Central defence is undoubtedly a major transfer priority for Liverpool this summer, and so far, Southampton star Dejan Lovren appears to be Brendan Rodgers' top defensive transfer target this summer. Lovren is clearly desperate for a move to Anfield, but Reds legend Jamie Carragher has suggested two different targets for his old club to pursue.
When asked this week about which centre-backs he'd like to see Liverpool sign, Carra tweeted:
"I would love to see [Raphael] Varane from Madrid. I also like [Ezequiel] Garay of Argentina, but [he] just moved to Zenit from Benfica.”
Realistically, it will be very difficult for Liverpool to sign either player:
* Varane - recently described by Jose Mourinho as the 'best young defender in the world' - has a €30m release clause in his contract
* After his impressive performances for France at the World Cup, his value has probably increased.
* Varane is only 21, yet he's already made 71 appearances for Real Madrid, who clearly have a lot of faith in him, so it seems unlikely that they'd sanction a deal.
* Re Garay - As Carra notes, he just signed for Zenit St. Petersburg in a €6m deal, so there's no possible way for LFC to sign him.
As an aside, it's interesting to compare Varane's development to that of Tiago Ilori. Both are 21, but Varane plays regularly for Real Madrid, and has done since the age of 18. Conversely, Ilori can't get a game at Anfield, and will probably go out on loan for a second season in a row.
If Ilori is so good, why are Liverpool not taking the same approach as Madrid? Instead of signing Sakho last summer, why didn't the Reds just put the Portuguese straight into the first-team squad and let him try and establish himself? It's worked for Madrid, and it could've worked for LFC.
As for Garay: he is clearly a mercenary. Why else would an Argentina international in the prime of his career reject Europe's top leagues to go and play in...Russia?
The reported €5m a year salary probably has something to do with it.
Author: Jaimie K
When asked this week about which centre-backs he'd like to see Liverpool sign, Carra tweeted:
"I would love to see [Raphael] Varane from Madrid. I also like [Ezequiel] Garay of Argentina, but [he] just moved to Zenit from Benfica.”
Realistically, it will be very difficult for Liverpool to sign either player:
* Varane - recently described by Jose Mourinho as the 'best young defender in the world' - has a €30m release clause in his contract
* After his impressive performances for France at the World Cup, his value has probably increased.
* Varane is only 21, yet he's already made 71 appearances for Real Madrid, who clearly have a lot of faith in him, so it seems unlikely that they'd sanction a deal.
* Re Garay - As Carra notes, he just signed for Zenit St. Petersburg in a €6m deal, so there's no possible way for LFC to sign him.
As an aside, it's interesting to compare Varane's development to that of Tiago Ilori. Both are 21, but Varane plays regularly for Real Madrid, and has done since the age of 18. Conversely, Ilori can't get a game at Anfield, and will probably go out on loan for a second season in a row.
If Ilori is so good, why are Liverpool not taking the same approach as Madrid? Instead of signing Sakho last summer, why didn't the Reds just put the Portuguese straight into the first-team squad and let him try and establish himself? It's worked for Madrid, and it could've worked for LFC.
As for Garay: he is clearly a mercenary. Why else would an Argentina international in the prime of his career reject Europe's top leagues to go and play in...Russia?
The reported €5m a year salary probably has something to do with it.
Author: Jaimie K
A few points of contention here:
ReplyDeleteIf Varane is the best young defender in the world according to Mourinho, why hasn't he brought him to Chelsea?
Let's assume for a second that Mourinho is accurate... it's not necessarily fair to compare Ilori to him.
To be honest, I don't know what we have in Ilori but as far as I know, no one has claimed him to be a world class player. He's young and needs more time.
And we have to be able to adjust to put the players in a position to succeed. Varane has been thrown to the fire and survived and thrived to be thought of very highly. Obviously, LFC does not feel that is the appropriate path to take with Ilori (at least in his first year).
I would prefer that we keep Ilori and play him this year when the opportunity presents itself. It's probably unrealistic to expect him to start every game, but he should be getting more time this year.
Still, to compare the handling of his development with Varane's is a bit harsh.
Why Jamie Kuntwar why?
ReplyDeleteWell done Germany and Gotze, what a hit son!
ReplyDeleteRojo looked rock solid again
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the world cup final B.R has got to go after Hummel,& Boateng,they were fortresses for Germany.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Germany! Argentina was certainly a serious challenger and the whole situation might be different if their forwards were not that wasteful.
ReplyDeleteTalking about defenders, just a gut feeling that LFC is going to overpay for Dejan Lovren. I can't see them expanding their search abroad. Getting a first team regular of Real Madrid sounds mission impossible to me. Oh, Hummels, Rojos and even Mascherano can be very helpful in shoring up LFC's porous defense. They may come to LFC if and only if LFC is looking abroad.
Why in God's name aren't we chasing Marco Reus, Mat Hummels, Tony Kroos and Arturo Vidal instead on Manc U??????? I am frustrated and bewildered by the events so far. Is Lallana our version of World class signings? Ugh!
ReplyDeleteVarane and Ilori are about the same age and that's pretty much where the similarities in their situations end as far as I can sed
ReplyDeleteI know HuwJenkins and I can guarantee you that LFC Have really cheesded him off over Bony and I think he is 100 per cent correct - we gave Barca etc stick over Suarez so we should have known better how to act with a bit of class
ReplyDeleteIn one word - REUS
ReplyDeleteB Rodgers needs to ship out these poor/ injury prone/ Unwanted defensive players at club this summer: Seven players:
ReplyDeleteGK: B Jones(32) GK P Reina(31) CB: S Coates(23)
CB: K Toure(33) RB: M Kelly(23) RB: G Johnson(29)
DM: L Leiva(27)
B Rodgers should reject all Napoli's advances on loan deals, If they want L Leiva(27) they need to pay 10-14M for him. If they want P Reina(31) They should pay 4-6M for him. B Rodgers needs to stick firm and say no loan deals for those two players, permanent sales only.
And B Rodgers needs to replace them with 6 class quality Defensive player for now and future of club: GK 2 CB'S RB LB DM
1: GK: K Navas(27) Of Levante for 6-8M to compete and Cover S Mignolet(25) for the number 1 spot at club
2: CB: D Lovren(24) Of Southampton for 16-21M to compete and cover with M Skrtel and D Agger (29)
3: CB: S Caulker(22) Of Cardiff for 7-9M to compete and cover with M Sakho(24)
4: RB: S Aurier(21) Of Toulouse for 6-8M to compete and Cover J Flanagan(21)
5: LB: B Davies(20) Of Swansea for 7-9M to compete and Cover J Enrique(27)
6: DM: A mobile quick tough tackling Defensive Midfielder in the peak Essien Makelele, Mascherano and Momo Sissoko Mould:
DM: B Matuidi(27) Of PSG for 14-18M to compete with E Can(21) and S Gerrard(34)
7 Defensive players need to be shown door and 6 class quality defensive players need to replace them
It's up to the manager to decide when a player is ready to play or not. Training sessions are not just players running drills at a light jog, they are high paced and very tough, very demanding. So during training the manager can see what level the player is at and decide if they are good enough to play. Rodgers brought Ilori to Liverpool, saw him in training for 6 months, did his own careful evaluation of the player and then decided to send him out on loan. Clearly the player didn't show enough quality (yet) to impress and demand that first team spot. If he couldn't prove himself in training then there is little chance he'd be successful in an actual competitive match situation so Rodgers almost certainly did the right thing. Rodgers has shown that if a player is good enough they will get a chance, so if Ilori didn't play then it's because he wasn't good enough. Buying Sakho then makes a good amount of sense because Ilori, although talented, was not going to be a viable backup to Agger and Skrtel. Rodgers had to make that call in the summer without even seeing either player. It seems like he made the right call.
ReplyDeleteComparing the EPL to La Liga is IMO not an accurate way of concluding whether a youngster is ready for the EPL.
ReplyDeleteSuso in the 12/13 season and scored no goals and had no assists for the first team. In La Liga last season he scored 3 and assisted 9 times.
Varane might have established himself in La Liga but as we have seen, quite a few experienced players which joined the EPL from La Liga last season had a mediocre season. Will Varane at the age of 21 be able to adapt to a far more demanding league?
Both Suso and Ilori will have a chance to show whether they are ready to step up. If not then they will most likely go on loan again or be sold.
We should have shown some interest in Garay.
ReplyDeleteI think signing Lovren is probably the transfer I most want to happen at the moment.
Well apparently we're chasing Reus
ReplyDeleteRumour going around that we are after Jay Rodriguez. That would be a brilliant signing IMO! Not quite a Suarez replacement in ability but should bring us 15-20 goals a season.
ReplyDeleteAlso that the Moreno deal is being discussed again with Sevilla.
chasing away?
ReplyDeleteIf some of that Suarez money is used on Rodriguez I'll scream. I may have said last week 'I don't care it's not my money', but I only say that if it's the through the use of pre existing funds. When you get 75 million from sale, I want that money thrown at bigger players.
ReplyDeleteit would be nice if you wearnt a little bitch
ReplyDeleteI would rather see us go for Jay Rodriguez than let's say Benzema who will cost more and is probably on four times the wages.
ReplyDeleteI would rather stay in the champions league than not.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Turan. Would love LFC to finally, finally, finally sign him. Of our current squad, only Coutinho can match his close control and dribbling. Great passer and a tenacious defender to boot.
ReplyDeleteKroos to Real is a done deal. Hummels and Reus will go nowhere. I don't think Vidal will leave either and not for less than £50m.
ReplyDeleteWe forget that France gave a very good defensive performance ascwell, and that included Sakho. What I think we really need is a cdm like mascherano, or witsel of Belgium. Solid and accurate. SG is past his best and needs some relief.
ReplyDeleteI'm not someone who is on the Sakho hate bandwagon, I still think he will come good. I just think we could do with a bit more cover, and Lovren would be great.
ReplyDelete