16 Jul 2015

'Houdini' to Anfield? Liverpool contact Euro Giants to sign 'excellent' €15m attacker

Liverpool are once again being linked with a move for Paris St. Germain star Jeremy Menez, who is reportedly available for a cut-price fee this summer.

The Reds were last linked with Menez in May, and according to the CalcioMercato this week:

* Liverpool have made 'initial contact' with AC Milan to discuss the possibility of signing Menez.

* Milan allegedly want €15m for Menez, who needs to be sold to raise money for the club.

When asked recently about the Liverpool transfer rumours, Menez's agent told reporters:

“In modern football every player is for sale, but we haven’t been contacted by anyone. Liverpool and Monaco? These are just rumours. A player who has scored 16 goals will be sought-after, but at the moment there’s nothing concrete.”

The Reds have been linked with Menez - nicknamed 'Houdini' - many times in the past:

* 2010: Rafa Benitez tried to sign Menez during the January transfer window, but the player decided to stay at AS Roma.

* 2011: Menez hinted that he'd leave Roma after a bust-up with Roma Coach Vincenzo Montella, and according to The Mirror, Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish kept an eye on the winger.

* 2014: Brendan Rodgers reportedly considered putting in a £10m January bid for Menez.

* 2014: Sky Sports claimed that Liverpool were set to 'reignite interest' in £10m-rated Menez.

Some info about Menez:

* Milan contract expires: 2017

* Salary: €65k-a-week.

* Can play as a winger or a centre-forward

* Received a 4-match ban last season for directing a "blasphemous expression" at the fourth official following his red card against Genoa.


* After being a bit-part player for PSG, Menez is a regular starter for Milan, and his stats have vastly improved as a result of being trusted by his manager:

- Milan: 16 goals/4 assists in 34 apps

- Goal/assists every 1.6 games

- PSG: 15 goals/16 assists in 107 apps.

- Goal/assist every 3.4 games

Only Carlos Tevez scored more goals than Menez in Serie A last season, but Milan boss Filipo Inzaghi has set the Frenchman a new target for next year. In a recent interview, he noted:

"He [Menez] is a good centre-forward and he's also excellent as a winger. He mustn't stop now, though. He must try to become Serie A's top goalscorer, not for himself but for the team."

Like Liverpool, Milan are a former football superpower who've fallen from grace, and this past season is another disappointment for a club with such an illustrious history.

It's the same at Anfield, and even though the Reds appear to be awash with cash at the moment, I can't see why Menez will ditch Milan for another club struggling to maintain a Champions League presence.

On the plus side, Menez is vastly experienced, and at the age of 28, he's in the prime of his career. Additionally, he has fire, passion, and personality, something which is severely lacking in Liverpool's squad.


Author: Jaimie K


69 comments:

  1. Quick, creative, great dribbler, and his passing is very good for a Center forward. For that low a price, it would be a good transfer, and he's better than Luiz Adriano. However I cannot see him coming here, just another falsely driven article.

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  2. I doubt we will sign any more attackers after Benteke's arrival and in all honesty I don't think we will sign anymore players full stop. Crying out for a top midfielder and a LB for me but think we will be waiting until next summer now. The work to be done now is clearing the deadwood.

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  3. We were linked with him before but he keeps getting away and I expect he'll escape our clutches again.

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  4. Menez isnt a centre forward and never has been

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  5. Fiery is good. We need more of that and less of the flopping when touched. (Lallana, Sterling)

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  6. That's just how he rolls.
    Great spot!

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  7. If LFC can pick up a couple more good transfers,and the team can gel soon.then i think they could seriously challenge for top 4 this up coming season.Exciting times ahead,or are they?

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  8. Well you cant blame the good people at Milan for giving it another try. They know where the fools are after selling us Balotelli last year. Menez, much like James Friggin, is the type of player that would have been signed in the past by Sam Allardyce's Bolton

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  9. ...oh well, I suppose even rich people visit the pound shop every now and again....just so they can exercise their right to buy sh1t to throw away....

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  10. I read Liverpool are after Mohamed Salah again.The player we missed out on by dilly dallying over the transfer fee.Fiorentina signed him on a 18 month loan, but he doesn't want to complete the loan agreement.Mourinho isn't happy and left Salah out of the Chelsea squad.Inter Milan and Napoli have shown interested because he played very well for Fiorentina.
    I really like Salah, but he can't agree to a loan move, then decide after 6 months to rip up the contract without Chelsea's consent.I'm sick of these footballers treating contracts like toil3t paper.

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  11. ...no man...this is one where I have to downright disagree....


    ...this is where stats are akin to that id1ot dynamo...full of sh1t and smoke and mirrors.....


    ..if any world class striker, renowned an drevered around the planet, had stats that said goal/assist every 1.7 games, no way jose would they be sold for 14 million quid - no way.....


    ...there was way more to balotteli than thos estats and there is way more to benteke too....that, is, a, harsh, reality......

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  12. Medel the Chilean pitbull possibly the dopiest dog out says it all really.

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  13. ...Case I know exactly what 'that' pinata would be full of...... :)

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  14. JK's spot on in his last sentence:

    "If he fails, it will - most likely - be down to Brendan Rodgers' failure to utilise him correctly."

    No one is questioning Benteke's ability, even if he goes AWOL every 1 in 3 games. The challenge is whether BR will adapt his playing tactics to accommodate and play to the strengths Benteke, eg:

    1. Leads EPL duels stats with opposition CB's
    2. Most headed goals in EPL



    To play to the above, BR will need to get the wingers to increase the number of crosses into the box. Just to put this in some context, last season only Arsenal and Chelsea put in fewer crosses in the box than LFC.


    If BR did not change for Carroll/Downing and Lambert/Mario, why is he going to change tact now for Benteke? Instead Benteke will be expected to conform to LFC, and sadly thus not deliver!!!

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  15. Correct re Costa scoring so few headed goals, but I thought in the cross count:

    20. Arsenal
    19. Chelsea
    18. Liverpool

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  16. So is that a good or bad thing ;-)

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  17. Yes - unfortunately Benteke is likely to fail due to BR's inability to modify his tactics to play to his strengths.

    Just look how bad Graham "Turnip" Taylor made Lineker look bad, when in all reality he was probably one of the best strikers of his generation.

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  18. Salah chose Chelsea over us, we dont need to be 2nd choice for any player.

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  19. Gone by Xmas..

    But my question is why the experimentation until then, when Klopp was a viable option on June 1st.

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  20. ...he can go sh*ve it as far as I'm concerned....Johnny you're absolutely correct we don't need to be second choice...salah chose his bed and now he should lay in it...


    ...isn't this exactly what many of you learned folks on this forum have been saying about raheem sterling...that eh doesn't know when he's got it good, that he should go rot on a bench at city....well thats salah all over...s*d him....


    ...never liked the guy since he turned his nose up at us...

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  21. He can take a penalty and we don't need him is my conclusion

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  22. He hasn't proven to be a consistently good enough player, for us or anyone else to be afforded such licence. He's not a team player and he isn't a big enough talent to be accommodated.

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  23. BR correctly observed that Balo couldn't score when was offside...which he was most of the time...usually sulking. Balo dug his own grave...deeper every time got on the pitch. BR actually did the world a favor by outing Balo as the lazy, overjoyed slug he is.

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  24. The Guardian: "Liverpool only considered him worth 8m at most and have found themselves gazumped by Chelsea"
    Mohamed Salah never chose Chelsea over us.We didn't match Basel's asking price.
    If we hooked Firmino up to lie detector test and asked him if every club in this country were in for him, would Liverpool be his first choice option.The machine would be making lines like windscreen wipers.

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  25. The LFC page shows 65 names on the first team roster. Plenty of guys are gonna sit the bench this season. Not sure we need more players before some leave.

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  26. Marko will come good as soon as he plays more offense.

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  27. Benteke has one huge thing Balo lacks...energy.

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  28. In which of the last three seasons did Balo have a good day?

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  29. Nonsense. Not one manager in the last 6 yrars

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  30. Loan or reserves.

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  31. I am glad we have him now if it is done. We need Benteke to get time with the team so guys aren't introducing themselves to him on opening day like it seemed last season. I think we could have done better but he's a class striker and we need him. However I loved how well both Ings and Origi played in Bangkok.

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  32. Just to clarify that point more than half of Menez's 16 goals last season were from the penalty spot: Benteke will be taking our penalties this season so we don't need Menez for that. He contributed just 4 assists in the season. I don't really think we need him.
    Unless someone like Pedro or Reus is available to us I'd say lets not sign anyone for the attacking midfield or winger roles. Remember in 2013-14 we did well by having a smaller squad with players who played consistently- for most of the season we only had about 15 players genuinely in contention for a starting role. If we're going to spend a sizeable amount on a winger I'd rather it was Patrick Roberts of Fulham, not with a view to him becoming a first team regular this season but to let him bed in for subsequent seasons.
    If we are going to spend more money on the first team I'd get Illarramendi and Augustinsson- although links on those, if ever they existed, seem to have gone very quiet.

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  33. He has never been hyped. The only reason he grabs so much attention is due to his frequent ability to.. well.. draw attention.


    20 G/A in 25 games (5 other were last minute subs) in the Serie A last season deserves at least some form of recognition.


    I'm not even counting 12 Goals in 12 Apps the season before, or his overlooked spell at Man City either.


    That's coming from a player who doesn't take the game too seriously. Just imagining what he could do with the proper discipline is well worth buying him and keeping him. I think he has definitely turned more serious during his time here, now to just get rid of all the stick he gets from supporters and critics alike...

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  34. Don't worry... You'll start to hear this on the news in a few days time. ;)

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  35. Please , what are you trying to do to JK , asking LFC to sign a young potential , english player over a player with vast experience

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  36. Haha, it's money that could be better spent!

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  37. should get him rather than Milner

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  38. Except he can't strike a match!

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  39. If this happens I can't believe how unexciting I have been about our 2 biggest signings Carroll and Benteke :(

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  40. So the team I have supported since I was 4 years of age, I love and hope and pray can bring in a world class centre midfielder and a mobile tough tackling Dm you think I am trying to be a football manager. Well that is not the truth, the truth is I am die hard Liverpool fan who is getting annoyed and embarrassed for the last 6 years we have sold top class players and replaced them with dead wood average or poor players.


    We have shipped out players like Alonso, Mascherano, Torres, Reina, Agger, Suarez and now Gerrard and Sterling.

    And have replaced those players over the years with players off this calibre, Doni GK, B Jones GK, S Mignolet GK, Coates CB, K Toure CB, J Clue/Useless Allen CM, C Adams CM, S Downing LW , A Carroll FD, I Aspas FD, M Balotelli FD and R Lambert FD.

    And because I want B Rodgers to use the £40M plus another £15M on acquiring a centre midfield partnership that compete against the likes of Fabregas and Matic, Cazorla and Coquelin, Yaya and Fernandinho, Herrera and Schneiderlin, Kroos and Modric, Busquets and Rakitic , Vidal and Pogba, Gabi and Koke, J Martinez and T Alacantara and Motta and aberration as Allen, Can, Henderson and Milner are all average ball playing central midfielders who will get anielated against those top and world class central midfield partnerships.

    We should bring in R Nainggollan Of Roma for £23-£28M CM

    And Lars Bender Of Bayer Leverkusen for £16-£20M. DM

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  41. The day J Allen leaves Liverpool I will be celebrating like I have won the lottery, but B Rodgers love child will not be leaving Liverpool until B Rodgers is sacked or shipped out. L Markovic is too light weight and fragile, he needs to bulk up and grow a pair and start justifying his £20M fee or he should be shipped out in January 2016

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  42. Lars Bender Of Bayer Leverkusen should be brought for £16-£20M as soon as possible

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  43. AND there goes BR''s job.

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  44. Liverpool were second choice for their own stupidity (rodgers). Rodgers offended Salah while Liverpool pursued him.

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  45. Good player seemed a bit one footed to me. If we get Benteke then it's a wrap on the strikers. Balos an interesting one in the sense of whether he will remain at the club - doubt it to be fair. A DM would be great and Pedro would be the icing for this window for me.

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  46. Rogers will need to be Houdini to fit all these center forwards into the team. Whats he going to play 3-4-4?

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  47. Not a hope in hell of top 4. 9 new players last season, 8, so far this window...
    The squad has being waiting 'to gel' for the past ten years.
    Same old shit, different transfer window.

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  48. you can say whatever you want about lallana, but he's got those magic moments

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  49. Yes, I fear it may be too much for JK. I do share JK's reservations about buying young talent to the extent that I think that where possible we need to prioritise getting the first team sorted and only then go for the young talent. But I think we have probably pretty much finished first team recruitment now (although there are new stories about us going for Pedro because Chelsea are not offering enough for him) so money can now be channeled into excellent young players like Roberts. We need to have one eye on the future but we can't just make it all about jam tomorrow- if we don't secure the present in the sense of qualifying for the Champions League then we'd compromise that future. Difficult balancing act...

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  50. Earlier I was going to post up a formation which would have allowed him to accommodate all the players. Then I realised it had 13 players in it and did the Maths just in time to avoid getting egg on my face by posting it.

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  51. Why? Milner is a great player. Besides we have already signed JM....

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  52. Would be bizarre if we had got him over Milner considering they are completely different players...

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  53. I see what your driving at and won't argue too much but how about that goal in the Champions league or the game against Spurs.
    Think I just despair at the incredible waste of the talent that Balo clearly has and although sentiment shouldn't dictate or overrule common sense - I'd still love to see Balo find his groove somewhere and perhaps with a decent supporting act alongside him, that could be/of been, us.
    Don't get me wrong though, Lacazette all day long for me, but it does seem Brendan has ideas of a different type of Striker joining us and if that's going to be Benteke at £32.5million then I will still question if he's £16million better than Balo.

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  54. yes if you're comparing all position Milner is playing

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  55. menez are more skilful and technically sound while Milner is more of a utility player.

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  56. Its' not your desire for a world class CM and a mobile tough tackling DM that I am querying more the names you have listed. The likes of Thiago and Koke are never going to join us at this moment in time if ever. It's not being negative it's a fact. When suggesting names you have to be realistic and these names are not realistic in the slightest.


    I agree a top drawer CM to compliment what we already have would be nice but I feel there are other areas which are slightly higher priority. Until BR is willing to offload Allen and maybe even Lucas (although would prefer him to stay as back up) this isn't going to happen. Milner has obviously been given guarantees he is going to start most games in CM and so will Hendo so in theory we only have one spot up for grabs which is DM. To add I think Hendo and Milner will do well together for us this year so not too concerned by that. The problem with the DM position is there aren't that many quality players out there IMO. Not a massive fan of Bender, decent player but not a serious upgrade on Lucas so I wouldn't waste time with that one. I wonder if the plan is to give Can a run out in that role although at the moment I feel he still has a lot to learn in that position so not sure whether that would work.


    To summarise we all like to dream about certain players joining our great club we don't have a bottomless pit of cash and we also have to bear in mind we finished 6th in the league last year and got thrashed 6-1 away at Stoke so attracting these top notch players is almost impossible at the moment I'm afraid.

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  57. The transfer committee and BR completely dithered the money away on lallana, markovic, instead of 3-4 real solid players. I hope BR learned something but for FSG that was one hell of a Managerial Training program.

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  58. we're not going to use him as a utility player- he'll play centre-mid,

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  59. A list member suggested earlier that my suggestion that we spend a large sum of money on a young player of potential would be too much for JK. So, Jaimie, by way of compensation and to thank you for your site, here is Rodgers quote on Gomez after the Brisbane game and I know it will appeal to you: "He’s only 18 years of age, but seeing him play at left-back for the first time, he looked an outstanding athlete and a really good footballer."

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  60. At least be showed mettle

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  61. don't you think it's revealing about Menez that the skills reel above not only includes several penalties amongst his goals (for a truly prolific player you don't need to include them) but also has several instances of the player's diving abilities. From everything I know about Menez or have seen of him I'd say that he is a very long way off the standard we should be aiming for. The question to ask is, is he an upgrade on Lallane, Markovic or Ibe? To my mind the answer is a resounding 'no'.

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  62. Depends on your perspective of hype. All those Gatorade ads. Shoe commercials. If Balo scored a goal...any goal...He was an automatic on ESPN top ten. His bad boy image was celebrated so much that even he started to believe it. And all the while his on field performances got worse. Yet all the Balo lovers keep their blinders on and blamed the managers for not ' bringing out the best' in Balo. What CRAP. A good player is supposed to bring his own best self out...that's why he's good right? Balo has been unceremoniously dumped by EVERY team he has played for. Those stats don't lie.

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  63. Balo is not worth 16.5m

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  64. Not sure exactly where Medal said he was "keen" on a move to Liverpool but then again as this site proves over and over again "never let the facts get in the way of a good story "

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  65. agreed, not the way MC utilising Milner.

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  66. anyway whoever they sign maybe BR gonna play them between the post who cares just rumour.

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