Nemanja Vidic to Anfield? It seems highly improbable, but January reports in Italy claimed that Liverpool were interested in a swap-deal for Vidic, and according to new reports, the Reds are still tracking the 'world class' Manchester United legend.
In January, CalcioMercato claimed that Inter Milan offered Vidic to the Reds in exchange for Lucas Leiva, and according to Sky Sports on Friday:
* Liverpool are still 'tracking' Vidic
* The Serb will leave Inter in the summer.
At first glance, it seems far-fetched, but Milan are definitely interested in €12m-rated Lucas, and new boss Roberto Mancini confirmed this in December, when he told reporters:
"[Lucas Leiva] is a great player, but he belongs to Liverpool and it's going to be hard to get him. He would be useful, though, as he can help us, and help our younger players grow."
Prior to his recent run in the team, Lucas made clear his frustration at becoming a bit-part player at Liverpool, and several times, he made his frustration public:
* In October, he warned: “I want to play. I need to find a solution either at Liverpool or at another club. [if] I don’t find space at Liverpool, I should start to make a move".
* Lucas also confirmed that Napoli tried to sign him over the summer: “There was something with Napoli but it wasn’t a positive situation for both parties. Despite this, it’s true that Benitez always had great faith in me.”
* Speaking to Radio Marca in November, Lucas sent another indirect message to Rodgers: "I must think about leaving as there is no room for me at Liverpool. I'm not speaking to anyone at the moment, but I am looking around, given I am not playing".
* Soon after, Lucas's Agent, Henrique Coelho, also confirmed that a January transfer is possible: “Is it possible that Lucas could leave Liverpool in January? Yes, naturally. Lucas really likes Rafa Benitez. After all, the two know each other well from when the Spaniard was manager of Liverpool.”
Lucas - recently hailed by Rodgers for his 'incredible' attitude - is a model professional, but despite his recent return to the first team, the Brazilian appears to be injury-prone, which may prompt the Reds to let him leave in the summer.
With that in mind, if there is a swap-deal to be done, is Vidic a good player to get in exchange? The Serb has been an unused substitute in three of the last four games, so he's clearly not essential to the team, and there's no denying his talent, experience, and leadership ability.
Vidic will be 34 this year, though, and he'd be nothing more than a temporary stop-gap. Additionally, Lucas is worth more in monetary terms, so a straight swap with no cash involved will see the Reds make a financial loss.
If Kolo Toure leaves in the summer, then Vidic is an ideal 'older head' replacement, but will he be accepted by the Reds fanbase?
Author: Jaimie K
In January, CalcioMercato claimed that Inter Milan offered Vidic to the Reds in exchange for Lucas Leiva, and according to Sky Sports on Friday:
* Liverpool are still 'tracking' Vidic
* The Serb will leave Inter in the summer.
At first glance, it seems far-fetched, but Milan are definitely interested in €12m-rated Lucas, and new boss Roberto Mancini confirmed this in December, when he told reporters:
"[Lucas Leiva] is a great player, but he belongs to Liverpool and it's going to be hard to get him. He would be useful, though, as he can help us, and help our younger players grow."
Prior to his recent run in the team, Lucas made clear his frustration at becoming a bit-part player at Liverpool, and several times, he made his frustration public:
* In October, he warned: “I want to play. I need to find a solution either at Liverpool or at another club. [if] I don’t find space at Liverpool, I should start to make a move".
* Lucas also confirmed that Napoli tried to sign him over the summer: “There was something with Napoli but it wasn’t a positive situation for both parties. Despite this, it’s true that Benitez always had great faith in me.”
* Speaking to Radio Marca in November, Lucas sent another indirect message to Rodgers: "I must think about leaving as there is no room for me at Liverpool. I'm not speaking to anyone at the moment, but I am looking around, given I am not playing".
* Soon after, Lucas's Agent, Henrique Coelho, also confirmed that a January transfer is possible: “Is it possible that Lucas could leave Liverpool in January? Yes, naturally. Lucas really likes Rafa Benitez. After all, the two know each other well from when the Spaniard was manager of Liverpool.”
Lucas - recently hailed by Rodgers for his 'incredible' attitude - is a model professional, but despite his recent return to the first team, the Brazilian appears to be injury-prone, which may prompt the Reds to let him leave in the summer.
With that in mind, if there is a swap-deal to be done, is Vidic a good player to get in exchange? The Serb has been an unused substitute in three of the last four games, so he's clearly not essential to the team, and there's no denying his talent, experience, and leadership ability.
Vidic will be 34 this year, though, and he'd be nothing more than a temporary stop-gap. Additionally, Lucas is worth more in monetary terms, so a straight swap with no cash involved will see the Reds make a financial loss.
If Kolo Toure leaves in the summer, then Vidic is an ideal 'older head' replacement, but will he be accepted by the Reds fanbase?
Author: Jaimie K
no.
ReplyDeleteOnly if we can get Evra as well
ReplyDeleteAnd Silvestre...
ReplyDeleteLets get him and Howard Webb.
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteI watched the second 45.Lille's first goal was a superb passing move with Divock Origi involved in the build up.
ReplyDelete"Another masterclass in doing most things really badly from Origi" I don't know what match you watched, he performed well.But you could be talking about the first half I missed.
He created for others, playing Marcos Lopes through for a clear chance then collected the ball from wide after the GK saved and put it on a plate for another player who missed.He also made good runs but wasn't played in.
Look at Lille's first as the example of a delayed pass when he could've been played in for a shot on goal.He helped create the goal from that situation anyway, so stuff like that gets missed.
Some Liverpool supporters are writing him off before he's even played a match for us.Making a flop prediction based on poor Lille stats.
I think Divock Origi will turn into a top player with better service from our creatives.
I don't understand how much rumor & how much real. Like Shakiri, this Turan story has returned at LiverpoolKop probably 15th time.
ReplyDeleteNow at 28, I am not interested at all for Turan, even not for half the money quoted here. Sometimes, I feel, we make our life too complicated - we need to target 1 player & that's Lecazzette, even for few million extra, coud be a perfect replacement of Suarez. Where Turan is going to play or whom is he going to replace?
Agreed -- Allen's been among our best performers each match he's played in his recent run. Why on earth would we sell him!
ReplyDeletePartially agree, but Origi 'll never become a 25 goal centre forward. He could be great as 2nd striker or a speed demon for last 35 min; but I don't think he could be a starting CF. We need a goal scoring CF to start, at present hardly anyone better than Lecazzette to invest.
ReplyDeleteRio?
ReplyDeleteIt would be so easy to go overboard. So, just NO!
ReplyDeleteWe another need a striker.Like you I don't see Divock Origi netting 25 a season.I was thinking more of a quality 3rd choice option.
ReplyDeleteI wish people would stop banging on about Lacazette.Look at his production.He'll be hot property in the next window and most likely have a choice of top clubs to choose from.
I can't remember the last time Liverpool beat other top clubs for a player of his standard and production level.Nothing will change this summer.
Ferguson?
ReplyDeleteThere, I took him out... honestly I'm not even sure why I put him in myself. Although this also means we would need one less midfield signing.. :D
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteGood man!
ReplyDeleteI hate the way you use stats as if they tell the whole story of a player. Just because one player doesn't score more goals than another doesn't mean he's not having a greater impact, so to say a player is not an upgrade on a player purely on stats is a very mechanical way of thinking.
ReplyDeleteTuran is a very good player but I think if we were going to sign him it probably would've happened by now. That and his injury history. I am totally against signing players for huge transfer fees and massive wages when it's almost a certainty they'll miss at least a third of a season through injury.
Wonder if the Neville brothers would be interested in a coaching role...
ReplyDeleteWE ARE LINKED WITH THIS MAN EVERY GOD DAMN YEAR, AND IT NEVER HAPPENS!
ReplyDeleteI reckon most media outlets just have a "Turan To Liverpool" story template that they just pull out a few times each year and just change around a few details to make it look like a new story. I cannot imagine why we would sign him. He's a decent player but he's not particularly young, cheap or necessarily a good fit for the team.
ReplyDeleteA quality third choice striker? Wow!!! Never heard of it, has anyone else?
ReplyDeleteIt seems likes its common with all the top players !
ReplyDeleteLinked to Liverpool is all just Media Bull ####!
I've seen us being linked with Turan for the past 6 years and I never understood why, he is an average player and his stats show that. Plus his injury record is bad.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason we get linked with him is because he is apparently a Liverpool fan and because we've been linked with him before. Every day is a new player and everyday fans get all excited then angry when we "miss" a target we were never in for.
He said: “If you look at where we were at last season with our flow and virtually one game a week really and going so close it was an incredible achievement because we weren’t even backed for that.
ReplyDelete“But to arrive in the top four this year after everything we’ve been through would be certainly better than last year.”
Can anyone understand the logic behind this comment?
Lovely voices too
ReplyDeleteYes. He's saying we've been shit this season.
ReplyDeleteOh ok. What an achievement this season has been then.
ReplyDeleteTime to lower ones standards even more.
Don't you get tired of trying to stick the knife into Rodgers all the time? I don't know where you get the energy from, but I think you're wasting it.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely understand the logic- in fact, it's quite impossible not to understand it if you use your brain and consider these following factors:
-We've lost Suarez.
-A lot of people expected us to struggle without Suarez and fall out of the top 4
-Our top 4 competitors got a lot stronger.
-We've had to juggle Europe with Premier League.
-We lost our main, prolific striker for more than half the season
-We couldn't stop conceding goals, we forgot how to score goals, and thus we looked doomed for mid-table mediocrity. We were absolutely dreadful
...and yet, we're still within the reach of a wonderful chance to make the top 4.
I'm sure you actually *can* understand where he is coming from, but that doesn't do your agenda any favours, so you pretend otherwise.
Let's see if your brain understands the following questions...
ReplyDeleteIf we finish outside the top 4 which is highly possible then what excuses need to be made then for Rodgers? 4th this season better than last season after being the second highest spenders at the start of the season?
Delusional?
What? That's a completely different argument Logan. And no, I just listed a whole list of possible reasons why Rodgers would feel better about making top 4 this year than last year. I never said you have to agree with him, but to completely dismiss his logic as redundant is stupid. It's a subjective topic.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a completely different argument?
ReplyDeleteHow the f*** can finishing top 4 this season when we were the second highest spenders in the league be better than last season finishing 2nd?
That is what I asked you. Suarez leaving and struggling this season is an excuse. He would not have been able to play for us for the first bfour months anyway.
Excuse after excuse I tell you.
Jesus Christ Logan, spending money is not meant to inexplicably mean success.
ReplyDeleteContemplating the 'ifs and whats' of Rodgers failing to finish top 4 is a different argument.
There is something called adversity, and it's human nature for achievements to be held in higher regard if it came despite great adversity. That is where Rodgers is coming from. I'm not making any excuses for Rodgers, I'm merely pointing out that they are factors of adversity that would be absolutely wonderful to conquer in order to achieve top 4. We didn't have a lot of adversity last year, nor any pressure.
Just accept that there are quite a few ways to interpret the situation.
But with Suarez last season we fell short too. So to use the 'success' stick to bang the drum is a load of bull. Rodgers won f all last season with Suarez so why bring 'success' into it. Success should not be part of the argument.
ReplyDeleteWHAT RODGERS HAS SAID IS MY ARGUMENT.
We were the second highest spenders in the League at the start of the season. How can you look past that? Was our aim to just finish top 4 after spending that amount of cash? And should that be looked as better than finishing 2nd last season?
What a joke.
You seem to be forgetting these two factors:
ReplyDelete-Finishing top 4 this year sets ourselves up for the future a lot better than what finishing second did last year, and helps to really establish Liverpool as a UCL team. Last season didn't do that. We still could have been one hit wonders.
-United, our other main top 4 rival, spent even more money, and bought more bona fide superstars. So to beat them to it would be a very great achievement.
Again, you don't have to agree with him, but at least recognise where he's coming from. Quite a lot of people see it differently to you.
Finishing 4th this season being better than 2nd last season has nothing to do with establishing LFC as a CL team. If we finish 5th is that also going to be better than finishing 2nd? FFS.
ReplyDeleteRodgers clearly stated
“But to arrive in the top four this year after everything we’ve been through would be certainly better than last year.”
If I was FSG I would not allow Rodgers to do interviews at all because what has been said here is an utter farce.
yes.
ReplyDelete...Of course 5th isn't as good as 2nd, it's not top 4! What kind of absurd question is that? This is why you're such a confusing read, you bring up a myriad of little irrelevant points that only just confuse people.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does have a lot to do with it. If you finish top 4 two years in a row, that really helps rubber stamp the club as a force, and prove they're not merely a one hit wonder. It creates a confirmation that you're starting to be an elite club, and your club has a lot of character (adversity), and that is why I see the argument of why it would feel even better to come 4th this year, than it did finishing 2nd last year. Because it achieves more for the club.
Suarez and Torres were both touted as the next big thing with very good stats
ReplyDeleteSome fans want to improve the whole squad in 1 windows. If we try and do that the quality we bring in will suffer. I agree that Enrique and Allen are players that can be improved on but they are decent squad players for now.
ReplyDeleteYou're just following the crowd again ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat is why I expect Flanagan to become world class - or better
ReplyDeleteThe comment about the was being sarcastic btw but it comes back to settling forth because Rodgers says it is better than finishing 2nd. I mean WTF?
ReplyDeleteWell if that is the way you see it that way then so be it. Let's see what excuses get made should we not finish top 4 this season.
You're wasting your time mate, he's not interested in anything other than his agenda, to the extent that he's really smug when we lose and says nothing when we win. It's the reason nobody takes him on anymore. You'll know next time... Spot on with your argument tho
ReplyDeleteLiverpool XI: Mignolet, Lovren, Can, Skrtel, Henderson, Allen, Moreno, Markovic, Coutinho, Lallana, Sterling.
ReplyDeleteSubstitutes: Ward, Toure, Lambert, Sturridge, Borini, Balotelli, Williams.
There has got to be something in it. I have been a self confessed Liverpool fan for several decades now but I am not continually talked about as a transfer target.
ReplyDeleteUtter rubbish. I never said anything in the thread when we lost during the week.
ReplyDeleteI am not a sheep in a herd so you can continue to agree with whoever you like.
Any indication about what has happened to Ibe?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest question for me is why is Sturridge on the bench?
ReplyDeleteNo Sakho, sh*t, 4 strikers on the bench!
ReplyDeleteCup tied
ReplyDeleteAnd no strikers on the pitch :-o
ReplyDeleteSh*t I keep forgetting ;-)
ReplyDeleteattitude adjustment
ReplyDeleteSorry got that wrong. 1 striker on the bench.
ReplyDeleteSo he can come on and score the winner I expect
ReplyDeleteAnd 4 on the bench?
ReplyDeleteOh, well let's hope so ;-)
ReplyDeletewhy on earth keeps rodgers starting without a striker on the pitch but 4 on the bench
ReplyDeleteContext Logan, context.
ReplyDeleteYou're right If you class Borini as a striker
ReplyDeleteIt has been suggested on here that Sturridge is not starting due to an attitude adjustment?
ReplyDeleteHe might be carrying a slight knock or just weary after coming back from 5 months out
ReplyDeleteContext will help you f all if we do not finish top 4 my friend.
ReplyDeleteSo he has options?
ReplyDeletemore like a 'false football player'
ReplyDeleteBut then why risk him at all for the match?
ReplyDeleteI've already said so he can come on and score the winning goal ;-)
ReplyDelete4 strikers on the bench and none on the pitch. F*** me.
ReplyDeleteI give up. You did it again.
ReplyDeleteTime for Lovren to step up and make amends for pen miss .... I can see Yaya causing problems
ReplyDeletePitch looks Crap !
ReplyDeletehe seemed to be a little bit touchy in his last games
ReplyDeleteAll gone quiet here ????????
ReplyDeleteLiverpool faced no competition from other top clubs for Suarez.They viewed him as high risk damaged goods.Leaving us a open goal to take a gamble.Which paid off.
ReplyDeleteYou can't say we successfully beat clubs in the transfer market, if nobody else was interested or made bids.
The last time Liverpool won a transfer battle for a elite standard, high level production player was Fernando Torres.Some of the biggest clubs in Europe were trying to get him.
We signed Torres in 2007.That's about 16 transfer windows ago.Liverpool have probably spent over 400m+ since then.It proves my point.
That's a very long time for a club of Liverpool's size to go without bringing in a wanted, top level player.With exceptional production.
We've lost countless transfer target wars during Brendan Rodgers' reign.For those reasons I don't think we'll see Lacazette in a Liverpool shirt.I hope our recruitment team proves me wrong.
No.
ReplyDeletehe also stated in a different interview that a trophy is needed this season, why dnt you bring that up as well? he is speaking logicallyunlike you. this season started off rubbish, so many new players and this is the highest position we been seens october, things are picking up and top 4 would please alot of ppl, that being said, next season he reali has no excuses.
ReplyDeleteTotally with you Mr G. You'll never get your points across someone mentally challenged. A TRUE fan follows his/her team through thick and thin and with that comes the loud raptures and silent sufferings. What's in it for someone who follows a League 2 mid-table team? It's not for the glory, but for the simple pleasure of watching one's team play and do their best for their fans. It should be no different for a higher echelon team, except for some expectation (not guarantee) of winning some trophies. With a modicum of life experience, one will know that one does not win all the time, nor in all situations. Strength lies in knowing one's own limitations. Fortunes rise and fall just like the cycle of life. Money does not always guarantee success (for the club) or happiness (for the fans). There will always be the risk of new players not adapting straightaway or never in some cases with so many variables in a complex equation. It's for BR to solve the equation as the gaffer. Some of his decisions are questionable at times but it's his job that's on the line, not ours! If everything in life could be a certainty, where would the next excitement come from, knowing exactly what will happen?
ReplyDeleteSo, BR made a statement that some don't agree with, but one should know better than to argue with the gaffer. If you do, you know you're OUT, period. Btw, fantastic win this afternoon, YNWA, unlike the lost sheep of the herd!