11 Mar 2015

'We'll See': International star confirms his 'agent is talking to Liverpool' about 12-month Anfield extension

Liverpool defender Kolo Toure has confirmed that he's in talks with the club over an extension to his current deal, which expires at the end of the season.

Liverpool have reportedly offered Toure a new 12-month deal, and when asked about his future this week, the Ivorian international told reporters:

Kolo Toure is not sure if he will be a Liverpool player next season.

"We're still talking. My agent is talking to the club. We will see in a few days. The club have to think and I have to think as well.

"It's very important to know...whether you are going to be part of the team or just a squad player"


With Steven Gerrard leaving, Liverpool are very thin on the ground when it comes to experienced players, and if Toure leaves, the club will be almost totally devoid of experienced 'elder statesmen' in the squad.

Liverpool legend John Aldridge wants Toure to stay. In his column for the Liverpool Echo this week, Aldo hailed the defender as a 'humble man who loves Liverpool', adding:

"Wherever he [Toure] has been, the fans have loved him. Man City fans were singing his name at Anfield the other week. I’ve got the utmost respect for him. He’s a tremendous ambassador for the club".

I like Toure; his enthusiasm, vocality, and leadership are vital qualities to have in defence, but he's been usurped in defence by Emre Can, and with Rodgers constantly eulogising the German like he's the second coming of Jesus Christ, it looks like Toure will be warming the bench for a while yet.

Gross overpraise aside, Liverpool do perform better (defensively) with Can in defence. Stats this season:

Toure

* Starts: 13
* Goals Conceded: 12 (Roughly a goal-per-game)
* Clean Sheets: 3 (23%)

Can

* Starts: 17 (as a defender)
* Goals Conceded: 11 (1 every 1.5 games)
* Clean Sheets: 8 (47%%)

Liverpool concede more goals and achieve fewer clean sheets with Toure in defence, so for now, Rodgers is clearly right to play Can ahead of the veteran defender.

There may be a chink of light on the horizon, though. If, as expected, Can moves into central midfield next season, Toure will fight it out with Lovren for the a place in the team, and given the Croatian's dire form this season, that's definitely a battle he can win.

Of course, Liverpool may sign another central defender this summer, and if that happens, all bets are off. However, after spending close to £50m on defenders in the last two years, that seems unlikely.

Author:


23 comments:

  1. ...Really Don't Like Chelsea10:23 pm, March 11, 2015

    Haha. Chelsea.

    I really, really don't like Chelsea.

    ReplyDelete
  2. With you brother. What was Mourinho's moan? I didn't see any of it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Couldn't beat 10 men at the Bridge , cheating and with Costa lucky not to be sent off . What has Moanrinho got to complain about with this one ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. He will find something. No wait, make something up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ...."PSG were time wasting and killing the game at the end"!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chelsea fans said, 'we sacked Ancelotti because of poor Europe performances'. So what much better has Mourinho done in two years to what Ancelotti did in two years? Like Ancelotti, has thus far failed in Europe, and at best, will achieve a league/league cup double. I'd take Ancelotti's FA cup/league double within 2 years any day of the week.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Me too, They love Mourinho but surely any rational person would rather have Ancelotti. He is far less repugnant.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How dare they. You wouldn't find a Mourinho team doing that would you?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hope Jeremy Clarkson enjoyed the Chelsea match, I loved it!! Ha,ha 😊😊😊

    ReplyDelete
  10. God is he a Chelsea fan? I hate them even more now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Chelsea , the new Man U

    ReplyDelete
  12. Read his comment to the press today about going to see Chelsea

    ReplyDelete
  13. You didn't sign the petition, then?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Chelsea fans, 100% pure plastic

    ReplyDelete
  15. I was going to start a petition to have all those people

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'll take your word for it. He probably loves all the racist "banter" hope he crashes.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I've gone dark. Best get some sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Or making nasty little niggey fouls and feigning injury - poetic justice

    ReplyDelete
  19. The terrible twins!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I wonder who Top Gear will replace Jeremy Clarkson with.He got away with the rac3st nursery rhyme because he mumbled the offensive part.Other things like the truck drivers murd6r prost4tutes stuff was out of order too.
    Allegedly punching the programme producer... I doubt the BBC will let him get away with that, despite the 500k+ online petition wanting him reinstated.

    ReplyDelete
  21. "Niggey fouls".

    Careful there, son...

    ReplyDelete
  22. man utd never played such an unattractive brand of football in their heyday.. though they were adept at influencing referees. still we hate them both the same..

    ReplyDelete
  23. surprisingly he said psg deserved to go through...

    ReplyDelete