With Rickie Lambert and Emre Can already in the bag, and a fee allegedly agreed for Alberto Moreno, Liverpool's transfer business continues apace, and it's looking increasingly like Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri will be Brendan Rodgers' fourth signing of the summer.
In May, the Liverpool Echo and The Telegraph claimed that:
* Shaqiri is Brendan Rodgers' back-up plan if the Reds miss out on Adam Lallana
* LFC have scouted Shaqiri 'extensively'
According to reports in Switzerland today:
* Liverpool are close to signing Shaqiri for £15m
* Talks between LFC and Bayern Munich are 'ongoing'.
When asked in March about LFC's interest, Shaqiri told reporters:
"When you hear these names [i.e. Liverpool] have to listen to the offers if one of these top clubs is interested"
Shaqiri - recently hailed as 'world class' by Munich's Sporting Director Mattias Sammer - has made only 31 starts for Bayern in the last two full seasons, so he's clearly surplus to requirements.
Is Shaqiri a better option than Lallana? He may be £10m cheaper, but there's no guarantee that he'll adapt quickly to the Premier League. Lallana, on the other hand, may cost more, but he'll probably hit the ground running, which is a huge benefit.
Having said that, if Liverpool are genuinely on the verge of signing Shaqiri, that may mean that the Lallana deal is dead, though there's always the possibility that Rodgers may sign both players.
Could the squad support both Lallana and Shaqiri? Hypothetically, if the Reds sign both:
* There will be massive competition for places.
* Gerrard, Suarez and Sturridge are certain starters (if fit).
* That leaves three places to share amongst Henderson, Can, Allen, Lucas, Lallana, Shaqiri, Coutinho, and Sterling.
If everyone is fit, that doesn't seem like healthy competition to me, but injury will probably make it easier to rotate players.
Author: Jaimie K
In May, the Liverpool Echo and The Telegraph claimed that:
* Shaqiri is Brendan Rodgers' back-up plan if the Reds miss out on Adam Lallana
* LFC have scouted Shaqiri 'extensively'
According to reports in Switzerland today:
* Liverpool are close to signing Shaqiri for £15m
* Talks between LFC and Bayern Munich are 'ongoing'.
When asked in March about LFC's interest, Shaqiri told reporters:
"When you hear these names [i.e. Liverpool] have to listen to the offers if one of these top clubs is interested"
Shaqiri - recently hailed as 'world class' by Munich's Sporting Director Mattias Sammer - has made only 31 starts for Bayern in the last two full seasons, so he's clearly surplus to requirements.
Is Shaqiri a better option than Lallana? He may be £10m cheaper, but there's no guarantee that he'll adapt quickly to the Premier League. Lallana, on the other hand, may cost more, but he'll probably hit the ground running, which is a huge benefit.
Having said that, if Liverpool are genuinely on the verge of signing Shaqiri, that may mean that the Lallana deal is dead, though there's always the possibility that Rodgers may sign both players.
Could the squad support both Lallana and Shaqiri? Hypothetically, if the Reds sign both:
* There will be massive competition for places.
* Gerrard, Suarez and Sturridge are certain starters (if fit).
* That leaves three places to share amongst Henderson, Can, Allen, Lucas, Lallana, Shaqiri, Coutinho, and Sterling.
If everyone is fit, that doesn't seem like healthy competition to me, but injury will probably make it easier to rotate players.
Author: Jaimie K
The Bundesliga's level of physicality and pace is very much on par with the EPL's so for that reason I do not see Shaqiri struggling to adapt if we had to sign him.
ReplyDeleteI would hardly call him a backup plan. He's at least as good as Lallana. He moves a bit funny but that's all.
ReplyDeletei read earlier that Morena has no intention on joining
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer Shaquiri over Lallana even if they were the same price. Classy, quick, strong, young & keen ...
ReplyDeleteI rate Lallana but not at any more than £20m ...
Proven European talent, id much rather have him for £10 million less than Lallana!
ReplyDeleteshaqiri is twice the player lallana is sorry bro
ReplyDeletewhere did you read that.. your tea leaves?
ReplyDeleteThat is not true at all, I watched the interview in Spanish on TV, he avoided even mentioning Liverpool and stated his father and agent were dealing with things.......................he never once even mentioned Liverpool clearly on purpose!!!
ReplyDeleteLook at Shaqiri's medals and he is only 22 years-old too.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Shaqiri is awesome and I'd take him in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeletewhat a dream ... :
ReplyDelete........................................sturridge
suarez...............................lallana.....................shaqiri
...............................gerrard.........henderson
moreno.....................lovern..........skrtel............johnson
.........................................mignolet
bench: lambert,sterling,coutinho ,allen/can , sakho,flanagan,
problem with shaqiri he is yet to prove himself in a top 6 European league the only time he played real 1st team football was at basel
ReplyDeleteand thoose who compare to stuzza and couts they ahd s ome experience at espanyol and bolton
shaqiri has never played PROPER FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL in a top 5 european league
and dont give me ribery and robben excuse , why did he join then ? shows real lack of ambition
but i would welcome him for say 7m
look at darren flecthers medals does not mean he was good
ReplyDeleteYou are being silly.
ReplyDeleteI think we should care less about healthy competition and more about how strong the squad and team can get, when you win and lift trophies not many players whine about leaving the club or anything. Look at teams like PSG, Chelski, ManShitty, RM, BM, Barca, etc, they all have more players than required for every position yet they don't hesitate from signing anyone because they want to win and when you want to win you need to have competition so bad that only the best of the best make to the ground so that we can win what is all there to win.
ReplyDeleteI think he can have an impact like Hazard for us with his stature. :P
ReplyDeleteNice, strong team. Think I'd maybe start Flano in place of Johnson tho and Can over Allen as CM back up.
ReplyDeleteManUre wanted to play him so early that he was not even eligible for PL so I am not sure what you're saying about being good!!!
ReplyDeletemuch rather sign thorgen hazard
ReplyDeletehe is hazards younger brother that is more then enough reason to sign him
No Johnson for me please, rather have Marcelo if we can get him as he's available if I am not wrong.
ReplyDeleteI sure you're not being serious are you? Just because he's another Hazard doesn't mean anything or does it? Bojan was Messi's brother if I am not wrong and look how it panned out.
ReplyDelete????????????
ReplyDeleteno bojan is not messis brother his long lost cousin
ReplyDeletebtw thorgen won belgium player of the year
are you actually trying to say darren flectcher was a good player ?
ReplyDeletewhats next o shea and brown?
Yeah, I read that too and that could be a valid reason rather than saying Eden's brother.
ReplyDeleteIgnore! Apparently the only time Shaqiri played real 1st team football was at Basel???
ReplyDeleteI guess Basel has had a place in the Bundesliga over the last two seasons...
We should get one of Suarez' brothers then - Paulo is not bad, but getting a bit old - has a similar style, we could probably get him for about 500k.
ReplyDeleteOh come on!!! Fletcher wasn't as bad as you're projecting him to be.
ReplyDeletehe was a headless chicken
ReplyDeletehe was a lucky robbie savage
the modern day cleverly
mate he made 17 appearances last year most were from the bench
ReplyDeletei dont know if he had injuries but if he did that is another reason not to sign him
so stop being sarcastic
100% , if they look similar maybe the other team will get confused he can be number 17
ReplyDeletewhile we are at it
we might as well get raheem sterlings mum into the coaching staff ,apparently she is the new mourinho
B Rodgers needs to start to bring in two world class attackers and 5 descent defensive players and 1 class quality attacker:
ReplyDeleteThe two world class attackers should be:
1: Main Priority: I Rakitic(26) Of Seville Or A Herrera(24) Of A Bilbao for £24-£32M CM
2: RW/ RWF: A Sanchez(25) Or Pedro(26) Of Barcelona for £22-£25M
Five class quality defensive players:
1: GK: M Vorm(30) Of Swansea Or A Mccarthy(24) Of Reading for £3-£5M
2 and 3: CB: D Lovren(24) Of Southampton for £10-£16M
CB: S Caulker(22) Of Cardiff for £5-£8M
3: RB: S Aurier(21) Of Toulouse for £6-£8M
4: LB: B Davies(20) Of Swansea, R Bertrand(23) Of Chelsea or A Moreno(21) for £5-£17M
5: DM: B Matuidi(26) Of PSG for £8-£12M
Class quality attacker:
6: B Arfa(27) Of Newcastle or D Capel(25) Of Sporting Clube De Portugal for £5-£8M
'With the Shaq on board', LFC has 10 Mio extra to go in for a TOP CLASS right back. Shaq will be an instant hit in the EPL, besides he is quicker and more physical then AL. I will peak the Shaq anytime :)
ReplyDeletefor 15 million its a very good buy.
ReplyDeletewow
ReplyDeletefirstly rackitic is joining barca , liverpool have cm covered so herrera is not an option and there is no evidence lfc have even scouted him
the only way we can sign sanchez is if suraez leaves , pedro there is a small chance
your defensive gk and cb options are fine
liverpool are not interested in aurier , moreno should come anyway
capel is apparently a stoke target and ben arfa newcastle reject are they really good enough for a club as great as the might anfield fc
4 Tourneys next season...4. With a full stable of really good players...not one or two Galacticos...we can put quality on the pitch for every match. I'm sorry but I can't buy the starting 11 and the rest ride the pine argument. There will be plenty of work for everybody and it's up to BR to ensure he has the right guys on the pitch at every starting whistle. I'd love to have Shaqiri and the challenges BR would face to field the right chemistry.
ReplyDeleteAt the age of 22, 65 appearances in two season in all competitions considering the competition of attacking players at Bayern.
ReplyDeleteThat is not being sarcastic I am afraid.
Am i the only one who was a bit disappointed with coutinho last season?, for me he was far too inconsistent and wasteful with his shooting and passing
ReplyDeleteand that is why i want lallana i dont think coutinho has developed enough to play in the main 11 ,lallana can play n10 shaqiri cant
and i think coutinho can learn off lallana and become a greater player
..................................lambert
ReplyDeletesterling.....................lallana...................suarez
.........................henderson .....gerrard
bench: sturridge,shaqiri,coutinho,can
wow
I wouldn't say disappointed...we did finish with 84 points and one win away from the trophy y'know. I would say he wasn't as consistently brilliant all year...but who is? He is still only 21. He need to get stronger...like Raheem, but other than that I think disappointing is a bit harsh.
ReplyDeletewhy do you think he is inconsistent is it that he has a certain opposition he plays well againts, is it that he does not have the right mentality or is it rodgers system
ReplyDeleteWell I have also read stories that he has not yet agreed a deal which directly contradicst previous press reports that the deal has been done
ReplyDeleteThere will have to be a place for Sterling. He will prove to be the most valuable player for us.
ReplyDeletei agree i said he will be the greatest player in the world after messi
ReplyDeletebut we need to protect him now so he does not end up like owen or fowler
Very true. Whatever happened to those two.....
ReplyDeletehe failed to fulfill expectations i remember jaimie had an article arguing coutinho was going to be our most important player after kolos comments
ReplyDeleteIts because he's young and he said that and that's the only reason.
ReplyDeleteLallana has no CL experience so I guess nobody is perfect. And this EPL experience foolishness got to stop!
ReplyDeleteGlen has no competition that's why he plays well when he wants!
he is 21 now, barkley is younger , so is koke
ReplyDeletethey don't have an excuse even sterling is 19
When was the last time he played well?
ReplyDeleteWhy the f*** is Sturridge on the bench.
ReplyDeleteman utd a
ReplyDeleteOh come on dude, are you being serious? They aren't as consistent as well, even these guys have had barren spells and yeah its Coutinho who was linked with Real Madrid after Suarez from LFC so I am sure he must have something better than the three you mentioned.
ReplyDeletejust one possible xi
ReplyDeletenot saying he is bad or anything
ReplyDeletebut performances such as the won vs villa at hiome and crystal palace away will be inexcusable next year from coutinho
Give the lad sometime and who knows it might be his season for all to see.
ReplyDeletehopefully
ReplyDeleteagaints sunderland and arsernal he was out of this world an if he can play like that every game he will draw comparisons to david silva
my main point was we need a proven creator that coutinho can learn off like lallana or fabregas
so i would prefer lallana to shaqs
Until he is signed , he is not Barcelona's player. we thought we had signed Sigurdsson, Eriksen, Mkhitaryan and Salah but last minute teams snatched them from our grasp.
ReplyDeleteI Rakitic(26) would be foolish to join Barcelona as he will not get in that side, he will warm the bench.
Three class quality midfielders have found that out of the last two seasons the hard way: Fabregas, Mascherano and Song.
B Rodgers should try and bring him to club with nice big bid, he is world class player who deserves first team football. I Rakitic(26) will not dislodge Xavi, Iniesta or Busquets from the starting team.
And Fabregas, Mascherano and Song found that out first hand, our midfield is not good enough for Champions league. we have one world class midfielder who is on his way out and the best of him is past him ( S Gerrard) The other midfielders we have are good or average not world class.
We need to bring some world class midfielders and attackers to club this summer.
I Rakitic(26) is a world class player
You really need to get a hold of yourself mate, I am not sure the team can entertain such wholesale changes in just one summer and what's with the same post in every thread? You might want to cut down on FIFA for sometime I guess.
ReplyDeleteLallana is a No.10 and Shaqiri is a winger so that are two different players for two different positions, I am not sure why you're insisting on Lallana for the sake of it.
ReplyDeleteWhy do i need to chill? If B Rodgers was allowed to bring some class quality players in January and ship some dead wood average or injury players out we would not have so many still on the books. The whole sale changes i would say should be for whole season, but i am guessing our owners won't give B Rodgers any money in January 2015 also , so he might aswell do everything in the summer
ReplyDeleterackitic is slow he can not play in a high intensity attacking play like lfc he ,
ReplyDeletethat is why he will not be signed okay
look at can ,hendo and allen all rodgers favorites
and lallana(main target) who run the second most in the pl last season
and see the work coutinho and sterling do
they have a lot of energy and press a lot
rakitic does not have stamina or pace ,barca play a slow game so he is alright for them
We cannot be so sure about that just yet can we? I am sure if we do good in CL and need some signings that will help the cause then why wouldn't they back him up?
ReplyDeletelook at spurs
ReplyDeletewholesale changes ruin team morale
the manager wont know his best team
no because jamie kanar was saying its one or the otehr
ReplyDeleteHe also said that BR might end up signing both of them.
ReplyDeleteanyway do you agree
ReplyDeletethat rodgers system requires players that have mobility,energy , pace and a massive shift
that is why he is targeting lallana and can both players who have a lot of stamina and energy
that is why we wil not sign players like rackitic and fab regas
I love the sound of fab regas
ReplyDeletewell now you know what to call your next child ,grandchild,,nephew
ReplyDelete......
ReplyDeleteWhat? Rakitic(26) is not quick but he is always on the move and has great balance and sharp turn of speed. He would be awesome signing
ReplyDeleteI Rakitic(26) is world class, A Lallana(26) is class.
There is a difference and Rakitic(26) played better than L Modric(28) this season, he is world class player you can't compare Rakitic(26) with A Lallana(26). One is a Bugatti, the other is a Nissan Skyline.
Nice team alright but theres no way lallana or shaqiri would be starting for me there. The fact we scored over one hundred goals is testament to what we already have top half. Anybody coming in from an attacking perspective is going to have to start on the bench. Sterling, Coutihno, Sturridge and even Hendo have earned their place the hard way. With exception to the defence and possibly Can center mid I cant see our forward line being much different than it was for at least the seasons kick off.
ReplyDeleteHe will be known to all as Fab Friggin' Regas :-)
ReplyDeleteAll competition for places is healthy. Would also prefer Markovic to Shaqiri
ReplyDeleteWhat is the latest on Rakitic? Is he still possible for us or is he going to Barca?
ReplyDeleteTwist,
ReplyDeleteWe continue on the same wavelength. Sadly, I read Rakitic is signing with Barca. Would love Sanchez if Rak is gone. Hve you heard that? Is sanchez realistically available?
from your lips to God's and BR's ears!!
ReplyDeleteCoutinho was hot and cold last yr. I attributed it to youth and lack of fitness and occasional physical stage fright. What did you think?
ReplyDeleteSo if you havent played in a top 5 league you are no good well the rest of Europe and South America would strongly disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteI'd wait to see what the Philipe Luis fee is.
ReplyDelete