Despite the rapid rise this season of Jon Flanagan, and the presence in the squad of both Martin Kelly and Glen Johnson, Liverpool are still seemingly on the lookout for a new right back, and reports in Italy today suggest that Brendan Rodgers has identified Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna as a possible summer signing.
According to a couple of prominent Italian journalists, Liverpool want to sign Sagna, and the club has already made an offer for 31-year old defender, which suggests that Glen Johnson - who is currently injured - could be on his way out of Anfield.
When asked recently about Sagna's contract situation, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger admitted that
"If Sagna does not extend his contract we will have to do that [look at alternatives]. For me, Sagna is a very important player for the group [and] he is fully committed"
Could a possible swap-deal with Johnson be on the cards? In January, The Express claimed that Arsene Wenger is interested in signing Johnson...to replace Sagna (!):
"Arsene Wenger has identified Johnson as a possible replacement for Bacary Sagna. Johnson's contract doesn't expire until next year but he's been told he will need to accept a pay cut to extend his stay at Anfield"
None of this makes much sense to me:
* Why would Rodgers get rid of Johnson, and replace him with an older player?
* If Johnson is staying, why would LFC need Sagna anyway?
* Sagna reportedly has a £28m offer on the table from Monaco (£120k a week, plus a £10m signing-on fee), and Liverpool definitely cannot (and should not) match that.
* Sagna's next deal will probably be his last big payday, so why would he turn down Monaco's massive offer and sign for Liverpool? Even if the Reds make it through to the Champions League, there's no way any post-30 footballer is going to put football over cash. Most elite players have mercenary mindsets, and I'm sure Sagna is no exception. And who can blame him? At the end of the day, it's just human nature.
Sagna is a good player, but he's not getting any younger, and if LFC are to bring in someone to challenge/replace Johnson, it should (IMO) be a player who'll stay with the club over the next 3-5 years, at least.
Author: Jaimie K
According to a couple of prominent Italian journalists, Liverpool want to sign Sagna, and the club has already made an offer for 31-year old defender, which suggests that Glen Johnson - who is currently injured - could be on his way out of Anfield.
When asked recently about Sagna's contract situation, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger admitted that
"If Sagna does not extend his contract we will have to do that [look at alternatives]. For me, Sagna is a very important player for the group [and] he is fully committed"
Could a possible swap-deal with Johnson be on the cards? In January, The Express claimed that Arsene Wenger is interested in signing Johnson...to replace Sagna (!):
"Arsene Wenger has identified Johnson as a possible replacement for Bacary Sagna. Johnson's contract doesn't expire until next year but he's been told he will need to accept a pay cut to extend his stay at Anfield"
None of this makes much sense to me:
* Why would Rodgers get rid of Johnson, and replace him with an older player?
* If Johnson is staying, why would LFC need Sagna anyway?
* Sagna reportedly has a £28m offer on the table from Monaco (£120k a week, plus a £10m signing-on fee), and Liverpool definitely cannot (and should not) match that.
* Sagna's next deal will probably be his last big payday, so why would he turn down Monaco's massive offer and sign for Liverpool? Even if the Reds make it through to the Champions League, there's no way any post-30 footballer is going to put football over cash. Most elite players have mercenary mindsets, and I'm sure Sagna is no exception. And who can blame him? At the end of the day, it's just human nature.
Sagna is a good player, but he's not getting any younger, and if LFC are to bring in someone to challenge/replace Johnson, it should (IMO) be a player who'll stay with the club over the next 3-5 years, at least.
Author: Jaimie K
I'd say the idea is to challenge Flanagan, not Johnson. Not a bad player so if he signs, fine. If he doesn't, also fine, he's not that special.
ReplyDeleteIf he comes here it will be for a reasonable salary and he will have to prove his commitment to the club. We won't fawn over him or offer him a ridiculous pay just for him to see out his career. So the way we do business is actually a good way to sort out the players you don't want.
ReplyDeleteIf he turns down Arsenal and Monaco (and any other number of clubs) to come and play for us then I'd say that's great. He's a good player and even despite his age I'd say he has a good couple of years to offer. If he doesn't come here then it will likely be because he wants more money like you say or perhaps that he's just not interested in playing for Liverpool. In that case him not coming here is also a good outcome. So it depends on how this rumour actually pans out.
I don't see Johnson leaving unless the issues are really all about the money. We probably want to offer him a reduced wage and that's hard for anyone to take, but if he likes playing here and can see how well we are doing as a football club then why would he leave? It can really only come down to money, in which case he's welcome to go. I don't think his poor form was a reflection of anything other than his injury worries. We saw a very similar issue with Enrique who seemed off his game for most of the second half of a season, a bit of a worry until you realised it was because he was playing through pain. A fit and healthy Johnson is a very good player for us and very important for our attack. He's vastly experienced and still quite talented. If he wants to stay then we should keep him.
It's good to hear that Liverpool are ready to be treated like they did to Arsenal last summer however, they should just forget about buying player from Arsenal because they are not going to succeed. who would dare supply their enemies with ammunition to be used on them ?. Never the less would Sagna want to join them after all there other bigger clubs who he would prefer to join than going to a club that don't play European football.
ReplyDeleteMorning Jaimie!
ReplyDeleteNot commented for a while but I'm really enjoying the season so far.
Personally I would like to see us buy Micah Richards, he should be challenging Johnson and Walker in that England team and I really think he could be a top player. On another note though, i would love Kelly to stay injury free for a year and really show what he can do-i really rated him but he seems to be a long way back in the queue now and is 23. He went the Euros 2 years ago and has been so unlucky since.
With Kelly, Flanagan, Johnson, Mac Laughlin, (a real prospect), why would we need more, add to that Wisdom etc, left back should be and will be the priority. IMO.
ReplyDeleteTell us about it 2moro, after the Bayern trouncing.
ReplyDeleteHe's out of contract at the end of the year. Arsenal have no say unless they offer him more money. Just like anyone else. But as of he'd sign for Liverpool. More media dross. If he leaves Arsenal it'll be overseas.
ReplyDeleteWe are still in EPL and FA but for some they are still crying about a penalty that never existed ha ha ha ha ha !
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for club that depend penalties as a means of winning cup !
Not a chance!!!!
ReplyDeleteLiverpool played Arsenal off the pitch again, Bayern will slaughter them!!!.........................Liverpool are the better team now, get used to it!!!.
ReplyDeleteisnt he out of contract at the end of the year?
ReplyDeletePaper talk...
ReplyDeleteYes he is.
ReplyDeleterubbish - johnson wisdom,flanno ,kelly and ryan mclauglin .says it all.
ReplyDeleteAs usual>>>Total CRAP!!!
ReplyDeleteJaimie, does this news actually interest you?
ReplyDeleteyou still haven't won anything in 9 years
ReplyDeleteArsenal are getting steadily worse without a doubt, they face a fight to stay in the top 4 on recent performances.....................average at best!!.
ReplyDeleteWe won loads of money more than those who buy the trophies at higher price and still better that Liverpool who are struggling to qualify for champion league
ReplyDeleteWe don't to jump to conclusion, better team can only be seen by the result and not said. let's wait till the end the fixture before we make judgment
ReplyDeleteDon't start counting the eggs before the hen finish laying them my friend !
ReplyDeleteLet's see who finishes highest????................It will not be Arsenal.
ReplyDeleteYou might end up struggling too
ReplyDeleteNO NO NO!!! find someone else. Kelly on RB and Flanno on LB
ReplyDeleteIf sagna make no different
ReplyDeleteI would like to give the RB position for Flanagan and McLaughlin
ReplyDeleteAt least when we enter Europe we have a chance of winning , pathetic WUM
ReplyDeleteLiverpool won't pay for their top targets, let alone a 31 year old gooner!
ReplyDeletewho needed the ref to win the game?
ReplyDeleteOnce again this blog falls fool of some agent trying to improve his client's negotiation power ...
ReplyDeleteI don't think Johnson is injured, there's something more to it there, we don't even know what the 'injury' is, seems more mental than physical, hope i'm wrong but he's not been the player he was last year.
ReplyDelete£28 million - Another Massively exaggerated headline from YOU
ReplyDeleteget a grip, ya compulsive attention seeker
Good lord, another silly Arse bandit!! The week before your Arse wasn't even in the game for 5mins & lost 5-1 whereas your Arse had to play for 95mins & ride your luck throughout in the Cup game!! Take off the Wenger Specs.
ReplyDeleteLoool you won loads a money..... haahahahahaha only an Arse bandit would say that!! The only reason you mugs still make the CL is because of the points teams like LFC have accumulated over decades of being in Europe & actually WINNING it. We are one of an elite group of clubs who have an original European Cup in the trophy cabinet & all of this has given England the 3rd & 4th places your perennial, underachieving Arse always fills. Like many Arse bandits, your views are limited by your wenger specs but there are competitions we've been in that you STILL haven't graced & your Arse is STILL trying to emulate things we achieved a looong time ago. Know yourself & shut it!!
ReplyDeleteYNWA
Pass on Sagna...He's never going to get faster, stronger or smarter...all downhill from here.
ReplyDeleteYes. Why wouldn't it? It doesn't just interest me, it interests lots of LFC fans too.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the odds for Arsenal conceding 5 or more against Bayern Munich.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking the same about Enrique. I could be wrong but wasn't he due back in January?
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for Micah Richards to be honest. He was such a good young prospect and was a regular for City and then City got rich and he just seems to have disappeared and not been able to jump ship. City getting rich halted quite a few players progress IMO including Steven Ireland. At one time he was the star in their team and defences didn't know what to do with him and now he's like Kevin Nolan, a player who could have been better than he was. I remember at one point Nolans stats were near enough the same as Gerrard and Lampard but because he was at an inferior club nobody took him as seriously as they should. Chelsea and Liverpool didn't want him as he why would they? They had Gerrard and Lampard, he wouldn't suit Arsenal stile of play ad United were the league champions so they didn't need to take that risk so Nolan stayed at Bolton (who were in the UEFA Cup to be fair) and never achieved what he possibly could have. Ireland and Richards are the same.
ReplyDeleteGive credit where credit's due, how many people do you know can flip themselves using their neck?
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers should forget Signing B Sagna (31) Of Arsenal on a Free or A Cole(33) Of Chelsea on a free, both of these players are on the way out and their best footballing years are way behind them.
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers should bring in these Five defensive players in the summer: These two full backs:
1: RB: N Clyne(23) Of Southampton for 7-11M to compete and Cover G Johnson(29)
2: LB: S Umtiti(20) Of Lyon for 6-8M to compete and Cover J Enrique(27)
Three other defensive players:
3:GK: A Mccarthy(24) Of Reading for 4-7M to compete and Cover Mignolet(25)
4: CB: K Papadopolous(21) Of Schalke for 7-12M to replace K Toure(34)
5: DM: M'Vila(23) Rubin Kazan for 7-10M to compete and Cover Lucas
These five Defensive players should be brought to club in summer, whilse this dead wood players should be shipped out in the summer.
1: GK: B Jones
2: RB: M Kelly
3: CB: S Coates
4:CB: K Toure
5: AM: L Alberto
6: RW/ RWF: O Assaidi
7: FD: I Aspas
8: FD: F Borini
And the two pathetic wastes of space loan signings: A Cissokho and V Moses also need to be shipped out.
So Ten/10 players need to be shipped out this summer and replaced by 9 class, quality players. 5 Defensive players and 3 Attacking players
The Four attacking players:
6: CM: Koke(21) Of A Madrid for 17-21M to compete and Cover J Henderson(23)
7: AM: A Lallana(25) Of Southampton for 12-17M to compete and Cover Coutinho(21)
8: Y Konoplyanka(25) Of Dnipro for 12-16M to compete and Cover J Ibe(18)
9: FD: L Muriel(22) Of Udinese for 8-12M to compete and Cover D Sturridge(24)
10 Players need to be shipped out and 9 class, quality players need to be brought in so there is healthy class, quality competition for places in every position in the squad.