Liverpool Banter 2

19 Jun 2026 11:10:09
Diomande
Munoz
Rio
Gakpo
Chiesa
Abe (few sub appearances)

Morrisons gets a loan, I feel.

Is that enough? Could go for another winger if Gakpo is sold.

19 Jun 2026 11:39:59
Wirtz can cover LW (plus Ekitike hopefully towards the back end of the season), Szobo can cover RW, as can Elliot.

I would say it is more than enough cover unless we are gonna sell a couple.

19 Jun 2026 12:00:48
I don't think Abe will get much if any time this season, more so next season. He doesn't turn 16 until next month, so I would be surprised if he gets any minutes at all.

19 Jun 2026 13:06:28
Zed, I had read, can't remember where, that he has been promised 15 appearances this season. Abit like Dowman at Arsenal.

19 Jun 2026 13:16:14
Chiesa and Gakpo will go this summer so we're probably looking at three wide attacking players in the match day squad, four if Frimpong is still around.

19 Jun 2026 13:21:37
Really? Wow!

I guess we'll see.

19 Jun 2026 10:09:55.
Fixtures out - 2 home games to start, first trickier fixture will be away to Bournemouth in GW5.

Nice that we have City at home and Arsenal at home first, and Utd at home too.

Although that makes for a trickier run in, points on the board are what counts.

19 Jun 2026 10:27:50
Newcastle away is a home game and not tough according to @Zeddicus.

19 Jun 2026 10:37:36
Ah crap! When I check the fixtures on BBC Sport a few mins ago, Newcastle was at home!! Maybe a tricky start then, lol.

19 Jun 2026 11:46:18
May fixtures are tough.

19 Jun 2026 16:29:04
We probably need to start well because August and September are ok. Then it gets tough.

19 Jun 2026 09:53:47
Do we see Nyoni staying and getting game time or a loan to a Championship club to gain vital experience? Same with McConnell, who is 22.

19 Jun 2026 10:07:28
Difficult to answer that question when there's a new manager just come in and half or more of the squad have headed off to the WC.

If we had an established manager who'd been here a few years, it would be much easier to speculate.

What's your view, KP?

19 Jun 2026 10:32:53
Nyoni on loan, keep McConnell, and train with senior squad.

19 Jun 2026 10:45:37
My view is both on loan to the Championship. It's a physical league, with less time on the ball, so good experience for the Prem. I personally see two new midfielders coming in, as Jones, Elliot and Macca seem likely to leave.

19 Jun 2026 10:55:03
Is it just me that is thoroughly unimpressed with Nyoni? He looks nowhere near good enough.

19 Jun 2026 11:22:31
Yeah, I think for their development, loans would be the right thing, but it depends on who we buy in this window, and therefore how much squad depth we need. If they could both get 1k+ minutes in 26-27, like Rio did in 25-26, then I would keep them, as that experience will be invaluable if they hold hopes of getting into the first team in years to come.



I could see us going the ArAy approach - one kept, one loaned - but not sure which one.

19 Jun 2026 11:30:04
All bets are off. Clean slates and a chance to impress the manager in pre-season.

19 Jun 2026 11:33:33
I think McConnell will want to find a club where he can play regularly.

19 Jun 2026 11:51:03
I like McConnell, but I think he and Koumas will be sold this window.

19 Jun 2026 09:21:13
Seeing leaks that our first 5 games are.

Newcastle (A), Forest (H), Ipswich (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A), City (H)

If so, having Newcastle first away is very tasty considering we are pinching their targets, hopeful these aren't too horrible for a set of opening fixtures and if we get things right they are games to give us momentum going into City who could be reeling from no Pep.



Interested to see if this plays out this way at 10am when they are released.

19 Jun 2026 09:37:40
Always leaks every season with the fixtures and never correct. But, if this is Newcastle away on the opening day of the season, it is an extremely tough fixture.

19 Jun 2026 10:03:59
Fair play mate, you nailed it in one.

19 Jun 2026 10:08:57
JK, to be fair, I only listened to it cause the leak came through about 9, so went with it as it as they usually drop at 9am, but this year was 10am so a gamble that paid off!

Think we have a nice set of fixtures. Happy with the final game of the season being home, and it had to be Bournemouth!

Feel we have a tough run from end of October against Arsenal until Chelsea at start of December, which includes being home to United and then away to Everton.

19 Jun 2026 10:10:03
Nailed it, nice one!!

19 Jun 2026 10:20:22
Newcastle is always tough but they're a good set of starting fixtures. Goals for Isak and Munoz on his debut would go down well with the Geordies.

19 Jun 2026 08:42:35
Just read the letter from Yan to his sister. Wow.
F**k it, pay what it takes. This guy has the most powerful reason to be a success. More powerful than money, ego, peer pressure, personal adulation. Plus a tough start in life with very little, and has already dealt with so much, similar to Salah early training hardships.

19 Jun 2026 11:35:17
Tough start, but you have got to play them all. 🤷‍♂️

19 Jun 2026 08:02:39
Two things, first Diomande's open love letter to his sister is truly heartbreaking and bought tears to my eyes.
Second, Ed001 I have only seen TY clips of Munoz, he reminds me of a mix between Bellamy and Jota, he looks a little raw but like he could be a 10-15 goal a season player. What are you thoughts on this signing and his ceiling?

{Ed001's Note - I haven't seen him play mate, sorry. I haven't even watched clips yet.}

19 Jun 2026 08:28:12
Fair enough ed001 thanks for the reply .I guess we all assume you know everything about football 😅

{Ed001's Note - doing all the match round ups has meant I got to see very little other footie than the Premier League last season. It takes a long time to watch them all each matchday! I am sorry it is affecting my knowledge of the rest of the world now. I do watch the UAE Pro League a lot though, as there is a stadium just across the road from me, so I can tell you about players such as Nabil Fekir, Sardar Azmoun (remember when we were linked with him when he was a kid?), Guilherme Bala (best player in the league by a margin), Kurt Zouma will be here next season as well, Dusan Tadic, Christian Benteke (still a lamppost, though I did see him make a run. Admittedly to the sidelines for a drink of water, but still I think it was the first time I have ever seen him break sweat), Adel Taarabt, Rocky Marciano (looks a bit different from the videos I have seen of him boxing, he has certainly aged bloody well), and, of course, Nouha Dicko (remember him?). All that to get in a gag about Rocky Marciano! I need to get out more.}

19 Jun 2026 09:05:59
Kurt Zouma? Lock up your cats over there.

19 Jun 2026 09:53:20
God, I remember the Fekir maneuverings!! He was meant to be a really good football player and destined for the biggest stages. Anyway, he's not short of a few pounds now....

{Ed001's Note - very true, he was defo carrying a bit around the waist....}

19 Jun 2026 10:19:01
Great player, Azmoun, massive respect to him for voicing his clear support for popular uprisings. Clearly Iran's best player still, their omission of him will be keenly felt this world cup. Taarabt is still playing football, ed? He must be close to 40 now.

{Ed001's Note - Azmoun has been injured all season mate, only returned as a sub for the last couple of weeks. He did not look right at all.

Taraabt was a bit anonymous as usual when I see him play.}

19 Jun 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - OptimumShots has posted a new article entitled, Everton Need One Clear Squad Plan

18 Jun 2026 23:11:38
How good is this diomande fella Ed? Is he worthy of the famous box of tissues?

{Ed001's Note - I think he will be in time, he is certainly an excellent player.}

18 Jun 2026 22:27:15
So Leipzig have rejected our £87m package and are holding out for £104m. Is he worth that amount?

18 Jun 2026 23:11:31
No, I honestly don't think that he is KP.

18 Jun 2026 23:13:35
Keegan, let the process play out. Do you take the very first offer you get when selling your home or car? Please, relax cos this will be a pretty long process.

18 Jun 2026 23:18:30
I don't think any player is worth more than £1m personally. But it's up to the club to spend what they think they need.
Don't forget we are saving a chunk on Salah's wages and we can amortise payments, so it won't be as much of a hit as you think.

18 Jun 2026 23:26:11
Only time will tell really... it's a huge outlay, but something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. So, if the powers that be think it makes financial sense, who are we to argue. It's a huge gamble at that age, but if he fulfils, potentially, then he'll pay it back 10fold.

19 Jun 2026 00:03:16
I love it when we get a bargain.

I love it when we get a promising player out of the blue.

I don't care two hoots whether any other players we buy cost £10m or £200m - I trust our bean counters to make sure we don't go bust, and I care about the tune the gaffer can get out of the players he has.

19 Jun 2026 03:21:34
Even in today's market, over 100 million pounds for a teenager who hasn't shown anything other than potential is over-priced.

For context, CR7's transfer fee to Manchester United, when adjusted for inflation, is around 30 mil pounds today.

So I think it is over-priced.

Does that mean we shouldn't pay it?

Well, that depends on more than one factor - is he the player we want? Do we believe his delivery over a 4-5 year contract will return what we pay for him? Do we have the money this transfer window to do it without impeding our other priorities?

Assuming all those fall in favour of a signing, then the answer suddenly becomes no, he isn't over-priced.

It is just the fee we have to pay to get the player we want.

19 Jun 2026 05:49:06
Crazy to think that two decades ago £30m was a record transfer in the PL and now it's the norm for most players.

19 Jun 2026 06:30:39
I'd like to see the owners use the streaming money they get.

19 Jun 2026 06:51:52
Nigel Callaghan and Alan Cork would now both be worth £100m. And as for Ian Butterworth - the mind bugles!

19 Jun 2026 09:13:08
Simple case of opportunity cost for me. We've just lost one of the best players in our history on the right flank, but when you look around, there are no viable options to be seen. Diomande, in addition to being a very good player already, is the only one.

If it wasn't him, I'd be scared of who we would have to go for instead. I think we do need to play it smart this summer, but right wing is the one position that we need to pay whatever it takes to sort out.

19 Jun 2026 09:38:22
@Faith, Inflation isn't a realistic reflection of the football money trend. A more realistic comparison would be to consider that PL TV revenue in 2025 is 26 times what it was in 2003 so you could argue that the £12M Man United spent on Ronaldo was actually closer to £312M in todays football money making £100M for Diomande a massive bargain in comparison.

At the end of the day. If somebody is willing to pay it then that is what they are worth.

There will be loads of other things that the club will likely factor in too: How much revenue will be bring into the club in shirt sales? How will it affect the clubs marketing in Côte d'Ivoire and across wider Africa? What will his value be in 6 or 7 years when he reaches his peak?

Football finance is a complex dark art and that is one of the reasons that the late, great Ed002 always told us not to talk about it. let's not fret over transfer fees and let's just look forward to some exciting new additions coming in to play under our new exciting coach!

19 Jun 2026 10:05:01
To follow on from what Shipley said, inflation definitely isn't the right measure when considering transfer fee inflation. TV revenue is closer, but that covers increased wages too (pretty sure God was on something like £10k in his pomp, which would be x30 or x40 now).

I'd argue that a simple measure could be the rise of the transfer record - given it's related to fees.

In 2003, it was around £46m for Zizou, now it's £200m for Neymar, albeit a few years ago now!

That would make Ronaldo's fee right now at £50-£60m.

Does anyone know of an annual measure of average transfer fees year by year (or window by window)? That would be really useful.

{Ed001's Note - Neymar is not the record transfer fee, that is incorrect. There was no transfer fee paid for that move, he paid off his own release clause using money provided to him by PSG, but it was not actually a transfer fee.}