In a recent poll on the site, 57% of participating Liverpool fans voted against the sale of Lucas Leiva, but Brendan Rodgers is seemingly dead set on dumping the Brazilian midfielder, and it appears that Besiktas are in pole-position to seal the deal.
Last week, the Liverpool Echo claimed that Liverpool are ready to sell £8m-rated Lucas, and according to the Echo today:
"[Besiktas] are hoping the Reds will agree to sanction a season-long loan deal for Lucas"
Besiktas have today confirmed their interest in signing Lucas during the current transfer window.
When asked about a possible deal, the Turkish club's transfer committee head Erdal Torunogulları told reporters:
“Lucas is a player on our shortlist, talks are ongoing. A loan deal is likely, and it could go ahead within the next two days.”
For whatever reason, Lucas is clearly not in Brendan Rodgers' plans, and if he leaves 'within two days' then he obviously won't be available for the Arsenal game next Monday.
A few clarifications:
* I have no real issue with Lucas leaving as long as Liverpool bring in another dedicated defensive/holding midfielder (during the current transfer window) to replace him.
* Lucas is eminently replaceable, but right now, the Reds have no one in the squad who can do a similar job to the requisite level of effectiveness.
* With no DM in the team, Milner and Henderson are forced to spend much of their time covering the DM's duties, which dilutes their attacking effectiveness (this is a statistical fact, as shows in previous articles).
* Rodgers has shown no real appetite to play with a DM, but there has to be one in the squad. Every top team in Europe has at least ONE dedicated first-team DM/holding midfieledr, and in many cases, that player features regularly.
* Without wishing to flog a dead horse, Henderson, Can, and Milner are not defensive/holding midfielders, and, crucially, none of those three has significant top-level experience in playing that role.
With Lucas seemingly on the way out, the hope is that Rodgers has another midfield signing lined-up; Asier Illarramendi, perhaps, whose position at Real Madrid is now even more precarious after the signing of Mateo Kovacic.
In my view, it's a mistake to go into the rest of the season with Can, Milner, Henderson, and Allen as the club's central midfield options.
Author: Jaimie K
Last week, the Liverpool Echo claimed that Liverpool are ready to sell £8m-rated Lucas, and according to the Echo today:
"[Besiktas] are hoping the Reds will agree to sanction a season-long loan deal for Lucas"
Besiktas have today confirmed their interest in signing Lucas during the current transfer window.
When asked about a possible deal, the Turkish club's transfer committee head Erdal Torunogulları told reporters:
“Lucas is a player on our shortlist, talks are ongoing. A loan deal is likely, and it could go ahead within the next two days.”
For whatever reason, Lucas is clearly not in Brendan Rodgers' plans, and if he leaves 'within two days' then he obviously won't be available for the Arsenal game next Monday.
A few clarifications:
* I have no real issue with Lucas leaving as long as Liverpool bring in another dedicated defensive/holding midfielder (during the current transfer window) to replace him.
* Lucas is eminently replaceable, but right now, the Reds have no one in the squad who can do a similar job to the requisite level of effectiveness.
* With no DM in the team, Milner and Henderson are forced to spend much of their time covering the DM's duties, which dilutes their attacking effectiveness (this is a statistical fact, as shows in previous articles).
* Rodgers has shown no real appetite to play with a DM, but there has to be one in the squad. Every top team in Europe has at least ONE dedicated first-team DM/holding midfieledr, and in many cases, that player features regularly.
* Without wishing to flog a dead horse, Henderson, Can, and Milner are not defensive/holding midfielders, and, crucially, none of those three has significant top-level experience in playing that role.
With Lucas seemingly on the way out, the hope is that Rodgers has another midfield signing lined-up; Asier Illarramendi, perhaps, whose position at Real Madrid is now even more precarious after the signing of Mateo Kovacic.
In my view, it's a mistake to go into the rest of the season with Can, Milner, Henderson, and Allen as the club's central midfield options.
Author: Jaimie K
0 Comments:
Post a Comment