidents, and the last thing Liverpool need right now is to buy more injury-prone players.

* He now has a €40m buyout clause in his new contract, and if the Reds struggle to pay £11-£13m for Mohamed Salah, it's extremely unlikely that the the club will push the boat out and pay twice that (at least) to sign Turan.

Who knows, though. Maybe Ayre et al might surprise us all and pull a top class deal out of the bag on transfer deadline day?

Author:


81 comments:

  1. I'm aware that when he was younger he said he loved watching Liverpool, I'm also aware of the price tag and I don't think LIverpool at present can afford to buy Players of this calibre without CL football, but I'd love to see this guy at Liverpool he's the finished article!

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  2. damn....I thought I saw done deal lol

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  3. I have said before he is a great player but Atletico are challenging for honours at home and abroad . This will test how much a fan he is . Big thing is would Simeone be willing to let go of one of his prize assets ?

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  4. If they do, I will be eating the most enormous humble pie, and I'll enjoy every last slice

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  5. Quite clearly we're struggling a bit with transfers at the moment. To a certain extent I respect the sensible business approach of not overpaying, we've done this too often in the past. I also accept that we aren't top tier until we get back into the CL. We are Liverpool, and that speaks for itself, but we have to admit there are more attractive options out there.


    Wouldn't it be nice though if we did pull off a coup? I'd like us to be bold. My ideal deal, sign Diego Costa now. Surprise everyone. Pay his buyout clause, maybe even a little bit more. As a sweetener, why not do a deal whereby he stays with Atletico Madrid until the summer. I know it doesn't help us much now, but he's likely to be one of the big players everyone wants in the summer. If we wait until then we'll be out bid. Sp why not grab him now?


    I know he could get injured, but deals can be structured in such a way as to cover that risk. We're talking about top executives and lawyers here, surely they can do something.


    So please, blow Jose et al out of the water with a bold, early move.

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  6. turan is a non-starter.
    i wish we would make a loan move for shaqiri. The guy is great and to me is a better move than Salah. If we could land him on a loan, it would be great for bayern and liverpool. lets hope the transfer committee find some targets and go for them. i think the hardball line they play, not willing to pay for targets early on, means they have to pay later on if they want players.

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  7. should go for YARMOLENKO and a defensive midfielder

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  8. Reminds me of Cantona, except not tainted by, you know, *them*. Love him. But I wouldn't hold out any hope for this one.

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  9. The Everly Brothers produced a great record entitled - "All I want to do is Dream" - regrettably one of the brothers recently passed away. - Just like our best chance of challenging for the EPL title for over two decades. Tonight we shall see the fruits of our dithering and penny pinching in the transfer market. "Dream, Dream, Dream....La,La, La"

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  10. our window to capture this guy has closed back when he was at Gala. Full Stop. That was a time when we never spent out wide, always buying in the center.

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  11. Should have happened years ago.He would be a great advantage to us and we will make top 4. He scored a double and an assist at the weekend. We need this kind if player him and a defensive midfielder will see us climb up table in sure of that.

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  12. It is not going to happen!! When it comes to transfer believe it when you see it. I am wishing we win today if not well just start believing that what happened to Roy and the owners will happen again!! And I am the one who is always on the side of manager and LFC as a whole right now, not so much!

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  13. You are right buddy..... Aresenal didnt had any signings in the summer.. and at the end... they pull a rabbit out of the hat.. which change the mentality of the team.. and see where they are now... can we repeat the same.. we would get the answer in 4 days time... YNWA......

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  14. I am sure by the time we finish reading this article he would have been signed to another club! :(

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  15. Atletico is a selling club, they seem to get the good ones, use them for a bit and sell on - so it's not an impossibility. However, given their position in the table, it's not likely that they will sell any of their starters at this point - maybe some of their fringe players. We should put in a bid for Cristian Rodriguez, it's a WC year, and playing 10 minutes a game won't satisfy him - he would do well in the English league too, and link up well with Suarez.

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  16. Am surprised that a fan with the much lauded Scouse humour has not yet responded with another Everley Brothers song title "Devoted to You"!

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  17. Its reported José has already done what you suggest with Costa.

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  18. The Echo piece clearly states it's not an Echo story but merely part of a summary of current rumours...so in this digital age it can't even qualify as chip paper.

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  19. Reprinted from "redder Thanred" comment in the Echo about FSG transfer woes. Is this opinion or is it a succint explanation of our mystifying transfer woes?
    "I dont believe in coincidences and what is happening now in terms of player purchase is no different.

    I dont want to bore folks with any financial engineering and all that, but the bottom line is that we are having to keep expenses down in the two years leading up to the 2014/15 seasons if we are to play either Europa league or the real thing as per Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. So qualification on the pitch alone is not enough . So if you are wondering why reinforcements are not being sought to keep the qualification for champions league on track there is your answer, we cant afford a certain type of player, as player purchases is one of the things that results in losses, and might consequently jeopardize our FFP status. That is why we keep offering 8 Million for 15Million players etc. From where we stand now financially and based on projections 2011/12 and 2012/13 we will still not pass FFP's breakeven point but for certain exclusions we will still pass FFP's break even test and that is why Cite and the rest dont fear FFP. In one breadth you will fail and then exclusions kick in like insulin and then you are back, magic pure magic.

    So at this point in time our main aim is revenue generation, and they are coming in shed loads and it is the basis on which promises are being made for the pending summer. We will be screaming for the owners blood if they did not say champions league qualification was high on the agenda but tell me honestly if they are doing anything to achieve that and that is why the manager says he and the owners are on the same page despite the painfully obvious need for new blood.

    So what is this page that the manager and the owners are on, it is the breakeven point financially that the owners so crave, which will be the catalyst for player purchase and as far as the owners are concerned they are on target as far as their 3 year target.

    Financial Losses will be gone and replaced by profits, debt reduced, steady income flows FFP status clean as a whistle and then we will enter the market. Then and only then will this plan to make Liverpool great again will be unfurled.

    Folks before then Champions league qualification is NOT the highest on the agenda and that is a fact. For those of us not happy with the likes of Moses and Aspas we must rather pray for them to start putting in some effort because they are what we have, like they say a bird in hand.

    Before I go folks THE MYTHICAL NET SPEND IS LARGELY IRRELEVANT!!!

    Good luck to the team and the manager and all concerned in making our club great again if its not already great.

    Good day folks.

    YNWA"

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  20. WHY IS FSG SO STINGY ?

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  21. i am pretty sure we are likely to do panic buying again.

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  22. Pjanic would be a great buy!

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  23. We always scout for other club.i am sure buy the time we get to Madrid them spurs have already paid for Turan service.

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  24. FSG-AYRE-RODGERS/LEGENDS2:46 pm, January 28, 2014

    Better stop with these rumours, everybody knows we are not getting anyone, dont play with fans feelings, just let the peope forget about this shameful transfer window, it caused a lot of pain, need no more, forget it asap!

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  25. 1/14 Never forget.

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  26. theres more chance of my aunty growing a pair of bolloxs

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  27. IF THE OWNERS DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO BUY QUALITY PLAYERS, THEY SHOULD SELL IT TO SOME ONE WHO CAN MANAGE THE CLUB.

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  28. I read that "comment" in the Echo, it was a fans comment not an article.
    What it fails to address is the revenue generated by qualifying for the CL would offset any transfer fees used to get there.

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  29. managing doesnt mean spend...

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  30. For me he's spot on regarding the restrictions FFP imposes and the fact that FSG are rightly doing everything they can to make sure they comply....which is where Ayre deserves a lot of credit for bringing in new commercial deals. Spending on the team has to be done prudently within the overall finances. A better than expected first half of the season has perhaps made some fans a little over eager and forgetful of the financial realities. That top four spot is a real possibility though and we may be in danger of being a bit too inflexible on specific deals, as a result of the overall policy, and so lose a real chance to make CL sooner...which will of course bring further cash...and maybe keep our best player.

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  31. Problem is that we do not qualify under the FFP break even rules at this point of time so every extra penny we spend counts against us.


    That should explain why the club will only pay what they value players at as every player failure sends us even further down the hole i.e. Downing and Carroll.

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  32. Our owners have more money than what most of us on here could ever dream of but that does not mean they can put it all into the club. IT IS NOT ALLOWED.


    The club needs to pay it's own way. What do people not understand about that?

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  33. i said quality players and not spending........Philippi was bought for 8ml but he is better than Downing.

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  34. Finally some with some common sense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  35. Funny how 'common sense' is always whatever seems to match someone's own opinion/interpretation of events.

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  36. ...I may print that off on to a business card for use when the missus moans at me! :-)

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  37. Same as the other top clubs, I bet they will manage a way around it, so should we.
    Otherwise why would John Henry and FSG declare the funds are there for any transfer, and that LFC can compete with anyone.

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  38. There are rules and regulations in place, but that does not mean that the club's owners cannot put their own money into the club. Please don't perpetuate such a blatantly false myth.

    No one is suggesting the FSG put *all* their money into LFC anyway.

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  39. ....and now she'll print that one off....cheers JK! :-)

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  40. JACKANORY DID ITBETTER - Ayre said Egyptian did not want LFC - so why did he and BR indicate otherwise AKLL MONTH

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  41. Exactly. The FFP thing is just another in a long-line of lame excuses advanced by BR/FSG apologists. If LFC wanted to spend £13m on Salah, they could've quite easily. There are no restrictions on that kind of spend. If there was, how in god's name did the club spend money last summer?

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  42. FSG are wreaking my head the stingy twats, Spurs and now Chelsea have taken half a dozen of BR targets over the last two years, It's a fukn joke very dissapointing from were we are at, I mean not paying over the odd's in one sence is admirable, but when these players are identified by BR as targets which will improve the squad well then they should back him... Having Willian,Costa,Salah and even Siggerson in the squad and we would be a much superior squad right now. Personally with these players i feel we would be contenders for the league never mind 4th place. FSG seem to lack ambition and it's pissed me right off... Well what's the alternative finish 5th or 6th and miss out by a couple of points,then loose Suarez in the summer for a huge profit were FSG are concerned, Bastids!!!

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  43. LFC look like making wrong decision if they still want to get expensive signing like Arda Turan.It is will become high risk.But very stupid and no brainer if LFC still adamant to give permanent deal for Ally Cissoko and Victor Moses.They are just passenger at the team who just want high salary.I hate to see deadwood players inside LFC team.LFC wiil struggle and suffer again if still want to keep both this players.

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  44. Worth pointing out that this story doesn't originate from the Echo, but they're just passing it along as part of their transfer round-up.

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  45. You are missing my point. Our fans think Fenway Sports Group are a bank which they are not.


    Liverpool FC as an entity has to survive on it own otherwise there is no point in owning LFC. FSG have already made interest free loans to Liverpool FC in order to clear debt. It will not give LFC a very good name if they keep on getting money for free now will it?

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  46. Not only spent money last summer, but were prepared to pay almost £30m for Willian,
    how were we gonna afford Diego Costa, whom we bid for etc etc, no I dont subscribe to the FFP theory.

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  47. What a load of rubbish. The papers and sites are back to rehashing old stories knowing full well there is nothing left to speculate about and that we will sign no one. And to add insult to injury Rodgers has the nerve to come out and suggest he may even want to sign Moses. If that happens I will begin a personal boycott of the club's merchandise until our transfer policy changes. I realise that my couple of hundred quid a year that I spend is not going to make a dent in the turnover but it's enough for me to know I no longer financially contribute to the wasting of transfer funds at the club.

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  48. How should we manage our way around things at the moment?


    LFC have written off major debt on stadium plans and players ever since FSG joined plus there has been no revenue from the Champions league for 3 seasons. I think you are making it sound more simple than what it really is.

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  49. There's no point to miss. You're arguing something that doesn't exist, and the fact that FSG were seemingly willing to pay £30m+ for Costa/Willian etc negates this entire argument.

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  50. Surely LFC will be paying that money over? If we had to sign a 30mil player the auditors will want to know where that money came from.

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  51. Explain then why we bid almost £30m for Willian, £22m for Mhiktaryan, £20m for Diego Costa,

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  52. Why does that matter? The Echo posted the story in their own words, thus they are basically reporting it. Additionally, the Echo does not provide a link to the original source of the rumour (as they do in the other stories). If they present it this way, then it's fair to say the Echo is reporting it.

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  53. People here speak of calibre of player out there which we can't afford.. Well maybe instead of buying 2 players for 7 million(Alberto,Aspas) who just warm the bench why not show ambition and buy the finished article who will make an instant impact?? Sick of FSG at this stage, City, Chelsea, Arsneal,Mancs and even Spurs have much more depth 2 their squads. I bet we loose Agger and get poxy Inler from Napoli 2 cover for Lucas.. Mind is very negative at the moment, woz looking forward 2 watching Salah in the red of Liverpool and for 12 million Chelshit must be laughing at us ffs fsg get the finger out.. Turan would be perfect but Shaquiri would also be a good buy... Looks like the scum are going to get ahead of us for Brazilian Fernando from Porto for 7 million... WTF is goind on!!

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  54. The money comes from owner equity! FSG are allowed to put money into the club for transfers. What is it about that point your don't understand?

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  55. I think that is a question you would need to ask Mr Henry.

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  56. And you should also ask him, before defending him and FSG.

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  57. The question is how much money can they put in? Does that not become a loan which brings me back to the part that FSG are not a bank. As you say, there are rules and regulations.

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  58. Clearly you do not get my point.

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  59. brendan rodgers has stated there will be no uys on deadline day didnt u see his press confrence u retard no panic buys turan is good but hes a liabillity stop dreaming ffs

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  60. For me there is this valuation problem. They have a valuation that they are not willing to better and in this particular case it seems like an arbitrary figure. There are undoubtedly other costs, perhaps agents fees etc but still.

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  61. For me I think that is far too favorable to FSG. I agree that increasing revenue and reducing debt are huge things and transfers are a gamble that may not pay off. But they are gambles that may pay off too. There is a difference between prudence (which I am in favor of) and failing to value players highly enough. I can understand the Willian situation and the Costa situations in the summer as I am confident those situations were further from our grasp than we could deal with. But I feel the Mhkitarian situation went on far too long and with better foresight and a real push we may have landed him before Dortmund, as when they came in that CL finalist allure would have been too much. Again with Sallah, is he not a £12m pound player? Could that price have been met much earlier? Who is it valuing him so low as to take months to never be able to meet a fee? The part I agree with most in your post is that we may be too inflexible on specific deals. That there is seems to be the case we can all agree on.

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  62. Its not that they don't have the money or LFC don't have the money to spend it is that someone in the position to do the deal (or multiple someones) decided that they would only do a deal at a certain fee or play smart arse and try and wait the selling club out. This whole process needs reevaluating at some stage and come the end of the season it maybe (we hope).

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  63. Don't think Ayre will be able to pull a rabbit of the hat....this article is merely to draw fan attentions away from their many failed attempts to sign quality players...?

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  64. I disagree with this as I have done before. The statement on the it is "reported" in a romour roundup. By definition a rumour is unverified. One source regurgitates another's unverified source. It doesn't add up to all that much and is easy to distance itself from. It is different to a story written by an Echo employee using information and sources they have gained themselves. It might be a case of semantics but it would be clearer to site the original source. Less confusing. Also in lots of these cases the source the Echo gets the rumour from are usually less respected in regards to Liverpool information than the Echo itself, which is probably the most important point.

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  65. Why is Turan a non-starter? I think he's a great player!

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  66. Thanks for the insight. "Redder Thanred" obviously spent a long time writing his post so I give him the credit for a well thought out explanation. I just don't know enough about the true requirements of FFP to know whether he actually knows what he's talking about. I read JK's rejoinder below so I'm still a bit confused about what's possible (legal?). I don't want to dwell on the Salah flop, because I think that explanation is now visible...FSG just talked too much and didn't act. I was reading what BR said yesterday about only wanting to get guys who could impact the starting 11 NOW. But the names/ages of players mentioned clearly don't look like those kind of guys. SO if you want immediate impact it's going to cost you. You're either willing to pay for the immediate impact...or you're not really serious about the immediate impact.

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  67. I would like to see this great liverpool fan in a liverpool shirt, He's a great player and deserve to pull the red shirt as i belive we can see the passion in his game. But i wonder this could happen or not, Thanx to Ayre as our MD

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  68. I have wanted Turan at Anfield since the links started in 2009. He had all the attributes to be a great player and had a big involvement in the clubs youth academy and was the Galatasaray captain at the age of 21. More importantly he wanted to play for us. It's really annoying that this link pops up at every window when it's never going to happen :(

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  69. OK, but that's what I don't get about FFP. Can you count future revenue that you have no guarantee of receiving? Anybody could use that line. It would seem to me you either have the room under 'the cap' as we call it over here...or you don't. Here if you blow through your cap, then you pay a luxury tax to the league.

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  70. TBH I didn't really mean it to be either particularly favourable or unfavourable to FSG, just an appreciation of the realities of FFP. Their policy might also be influenced by being burnt in previous transfers and so has led to a prudent but perhaps on occasion over cautious or inflexible approach. I think we missed a trick with Salah but Mkhitaryan had his heart set on Dortmund unfortunately.

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  71. Again, why does any of this matter? it's just semantic pedantry:

    * The Echo posted the story *in their own words*

    * They do not cite a link, or link back to another source.

    Ergo, it is the Echo reporting the story. Whether it originates from another source is irrelevant. To the average joe reading the site, the story will appear to originate from the Echo.

    Additionally, the fact it's on the Echo's site anyway is tacit proof that the Echo approves of the story. If they didn't, why would they post it?

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  72. Because they are not "reporting" it as you claim but merely reflecting that it has been said elsewhere....they clearly point this out themselves by stating it is not an Echo story merely a round up of rumours....as such it is a lot more tenuous and weaker than the way you presented it, which was that according to a paper known for decent sources at the club, LFC are after Turan. Your article gives the story much more credence than it deserves and by presenting it as such you are potentially misleading readers of the site.

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  73. For 40mn FSG would expect at least 4 future Turan.

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  74. Also saying that because it's on the site means they approve of it is a bit of a stretch to say the least....firstly they clearly gave it a warning proviso and secondly that's like saying anything you put up here you agree with.

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  75. I would try and get him for no more than 25 mill get that aldewield for 7mill and do that swap for inler for agger that's if we're willing to spend 30 odd mill

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  76. Turan is a very good player but is never worth the £33m it will take to get him.I also cant see him leaving Atletico right now. Firmly in the title race still in cl and Spanish cup.

    Liverpool should get 3 deals done this week.

    1= Coentrao on loan and end Cissokho's loan

    2= Jovetic on loan and end Moses loan

    3= Fernando is reportedly available for as little as £6.5m

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  77. The truth is we didnt even bid for Willian or Mkhitaryan. We did bid the release clause on Costa which was I believe about £23m

    Atletico wouldnt even consider bids at this stage of the season so it would take a bid of the release clause again on Turan which is £33m which is why its a non starter

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  78. I've got to agree with what the others have said.

    There is a clear difference between "I have heard" (which is effectively what a rumour mill round-up is) and "We understand".

    The Liverpool website has a rumour mill section, but no-one considers that to be the word of LFC.

    There is no need for "tacit proof" of the Echo's approval, since they very clearly make a point of distancing themselves from the rumours.

    Examples from the article in question:

    1) Liverpool FC transfer speculation today sees Brendan Rodgers reportedly pondering a move for Atletico Madrid winger Arda Turan.
    They make a point that it is speculation and furthermore, include the word reportedly, showing that this has been reported, it is not their reporting.

    ...and most tellingly...

    2) Please remember, these are internet rumours, gathered in one place for your convenience, not Liverpool Echo stories.

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  79. Not entirely certain what point JK is trying to make exactly? Probably just me being thick. The whole purpose behind FFP, as I understand it, is to put a stop to "sugar daddy" owners just throwing cash at a club.

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