4 May 2017

Shock Transfer: Liverpool free to sign 'amazing' £156k-a-week World Cup winner for £30m

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is reportedly considering a surprise transfer raid on Premier League rivals Chelsea this summer.

According to the Daily Mail:

"Cesc Fabregas is being looked at by Manchester United and Liverpool, with Chelsea prepared to...sell for £30m to a Premier League rival".

Fabregas has slipped into fringe player status this season, but when it comes to end product, he has still outperformed Adam Lallana, who is younger, and plays every game when fit:

* Fabregas: 18 goals/assists in 33 apps (One every 91 mins)

* Lallana: 14 goals/assists in 32 apps (One every 171 mins)

Many Liverpool fans lionise Lallana as some kind of irreplaceable, god-like figure, but Fabregas - a central midfielder who plays deeper than Lallana - is still contributing more, despite struggling to maintain a first-team place. And it's not just this season; Fabregas and Lallana signed for their respective clubs in 2014, and since that time:

* Fabregas: 60 goals/assists in 128 apps (One every 157 mins)

* Lallana: 39 goals/assists in 122 apps (One every 222 mins)

In his first season at Chelsea, Fabregas contributed 22 goals/assists in 34 league games, and played an integral role in helping Chelsea win the title. This season, his goals/assists in the league have again been vital, and Chelsea are on the verge of winning the league for the 2nd time in three years.

This is why I constantly call for players like Lallana, Mignolet, Can etc to be replaced (in the first team); they are simply not consistent or effective enough for any team with genuine title ambitions. A player like Fabregas clearly *is* good enough, and he's proven this throughout his career (just look at his trophy list).

The irony, of course, is that Fabregas doesn't run and press like a madman, so even though he is the Premier League's 2nd highest assists-maker ever (4 places ahead of Reds legend Steven Gerrard), Klopp probably wouldn't give him the time of day. Klopp will still keep playing Lallana, though, despite the fact he goes missing at crucial stages every single season, and is currently on a run of just one goal/one assist in 17 games.

Trophy-winning teams do not tolerate endlessly inconsistent attacking players, but Liverpool (to the club's detriment) always seem happy to accept it, which is one of the reasons the club never wins the league, and rarely qualifies for the CL. Who cares about consistent end product when a player will run 12 miles a game?

I'd take 'world-class' Fabregas over Lallana in a heartbeat.

And yes, I will continue to go on about this until Liverpool replace decent, second-tier squad players (Lallana, Mignolet, Can, Origi, Lucas etc) with players of Fabregas's quality (in the first-team).

* Fabregas: Reportedly on £156k-a-week. Hailed this week as 'amazing' by Thierry Henry



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