Liverpool Rumours Archive February 19 2018

19 Feb 2018 00:01:07
Liverpool are all change at the minute, two record breaking deals in January saw the club lose arguably their best player in Phillipe Coutinho while they concluded the long awaited deal for Virgil Van Dijk.

The start of the summer will see Naby Keita join the Liverpool midfield while Emre Can who has become an integral part of the squad will leave on a free transfer to join Juventus. Thomas Lemar looked like the main target to replace Coutinho but for whatever reason Liverpool seem to have gone cold on him and are targeting another French international instead, Nabil Fekir is the man Klopp wants.

Liverpool were also interested in making a move for the Roma goalkeeper Allison this summer but after preliminary discussions they have decided to look elsewhere and are now pursuing a deal for Jack Butland, who they hope will replace Simon Mignolet.

Dejan Lovren will be moved on if Liverpool can seal a deal for Stefan de Vrij, who is available on the cheap this summer. Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge will be sold this summer with Klopp targeting Timo Werner to play back up to Roberto Firmino.

19 Feb 2018 02:27:07
Are you been daft or serious? if the latter please stop reading the newspapers mate.

19 Feb 2018 02:34:24
I find a lot of this hard to believe. How will Fekir fit into the team? He plays a CF or RW ordinarily. Will he replace Mane or dip into the midfield where he's less effective? He's playing regular first team football for his boyhood club at the moment, so why would he risk benchwarming? I think the lad is quality, don't get me wrong, but I think he'd only leave for guaranteed first team footie.

Same goes for Timo Werner, he's the first-choice striker in a Champions League Bundesliga team, he's on a decent pay packet, etc. Why would he move to play second fiddle to Firmino, who is consistently the first name on the teamsheet?

I don't know why we'd move for Butland and not Allison, though. If we're going to buy a 'keeper to challenge Karius, we may as well get Allison to push Karius harder.

Can and Studge are as good as gone and I wish them all the best. I think Emre will be an absolute beast in Serie A.

{Ed0333's Note - why wouldn’t Fekir move to Liverpool? We’d probably double his salary, he may want to extend himself professionally, he may want to play for a world class coach with a team that’s going places and Mane, Firmino or Salah could get injured and would you be confident with Solanke replacing one of those three or Fekir?

19 Feb 2018 05:38:05
Lovren's not going anywhere for a while. People should accept that. And De Vrij won't happen which Ed002 has been repeating for a while.

19 Feb 2018 07:16:03
Fekir is a logical choice but Werner why would he move to us? There is plenty of interest from other big clubs around Europe where he will be a starter. I would love to see him play for us in a system where he is up front with Mane, Firmino and Salah behind him or both Werner and Firmino up front and Mane with Salah on the wings but i don't think Klopp will change the system. Now about Lemar i have the feeling we might not chase him because Klopp is looking to play Ox there and we will bring in a defensive midfielder along with Keita.

19 Feb 2018 08:33:17
I think we'll go back in for lemar regardless of sources saying this, that and the other. I don't even read the rags because they change daily. Anyone who's aware of this site probably shouldn't either.

19 Feb 2018 10:43:55
Nailed it Ed0333. Like you I too am worried with the lack of quality of our bench. There is no one who is as good as the current front three when one gets injured. This is where City is ahead of all other Pl Clubs. They could afford to rest a few first team without altering or impacting the quality and performance.

19 Feb 2018 10:51:25
Maybe players like Fekir and Werner would move to us because they back their ability to earn a place in the starting line up? Because they know if Klopp was going to out and spend 50 odd million (figure plucked out of the air as an example), he'll probably have a plan to use them a lot rather than keep them on the bench? Because they know they have what it takes to become a player vital to how we play every match?

What a player does at any single point in their career is almost always less than what they are capable of doing. If Klopp wants them, there is a reason.

19 Feb 2018 14:55:45
That's a fair point, Ed. At the same time, though, what's to stop another potential suitor - who will most certainly be a big club, big coach, etc. - from popping in with all the guarantees we have, but also the promise of regular football? However, City have been buying quality all over the pitch without promises of first team football, so it's certainly possible.

Obviously I'd prefer Fekir over Solanke, but this wasn't my argument. Fekir is top quality, I'd go mental if we signed him.

I think it's fair to say though that Klopp is doing such a great job, I haven't seen supporters this buzzing about the club for a while.