9 May 2014

Yes Please: LFC in contact with CL giants over signing 'unhappy' £35m star

Liverpool are reportedly monitoring Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller, who is also wanted by Arsenal and Manchester United.

According to the Daily Mail this week:

"Thomas Muller is an option for Liverpool and Arsenal, who have asked to be kept informed should the German champions consider selling".

Muller - a stalwart for Bayern over the last few years - is playing fewer games for the German Champions there days, and in February, he clear his frustration with increasingly warming the bench. He told Sky Sports:

"I'm unhappy with it [not starting regularly]. Pep and I talk to each other so I knew what was coming, but he knows and is aware that I am a total team player".

This week, German newspaper Bild claimed that £35m-rated Muller is keen to join Louis Van Gaal at Man United this summer, and when asked about that possibility, Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenige told reporters:

"If a player does not feel comfortable with Bayern Munich, he must come to my office. Then you have to talk about it"

Franz Beckenbauer is not impressed with Rumminige's comments, and in an interview this week, the Germany legend demanded that Bayern 'fight to win him [Muller] over', adding:

"I don’t see any reason why he should be unhappy. We must do everything to keep him, and consider letting him go, only if he states categorically that he does not want to stay"

Beckenbauer has a point. Muller has made 47 appearances for Bayern this season, 36 of which were starts, so it seems strange that he's unhappy when he's granted so much pitch time. Muller's stats for the last two seasons:

* 2013-14: 25 goals/12 assists in 47 apps.
* 2012-13: 22 goals/15 assists in 46 apps.
* TOTALS: 47 goals/27 assists in 93 apps.
* Goal/Assist every 1.2 games

Amazing stats, and just the type of creative return expected of a player valued in the £35m range.

Muller is clearly an elite player, so why then would he swap Bayern Munich for Manchester United, a club on a downward spiral into mediocrity? Even with the lure of Louis Van Gaal, United are not in Europe next season, and Old Trafford is clearly a massive step down.

Liverpool, however, are on an upward trajectory, and can offer Champions League football, which immediately makes the Reds a far more attractive prospect. Is Muller the type of player who can take Liverpool to the next level, though? In my view, he'd be a superb signing, and like Marco Reus - who may also be available - he's ten levels above the dross brought in by Rodgers over the last 18 months.

Author:


33 comments:

  1. If you didn't enjoy Suarez's dives JK, wait till you see Müller...He does give a great return though and I agree he is superb to anyone whos come in during the last twelve months. But I can't see us spend 35 million twice either so if I had to choose between him and Reus it would be Reus every day of the week

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  2. His stats are very good but as a player he is not top notch................sounds mad I know but he is limited technically.

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  3. I know what you mean. He is also not up to much physically. He is however a very clever player and one with brilliant movement and game intelligence,

    I think he'd be a great compliment to our team, but I think he'd cost silly money.

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  4. Where would you play him?

    What we are short of is a player of the calibre of yaya toure. Maybe Pogba fits the bill?

    I do think we should snap up bolassie of crystal palace, aligned with sterling the pace factor would kill teams off.

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  5. Hope we have a look at the out of contract players too - Valdez/cole/sagna. Not to be sniffed at for free. Experienced players. That winning experience we've lacked to see us through tough games. And Jeremy Menez at PSG supposedly free? Does Toni Kroos play much at bayern as they have thiago alcantra there? Hope we look at Luis Muriel up front. Griezmann and Inigo Martinez at real Sociedad. Tello and Montoya at Barca. Morata at Real Madrid. Seamus Coleman/ Stones and Barkley. Lallana. Luke shaw. Mangala and Alex Sandro at Porto. Marshall at Cardiff. I'm sure LFC are monitoring every avenue and more!

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  6. Many sensible and feasible deals........................agree totally.

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  7. Yet another bullshit LFC transfer report from feature writers who haven't got a clue who BR is interested in. 18 this month todate. Last month 51

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  8. I'm not convinced about German football at all, many so called stars fail in big CL games too often, German players work very hard and are disciplined but not great technically for me!!!

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  9. Forget these overpriced, Astronomical waged players. It will be a waste of valuable time and effort to see the move break down. Players like Muller and Kroos just will not move to us. Instead can we concentrate on 'Bargains' e.g. another Sturridge/Coutinho? Name that pops up straight away is Carlos Bacca! potentially another 30-goal south american. Style of play very similar to our current 30-goal striker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0mNRDaYo1U
    Another good shout would be Schalke's german defensive 'ball-playing' midfielder in Roman Neustadter! very calm and controlled in terms of his passing ability. Maybe needs bulking up a bit but he is/can be as good as Matic. Both very experienced and know the pressure of playing in european competition too which can only be good for LFC. what does everyone think??

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  10. Slipperie_Slope9:57 pm, May 09, 2014

    Exactly Jamie. This is what you pay 35mil for. A proven top class player able to perform at the highest level. Not the "Peruvian Messi" or "Icelandic Ronaldo" who have had one season in Serie A and are suddenly worth a ransom.
    Utd won the league last year by paying for Van Persies goals. I would have no issue with us paying large sums for these calibre players, in fact I would welcome it. However I will have to see it to believe it. Rodgers has done an amazing job, but I still think he may go looking for those diamonds in the rough, instead of going straight to the jewelry store.
    We've invested in youth and potential over the last two seasons with varying degrees of success, now its time to invest in experience and proven talent.

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  11. Kalu Stanley E.11:44 pm, May 09, 2014

    i doubt he will be willing to move to liverpool either

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  12. Kalu Stanley E.11:48 pm, May 09, 2014

    dnt be surprised, Rogers will be looking at Potentials again this summer......the likes of Ghanian Messi, Next Fowler etc

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  13. You don't think Suarez is in van Persie class? Give me a break, Suarez is a far better goal taker and inventor than van Persie ever was. Diamonds in the rough are sometimes jewels in the crown.

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  14. But when you're in our position of marketability, why not try and sign the odd big, proven player? Our recent attempts at bargain purchases, apart from Sturridge and Coutinho, have not worked too well.

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  15. I think Muller would love our style of play. It's fast and direct, very similar to Bayern last year, whereas now they just dick around with the ball.

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  16. Slipperie_Slope1:24 am, May 10, 2014

    And where at all did I say that Suarez wasn't in Van Persies class? He's miles ahead of him. Think you were reading something else there mate.
    My references were to our buying 8-10 mil pound unproven players in the hope that they will all turn out to be success stories like Sturridge and Coutihno.
    What I'm driving at is that now we are back in CL lets not gamble, lets go for proven quality.
    Don't know where you're getting the Suarez thing from.

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  17. It sounded as though you were saying that you have to pay that kind of money for a world class player.......we didn't pay anything like 35 mill for Suarez,and one of the best goaltakers anywhere in the world. We did pay 35 mill for the big useless Carroll, and also received 50 mill for Torres?. You don't have to pay a fortune for top talent; only a few players around the world are worth that kind of money, and van Persie is not one of them. Your argument is null and void, so hold your tongue when on a slippery slope.

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  18. Müller is a Bayern lifer like Schweinsteiger and Lahm. He will not play in England. The living is way too good in Bavaria. He is born and bred in Bayern.
    The only German player that was good to leave Bayern for England was Ballack and he came from the former East Germany. That was also before Bayern became an absolute powerhouse. They do not need the cash. Th
    ey keep their good players and especially -Bavarian ones.

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  19. Bayern just keep eliminating English based(that have no English players) teams and WIN 5 Champions League Titles including 5 trophies last year and at least the league this year. Are you living under a rock?

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  20. Wouldnt you want another suarez? I'm not saying Carlos Bacca will be as good as him but potential-wise, He is the closest thing in terms of style of play and the types of goals he has scored. I'd rather get him for £10-15mill than see his price increase ridiculously only for madrid or psg to get him. And yes given our european status now, we should go for the odd so called 'big player' but the likes of Kroos and Muller lets face it .. they won't move. Realistically the closest thing we can get in that category would be to tempt Real Madrid with a tasty £25-35mill for Isco.

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  21. Waste of time and efforts. this is never going to materialize. Chapter closed :)

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  22. We won't spend more than 15-20 mill on any individual unless we're swapping players in return I don't think

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  23. If he's not suitable for Guardiola's tactics, how would he be suitable for Rodger's?

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  24. If we're going to pay Bayern silly money it should be for Javi Martinez

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  25. That's what people said about the 54, 74 and 90 world cup winning sides as well

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  26. Lmao i swear i must be born on a different planet or something! Or could it be that i'm less affected by hype than some of you!!?! If Thomas Mullet costs 35m i'm afraid i must have missed the games that deem that value warranted because (regardless of what your little stats say) he's not worth more than 20m because as someone elee stated, technically, he's not that good!! If you doubt that, ask yourself why he was used predominantly as a sub by the former & current manager!?! He does read the game well which allows him to find space & he's a quality finisher but if your stupid enough to pay 35m+ for him all i can say is, THANK GOD NONE OF YOU ARE IN LFC!! Again, as someone else stated, there are very few players ACTUALLY worth that kind of money & LFC can purchase two players who would bring more to the side than Muller for that kind of fee. Also where's all this rubbish about Reus coming from all of a sudden?!? Need to get a grip & actually watch some of these players live more than a handfull of times & on a more informative platform than youtube!
    JFT96, YNWA.

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  27. Not quick enough, Rodgers will look for pace in that area.

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  28. When you are about the only decent side in Germany it helps Dortmund are the closest 19 points away then nothing one team league.

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  29. Slipperie_Slope12:49 pm, May 10, 2014

    "You only get fools and duds for 10million."

    Did you not post this on the next article?...
    Might want to decide what side of the fence you're sitting on there pal.
    For the record I never said you only get quality for big money. But we spent close to 30 mil the last three windows on players we don't use. Prefer to see that going on a proven player this time round.

    My OPINION may be null and void, but at least I'm not changing it every time I open a new article.

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  30. They haven't eliminated Liverpool have they!!!

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  31. Muller reminds me of Frank Lampard in the way he does not dictate the tempo of the game but has a knack of being in the right place at the right time and the late runs into the box.

    If we continue to purchase diamonds in the rough we are in danger of becoming another Arsenal - play attractive football without winning mentality...I think we are at the stage where we are ok for numbers if we retain what we have and add 3-4 quality players worthy of being in the first team. Players like Rakitic, Javi Martinez in midfield, quality full backs - coentrao/shaw/Coleman/sagna, commanding central defender and another versatile forward/left winger....easy for us to say...challenge is finding those players and competing with the other big clubs to close the deals..

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  32. Good comment! And you'll have another big laugh when you see how terrible England are in the World Cup. The arrogance of the English is mind boggling.

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