Last summer, Liverpool missed out on several 'marquee' signings, with Brazilian striker Diego Costa being (arguably) the biggest miss for the Reds. With 37 goals/assists, the prolific striker is having Suarez-like season for Atletico Madrid, and ex-Red Jamie Redknapp is convinced that he'll be on the move this summer.
Discussing Costa - who has a €32m buyout clause in his contract - on Saturday Night Football, Redknapp argued that a move to the Premier League - most likely to Chelsea - would 'make sense' for the striker, adding:
“He [Costa] is, make no mistake, a brilliant striker. He’s got that pace and is almost Drogba-like with his ability to run beyond people. He has a left foot, he can drive and he can score his own goals".
Liverpool made a €25m bid for Costa in August, and after turning down a move to Anfield, Costa told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo:
"I had options to leave, and I was very close to doing so. Liverpool is a great team, but after so much fighting and overcoming so many difficulties to win my place at Atletico, how could I go?"
Costa's situation mirrors that of Luis Suarez this season:
* Heavily linked with a big-money move away during the summer.
* Ended up staying at his club despite some massive offers coming in.
* Went on to have an absolutely amazing season.
* Propelled his team to the brink of a league title.
Chelsea are crying out for a top striker, and Liverpool are also in the market for another goalscorer, and if the opportunity arises again, should the Reds reignite interest in Costa?
If Liverpool win the league, the club will immediately become a lot more attractive to players like Costa, but with Suarez and Sturridge already at the club, is it a good idea to sign an expensive, top-class striker?
I personally don't think so. It would be difficult to keep Suarez, Sturridge, and Costa happy for the whole season; all three would want to play every game, and given their respective talents, that's fair enough.
On the other hand, signing a player like Costa would give Liverpool the best striking options in Europe, and triple-threat of Suarez-Sturridge-Costa is a formidable prospect.
For me, it ultimately comes to down to one simple question: do the Reds *need* to sign a big money striker? Given the club's prodigious goalscoring feats this season, the answer is arguably no, which is why (IMO) Liverpool should sign young strikers, and spend the bulk of the the available transfer cash on strengthening the real priority areas, i.e. defence (full-backs/central defenders), and attacking midfielder.
I'd rather see the club spend £30m on a goalscoring number 10/winger, than on a striker.
Author: Jaimie K
Discussing Costa - who has a €32m buyout clause in his contract - on Saturday Night Football, Redknapp argued that a move to the Premier League - most likely to Chelsea - would 'make sense' for the striker, adding:
“He [Costa] is, make no mistake, a brilliant striker. He’s got that pace and is almost Drogba-like with his ability to run beyond people. He has a left foot, he can drive and he can score his own goals".
Liverpool made a €25m bid for Costa in August, and after turning down a move to Anfield, Costa told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo:
"I had options to leave, and I was very close to doing so. Liverpool is a great team, but after so much fighting and overcoming so many difficulties to win my place at Atletico, how could I go?"
Costa's situation mirrors that of Luis Suarez this season:
* Heavily linked with a big-money move away during the summer.
* Ended up staying at his club despite some massive offers coming in.
* Went on to have an absolutely amazing season.
* Propelled his team to the brink of a league title.
Chelsea are crying out for a top striker, and Liverpool are also in the market for another goalscorer, and if the opportunity arises again, should the Reds reignite interest in Costa?
If Liverpool win the league, the club will immediately become a lot more attractive to players like Costa, but with Suarez and Sturridge already at the club, is it a good idea to sign an expensive, top-class striker?
I personally don't think so. It would be difficult to keep Suarez, Sturridge, and Costa happy for the whole season; all three would want to play every game, and given their respective talents, that's fair enough.
On the other hand, signing a player like Costa would give Liverpool the best striking options in Europe, and triple-threat of Suarez-Sturridge-Costa is a formidable prospect.
For me, it ultimately comes to down to one simple question: do the Reds *need* to sign a big money striker? Given the club's prodigious goalscoring feats this season, the answer is arguably no, which is why (IMO) Liverpool should sign young strikers, and spend the bulk of the the available transfer cash on strengthening the real priority areas, i.e. defence (full-backs/central defenders), and attacking midfielder.
I'd rather see the club spend £30m on a goalscoring number 10/winger, than on a striker.
Author: Jaimie K
I think if we did meet his buyout clause Chelsea will offer more wages than us. If they let Lukaku go we should bid. I doubt Chelsea would sell him to us and again he may need and want more game time than we can offer but he is still young, perhaps not as inexperienced as Jaimie says but he would certainly add depth and variation.
ReplyDeleteI want the summer window to be interesting but fear it will be frustrating. Hopefully I won't care too much due to the post league win glow.
The question I have is how would we fit all three into every game...
ReplyDeleteSturridge has to play in the middle. It's his best position, and in my opinion he would be put in a bad spot if he's played out wide.
Suarez has shown he can play just about everywhere so that's not a concern.
Finally, there's Costa... can he play out wide?
Or would we play Sturridge up top with one of them, and the other behind, essentially as an attacking midfield.
And then what happens to a player like Sterling? He wouldn't be playing very often unless someone were to get hurt.
As much as I'd love to have Costa on the team, and I think he could make us better overall, I also get the impression it would too greatly disrupt the good we have going with Coutinho, Henderson and Sterling.
Who cares what other fans think? They will still sing their anti Liverpool songs whenever we play them (the obsessed ones with mental issues will continue to sing them every week).
ReplyDeleteSigning him would make the summer an immediate success. We won't have 38 matches to worry about next season but closer to 60 so another striker would not go amiss. And who will play and who will not? Let them worry about that. The only reason he didn't sign for us last summer was because Falcao left. These are the signings I'd expect Champions and Champions League contenders to make though. Not necessarily galacticos but players of that quality. Who could, possibly, walk straight into our first team.
ReplyDeleteHe said now that he said it at the start of the season. That's easy :-)
ReplyDeleteWhy spend big on a number 10 when Coutinho will only get better plus Sterling has shown that he is more than comfortable playing in that role too.
ReplyDeleteIf Aspas is going then one can only assume that we will be after a another versatile forward and a player like Costa would be the perfect fit. Left back is the position that seriously needs attention too and can also see us going after another deep lying midfielder.
Most Man U fans I know want chelski to win it
ReplyDeleteDude, in a text book, ideal world, having Costa with SAS would be amazing...but in a real world...I don't know! I'm with JK on this.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any utd fans!
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the domdomdomdiedomdom
ReplyDeleteGreat article, especially that last paragraph, mate.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Jaimie, but I'd still break the bank on a left back and a right back before anything else. Maybe two left backs. We've got good depth and options everywhere else.
ReplyDeleteI think you're deluded! All neutral fans I know are hopin City and Chelsea don't win! Everyone is backing the Reds bc of their attacking football! Not to mention Gerrard who countless times stuck with us and Rogers the manager who has transformed the club!
ReplyDeleteNo, everyone is not backing the Reds. The only people I've spoken to who want Liverpool to win the title are Liverpool fans. Everyone else has said how much they'd hate it.
ReplyDeleteIronically the Chelsea fans are praying for a Liverpool win, as that would put us straight back into the title race. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, and for sure people outside Merseyside and half of Merseyside may die of hatemania because BR and LFC are going to dominate the premiership for a lot of years to come.
ReplyDeleteHaha, my opinion is more better than yours.
ReplyDelete1st 11: Mignolet, Flanagan, M. Richard , Agger, Coentrao
,Gerard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Sturidge, Suarez
On the bench: ,shaqiri, konoplayanka, shaqiri, Kroos, Iker Cassilas, John Terry, Sakho
Perhaps you should wait until you've actually won something before you start talking about dominating anything.
ReplyDelete:) Southports choccer with them :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see that Aspas has just said the same thing as you - that it would have been nice to have more minutes off the bench in those games where we were doing so well. I think we all agree, but it's hard to argue with results. Rodgers can't be accused of being a tinkering manager and given our position on the ladder is anyone really in a position to suggest he's not done the right thing? If we win the league I won't give a second thought to how many minutes Aspas played.
ReplyDelete