Liverpool are reportedly considering a summer transfer bid for Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira, who is also wanted by Manchester United and Chelsea.
According to The Mirror:
* Liverpool are lining up a €19m (£15m) bid for Khedira.
* Real Madrid are 'ready to cash in' this summer, and the German is 'keen on a move away'.
* Liverpool are 'strong favourites' to seal the deal.
The Reds were linked with a move for Khedira during Kenny Dalglish's second spell in charge, but the speculation stopped after FSG terminated the LFC legend's contract.
Khedira is an excellent player, but like Daniel Agger, he is massively prone to injury:
* Recently returned from a 6-month spell on the sidelines with a cruciate ligament injury.
* Missed 72 games as a result of 8 separate injuries in the last four years.
* A grand total of 15 injuries since 2008 (87 games missed)
* Averaged only 23 league games a year since 2006.
Clearly, signing Khedira will be a massive gamble, and it's one that Liverpool should (IMO) avoid at all costs. Plus, he's 27, and after his recent cruciate ligament injury, it's going to take a while for him to get back up to speed, and there's a strong possibility that he may never be quite the same again.
Khedira is highly regarded by his Germany team-mates, though. In a recent interview, Arsenal star Mesut Ozil raved:
"He is a really important player for the national team. He’s one of the best players in the world in his position. I really enjoy playing with him"
Then, at the end of May, Ozil posted the following on his Facebook page:
"Sami is the first world cup hero. After a severe injury 194 days ago he is now Champions League winner and in the German world cup team. Well done!"
I don't see the sense in risking big bucks on players with huge injury histories. There are lots of players out there for similar fees whose careers are not littered with endless injury set-backs.
It makes even less sense to - for all intents and purposes - replace one defensive midfielder with who suffered a cruciate ligament injury (Lucas Leiva) with another.
A risk worth taking?
Author: Jaimie K
According to The Mirror:
* Liverpool are lining up a €19m (£15m) bid for Khedira.
* Real Madrid are 'ready to cash in' this summer, and the German is 'keen on a move away'.
* Liverpool are 'strong favourites' to seal the deal.
The Reds were linked with a move for Khedira during Kenny Dalglish's second spell in charge, but the speculation stopped after FSG terminated the LFC legend's contract.
Khedira is an excellent player, but like Daniel Agger, he is massively prone to injury:
* Recently returned from a 6-month spell on the sidelines with a cruciate ligament injury.
* Missed 72 games as a result of 8 separate injuries in the last four years.
* A grand total of 15 injuries since 2008 (87 games missed)
* Averaged only 23 league games a year since 2006.
Clearly, signing Khedira will be a massive gamble, and it's one that Liverpool should (IMO) avoid at all costs. Plus, he's 27, and after his recent cruciate ligament injury, it's going to take a while for him to get back up to speed, and there's a strong possibility that he may never be quite the same again.
Khedira is highly regarded by his Germany team-mates, though. In a recent interview, Arsenal star Mesut Ozil raved:
"He is a really important player for the national team. He’s one of the best players in the world in his position. I really enjoy playing with him"
Then, at the end of May, Ozil posted the following on his Facebook page:
"Sami is the first world cup hero. After a severe injury 194 days ago he is now Champions League winner and in the German world cup team. Well done!"
I don't see the sense in risking big bucks on players with huge injury histories. There are lots of players out there for similar fees whose careers are not littered with endless injury set-backs.
It makes even less sense to - for all intents and purposes - replace one defensive midfielder with who suffered a cruciate ligament injury (Lucas Leiva) with another.
A risk worth taking?
Author: Jaimie K
no way! we just bought ourselves a very promising centre midfielder in Can, why would Rodgers waste 20 mil on Khedira?
ReplyDeleteKhedira is very very good though...
ReplyDeleteWould be very surprised if we went for Sami Khedira, especially after we just bought Can, who is in many wags a very similar midfielder. I am a big fan of Khedira though, often gets categorised as a 'defensive midfielder' but he's so much more than that.. Willing to join an attack, strong when moving forward with the ball at his feet as well as obviously being extremely capable at breaking and setting up play.
ReplyDeleteWhy was my post removed?
ReplyDeleteAll comes down to his current state of health.
ReplyDeleteIf healthy, it's a no brainer in my mind. He was a World Class player when healthy. If he's healthy again, I believe he can attain that form.
But if there's any real question about his current state of health, we unfortunately have to pass.
Why was not signing Rakitic comical? Maybe his agent told them that Barca were going to sign him from the get go or maybe, just maybe Rodgers and the coaching team realised that although he is an excellent player, he wouldn't necessarily fit our way of playing. Why do you hope the link with Khedira isn't valid? The man is class and by the way, you are wrong, Khedira is 27, not 25, he is a Champion's League winner, and for 15m, he would be a bargain. Sissoko for 5-8m? Are you dreaming? He would easily be 15m, probably more like 20-25m, especially with Mike Ashley selling and while he is a good player, he isn't 20-25m good or even 15m good. I would much rather have Sami Khedira for 15m than Moussa Sissoko for 15m. Emre Can is a better option than Yann M'Vila. Luis Alberto was always bought for the future, a loan out to a premier league side to gain first team experience might be in order, but selling him? No, he is class, Joe Allen is important member of the squad and should be kept, at least for another season or two. Apparently we are in talks to sign Xherdan Shaqiri, there are your goals and creativity right there. I don't think we will buy a right back, I believe we will buy a left back, Ricardo Rodriguez I'm liking the look of, but as far as right back, I think if Johnson isn't there, we will play Flanagan in that position. Why waste money on a RB when we already have the Red Cafu? Aurier might have looked good against Japan and even Colombia, and will probably look good against Greece, but how will he fair against Chile or Argentina or Holland? Different kind of opposition.
ReplyDeleteIt was needlessly antagonistic. This is a place for discussion about football, not petty tit-for-tat oneupmanship.
ReplyDeleteSent from Samsung Mobile
Gaz, M Sissoko(22) was brought for 1-2M, he wants out and his agent is already looking for avenues to get him out of newcastle. He would cost 5-8M maximum. S Kheidra (27) is class but as DM, i would have a fully fit Y M'Vila(23) over him and E Can(21) any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteE Can(21) will be no better than N Sahin(24) and look how that ended. Y M'Vila(23) and M Sissoko(22) are both better players than S Kheidra(27) and E Can(21).
S Aurier(21) is better than any right full back we have at club, i love my team but i am not stupid.
Just like we England have found out the hard way, Henderson's game is based on winning ball back and pressing but without that his class, creativity and lack of goals in centre midfield was shown. And I Rakitic(26) is better than any centre midfielder we have at club.
And he is world class and we didn't even bid for him, yet we are chasing A Lallana(26). One is world class quality player, the other is class quality english player over hyped and not worth more than 20M
Also Valbuena who is excellent and apparently available. Probably too old for us to consider unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI think that title goes to Debuchy.
ReplyDeleteSakho has been fine for France so far, I'd say. Not as good as Varane (who contributed well to counter attacks yesterday) but not as shaky as he has been for us.
Oh ok so if I say to you to get off your high horse are you still going to leave my post up?
ReplyDeleteJK,
ReplyDelete100% agree; now on khedira. Good player but there are many others that are good with less history of damage........I hope this rumor is just misdirection.............
And there is another problem for Khedira. Steven Gerrard.
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a proper general manager. Ian Ayer is looking over his shoulder, mate. You and I need to get over us passing on Rakitic, even though it is inexplicable. Not familiar with Aurier. What club does he play for?
ReplyDeleteArsenal now if the reports are to be believed!
ReplyDeletePaper talk, nothing more I reckon
ReplyDeleteShouldn't you put brackets around the 11 after Twistadee?
ReplyDeleteSorry (only joking) but I thought it and then couldn't stop myself :-)
I agree, in both matches he was better than I feared.
ReplyDeleteWe were even signing Valencia a couple of days ago until he signed a new contract!
ReplyDeleteI know I read that, what nonsense. It's shameful the way "journalists" just make stories up with no foundation whatsoever, I find it very frustrating
ReplyDeleteLambert ain't no spring chicken either :-)
ReplyDeleteGive up on Mvila he is off to Inter Milan apparently.
ReplyDeleteBut what about that Luis Suarez handball against Ghana? How come you have overlooked it in this article? Surely you could have worked in a reference somewhere.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but I think Valbuena would cost a decent amount.
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to be proved wrong though!
Wait and see. The mantra of LFC fans. Trouble is, they do the waiting but never get to see anything.
ReplyDeleteColombia is an awesome team even without Falcao. They were 2nd in the qualifiers too. Aurier is a solid defender and knows how to put a cross in.
ReplyDeleteFlanaghan is good but not CL quality yet.
agree with you
ReplyDeleteWe still need to get a long term replacement for Johnson who is a liability.
ReplyDeleteTrust me bro, How does I ayre for not even going for I Rakitic(26) that is shocking. And S Aurier(22) plays for Toulouse, he has been the hardest fullback to beat in the world cup so far.
ReplyDeleteha ha ha
ReplyDeleteInter Milan and Napoli both want L Leiva(27) also, so until he signs for someone i will still have hope for B Rodgers to sign him ahead of Inter Milan.
ReplyDeleteKhedira looked like he was wearing ankle weights against Ghana. I don't think he's our guy. We already have a 34 year old DM. Did anybody else think Ozil played like crap?
ReplyDeletePlease read all.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I didn't catch your post against me before it was canned.
You're still not getting it. If someone believes Sakho has a future and will perform for us then that's perfectly fine, that's an opinion. I personally feel Sakho will prove to become a decent addition over the years but I don't think he's anything special like you make him out to be. I'm not out to prove Rodgers right in everything.
I said you're on a high horse because you said 'wait and see' as if you're going to prove us all wrong and you and Rodgers will prevail. Furthermore, you did the same for Joe Allen, refusing all criticisms and saying 'wait and see'.
You, me, and everyone else has an opinion. You don't have to express it with such self-determined superiority.
I'm not saying Columbia aren't good, in fact, I have put money on them, but they aren't the level of Argentina, Netherlands or even Chile as far as wing play goes.
ReplyDeleteSissoko's fee to Newcastle was undisclosed, so by you saying 1-2m is pure speculation, so truth in that. Sissoko has looked excellent for Newcastle and so is worth more than 5-8m, especially being he still has around 4 years on his contract. Sahin is actually a very good player, it just didn't work out for him at Liverpool, however Can is a different type of player to Sahin and is more versatile than Sahin as well and has the potential to be better than Sahin. Khedira is excellent in the air, something we certainly need defensively at corners, covers a lot of ground, recovers the ball quickly and also contributes to attacking with his long range shooting. He is first and foremost a defensive midfielder. He has performed excellently for Real Madrid in arguably the second best league in the world, whereas M'Vila plays in the Russian league, no disrespect to the Russian league, but it is hardly the La Liga. As I have pointed out before, when Rakitic was 23, he played a full season and scored 0 goals, Rakitic is coming into his prime, Henderson has yet to come into his prime and when he adds composure and goals to his game, which he will, he will be one of, if not the best midfielders in the Premier League. Rakitic has had only 1 season where he has scored more than 10 goals in a season and yet he is suddenly world class? Rakitic scored 12 goals last season and you consider him world class and yet Lallana scored 9 goals and you don't consider him world class? Honestly, I don't consider Lallana to be world class yet, but I believe he has world class talent, meaning he has the potential to be world class. Rakitic also has world class talent, but is yet to be world class. I don't consider Rakitic to be in the top 5 or even the top 10 midfielders in the world. He has the potential to be, but he isn't there yet. And you say M'Vila and Sissoko are both better players than Khedira, frankly you are wrong. Khedira has been a key member of the Real Madrid side as well as the German side, both teams are always there or thereabouts, he is a winner and has a winning mentality, both M'Vila and Sissoko don't have that mentality or are as key to their sides. We saw how much Newcastle struggled without Cabaye in the side, but when Sissoko was out injured and Cabaye was playing, they didn't struggle anywhere near as much. And as far as M'Vila goes, he has proved this past season with his antics that he is a disruptive force to his team, he is about himself and not the team. We don't want that type of player at the club.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know Inter and Napoli both want Lucas? Have you actually gone to both clubs and asked them or is it your wishful thinking because you want Lucas gone?
ReplyDeleteBetter?
ReplyDeleteTwist,
ReplyDeletePlease see my post under JK's article on 6/21 citing BR describing what he is looking for. My post mentions you and I think you will get a chuckle when you read it......
Yeah, I do not know why Jaimie did not want to leave my post up as there was nothing antagonistic about it.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be different sets of rules for different sets of peolple.
I think we all know that balaclava does not need dusting off.......
ReplyDeleteAccording to the accounts he's an asset. Sorry ex accountant
ReplyDeleteGaz, Kheidira(27) could not get into the Real Madrid side last season. He is so great that Real Madrid want Ramires instead of him and Ramires is not a DM. A Fully fit and injury free S Khedira(27) and Y M'Vila(230 , there is only one winner. Y M'Vila(23) with ease. Rakitic(26) is world class, last season he was the best centre midfielder in la liga playing for a team that finished 5th in their domestic league. The two other centre midfielders who consistantly played at same level as Rakitic(26) all season were Koke(21) and Modric(28).
ReplyDeleteSo for you to claim Rakitic(26) is not world class shows you no nothing about football. Fabregas(27) is world class, but because he has struggled at Barcelona does that make him not?
Y M'Vila(23) has had his problems, but he would be at last resort saloon and has one more chance to get back playing at the highest level and to try and get back in the french team. I am sure if B Rodgers went for him and brought him to club, we would get the Y M'Vila(23) who was dominating the centre of park for club and country from the age of 19-21.
M Sissoko(22) wants out of Newcastle, we are now champions league team. B Rodgers could bring him to club for 5-10M maximum
I would avoid signing players who have suffered ACL injuries simply because they are more prone to further knee injuries.
ReplyDeleteAfter a lengthy study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, they concluded that players who have suffered a ACL injury are at much high risk of suffering other knee injuries during the reminder of their playing careers.
The study was financially supported and aided by the UEFA, The Swedish FA and he Swedish Sports Confederation.
Ramires isn't a DM? Yes he most certainly is and Khedira wasn't playing for a large chunk of the season last season because he was injured. Khedira going from Stuttgart to Real Madrid or M'Vila going from Rennes to Rubin Kazan. And just so you know, M'Vila has already signed for Inter, so there goes your dreams out the window again.
ReplyDeleteY M'Vila(23) has not signed for anyone yet, as Inter are now after S Mbia(28) Of QPR also. And have been linked with re signing T Motta(31) , why would they be linked with these players if they just signed Y M'Vila.
ReplyDeleteMaybe because they see that Mbia had an excellent season in La Liga and won the Europa League with Sevilla and because Inter have been woeful and need a revamping of their squad, which is an old squad, so to buy both Mbia and M'Vila for them makes sense. Let me ask you something. Where you one of the people who moaned about Tottenham coming in at the last minute and Sigurdsson and Dempsey or Chelsea doing the same with Willian and Salah or Dortmund doing the same with Mkhitaryan?
ReplyDeleteI think Flanagan is the long term replacement.
ReplyDeleteWe need someone on the left side, which is why we went so hard after Moreno.
Well, yes. But it could also free up Stevie to have the flexibility to play a more attacking role as well.
ReplyDeleteGaz, you claimed Y M'Vila(23) had been signed by Inter Milan when he has not. Its all hearsay at the moment until it is official, don't make conclusion. The only players i was gutted we lost out to Chelsea and Tottenham was C Eriksen(21) he would have been a great signing , class good quality competition for Coutinho(21) in AM Role.
ReplyDeleteAnd Willian(26) and M Salah(22) who both went to Chelsea, they are both class quality players with mobility pace and speed and goals in them. And would have improved the squad
Of course Willian and Salah would have improved the squad, that is exactly why we were going for them. But it is hypocritical of you to moan about another team coming in and hijacking our deals and then wanting to hijack the deal of another player, like Rakitic or M'Vila. I wasn't gutted that we lost out on any player to be honest, because these things happen and look where Tottenham and Chelsea finished and look where we finished.
ReplyDelete