31 Oct 2014

Mega-Deal: Agent reveals the truth about LFC's €40m bid for 'lethal' striker. Swap deal?

Earlier this week, multiple reports claimed that Liverpool have submitted a new €40m offer for 'lethal' Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain, and that the Reds are 'close' to sealing the deal. Is there any truth to this, though?

Apparently not. When asked this week about the possibility of Higuain moving to Liverpool or Arsenal, his brother (also his Agent) told CalcioMercato:

"I have read and heard different things about my brother, but none of these things correspond to reality.

"When I speak to my brother he is calm, and his future is still with the Partenopei."


Like Marco Reus, Higuain's would be a dream signing for Liverpool, and his stats for Napoli suggest he'd be a formidable addition to LFC's squad:

* 31 goals/15 assists in 60 appearances.
* Goal/assist every 1.3 games.

The Argentine's stats at Real Madrid were also excellent:

* 122 goals/56 assists in 264 apps.
* Goal/assist every 1.4 games.

Anfield legends John Aldridge and John Barnes are massively in favour of signing Higuain. Last season, Barnes told TalkSport:

"Liverpool need someone like Gonzalo Higuain. If you get the ball in the box he can score, he can play outside the box and he’s the kind of player that Liverpool should be going for".

In a recent column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldo noted:

"I like the look of Gonzalo Higuain. He would be brilliant for us, but would he come? And how much would be cost?"

Higuain - nickname 'Il Pipita', just like his father - is probably a pipe dream at this stage, but to be fair, there are a few things working in LFC's favour:

* Rafa Benitez is an ex-Liverpool manager, so negotiations between Liverpool and Napoli should (in theory) have a slight advantage in negotiations. If the Argentine is to leave, I'm sure Rafa - with his enduring love of LFC - would prefer to see the striker at Anfield.

* Napoli have regularly been linked with Lucas Leiva and Glen Johnson. Indeed, Lucas recently confirmed that Benitez tried to sign him in the summer. Perhaps there's scope for a players-plus-cash swap deal.

How about Johnson, Lucas, and £30m for Higuain? It's worth trying, surely? That deal would solve several LFC problems in one go: boost Liverpool's striking options big time; get Johnson's huge salary off the wage bill, and move on Lucas, who is a dead man walking at Anfield.

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19 comments:

  1. Really? Johnson, Lucas AND £30 Million? Seems a bit steep to me for 1.4 Goals/assists a game, although it would be a safe bet compared to the £60 Million on Lallana, Marko and Balo who really haven't contributed their worth.
    I still have faith in Balo though.

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  2. £40m for higuain is way too much - even for a player with such a fancy nickname. I dont think he is what we need. We should go after players like Reus. His style is like sanchez, hazard, ribery - pace, (more) mobile, goals and assists. Also reus would be cheaper (quoted £30m in January and £24 in the summer). And last but surely not least his nickname is rolls-roys - way more fancy

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  3. How about Lucas, Johnson, Balotelli and 20 million?

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  4. Johnson and Lucas thrown in great the price has gone up to 50 million.

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  5. Fantasy deals like Gonzalo Higuain rarely happen at Liverpool.Let me familiarize everyone with the transfer market horror show that gets stuck on loop.
    Quality players are linked to Liverpool.Which gets everyone excited and dreaming of a fantasy line up.
    The players we want end up going to our rivals.Liverpool's alternative is a standard of player below our first choice marquee target.
    Sorry to be Mr Buzzkill, but you know it's the truth!

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  6. So, in other words, the likes of Xabi Alonso, Javier Macherano, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Phillipe Coutinho are all substandard? The players bought this last transfer window, you are judging them on their performances less than 10 games in? Get your head out of the proverbial. Players need time to settle, that doesn't make them bad players, players like Can, Markovic, even the likes of Moreno and Manquillo are our future and are very, very good players which have the talent to become excellent players. Moreno was in fact our first choice LB and we got him, Markovic was in fact our first choice, we got him, Lallana was in fact our first choice, we got him. We bought a lot of quality players, but the players need time to gel. Fernando Torres for us hit the ground running, that is the exception, not the norm. They will come good.

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  7. I knew there would be some angry fan would reply.
    What part of my comment specifically suggests i was referring to last summers recruitment... I was actually talking about our business generally over many transfer windows.
    There are a few exceptions to the rule, but 3 of the names on your list of six players which spans over a decade can be wiped off.
    When we bought Daniel Sturridge, Coutinho and Xabi Alonso are you seriously suggesting they were in the same superstar category that Higuain belongs in now.
    None of the 3 players you mentioned were top players.Even if you can't see it the transfer fees should be your guide dog:-7 Liverpool developed those players into top stars.
    That doesn't make them substandard:-) it just means they weren't marquee names at the time of purchase.

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  8. I would say valuing Johnson and Lucas at a combined 10 million is what is a bit steep.

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  9. No they are not but they were at the start of their career when they joined us. Or in Suarez's case, he was looking to make the step up to a big league and that's always easier when you go to a club where you're expecting to play games. Look at what happened to Salah. Went to Chelsea in stead of us. Hardly played since. Look at all the bright Dutch talents of the late nineties. Many of them made the mistake of signing for a huge club like Barcelona or Inter whereas the one that had the best career out of all of them, Seedorf, started off at Sampdoria. Sampdoria after he had just won the Champions League with Ajax. We're the Sampdoria of 1995. People are not judging the players brought in on 10 games, they're judging Rodgers on three summer windows in which he has spent nigh on 200 million quid at no return what so ever. Or are you suggesting it's too much to ask for at least half the players to become first team regulars after you've spent 200 million? And don't say Coutinho or Sturridge, we're talking the summer transfer deals here.

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  10. Agreed. Though it is early days I have severe doubts as to how many of this summer's intake will move up a notch to the elite level. Couple that to Buck's inability to train a defence from day one and long term I cannot see success for this team as its inability to defend goes to the heart of its failures this season and why we didn't win the league last season .

    Short term...Real will be showing Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale videos of Megatron uttering his immortal quote of "Their defences have been breached. Let the slaughter begin" in preparation for Tuesday night.

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  11. Yes some people don't like the truth- Reus would be great but won't happen. Our future lies in bringing thru our youth like Ojo Rossiter Ibe etc and hope for an occasional 30 yr old 'star'. Simply because we can't afford superstar wages and presently we are not an attractive enough proposition unfortunately

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  12. Hollywood movie star mode: "They can't handle the truth!:)"

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  13. 123 when you said Megatron "The defences have been breached.Let the slaughter begin" my first thoughts were NFL and Calvin Johnson:) but i get your point.
    I share your worry about the game at the Santiago Bernabeu.I hope Liverpool give them a good competitive match and the scoreline stays respectable.

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  14. For clarity, my Megatron reference was in connection with the one who wields a fusion cannon! For the record, he would be a brilliant defensive coach who would hopefully impart his ruthlessness on our rag tag defenders.

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  15. Yeah, I was being a bit optimistic there (!)

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  16. What the truth is is that it has only been 7 games, 8 including this one today and to judge players coming into a new country on 7 or 8 games is ridiculous. Especially when some of those players have suffered from injury.

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  17. Higuain is a terrible finisher. He showed this in the World Cup final. And for 40 million? We could sign Reus for less than that and Reus is an infinitely better player.

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  18. sell balotelli, sakho, johnson and lucas, get marco reus and omer toprak...

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  19. I was going to make the same suggestion before seeing your post. What a deal that would be !

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