31 May 2014

Sign Me: 'Incredible' £7m 'brute' admits his 'greatest wish' is to play for LFC

In April, West Ham star Mohamed Diame confirmed that he wants to move on this summer, and suggested that his name is still on LFC's transfer wish-list. A cruel twist of fate robbed the Senegalese star of transfer to Anfield in 2012, and the midfielder has once again expressed his regret over missing out on the move

When asked about his future in April, Diame told reporters:

"Liverpool? I can’t tell you if I will be a Liverpool player next season, but I think my name is still on their wanted list".

In 2012, Kenny Dalgish pinpointed Diame as a possible transfer target, but Liverpool's interest ended when the Reds terminated his contract. Clearly, this hurt Diame, as he explained in an interview this week. He recalled:

"In my head I was already in Liverpool. It was as if one of my greatest wishes - to wear the Liverpool shirt - had been accomplished. Dalglish said 'I can't guarantee you'll play every match but we have a lot of games to play'. Unfortunately, he was fired and negotiations stopped"

No wonder Diame is seemingly desperate to sign for Liverpool. It must be agonising to miss out on a potentially career-defining move, and he'll probably regret it for the rest of his life if he doesn't achieve that dream.

Ex-Reds Jamie Redknapp and John Aldridge are big fans of Diame. In a recent column for the Liverpool Echo , Aldo enthused:

"I would urge Liverpool to keep tabs on Mohamed Diame. He is a brute of a midfielder. A tremendous player and so strong and powerful in that central role, and he is exactly what the Reds need in there".

Soon after, Jamie Redknapp added:

"I like the look of Mohamed Diame at West Ham; he’s a cross between Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure. Can West Ham keep him? He came on a free and has an agreed get-out clause. There will be lots of interest now".

Stan Collymore is not convinced, though, and in his column last week for The Mirror, he noted:

"Diame has incredible ability to burst past players, shoot and create chances. He should be scoring double figures. He can dominate, but he simply hasn't done it. Very disappointing".

Collymore's complaint seems a little unfair to me; it presupposes that Diame is an attacking midfielder, which he isn't. He's a central midfielder with defensive responsibilities, and his goals/assist return is only slightly lower than Hendo's.

Additionally, £7m-rated Diame has 4 goals/3 assists in 41 games for West Ham this season, and whilst that's not fantastic, it's 7 goals/assists more than Lucas, and six more than Joe Allen. Put him in a better team, with superior players, and he'll probably be an asset.

For £5m-£7m, I see no downside to Liverpool signing Diame, and in my view, he'd be infinitely better value for money than any of Rodgers others signings in the same price range.

Granted, it's hard to see him as anything more than a squad player, but based on Dalglish's comments above (about not playing every game), it seems that Diame is happy with that.

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29 comments:

  1. Break the bank for Javi Martinez. £40 million and you've got your defensive midfielder for the next decade. Add a CB and Lambert for striker depth alongside Borini and I'm good to go next year.

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  2. keep Faith And YNWA!7:00 am, May 31, 2014

    sign him i believe in that he is better than Lucas and Allen

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  3. Anybody seen Simeon Slavchev?? Sporting have signed him for 2.5 million euros and he seems a class act - better than Emre Can.

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  4. Would much rather go for Emre Can.

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  5. Read on the BBC site that LFC has tabled a £25m offer for Lallana. He's definitely overpriced! Would rather spend the money on Pedro!

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  6. Fullback positions mate, we need two fullbacks

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  7. I'm a West Ham supporter. Play him down the middle and you have a good player, but our dinosaur plays him out wide whilst the ball gets hoofed around

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  8. Hoping we can secure Alberto Moreno's signature!

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  9. Emre can for me. I find Diame fairly underwhelming

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  10. Terry McDermotts perm9:33 am, May 31, 2014

    I voted yes, but I'd like it for around 4 million. Plus add ons, if they insist.

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  11. H' too in & Out: Yes he h good games bu they are not his norm

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  12. Agree totally

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  13. Muhammad Ibrahim9:44 am, May 31, 2014

    Some of our fans want our club to be big but yet have a small team mentality. Diame is decent in a relegation battling team. We have just had a freak season finishing second and taking city to the last 2 games for the title. We need to build on this, Diame is not building long term, he is a player that can only bring short term stability. Diame would be an slight upgrade to Lucas i.e in terms of more pace going forward in mid now that Gerrard plays the DM role. We should go in for the someone like Romulo, Fernando Martins, William Carvalho or Beranard Malanda. These players seem good, but we need to get the one with good pace as this will help cover and retreat to good positions with our attacking style of play.

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  14. His dream is play for LFC since he was a kid and he has said that he will use Sporting as a launch pad for his career to LFC.

    What do you think about that, eh?

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  15. You can't sign those players for anywhere less that 15m I guess so for this window we can purchase Diame and who knows he might go onto become something that we don't need to buy the players you mentioned there.

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  16. henderson 1 4 capatain9:59 am, May 31, 2014

    players like diame are very average
    i think i shows what a great decision sacking kk was
    scary to think half our attack could be part of west hams if kk stayed


    he probablly would have signed matt jarvis as well


    potential liverpool team if kk stayed :
    ........................................carroll
    downing........................................................jarvis
    ........................................adam
    ...........................spearing ...............diame




    once again i salute fsg

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  17. henderson 1 4 capatain10:03 am, May 31, 2014

    I want us to launch a 12om bid for lambert,rodrigueze,lallana,shnederlin ,shaw and lovern , clyne and boruc


    .....................................sturridge
    sterling.........................lallana................suarez
    ............................gerrard.......henderosn

    shaw.......................................................flanagan
    ......................lovern................skrtel
    ..................................mignolet


    bench: rodrigueze,lambert/ibe,coutinho,shnedelin/allen, clyne,sakho ,boruc




    that team would win the cl and pl

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  18. please focus to sign lallana-moreno-shaqiri-emre can now ! Ayre is very busy boy

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  19. Well what an irony Hendo was signed under KK and its him you're nominating for the captain but still belittling the King, eh?

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  20. No, we should not do that because that's just being stupid to sign the whole Soton when there are better players available and also it will basically divide the team into two groups which is not anyone wants at their club as far as they are a true supporter.

    Lambert - Will probably undergo medical and sign if the reports are true. Good backup and a different dimension to our attack.
    Rodriguez - ACL is too big an injury and he might not be what he was before it.
    Lallana - No problem with this one but then we can sign Shaqiri, Konoplyanka and other players for cheaper.
    Schneiderlin - Can is better and cheaper so let Arse have him.
    Shaw - He's overrated and Moreno is better as he's just same.
    Lovren - I always said we could go in for him before Sakho but then he would cost 20m or upwards so not so sure.
    Clyne - I think Flanno and Wisdom can do a better job if more faith and game time is given.
    Boruc - Nay, he's already No.1 and is competing for Polish No.1 position so why would he come to us to be No.2?

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  21. would be so awesome

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  22. Slipperie_Slope11:07 am, May 31, 2014

    No, just don't see the hype for him. Maybe I haven't watched him enough, but think he's just slightly above average. Would prefer to see us looking elsewhere.

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  23. we should buy Diame for 3m and sell them Allen for 25m.

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  24. what do you say get Emre Can and then also replace Allen with Diame?

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  25. I completely agree with this review. 2 seasons ago or so Westham almost beat Liverpool bcos of Diame. He got injured and was subbed, Liverpool regained midfield dominance and won that match. I will never forget that match. He also was good this season.
    He is a like for like swap for Hendo. I feel even more skillful. Might not be as fast but if he is a player that will come on as a sub or play alternate matches then that is a very good thing.
    Last season was a season of a few defensive blunders that cost the title. As our attack was what kept us going. If he was in the team when Hendo got his red card I can bet we might not feel it and might have even gotten a draw from Chelsea.
    Bottom line he is a tested player in EPL that can play box to box and was visible against the big teams and most of all is ready to play for Liverpool no matter what. How wrong can you go.

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  26. Completely agree!!!!

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  27. A Diame transfer would have made sense a long time ago but not now. And, Emre Can can play left back however his primary role is defensive mid.


    These links don't make much sense to me. Gerrard is the main man in deep midfield and we still have Lucas and Allen on the books for depth. We also have Rossiter in this position who is the brightest prospect at the club. I'd rather we spend big on top class fullbacks for both flanks than make more needless additions.

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  28. Yip, Diame not happening. Rodgers prefers brains over brawn.

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