This year, multiple reports have claimed that Southampton left-back Luke Shaw is one of Brendan Rodgers' top transfer targets this summer. Rodgers is a confessed admirer of Shaw, and if Liverpool win the league, the Reds will have a great chance of signing the coveted youngster, who is valued at £30m. That's a huge fee for a teenaged, but Anfield legend Jamie Carragher is convinced he's worth it.
Last week, the Daily Mail reported:
"Liverpool will compete against Manchester United and Chelsea to sign Luke Shaw this summer. Ambitious [Brendan] Rodgers is determined to sign him".
Rodgers is long-term admirer of the 18-year old, and in his pre-Southampton press conference a few weeks ago, he enthused:
"It's great to see Luke Shaw doing very well at Southampton. He's a wonderful talent. It's good to see British talent progress"
In his column for the Daily Mail this week, Carra also revealed his admiration for Shaw. He noted:
"Scouts have been flocking to see Shaw in action and it is no wonder the top clubs want to prise the left back away. Shaw will command a huge fee but it will be warranted as he has consistently impressed".
With respect to Carra, I have to strongly disagree. How is Shaw worth £30m? What has he done to command a 'massive fee'? If he goes to the World Cup and has an outstanding tournament then that's something, but right now, Shaw's grossly inflated valuation seems to be based on three things: He's English; has pace; and can cross the ball.
If you listen to the press, Shaw is allegedly an amazing attacking left-back, but for all his much-vaunted attacking qualitues, he rarely scores or creates goals. In 62 games for Southampton, he's scored one solitary goal, and contributed ZERO assists. And this is worth £30m?!
Sorry, but if LFC are going to pay such a huge fee for a left-back, it better be someone capable of regularly contributing in attack. How is a non-scoring/creating left-back worth £30m? LFC already have one of those in Aly Cissokho, and he was free!
In my view, Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao is a far more cost-effective option.
* Massively experienced at domestic and international level.
* Only 26, so his best years are ahead.
* Reportedly available for around €13m.
* Averages 6 goals/assists per season over the last five years.
* Champions League experience, which will come in handy next season.
Author: Jaimie K
Last week, the Daily Mail reported:
"Liverpool will compete against Manchester United and Chelsea to sign Luke Shaw this summer. Ambitious [Brendan] Rodgers is determined to sign him".
Rodgers is long-term admirer of the 18-year old, and in his pre-Southampton press conference a few weeks ago, he enthused:
"It's great to see Luke Shaw doing very well at Southampton. He's a wonderful talent. It's good to see British talent progress"
In his column for the Daily Mail this week, Carra also revealed his admiration for Shaw. He noted:
"Scouts have been flocking to see Shaw in action and it is no wonder the top clubs want to prise the left back away. Shaw will command a huge fee but it will be warranted as he has consistently impressed".
With respect to Carra, I have to strongly disagree. How is Shaw worth £30m? What has he done to command a 'massive fee'? If he goes to the World Cup and has an outstanding tournament then that's something, but right now, Shaw's grossly inflated valuation seems to be based on three things: He's English; has pace; and can cross the ball.
If you listen to the press, Shaw is allegedly an amazing attacking left-back, but for all his much-vaunted attacking qualitues, he rarely scores or creates goals. In 62 games for Southampton, he's scored one solitary goal, and contributed ZERO assists. And this is worth £30m?!
Sorry, but if LFC are going to pay such a huge fee for a left-back, it better be someone capable of regularly contributing in attack. How is a non-scoring/creating left-back worth £30m? LFC already have one of those in Aly Cissokho, and he was free!
In my view, Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao is a far more cost-effective option.
* Massively experienced at domestic and international level.
* Only 26, so his best years are ahead.
* Reportedly available for around €13m.
* Averages 6 goals/assists per season over the last five years.
* Champions League experience, which will come in handy next season.
Author: Jaimie K
I agree. Luke shaw is about potential and he has masses of it, but we can't spend 30 million on a left back, who as you rightly say has not offered much in terms of outright goal / assist contribution. The only way I see this as a possibility, is if if Real sign Suarez for 90-100m and I certainly don't want to see that happen.
ReplyDeleteNo offense, but man you are such a pessimist.........
ReplyDeleteLuke Shaw is definitely a talent,his pace and crosses vouch for that...
There are scouts who are surely better on judging who is good enough...
The transfer fee is inflated but that's modern football for you, that's the business mate...
Fabio Coentrao is untested in BPL, he is Real Madrid player but he is still untested in English football, but Luke Shaw is. He plays week in, week out and is more or less, the part of same kind of playing style in Southampton as employed in Liverpool.
I totally agree with you. Contraeo is someone we should be looking at, still relatively young, very talented and seems to be out of favor at R. Madrid. We could get him for around 10-15 M and revive his career. No way we should pay that amount for a FB, no way. It would be a bigger mistake than signing Carroll. You cant impact the game that much from FB to demand 30M. No to this
ReplyDeletetotally agree scour europe n get ttop quality LB a quarter of that money
ReplyDeleteI think 30m is worth it, considering he is most likely going to be the England lb for the next 8-15 years. If you look at how old Cole is and still gets picked. He could be a fix for the short and long term. We wouldn't have to spend big on another lb for quite some time. Big risk, huge reward.
ReplyDeleteAnd get Coentrao to so we have an abundance of quality in the lb position.
ReplyDeleteJamie it is well noted that Coentrao is not one for turning up for training and is not much of a team player. Not saying Shaw is worth three times Coentrao but I would certainly pay three times the amount for a player who is more interested in playing football than taking the urine !!!
ReplyDeleteJaimie, do you realise that Luke Shaw is only 18?
ReplyDeleteJaimie is often very pessimistic with regard to transfer dealings but he is spot on in this case. If we get into the Champions League we may be able to get Shaw for £30M but absolutely we should not pay it. Look what happened when we had money burning a hole in our pockets before when Torres left. Maintain the sensible approach to transfer values and pay only reasonable prices, not those based on potential.
ReplyDeleteWhy do ignore the plain facts of the situation? You are just spouting what the media has fed you. The UK press is bigging-up Shaw, so you've absorbed that, and are now relaying their message.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you explain exactly why you have such faith in an 18-year old left-back who has done absolutely nothing of note in his career.
He's worth £30m because his 'pace and crosses' prove it? Are you serious? :-)
This is why the subjective judgement of players is arguably pointless. Shaw has no goals and 1 assist in over 60 games for Southampton. That is a fact that shows that his end product in the final third is exceedingly poor for someone lionised for his alleged attacking ability.
only prob fabio might unsettle the dress room but who knows brendan could probably do the job he's done it with sterling, sturridge
ReplyDelete30 million is ridiculous and probably not what he'll actually leave for. If the figure turns out to be more like £20m, how would you feel about signing him? It would be a big fat yes for me because I think this lad is special and he will improve us.
ReplyDelete15 milliion is fair imo he's still 18 if so whats the valuation for raheem
ReplyDeleteLook Buddy, I am an Indian, that does not mean I have no clue what I am talking about, he is definitely a very talented young player. His pace, his dribbling, his stinging crosses, I watch all matches,on tv of course, mate...
ReplyDeleteAbout Coentrao, how much has he played by the way this season and what has he done of note even in the games he played!!! He was out with a serious injury too as far as I remember....
Shaw is definitely not worth £30m, I just said the fee is inflated,way too much inflated. I think we should try to negotiate for a fee which makes some real sense.
Having said so, if Carra is saying something then I believe it, because Carra knows his football...
And please dude, don't get so worked up so fast. Relax. Its not that LFC just blew £30m on an upcoming kid who screwed it up big time on football pitch. These are all speculations, as if now.
Now let's get the debate going :-)
ReplyDeleteContraeo is unproven in the EPL so whatever experience he has counts for nothing when still has to prove his worth in the most physically demanding league in the world. Never mind Aspas, where is Soldado?
Luke Shaw may cost you a little over double but you will have a young player who has proven himself at the age of 18 in the EPL, is already an International plus you possibly will have 12 years of service from him.
i put in 15 as he's an untested teenager we got suarez for less than 30million not to long ago think its improbable to pay suarez money now for an untested teenager imo
ReplyDeleteBR for president
ReplyDeleteU dont pay 30M for someone and then say possibly. Carroll possibly could have been Droga. This kid may start growing and start getting injuries. He possibly could be a world beater. He is not worth the risk at 30M and definitely not for LFC with out limited resources
ReplyDeleteI agree mate, but Southampton don't need or want to sell him and when you have city and Chelsea interested he won't be cheap. My gut feel is he'll go for around £25m including add ons. Given his age, his wages might be a quite a bit lower than Coentrao's, so coupled with future sell on value a deal might make more financial sense than we are assuming.
ReplyDeleteAny transfer is a risk. Signing Coentrao would be a risk too. We paid 20 million for Aquilani and got burnt badly.
ReplyDeleteShaw is still in his development stages yet he is already making a name for himself at the highest level. With the correct coaching and looking at how good he already is, this young lad can become a monster.
You do not know that Shaw might start getting injuries. What if he doesn't?
your right rich clubs come in price goes up and i have a distinct feeling given mourinho's chelsea there going to buy shaw just to stop other teams from getting him *salah/willian*
ReplyDeleteWould love to see Luke Shaw as a Liverpool player. But would not want to spend a large part of our budget on him. Liverpool will be in the CL next year. We will have to play more games, which will mean the increased risk of player injuries. Thus we will need about 4 or 5 more players that BR can have confidence in, to be the first 11. If the likes of Coentrao, or Alex Sandro are a cheaper deal as an LB, and we can up pick quality players that can play CM, Wide and Up front then we have to leave the Shaw deal. Ideally if we had the budget would love to Luke Shaw, Granite Xhaka, Mateo Kovacic, Iker Muniain, and Mauro Icardi
ReplyDeleteI think the big guns are scared that he may turn out to be the 'next Bale' yet they would have missed him so they are going to pay whathever it takes to get him. As far as I remember Bale used to play at left back at the early days of his pro career...
ReplyDeleteName one?
ReplyDeletePart of the reason Shaw is so expensive is because there is so little quality available in his position at the moment.
Not for £30m thanks. Let Moyes spend a big chunk of that reported £200m on him
ReplyDeleteCoentrao is a far better option and will give us £20m left! He has CL experience, national experience and has worked and played at a high level over many years!
ReplyDeleteWith the extra £20m, that could go towards much higher experienced midfielder or pay for a winger outright with again change left over!
I agree with JK's article completely.
ReplyDeleteCoentraeo, Moreno, Sequira. There's three for ya.
ReplyDeleteJamie K, your thinking is all wrong brother. Fabio Contraue is 26 and has his best years ahead of him ? Shaw is not an old grandpa, he's 20. Let's say they both play to 31, about average age for a fullback before they start getting fazed out. So contraue plays for 5 years, Shaw plays for 11. Fabio Contraue = 13mil euros = 11mil pounds. In 5 years you replace contraue by your thinking ('with someone proven') with the inflation of the market, take into account the nouveau riche (psg, chelsea,etc. etc.) and what they pay for players now is certainly a lot more than what they payed for players 5 years ago and a LOT more than what they paid for back in the day. So 5 years from now, when you find a need to replace contraue you spend another say 14mil pounds, this is ofcourse being conservative. So 25mil on an above average (well contreau is actually pretty good, its unfortunate he plays for madrid with Marcelo prefered), or pay 30 mil on a young and clearly talented player. Shaw would not have the whole premier league from chelsea to arsenal to man u to man city and liverpool watching him perform week in week out. He is a full back, sure an assist or a goal would be nice, but what shaw does primarily is defend, the added bonus from him is his pace and the ability to support attacks. Supporting an attack doesn't mean you have to score or assist, what it means son is you can hold play up and provide an out for a player if they get themselves into trouble. Oh and the added 5 mil, would u rather the bling or the gamble (and yes, it is a gamble) on a world class prospect who is at the perfect age that you can mould into the player u like. Rodgers is not just a suit brother, he is an artist. He takes players and finds ways to brush into them the ideas, tactics, confidence that they can play better. Youtube reels will never give u the full width of a players abilities brother
ReplyDelete