8 Dec 2014

Mega-Deal: LFC fighting to sign €42m star who'll be 'better than Messi & Ronaldo' in 'two years'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is reportedly interested in signing Palermo striker paulo Dybala, who is currently being hyped beyond all recognition.

According to weekend reports in Italy, Rodgers has 'singled out' 21-year-old Dybala as the man to resurrect Liverpool's failing front-line, and the Reds are considering a move during the January transfer window.

As all LFC fans know, Brendan Rodgers has a tiresome predilection for gross overpraise of players, but Rodgers' fawning over Gerrard et al is tame compared to the ongoing fanfare over Dybala.

When asked on Sunday about Dybala's future, Palermo President Mauro Zamperini raved:

"He [Dybala] is our jewel. If you want him, it'll take $50 million (€42 million) to get him"

In another recent interview, Zamperini made the following bold claim:

“He [Dybala] is the best striker in Serie A. Within two years, he's going to be better than Cristiano Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic"

To his credit, Dybala is not buying into the hype. In a recent interview, he reasoned:

"€42 million? Right now this is silly figure. There are not many players that are worth as much and I certainly am not among them. What I would do with this figure? I would buy the world!"

So, is Dybala worth €42m? A striker's primary role is to score and create goals, so let's take a look at his stats:

* 7 goals/3 assists in 15 apps this season.
* Goal every 183 minutes (1 every 2 games)
* Goal/assist every 1.5 games.

* Career Total: 19 goals/9 assists in 84 apps.
* Goal every 4.4 games
* Goal/assist every 3 games.

* Passing accuracy: 81%
* Key passes: 1.4 per game.
* Bad control: 3.2 per game (44 in 15 apps)
* Dispossessed: 2.4 times per game *34 in 15 apps)

Stats: OPTA

Wowsers. I haven't seen this level of transfer-related delusion since someone at Liverpool inexplicably decided that Andy Carroll was worth £35m (!)

Zamperini is clearly living in cloud-cuckoo land if he thinks that Dybala is worth €42m. For that money, I'd expect a striker with Luis Suarez/Daniel Sturridge-style creative stats, not a player who has an average of 1 goal every 4 games across his entire career (to date).

Liverpool certainly won't pay that fee, but if Rodgers is actively pushing to sign Dybala for an inflated amount, then hopefully he'll be shot down in flames by FSG.

As Zamperini (dubiously) predicts, Dybala may well exceed Messi and Ronaldo 'in two years', but until he does, I sincerely doubt that any club in world football will pay €42m for a comparatively untested 21-year old.

It may all be moot, though, as Dybala seems to have a preference for Arsenal. On Saturday, he told reporters:

"I can't deny that going to Arsenal and playing in the Premier League would be great, but at the moment I'm a Palermo player"

If Dybala is worth €42m (in the bizarro-world of football), then Raheem Sterling must be worth a similar amount, or more? Whatever the reality, in my view, neither player is worthy of such a ridiculous fee, and only a club run by mugs will splash that kind of cash on either player.

Author:


64 comments:

  1. I gotta agree with your assessment on this ridiculously all too frequent hype.. £70m for coutinho anyone? what no takers? really?

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  2. Nevergonnacrackthecode4:32 pm, December 08, 2014

    the most important thing is pace skill and intensity
    does he have that

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  3. $50m dollars!? he is only a 70 silver on Ultimate team.

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  4. Nevergonnacrackthecode4:34 pm, December 08, 2014

    Wilfried Bony


    no Dyubala, diafra sakho no Berahino


    Bony, Higuain,Doumbia, Martinez
    choose one

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  5. Out of all those, I'll go for Paco Alcacer...and maybe if I have to Doumbia... But the rest, no thanks.

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  6. Palermo and Zamperini are known for over overhyping their players, but they have had a couple of gems...

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  7. Now where is Sheikh Shamsy?!?

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  8. Alexandre Lacazette

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  9. 5 more millions for Origi. Let's find out is he a Liverpool level sooner rather than later.

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  10. Nevergonnacrackthecode is back. What you complaining about :-)

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  11. Oh, great- didn't notice him...

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  12. Too bad this isn't fifa.

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  13. yeah else Ibarbo would've won the FIFA World Cup for Colombia
    if you get what i mean ;)

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  14. Is it not!? Sorry i didn't realise.

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  15. We need a player who can make an immediate impact and the form Lacazette is in at the moment you cannot go wrong plus he is never injured.

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  16. Yes but than add Origi in the summer and you have too many options, and I am not sure you can rely on any to be first team regular...

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  17. Zamperini is surely on crack

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  18. Van Gaal said: "Falcao needs match fitness. He can only play for 20 minutes.



    This signing has been nothing but a bottomless pit for the mancs :-) Better them than us.

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  19. Lacazette is far and beyond any striker we have available right now with Sturridge out.

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  20. Even in the crazy world of football that valuation is hilarious

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  21. Careful, at that price Rodgers will be trying to buy Coutinho again

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  22. with mr glass leading the line ....lambert a year older and balo slowly pressing the self destruct we need all the options we can get origi may come good but when you look at the whole perspective we could sign lacazette ansd start next season with just him and an untried origi up front

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  23. what is the liverpool level a step off mediocre

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  24. 70 no chance try 80

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  25. for 42m id hope so

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  26. thats hardly a validation when we have no one

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  27. rodgers always does this then installs them in the first team ...lucas,skirtal where being offloaded and are now back in favour he is clueless

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  28. I want Martinez

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  29. Well it is Christmas. If you're lucky you'll get a babycham too

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  30. Why would you want the Everton manager I'm pretty sure he's married

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  31. See we've drawn Wimbledon in the cup

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  32. Yeah, Iwas trying to rack my brain trying to remember his name, but all day long.

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  33. We already own Origi, why pay more for him. And to be fair to the lad, he isn't the answer we're looking for.. I can see the headlines now when it turns out this 19yr old kid can't rescue LFC's season.. Automatic flop. Do the kid a favour, and leave him where he is.

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  34. Dammit, Soton. Get the draw!

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  35. Haha, the jokes on them because we went for Balotelli instead.

    Oh,

    Shit.

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  36. I'd rather pay the money for Odergaard , I see Wenger is sniffing around remember how he missed out on Wayne Rooney ! 42million surely a decent striker available in the window for that money or is the club run by mugs?

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  37. I like that JK seems to be suggesting Zamparini might be mental.


    If you know anything about the man, you realise there is no need for such caution- he's a total fruitcake.


    Paying £30 odd mil for Dybala would be madness at this stage. He does look very promising in his last few games though. Early days.


    I reckon PSG will eventually pay his release fee and give Zamparini the warchest he needs to get back to sacking his managers every couple of weeks.

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  38. We paid £20m for Lovren.

    The club is run by mugs.

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  39. One more goal for about the same outlay. Boooooooom!

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  40. By him some flowers. You know romance him. Play the slow game. But be yourself if he doesn't want you his loss.

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  41. FFS, f***ing United!!! 7 points in front now.

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  42. Jaimie, don't you get tired of writing articles about rumours linking us with over priced youngsters!? I think you should just save an ending paragraph template that says something like, 'whoever is willing to pay this amount for such an unproven player is insane. Let (insert team) have him'.

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  43. United are playing s***house and still losing. Seriously, f*** Liverpool at the moment! Same bloody s*** every year since 1990.

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  44. We have to pay more because we have a loan contract with Lille presumably without a call-back clause. If we want to bring in Origi, we have to buy out the contract, just like we bought out his original players contract with Lille.

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  45. Balotelli and Johnson to name a couple

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  46. We got that bonus racism though. Free of charge.

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  47. Borini has to go!! He's a good player and could provide us with effort and mobility we need up front, but if he's not going to get a opportunity then there's no point in him being here and we could use the cash to buy another player who's better suited to out needs.

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  48. He needs to move so that people stop saying things like 'he only stayed because he knew he wasnt going to get game time, and can just pick up a big paycheck without working'. Nonsense. This guy, regardless of how much he plays, is a professional who just wants to get on the pitch as much as possible. He isn't top 4 quality (but who is these days, am I right?) but he comes in and runs himself to the ground and tries to create. Class individual but just not what we need right now.

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  49. Tough to read, but largely true.

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  50. I'm of a similar mind.

    I understand that without Suarez and Sturridge we can't replicate the devastating and irresistible quality our attack had last term, but Rodgers has bemoaned our lack of intensity against Sunderland and against a few other teams.

    If that is the case, then why not select players that better provide intensity? I think the pace, movement and tenacity of a front three of Markovic (principally on the left), Sterling (principally on the right) and Borini (principally through the middle) would better emulate the style we had last season and would allow us to impose ourselves on teams.

    Then we'd stick with the back 4 that has proved a wee bit more solid of Johnson (I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but he's played well in 3 consecutive games- it's been a while since he's mustered that kind of form), Skrtel, Kolo and Moreno.

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  51. The key passes stat is for the league- perhaps all the others are too?

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  52. He could have moved to QPR too. You'd have thought his missus wouldn't have minded a move to the big smoke.

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  53. Before he came to Liverpool there was a belief he had bad legs and wouldnt stand playing EPL for long if true he is just trying to extend his career.
    Regardless its all about money and that translates to everybody no matter how hard you work.

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  54. VermHat I have the same thoughts! Who was the unsung hero who spotted Suarez? Is he still with this crew?

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  55. He may as well have come out and say "Oh man, Dybala is the tits, you'd have to pay like, a bajillion pounds or something, like, you couldn't even dream of affording it, not in 10 billion years or for ever".
    He could be great, but this guy actually makes me think of Ali Dia...

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  56. another day, another bullshit rumor that makes no sense at all..............

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  57. I agree...lacazette is really good

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  58. Doubt if BR is getting a dime for shopping this Jan

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  59. not a problem, just didn't understand..

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  60. Team? You mean SAS + Gerrard, latterly Stirling. The rest were abject, as they have been this season.

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  61. Hilarious, the facts are, the song is spot on .. we cannot defend, we don't score goals and we are BORING.

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  62. Albert Nana Hagan2:09 am, March 15, 2015

    Oh yes u can a season and more !!
    Just ask arsenal #invincibles

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