After a series of superb performances in the World Cup, Levante will find it hard to keep hold of Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas, and Liverpool are reportedly one of the long-list of teams interesting in signing the 27-year old stopper.
In February, the The Mirror reported that LFC scouts had delivered 'rave reviews' about Navas' performances.
Soon after, several reports claimed the Reds had 'made an enquiry' about Navas, and that Liverpool were 'confident' of sealing a summer deal.
Well, today, the Daily Mail claims that:
* Liverpool and Arsenal are currently monitoring Navas's situation.
* The Costa Rican has an eminently affordable €10m buyout clause.
Navas's performances last season helped Levante achieve the 5th best defensive record in La Liga, and he notched up 19 clean sheets along the way, which is a stunning achievement. Additionally, if it wasn't for conceding 7 goals in one game against Barcelona, Navas's goals-conceded stats would've been even more impressive.
Levante manager Joaquin Caparras attributes much of his team's success to Navas' superb goalkeeping, and in January, he enthused:
“Navas is having a spectacular season, he helps us a lot because when there are problems, he’s there and he’s very important to us"
Speaking to reporters recently, Levante president Quico Catalan also raved about Navas. He told reporters:
“He's the best keeper in the league right now and that is a privilege for us. Other clubs know the situation.”
After Navas's penalty shootout heroics, Costa Rica manager Jorge Luis Pinto went one further, insisting:
"He is one of the best in the world. We trusted him and he was in control during the penalties. He has grown and is an extraordinary man, which was recognised today."
A move to Liverpool will be a step-up for Navas, but as he explained in a recent interview, he has no fear:
"I play in a very competitive league and come up against some of the best players in the world, so I stopped being nervous a long time ago. I feel quite relaxed. For me it’s a great challenge to play against the best."
The quality of goalkeeping at the World Cup is superb so far, and Navas is clearly a great option. Having said that, Guillermo Ochoa - also linked with LFC - is another enticing prospect, and he is available on a free transfer.
If Liverpool sign either of these two great goalkeepers, Simon Mignolet will have one hell of a battle on his hands, and it wouldn't surprise me to see the Belgian swiftly relegated to the bench.
To be honest, I'd personally prefer that - Mignolet is good, but he's not great, and I'm not convinced he's the long-term solution.
Author: Jaimie K
In February, the The Mirror reported that LFC scouts had delivered 'rave reviews' about Navas' performances.
Soon after, several reports claimed the Reds had 'made an enquiry' about Navas, and that Liverpool were 'confident' of sealing a summer deal.
Well, today, the Daily Mail claims that:
* Liverpool and Arsenal are currently monitoring Navas's situation.
* The Costa Rican has an eminently affordable €10m buyout clause.
Navas's performances last season helped Levante achieve the 5th best defensive record in La Liga, and he notched up 19 clean sheets along the way, which is a stunning achievement. Additionally, if it wasn't for conceding 7 goals in one game against Barcelona, Navas's goals-conceded stats would've been even more impressive.
Levante manager Joaquin Caparras attributes much of his team's success to Navas' superb goalkeeping, and in January, he enthused:
“Navas is having a spectacular season, he helps us a lot because when there are problems, he’s there and he’s very important to us"
Speaking to reporters recently, Levante president Quico Catalan also raved about Navas. He told reporters:
“He's the best keeper in the league right now and that is a privilege for us. Other clubs know the situation.”
After Navas's penalty shootout heroics, Costa Rica manager Jorge Luis Pinto went one further, insisting:
"He is one of the best in the world. We trusted him and he was in control during the penalties. He has grown and is an extraordinary man, which was recognised today."
A move to Liverpool will be a step-up for Navas, but as he explained in a recent interview, he has no fear:
"I play in a very competitive league and come up against some of the best players in the world, so I stopped being nervous a long time ago. I feel quite relaxed. For me it’s a great challenge to play against the best."
The quality of goalkeeping at the World Cup is superb so far, and Navas is clearly a great option. Having said that, Guillermo Ochoa - also linked with LFC - is another enticing prospect, and he is available on a free transfer.
If Liverpool sign either of these two great goalkeepers, Simon Mignolet will have one hell of a battle on his hands, and it wouldn't surprise me to see the Belgian swiftly relegated to the bench.
To be honest, I'd personally prefer that - Mignolet is good, but he's not great, and I'm not convinced he's the long-term solution.
polls
Author: Jaimie K
I'd be surprised if he doesn't end up at Atletico. Furthermore, he;d be their starting 'keeper whereas he just be challenging Mignolet at Anfield.
ReplyDeleteNavas is a top keeper, and as much as I'd like to see him or Ochoa at Anfield either as 1st or second choice, we would need to seriously rework our GK department, as we already have 3 goalies. There are plenty of teams on the lookout for a #1, and that could be good for us to sell, and bad for us to miss out.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, Origi looked great today as a starter. If rumors are true, he could be a great backup. Looked much better imo than Lukaku. Lukaku just came on with fresh legs when the entire US defense was fatigued. If it was switched around and Origi made the sub appearance, he would've wrecked havoc.
I reckon we should sign Nick Kyrgios. Young, loads of talent, proven against the best, and he's aussie
ReplyDeleteHe's 18, that's the extent of it. I use the formula that if you pay 2 million pounds per season you get out of player you're getting a good deal. Shaw could play for United for 14 years which is 28 million pounds. So long as he's a regular starter and plays at the level required it's a good deal. That's the difference with getting a player at that age who has already proven himself. Even if he doesn't set the world on fire he's a proven PL wing back, he's already got the skills and the maturity, he's an international quality player. The only way it's a bad deal is the risk that he loses form or doesn't continue to grow as a player. That's the question you have to answer before doing the transfer, but it seems United have done that.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree. We could buy a number of players with the money, but then all we'd have are a number of players who are not as good as Suarez. If we had a chance to buy a player of his quality for 80 million pounds most fans would be giddy with happiness. Generally I think we should always try and build while keeping our best players. However Suarez's behaviour and potential for long term bans is too serious to ignore. If we can get Barca to pay the asking price and we can find a quality replacement I think it might be worth letting him go. He'll be out for more than 10 games, that's hard to deal with, and he will probably do something similar again in the future. He's a serial offender and I think it's not the last on-field brain explosion we've seen from Suarez. If Liverpool don't mount another title challenge and the pressure starts mounting who knows what he'll do.
ReplyDeleteIf a behaviour is deemed acceptable, is repeated by the majority of players and is not considered by most to be abhorrent then at some point it becomes somewhat irrelevant if you can call it "cheating" or not. You could call it "eating a sandwich" if you like, it doesn't make any difference. If something becomes acceptable by the majority of people in the game then that's the reality of it. It will become standard practice and no one will care. Those who continue to shout about it and call it "cheating" and suggest it's somehow unacceptable are fighting a losing battle. Of course you're welcome to do that, but it's not a fight I'm interested in. Applying a label like "cheating" is an academic exercise, it's a interesting discussion to have from time to time but the practical nature of the game as it is currently played is far more relevant.
ReplyDeleteLeave it to the author to twist up a story from nothing, pretty pathetic and pointless articles, loool
ReplyDeletearticle*, but if we're being honest anything this jamie guy touches is just straight drivel
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. I don't like to jump on the big moral brigade that Jaimie likes to do, it gets annoying and overbearing, but I'm just calling it as I see it. What I'm trying to say is, by definition, it is cheating. In fact, hand-balling on the line is something even I'd maybe too, just out of split second instinct. I've also pulled a shirt from time to time (not very often), but I do at the same time accept that it's cheating. So like you, it's not something I feel the need to get incensed about every time it happens. It's not something which is disgusting, despicable, and bla bla bla, all the labels that are perpetuated by JK. Faux outrage or not, I find it very annoying too.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Tim Howard is taken. What a performance today! It easily could have been 8-0 Belgium if not for him.
ReplyDeleteWe are now into another 'English tax' of 25 mil pounds. That shows the ambition of the club. Will LS ever choose LFC over Barcelona? The answer is no way ever.
ReplyDeleteThe deal of Adam Lallana is just as ridiculous. With such ambition, how can LS ever choose LFC over teams like Barcelona or Real Madrid? Let's see how the 3-pronged attack of England, Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert & Adam Lallana, cuts through defense in EPL as if sending calvary units into groups of foot soldiers.
ReplyDeleteI've been paying a lot of attention to the goalkeepers in this tournament and even though Ochoa is a very good shot stopper, Mexico started to fall apart against Holland as soon as the Dutch started whipping crosses in. Ochoa does not leave his line and relies entirely on his shot stopping. So of the two I would go for Navas but the most complete keepers in the tournament are Muslera, Neuer, Howard, Courtois and Bravo. Seeing as the latter has moved to Barcelona, I think only Muslera is a realistic target and is the one we should be going for.
ReplyDeleteIf them signing Shaw means we never have to look at Evra again he was worth every penny
ReplyDeleteIt does seem slightly unfair saying a player is not worth so much money before he's even kicked a ball but that's what discussions are all about I guess and I'm one of those that has to agree ( might be wrong if course ) that the fees paid for English players are over inflated .Good English players are a little overrated too compared to good players elsewhere . For example if shad or Lsllana were to of scored a good goal against Hondurus in that friendly then that would of been another £59 mill added to their price tag lol. How come Shaqiri can score 3 goals against Hondurus and is valued at around the 15 mill mark yet Lallana who plays in an attacking role also is worth almost double ? I don't remember Lallana running rings around the Hundurus defence . Either Enhlish players arent really that good compared to a lot of other country teams or Hodgson is an extremely poor manager for England as we didn't qualify through the group stage or maybe it was just extremely bad luck . What about the last World Cup. 4 years ago ? Maybe that was just unlucky too ? I just don't see how our young players are worth so much money when there are better players that play the same position for half the price. Shaw is a£30 mill player that's a sub (at mo) for a team that didn't get through the group stage . How many left backs out there in the world would cost more than that ? Is Shaw the best left back in the world right now after his 1 good season ? From a value perspective I can't see how Lallana and Shaw are worth it but maybe they will be who knows but if I were a manager I wouldn't be spending big money on English talent . Sturridge was a great buy( 11 mill) so I expect Lallana to be nearly 3 times the player otherwise it's not good value
ReplyDeleteWhy are we talking about United again?!?
ReplyDeleteIt was looking so good then you said he was an Aussie - ah well:-)
ReplyDeleteYou escaped the censors not once but twice. well done - bet you don't get away with a third:-)
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing, any keeper coming in would need to be a replacement for Mignolet. There is no way he'll be willing to be second choice for club AND country and an international first choice keeper will not risk his spot by sitting on the bench at Anfield.
ReplyDeleteIt is a gamble yes but you only have to look at the 30m Man Utd paid for Rio Ferdinand back in 2002. It was a huge fee at the time albeit he as a bit older than Shaw at 22 but who would argue that Rio wasn't a good signing for united or worth that price? Yet at the time everybody said it was massively overpriced.
ReplyDeleteI guess what im saying is, you cant say if he is worth that fee or not until after the player has shown what he can do for a club.
Signing a player who created more chances than any other in the premier league last season, yeah real lack of ambition. If he was Spanish and signing from Real Madrid you would be loving it.
ReplyDeleteIf Barca are still interested in him after all the antics Suarez got up to that tells you something. If we sell Suarez we will be set back 5 years Sanchez is no Suarez. This season is massive for us in trying to cement our top four status and if people think that it will be easy without Suarez they are living in cloud cuckoo land.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, aussies are just improved versions of poms :)
ReplyDeletewhat to do, when you fail to acknowledge that you are a size 6 now.instead of a size 12. mufc you just never learn he he
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't understand how such a large price tag can be justified for someone who is only 18. He is not a defender worth 27 million at this time, and the real question is will he ever be worth that much? No outside back has ever gone for more than 30 million even in their prime. Baffling
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show that if If you try to improve upon perfection it can all go horribly wrong :-)
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt that after the appeals process there will still be a 4 month ban. FIFA may think they are almighty and can't impose whatever punishment they want, but Suarez is still a member of the European Union and has inalienable rights just like anyone else. The ban that FIFA proposed will never hold up in a Court of Arbitration. I fully expect the ban to be reduced to two months from only game and none of this "banned from all football activity" nonsense.
ReplyDeleteLet's be honest. Once Suarez is back and banging in the goals, be it for Liverpool or Barcelona, people will forget about the biting and go back to cheering his name. Then why not have him do it for LFC? Whether that is right or wrong you can leave for the moralists to decide. The rest of us fans just want to see Liverpool go on to glory.
that's small stuff compared to the tax and fraud allegation. the racism... i dnt see people talking about john terry coz he actually got recorded saying it and ended up in court, yet suarez was worse... en biting wow!! dat will cause ppl to forget over 30 goals en over 10 assists. u a fool to think ppl care bout image of a club when players are bigger than clubs in this day en age
ReplyDeletehe did nothing last season... club should help him nt discard him, he has a problem, id rather hav him with his biting then balotteli or tevez-like players with attitude problems
ReplyDeletelol did u forget to include his 160 000 weekly wage in ur calculation
ReplyDeleteYou can bet your bottom dollar that if he signs for Barca that ban will be significantly reduced, and this was the team that was supposed to be banned from buying players.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Man Utd payed that much for him actually I thought Southampton were holding out for £40 million for him and at first I thought Southampton would of kept him for at least 2 or 3 years so he learns his trade more and cash him out.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, Shaw does seem to have potential. Now, Rooney when he was 18 and singed for United had already performed at a high level and demonstrated that he could be a big player, and he has proven his value over the years.
ReplyDeleteShaw? Not so much. But one has to gamble. He did have some very encouraging performances last year and I'm sure he will improve. Who knows he might turn out to be a complete beast or maybe a flop.
Either way it is a lot of money. Just goes to show how much teams are willing to pay for potential. Footballing-wise it may turn out to be a fantastic investment or maybe not. Only time will tell.
However, his current level does not warrant such a high fee.
Southampton are laughing, then again so did Newcastle when we payed megabucks for "world class" Andy Carroll.
*Shivers*
Here is the rub with the Suarez deal and Liverpool hold all the cards - it is about the valuation of a make weight player - if Liverpool make a low valuation then it would take more to trigger the clause - or go to arbitration -how can it be proved a clause has been met without paying all in cash ?.
ReplyDeleteBoth excellent choices. The more I see these keepers playing at the highest level and performing the more I look at Mignolet and think how average he can be. Maybe that's a bit unfair.
ReplyDeleteHe definitely needs some good competitions.
Jones, although a seemingly nice lad, is not a top keeper. Maybe he can be moved on.
FIFA already suspended their transfer ban to take effect next season! This type of blatant favoritism and hypocritical behavior is much worse than biting someone that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, I couldn't care less if they offered £200 million who the hell are we going to spend it on and would they spend it anyway?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much we would get for Sterling then? £100 million?
ReplyDeleteWhat if we had 4th ref monitoring screen just like we did at home or like tv commentator . Instant replay wont take that long rite? I guess within 1min we can get result.
ReplyDeleteOf coz not all ref decision base on video tech. ONLY for those 50-50...
The only concern for me at Video Tech in the ref no longer had power MATCH FIXING helping bookie
if suaraz is gone, champions league is gone. IF the morally superior(so- called) team like Barcelona wants him, why cant liverpool keep him.Ian ayre and brendan is goin down if sanchez is comin and we keep buyin overpriced player like adam lallana.
ReplyDeleteWhat has your comment got to do with Luke Shaw or Adam Lallana, which is what Phil was talking about or to the article itself for that matter?
ReplyDeleteLooks like whoever it was didn't get escape the censors, would have loved to have known what they said.
ReplyDeleteCould Ian Ayre meeting Barca officials be to sign Sanchez? It may or may not have anything to do with Suarez.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I do give a damn about this deal, because this deal potentially hurts us in the future signing a British player. So, maybe not specifically Manchester United, but more so the deal that Manchester United did. As for Suarez, no matter the quality of the player, no player is bigger than LFC. Selling him won't put us 10 years backwards, Rodgers seems to be getting it right this transfer window, with the money we get if we do indeed sell Suarez, along with getting Sanchez, we will be buying top quality talent.
ReplyDeleteRemember in the 80s when Keegan went to Hamburg? We bought a player to replace him, a certain Kenny Dalglish. SImilarly, when we sold Rush to Juventus, we signed a player by the name of John Aldridge, who went on to score 50 goals in 83 appearances for us. Ian Rush at the time was probably bigger for us than Luis Suarez is for us now, proof is we can replace a key striker with another one and not get setback. Yes Luis Suarez had a phenomenal season last season, but he is not bigger than the club. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteWould who spend it? FSG? It's clear with the business they have already done this pre-season that FSG will spend the money. There are plenty of players we could get that would better the team, James Rodriguez is one such player, who for me has been the best player of this World Cup bar none. Jackson Martinez would be another player who could fit right in.
ReplyDeleteHindsight is a beautiful thing. And 18yr old Lahm is still an 18yr old player who is a huge risk. Rooney cost 25.5M, but guess who bought him? The same club who bought Shaw for 27M. And by the way, Man Utd also offered a new contract to Rooney for 300k a week, Rooney is not worth that. I agree, Torres for 50M was ridiculous, however a couple of seasons before we sold him, he was easily worth that amount. Negredo for 27M looked like good business earlier in the season when he was knocking in goals for fun. Any big money deal has a greater risk of failing, more so when the player is 18 or 19 as they are more likely to get a big head from it. You say Soldado's fee was ridiculous compared to Shaw. You only say that because Soldado didn't have a good season. However if he scored 15+ goals with around 10 assists, then his fee wouldn't be ridiculous. I for one am not jumping on the bandwagon, however 27M for Shaw is way too much for right here and now. In the future, he may very well be worth that, but he isn't worth that right now.
ReplyDeleteliverpool going on another idiotic spending spree, how quickly they forget the millions they squandered on turd like downing, borini and andy carroll in recent years. we already saw next seasons liverpool at the worlc cup and they were useless. stupid signings, stupid waste of the suarez money and yes thats what it is, advanced panic buying, comical.
ReplyDeleteAnd who is definitely a hell of a lot more creative than Shaw is. I would also rather pay 27M for Ricardo Rodriguez or Marcelo than 27M for Luke Shaw.
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see, Sturridge scored 20+ goals last season, Lambert scored 15 goals, Lallana is a midfielder, not an attacker and still scored 10+ goals last year and created more chances than just about anybody. Plus we have Sterling who is only going to get better, we are looking like we are going to buy Shaqiri and if we do sell Suarez to Barca, we will be getting Sanchez as part of the deal, so that is quite the attack right there.
ReplyDeleteBut yet he has kicked more than a few balls, he had 2 seasons at Southampton, so on the basis of his performances for Southampton, he is not worth 27M.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as far as your valuation of Sturridge and Lallana go, yes, Sturridge was a great buy for 12M, however, Sturridge was seen as surplus at Chelsea, so we bought him on the cheap. Lallana has just come off 2 very good seasons, has arguably been the best player for Southampton and was the club captain. This is why he was valued by his club for more.
ReplyDeleteI could tell you but then I'd have to shoot you
ReplyDeleteTime has a habit of making people forget. Not many remember Jones cost united £22million and was said to be totally worth that much at the time of purchase even Ashley Young cost £17million when his contract had a year to run. We had our Carroll and Downing moments but we survived to tell the story.
ReplyDeleteI am happy with Lallana but when you consider Rakitic cost £16.2 million the English premium is all too obvious.. It is clear that English clubs also pay a premium for talent from abroad when Sevilla get £16.2 from Barcelona for their star player but demand £20million for Moreno, an up and coming talent when liverpool enquire.
Some good playere u mentioned here, especially James Rodriguez. He looks great with columbia in this world cup. But are any of those players guaranteed to improve us? Would u trade something which is certain to improve us over something which can potentially improve us? Would u change ur bag of gold to buy something which can potentially bring u more money? u get the picture. like the saying goes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! As such i would rather somebody who is sure to bag 25+ goals every season than a bunch of others who may or may not contribute as much. Besides we at lfc are a family. Suarez no matter how bad he is, is still part of the lfc family. We should help him instead of axing him. If ur kids were to misbehave repeatedly despite ur warnings or punishments, do u kick him out of the house? I am pretty sure nobody will.
ReplyDeleteHe is still rubbish at 25 million no matter how you say it and wont ever cut the mustard at a big club Shaw will be a star wait and see he is only 19.
ReplyDelete