In January, Anfield legend John Aldridge argued that Southampton star Luke Shaw would be a 'great signing' for Liverpool, and it seems he's not alone in thinking along those lines.
After the 4-0 victory over Everton at Anfield, Aldo tweeted:
"This is our big opportunity to get 4th spot. Luke shaw would be a great signing but we'd get blown out of the water by the big spenders".
During the 5-Times Podcast this week, former Reds defender Phil Babb urged Liverpool to 'break the bank' to sign Shaw. He enthused:
"I know it’s ambitious but I would like to see Liverpool going in for Luke Shaw. Pay the £20 million and view it as getting England’s left back for the next ten years"
Man United recently put in a £22m bid for the Southampton left-back, but Chelsea are also interested in the highly-regarded 18-year old (a boyhood Blues fan), and the Saints reportedly want £25m.
Shaw clearly has talent, but former Chelsea star Graeme Le Saux has advised the youngster to reject a big-money move in the summer and stay at Southampton to develop his game. He noted:
"He has the qualities a lot of pace and a lot of energy, but he is still very young and the more experience he gains for his club the better. I feel that he’s in the right place at the moment and his development is crucial"
I agree with Le Saux here. Where's the fire? Why does an 18-year old who already plays regular football in the Premier League need to move to a massive club so soon?
The only reason, IMO, would be money, but Shaw should look at the experience of players like Jack Rodwell, or Chelsea's legion of on-loan young players before he makes the mistake of moving.
In any event, I don't care who it is, or the how great the talent, no 18-year old defender is worth £25m. Only a mug with more money that sense would pay that much for Shaw, and I personally would be extremely disappointed if LFC splashed out £20m+ on a teenager.
Author: Jaimie K
After the 4-0 victory over Everton at Anfield, Aldo tweeted:
"This is our big opportunity to get 4th spot. Luke shaw would be a great signing but we'd get blown out of the water by the big spenders".
During the 5-Times Podcast this week, former Reds defender Phil Babb urged Liverpool to 'break the bank' to sign Shaw. He enthused:
"I know it’s ambitious but I would like to see Liverpool going in for Luke Shaw. Pay the £20 million and view it as getting England’s left back for the next ten years"
Man United recently put in a £22m bid for the Southampton left-back, but Chelsea are also interested in the highly-regarded 18-year old (a boyhood Blues fan), and the Saints reportedly want £25m.
Shaw clearly has talent, but former Chelsea star Graeme Le Saux has advised the youngster to reject a big-money move in the summer and stay at Southampton to develop his game. He noted:
"He has the qualities a lot of pace and a lot of energy, but he is still very young and the more experience he gains for his club the better. I feel that he’s in the right place at the moment and his development is crucial"
I agree with Le Saux here. Where's the fire? Why does an 18-year old who already plays regular football in the Premier League need to move to a massive club so soon?
The only reason, IMO, would be money, but Shaw should look at the experience of players like Jack Rodwell, or Chelsea's legion of on-loan young players before he makes the mistake of moving.
In any event, I don't care who it is, or the how great the talent, no 18-year old defender is worth £25m. Only a mug with more money that sense would pay that much for Shaw, and I personally would be extremely disappointed if LFC splashed out £20m+ on a teenager.
Author: Jaimie K
25m for Shaw would be a big misstake! The only lb on earth atm who's worth than 25+ is Alaba, but bayern wouldn't ever sell him... We should be happy with enrique, once he stays fit, because in my opinion he's one of the PL top lb's! We have aly Cissokho as a backup who didn't do to bad imho and Flanagan who can operate on both flanks! Next yeah Robinson will come back, he could be a decent backup too! With Johnson failing to make an impact I'd say right back is our priority, even though wisdom is comming back. I heard he's doing a great job at derby!
ReplyDeleteThe difference for Shaw if he went to Chelsea is he would likely be first choice if Cole is off. So it shouldn't be a Rodwell type situation. As for us buying him? £25m? Too much money too big a risk. Simply put, Nahh.
ReplyDeleteWe should sign him for 20 million .Spending 20 million player for next 15 years is just 1.35 million/year. Don't forget we missed out on Cristiano Ronaldo, Aaron Ramsey, Vidic etc when their tranfer market value was less than 10 million . Still remember Lfc refused to pay 8 million for CR7 and in the end Fergie got him for 12 million
ReplyDeleteHe is a player with tremendous potential and he played more than 50 games already . So he has experience. I would like to have him in LFC
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. He will develop just fine at Southampton. As an England fan, seeing the likes of promising players like Rodwell rotting on the bench is really disappointing. Hopefully Rodgers willingness to develop and play young talent will attract europe's finest young players.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Saints fan and have just one thing to say to Liverpool and all the other "big" clubs supposedly circling - GO AWAY!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope Johnson will be back to his best now he's resolved his injury problems. It's clear he was being severely hampered by them but tried to keep going for the team.
ReplyDeleteJust in case your confused Liverpool is a big club not a "big" club.
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice idea but it's never going to happen for a number of reasons. First and foremost we don't have the budget for £25M on a left back. One of the things I like about the current regime is we know when to walk away from a player who is too expensive.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Shaw will end up Chelsea. He's a boyhood blues fan, and in this mercenary age it's nice to see a player wanting to join the club he supported as a kid, even if it's not our club! The same is true of Derby's Will Hughes, allegedly he's a reds fan and wants to join us. He's a player I'd love us to sign, even if we loan him back to Derby for another season.
Buying a player young, loaning him out to gain experience, then getting the benefit is the modern way. Next year I'm looking forward to seeing the likes of Suso, Llori and Wisdom back in the squad.
As for left back, we are short there. Luckily both Johnson and Flanno can play there, so we'll be ok again for the Swansea game. We also have Kelly.
Let's trust Brendan.
Liverpool are only slightly better position than Southampton
ReplyDeleteFor £25m though? Suarez didn't cost that, it's two Sturridges, three Coutinhos. You see where I'm coming from. Yes he ha experience but not that much prem experience and for that kind of money you would want a lot. It's moot anyway as there is no way on earth that FSG would fund such a move.
ReplyDeleteJust in case you're confused Liverpool is a big club not a "big" club
ReplyDeleteMassive difference in those valuations though and Ronaldo was an attacker, historically more expensive than defenders. That next x amaount of years was the justification behind Carrol. That didn't work out too good. He only had less than a season in the prem too.
ReplyDeletePresumably your a bit confused. I would say that four places in the league and fourteen points is quite a distance especially as if those places were finishing places we would have CL and Soto would have midtable obscurity. Also you are surely not talking about annual turnover and sponsorship, or national and international fanbase or having a decent squad and having Englands best and one of the worlds best strikers in the team. Surely not. Hmm slightly indeed.
ReplyDeleteI don't suggest we buy him but I am sure we wouldn't be loaning him out. He wold be the best LB at the club.
ReplyDeleteMe confused. Not in the slightest!
ReplyDeleteA point well made. Why would we waste our time on players that we know prefer our rivals. What do you want? We spend half of another transfer window trying to do a deal with the Saints and Chelski walk in and take him from under our nose.
ReplyDeleteAgree about Hughes. Exactly what we should be looking for. Potential quality players who want to play for LFC.
A lot of our recent failure in the transfer market can be put down to the fact that we are no longer as attractive to young players. The quality young players that we're after have only seen us win CL once and the Prem never.
That and the fact that we haven't properly assessed the player's desire to join LFC, either because they're a life long fan, or because they think it would be the best move for their career.
Let's stop wasting our time looking at players who are Chelski fans.
Drunk perhaps?
ReplyDeletehe is going to his boyhood club, chelscum.
ReplyDeleteWe have already got an outstanding young full back on the way - Ryan McLaughlin
ReplyDeleteIf you want world class quality in that position that's how much you have to pay. Shaw isn't world class, not yet anyway, but a good manager should be able to spot potential and know if he's got the quality to get there. Right now he is indeed a very good footballer. Southampton play remarkable football at times and very often Shaw is in the middle of that. He's talented for sure but I think Phil Babb gives away a big glue when he says "... England's left back ..." as if it's something amazing and priceless. Why would being England's left back make him particularly brilliant? Only because it makes him English, and English players come at a premium, we all know that.
ReplyDeleteLet's be real - there are players out there as good as Shaw and they wouldn't cost that much money. They might be Spanish or Dutch or German, but it hardly matters does it? Club's would be daft to pay over the odds for Shaw and Liverpool won't get involved at those prices. I honestly don't think it's because we won't spend 25 million on a player, for the right player we'd absolutely spend that much. But for Shaw it's massively overpriced and that's not the game we're in. Leave those kinds of dumb buys to Chelsea, City and United.
He's a rookie who we can't be relying on at the moment.
ReplyDeleteWhatever!
ReplyDeleteKelly :/
ReplyDeleteIf he stays at LFC for his career and becomes as good as it seems he might, £20m is not a ridiculous amount of money. If he stays with us for 10 or 15 years and is successful, it'd be money well spent. Couple of million a year. We could spend the same on three 27 or 28 year old full-backs at 7 or 8 million a year in the same time. Left back is a specialist position and finding real talent there isn't easy. There aren't many I can think of who look as complete as Shaw already appears at his age. Actually I can't think of any. I'm ambivalent about going in for Shaw with that kind of commitment, but there's certainly an argument for doing so.
ReplyDeleteDo you reckon Shaw is as good as people say, Steve?
ReplyDeleteI basically agree Nick, but I'm very interested in McLaughlin. He's got that little bit extra in his game from what I've seen of him that makes me think he's going to be an important player for us, sooner rather than later. Just a feeling though, really.
ReplyDeleteI do like the balance of McLaughlin and Smith for the u-21's :D
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely no way. English players are over hyped, over praised, over priced & over paid. Whatever few decent talented English players are there draws obnoxiously high & undeserving price. Shaw is a good young player, but at least twice over priced; his justified price shouldn't be more than 10-12 mn, at that price nobody 'll sell a potential English International.
ReplyDeleteI think, LB is a key area of improvement for us & makeshift solution never works. I would have gone for Lukas Digne, even for 15-18mn; technically superior, much better defender & relatively cheaper. Let Chelsea get Shaw.
Unfortunately, if a player is British and on every other clubs radar then you are going to pay a premium. That is just the way it is.
ReplyDeleteLook at how much Glen Johnson cost us yet we let go of Arbeloa for about 4 million. Mind boggling.
Shaw is a very talented young man and who ever is willing to pay for his services will pay an arm and leg. Fact is you can go find 2-3 very good foreign LB's at the price of one Shaw.
He's only 18 years old and still has a lot to learn. He's probably better going forward but the defensive side of his game is improving. I honestly reel he would do well to stay put for at least another season. I may be 'drunk' or 'confused' (see earlier posts), but I'm not naive and know he will move on at some point, probably to Chelski (he's been a fan since he was a kid).
ReplyDeleteI meant no disrespect earlier. I know Liverpool's history and they are of course a huge club. Just sick and tired of our best players constantly being the subject of stories about being lured away by clubs in the top 6 (which of course currently excludes Manure - couldn't resist that one).
But, back to your question Rob, Luke will within the next few years become England's no 1 left back, provided he steers clear of serious injury.
Think I must be drunk. Can't spell and Manure are in the top six. Gonna go and lay down in a dark room somewhere, especially since we just lost to Sunderland! Liverpool for the FA Cup.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely drunk. They're 7th.
ReplyDeleteA ridiculous amount of money for a kid who's only fairly recently broken into southamptons first team. Another example of an English player being ludicrously overpriced. People complain about the influx of foreign players being detrimental to the national team, but this is why teams look to Europe for alternatives
ReplyDeleteHe's going to Chelsea from what I was reading in January. Things change though I suppose.
ReplyDeleteThe advantage of good young English players for the top English clubs is that they are very unlikely to be poached abroad, unlike Spanish players for example, who will always be likely to be lured away by the big clubs in Spain. That extra money buys you loyalty.
ReplyDeleteName them?
ReplyDeleteNo left back is worth £25m - absolutely crazy money.
ReplyDeleteRemember a welsh left back a few years ago that cost a fortune? He didn't do so badly later on, did he?
ReplyDeleteIf we get a Soton guy, I'd rather it be Rodriguez or Lallana
ReplyDeleteWe wanted to sign Guilherme Siqueira and was also a target for Real Madrid. Would have cost us under 10 million. Deal fell through though.
ReplyDeleteExactly, he's 27. How long would we have him for? We'd need to replace him in a few years, with another heap of cash spent. He's Brazilian, and would probably need time to settle, he might not take to Liverpool after Granada, Udine, Lisbon. Decent player, sure, but there'd be question marks for me. And if he excelled for us, if Madrid came back in for him, what would he do, do you think?
ReplyDeleteDigne is not superior in any way to Shaw, as far as I can tell. Shaw looks more rapid to me and he's bigger too. Digne is two years older and would cost virtually the same money. Also Digne just signed for PSG. He's not available.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with one of your points - Digne might not be available. But, I am not sure if you have seen him 2 years back when he was regular starter for Lille at 18. Yes, like every English player, Shaw has the common attributes, 90% of which is physical - big in size, stronger, faster & robust. Technically & skill-wise Shaw just doesn't come close to Digne.
ReplyDeleteJust like Ashley Cole is more loyal to Chelsea than Arsenal. Now Rooney 'll be more loyal to MU if he is paid 300K/week. English players are the biggest whores in football. The way Andy Carroll or Downing ransomed LFC for leaving says it all about the loyalty. If you look at players who are playing long term for they clubs (SG, Terry, Lampard, Rooney, Fardinand, Caragher), you 'll see the sort of obnoxiously high salary paid for their loyalty. In a very average English team Carra was 5th choice & rightly so, was paid almost twice than someone like Juves's Chellieni & Johnson denied to extend his contract because FSG 'll not buckle down to give him another 100K+ contract for 3/4 years at almost 30.
ReplyDeleteNot many English players play outside EPL because nobody is willing to take them for the cost - they are just not value for money. With similar money & wage so much talent is available outside UK that, Joe Cole or Joe Barton's half salary had to be paid by mother clubs during loan spells. Had there not been a "home grown" quota, 50% of England's National team would have played in Championship, because nobody would have bought Carroll for 100K/week, Phil Jones or Ashley Young for almost 20mn. Cabya was bought for 4mn & Carrick for 16mn (5 years back), says everything.
Sorry, I don't think you can have seen much of Shaw to say that.
ReplyDelete