23 Jul 2021 12:00:09
Bowen would be my pick from the players listed by Ed002. He works hard, scores goals, creates goals, keeps himself fit all season, and can play across the front 3. Also homegrown as an added bonus. That is actually critical with Phillips leaving and Konate coming in as we may already have a reduced Champions League squad i think?

Traore has an average end product. His pace might be blistering but it's useless if you run it down blind alleys. Not much else to add. Klopp could probably get more from him but it's an expensive risk.

Sarr is a decent player but i have niggling doubts he could be a bit like Origi, Welbeck or Zaha. Like them i can't work out if he is best as a winger or a striker? Also runs with his head down too often. Not to mention he'll be off the the AFCON too. Makes no sense this season. There is clearly ability there but i don't know if he's an improvement on Origi.

Hoppe, i've only seen bits and bobs. Reading up on him he is a well thought of player and the snippets i've seen were promising. Just not enough to make me say he is who we should pursue.

Bowen just reminds me of the Jota transfer last summer. It's underwhelming on the face of it but i don't mind that. He is already good enough for the Premier League in a team challenging for European places, but he also has potential to improve further in a better team. He also shares an agent with Robbo and Trent so you'd imagine dealing with him would be fairly smooth.

People might say it blocks Elliott's path but i've always said Elliott will end up in midfield or as a number 10. He's more creative than he is a goalscorer. Jota and Bowen makes sense long term to phase out Mane and Salah, as they are both are predominantly goal scorers which is what we need our wide forwards to be. Hopefully Ox can really stake a claim to push Firmino in the false 9 too. He's been earmarked for that role since last summer and Jota-Ox-Bowen is a really strong 2nd string attack.

I'd just rather give Elliott and Jones chances in midfield next season than sign a midfielder if all we can afford is Sanches; which seems to be the case. A forward has to be a priority anyway because losing Mane and Salah in January could derail the whole season. We are spoilt for choice in midfield even with Gini leaving. Hendo, Thiago, Fabinho, Milner, Jones, Elliott and Keita is surely enough no? Unless we can afford an elite player like Saul or Zielinski to replace Keita, it just doesn't make sense to me. We have players in the squad who we can utilise more and if there is a push within the club to do so then i think that's quite right personally. (Sorry for long post)

1.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 12:39:11
If Jota and Bowen were to be looked upon as long term replacements for Salah and Mane, that doesn't fill me with great excitement or confidence.

2.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 12:57:02
Bowen would not make it past the data scientists to the short list.

3.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 13:27:17
Bowen or doku.

4.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 13:35:17
Rome I think Jota has shown he’s got the ability to do so with some more training. Hopefully he stays injury free this year. Genuinely feel if he’d of stayed fit last season we’d of easily maybe top 4 rather than last day with the mo, Bobby, Sadie and Jota against those teams that just sit in.

5.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 13:39:28
Jota needs to polish a few aspects of his game to be a worthy Sadio Mane successor. However Bowen as Salah's long term replacement? LOL
Once Salah gets his new contract (fingers crossed), he won't need replacing for another 3-4 years so we don't need to worry about his succession plan for a while.

6.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 13:15:35
MK you sold me on the bowen transfer yesterday mate.
If we had to go shopping at wolves i would be buying pedro neto a player i think has the skill set to be a liverpool player.

Demari Gray yesterday signed for Rafa for £1.7m which is about right when you look at his goals/ assists ratio, i place Adama in the same bracket, how he has managed to convice pundits that he is special is beyond me.

Its vital for there development that Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot get game time in the premier league next season.

7.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 13:16:50
I do agree that Bowen would be a good signing. Like you said, may seem underwhelming but has a lot of potential to grow as a player. I was personally hoping for Raphina as I think he has a higher ceiling and has a bit more magic about him but wouldn’t be too despondent with Bowen.

But I do think we need another midfielder. Our starting 3 are quality but beyond that I’m not sure the rest can be relied on. Ox and keita are constantly injured. Even Milner suffered from quite a few injuries last season. So that leaves us with Curtis and Elliott. I’d like to get a DM in (Bissouma or Kessie would be great) as we’ve seen how badly we suffer when we’re missing hendo or fab.

8.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 14:08:52
MK, Traore isn’t even good enough to be average. He doesn’t score, he doesn’t actually create assists, the things he lacks can’t be coached. He’s got no awareness and no finesse or subtlety. As for Sanches, we’d just as well set fire to £40m than sign him. He’d offer just as little as Keita does. And do it from the treatment table as he’s injured half the time. If we ended up with Bowen and Saul, I’d be happy with that, Bowen’s output suggests a player on the up who has shown he is able to improve at every level he plays. If we ended up with Traore and Sanches I think I’d roll my eyes so much my retinas would detach, as they are pretty woeful.

9.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 16:56:36
I actually didn’t realise this, but apparently Bowen can play both out wide and down the middle, which would fit the criteria that Klopp is apparently looking for in a forward this summer. He doesn’t appear to be as natural a goalscorer as i’d hoped we’d get, but he does look like a good player and i’d much rather we got him than Traore or Sarr. Unlike them, he actually has some quality on the ball and is also ‘homegrown’, which is definitely an area of squad management we need to keep in mind.

I don’t really care about how flashy our signings are, people are very short sited and negative about our signings every single summer and they don’t ever seem to learn their lesson. Mane, Salah and Jota were all met with exactly the same response when they signed, now the same people are saying that signings in the same mould won’t be fit to lace their boots.

Like i say, i think Bowen is good enough, i’m just not sure goes a long way in fixing our main issue; a lack of a clinical and composed goalscorer down the middle to challenge Bobby. He seems to be a bit more of a creative player but i could be wrong. That and that he is an absolute dead ringer of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who might be one of the worst actors i’ve ever seen and just the sight of his face in a film gives me a headache. With that in mind, i don’t know if i can take looking at Bowen’s mug every weekend from the comfort of my armchair.

10.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 17:06:22
Well said Jordz.

Kingkenny, i think people are under estimating Bowen personally. This is a guy who was scoring 20 goals a season at Hull City by 22 years old. Make no mistake about it either, Hull City were not a good side and the Championship is not a weak league. It's at least as strong as the Dutch league overall and nobody bats an eyelid if you suggest Malen. I guess he has a fancy foreign name though so he must be great eh.

At barely 23 Bowen took the jump to the Premier league mid-season and still contributed 1 goal and 4 assists in 13 appearances most of which were cameos. Then in his first full season he plays in every game and helps elevate West Ham from relegation fodder, to at one stage looking like Champions League contenders. 8 goals and 6 assists are not numbers to be sniffed at considering his age and the fact he has had to grow into this level of football very quickly.

Indian Buzzer, Idon't think Bowen will ever be as good as Salah, but christ you can't set the bar that high. 30-45 goals for a wide player is almost inhuman. Messi and Ronaldo are literally the only other wingers in the last 30 years to better that and even the likes of Bale, Giggs, Mane, Mahrez, Ribery, Robben and Hazard couldn't touch Salah's numbers. Salah is the all time record holder for Premier League goals in a 38 game season and his numbers in front of goal stand up to Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler. Just think about that for one second. He's one of the best players of this generation and i fully expect him to maintain these levels for another 3 seasons because he is just that professional away from the pitch. I do however think Jota and Bowen can be as good as Mane though. Both are capable of 15-20 goals a season from out wide.

ReyRey, don't get me wrong. If we can get a top class midfielder i'm not turning my nose up at it. But with Saul and Zielinski probably out of our price range (same probably goes for Bissouma) i just don't want to buy for the sake of it. Sanches feels like buying for the sake of it!

VVVV, i agree with Saul and Bowen. Of the linked players they are the stand outs. Traore and Sanches are mistakes waiting to happen in my mind. If we can't get Saul or a player of that level though, Jones should get the nod. A wide player has to be the priority either way. Losing Salah and Mane in January could end any title challenge if we have to rely on Shaqiri, Origi or Minamino.

11.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 17:58:46
I love how Bowen is suddenly a world beater. He’s scored 9 goals in 51 appearances for West Ham, hardly spectacular. It’s clear as day we’re scrounging as we cannot afford real talent.

12.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 18:30:18
IPC12, we can't sign world class players and stick them on the bench. We have to sign raw diamonds and coach them into being better players in the hope they can push our first choice players. Jota is a prime example.

Anyway, i'm pretty sure Bowen was like 6th on Ed001's list of British right wingers so it's not like he's some nobody who wasn't already highly regarded. Jota only scored 7 league goals the season before we signed him by the way. But nobody batted an eyelid because he's got a fancy foreign name. Bowen scores 8 and that's not good enough because his names not Jarrodinho 🤔.

13.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 18:43:22
IPC12, would you like to tell us who this ‘real talent’ actually is? Someone who is both looking for a move and not on wages that would bankrupt the club?

From where i’m standing you have Haaland and Mbappe, who have scared off every possible suitor with their demands, and then below that you have nobody obvious. Kane? He’s 29, has ankles made of glass and his attitude/ demeanour just wouldn’t fit Liverpool Football Club at all, even if we did have the money. Sancho was also asking for extortionate wages and fees that were way beyond what he’s actually worth. Beyond that, it’s just a sea of Malen’s, Bowen’s, Daka’s, Neto’s and Vlahovic’s. There is no obvious candidate. Chiesa maybe? Oh wait no he’s also not looking for a move and is completely unobtainable this summer.

I ask again, because nobody seems capable of giving me an answer, who are these unicorn players we should be moving for?

14.) 23 Jul 2021
23 Jul 2021 19:35:13
I'd prefer to not sign a forward if it was going to be Bowen. He's not good enough. Use the lads we already have instead, keep the money and maybe we could get Raphinha or someone of that Calibre instead next summer.

Harvey Elliott, Minamino and Shaq would do fine if we can't afford someone who is clearly better.