Liverpool rumours 2

28 Nov 2023 11:49:12
Hey Eds,

Saw on another rumours page, that Liverpool are now focussing on another midfield target instead of day Thuram - is that Andre, or are the rumours of him going down the list and another player taking precedent?

Much appreciated!

{Ed002's Note - I am not sure that Liverpool have given up on Thuram but his agent is trying to persuade two other clubs to declare an interest. Certainly Liverpool have done that. They do have other options and Andre Trindade is certainly one, but with what Fluminense have said they may well be looking to others they have scouted. They could look to a real wildcard option in Ezequiel Fernandez who Liverpool had watched by an ex-PL player who is now a very high-end scout. Would be an option to Andre Trindade.}

28 Nov 2023 12:50:41
Surely Thuram is no longer what we need, especially after having signed Gravenberch? A specialist DM is really the only midfielder we should be trying to bring in.

28 Nov 2023 16:08:43
Hi Ed002,

What are your thoughts on Ezequiel Fernandez? Very hard to judge on YouTube? Is he comparable to Andre?
Thank you for your time.

{Ed002's Note - I am not really the one to ask about comparing players and I typically don't have thoughts about young men. Regardless, he is well with Benfica and Milan taking note.}

28 Nov 2023 18:27:08
Appreciate the response Ed002.

28 Nov 2023 23:40:06
Nice one, Ed. Always time for a wildcard.

27 Nov 2023 12:32:49
Trent to sign a new and improved 5 plus year contract looks to be worth around £230-£250k a week, whispers of Barcelona sniffing around in the background, trent fully commited.

27 Nov 2023 14:54:08
Would Xavi play him as a 6 or an 8 though?

27 Nov 2023 21:18:44
And where will Barcelona be getting the money to fund this move that will not be for peanuts when they are 2 billion under water?

25 Nov 2023 21:36:59
Hi Eds, been following U17 World cup. This no. 10 from Argentina CLAUDIO ECHEVERRI just scored a hat trick vs Brazil. Do you know if Liverpool or any clubs tracking him?

{Ed002's Note - Huge interest from Europe but not Liverpool.}

26 Nov 2023 07:55:54
Thank you eds for insight. Such a shame we are not tracking these talents.

26 Nov 2023 09:26:59
What do you mean by “these talents”? How many and which talents aren’t the club tracking? Can you name them please?

26 Nov 2023 13:36:16
@WDW3 a very simple example just look at Brighton, how is it they are able to purchase young players with such high ceiling at fraction of price? You want example of "these talents"? Ok Jude Bellingham, Mitoma, Calceido, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Rafael Leao .

Why are we not able be first club to scout and pick these players but rather have to buy them over at exorbitant price. Eds have already confirmed Brighton has a better recruitment team, i bet they are watching closely this U17 tournament, and probably our scouts are somewhere in pubs.


There you have it. I rest my case.

{Ed001's Note - utter nonsense, you clearly do not understand scouting or recruitment. We can't buy them because they are not ready for our team, but Brighton can because they are not as good so the youngsters have a chance of playing.}

26 Nov 2023 15:25:22
If that's your case Lee I won't be employing your services if you're a lawyer lad.

26 Nov 2023 18:28:15
You’re making it sound like we haven’t got any talented youngsters in our team .

27 Nov 2023 05:56:27
You so realise that with szobo and macca being here there won't be a spot for him to play in the next 7-8 years right.

27 Nov 2023 13:34:33
Lee, your brilliant insight and "case" is everflowing (and continuing from the live chat, I must add) . Your view of football recruitment is as simplistic and lop-sided as can be, when it is actually a complex issue with loads of risk. Why not mention the young talents who did not make it into the world class talent pool you've mentioned? What are the numbers? The successes versus the young kids who didn't make it into "Bellingham territory"? Is it 1 for 1 (one success for one failing to live up to expectations or is it 1 to 10 or 15 or 20?) . If you did that then you'd realize that your case is actually no case at all.

26 Nov 2023 22:59:53
I love it when know it all’s get put in their place. 😂.

26 Nov 2023 23:55:39
If I’m being honest @Lee, your opinion seems to show a fair bot of disrespect to the club, the coaching staff and in particular to the club scouts and the youngsters the club have brought in and who are coming through out Academy system.

It’s easy to pluck names out of the air and adopt an attitude that the ‘grass is always greener’ but as Ed01 says circumstances are different for other clubs and our policy is to target younger players with the potential to become first team (at least squad) members, before they make it into the public eye. As an example, and to Ed01’s point, we were tracking Bellingham when he was a kid at Birmingham but he wanted to go to Germany where he was offered first team opportunities that he wouldn’t have got at Liverpool. We were interested when he wanted to step up from Dortmund but his preference was to go to Real Madrid. I’m fairly sure that the names you mention have been of interest to Liverpool but sometimes players also just want to go somewhere else.

27 Nov 2023 21:21:58
Lee, this topic is clearly not your strong point cos it seems you are giving simplistic answers that anyone can give, to severely complex topics.

Hence, you should propbably do a lot more research on it rather than mentioning Brighton as some kind of role model whereas, they have nowhere near the type of ambition LFC have. Just a thought.

28 Nov 2023 07:19:01
@ed001, i challenge your hypothesis, yes, its just your hypothesis that Brighton is a club not good enough so they play or gamble with youngsters. I quote you a counter example- Napoli. They scout and recruited Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen, Kim Min Jae. 3 world class players at fraction of value they will cost now. Please refute me. My assertion: Liverpool scouting and recruitment is in sleep mode regarding potential, raw talents.

{Ed001's Note - what are you talking about? What the hell is Napoli to do with anything? For starters Kvaradona was wanted by half of Europe but Napoli could offer him first team football, unlike most. Osimhen is in no way world class anyway. Good player but has a lot of work to do to become world class. Napoli again offered him first team football, so he chose them over other offers. How do you know Liverpool were sleeping when they joined Napoli. I can answer that for you - you have no idea.}

28 Nov 2023 08:41:00
Hi ed0001, i quote Napoli as example because you said "Brighton can because they are not as good so the youngsters have a chance of playing"

Brighton not so good. ok marginally agreed. Napoli? They wacked us 4-1.

{Ed001's Note - still not relevant and shows how little you understand as you forget where they were when they bought those players.}

28 Nov 2023 10:25:01
Lee are you AI? I'm getting AI vibes.

28 Nov 2023 12:57:22
Didnt Napoli pay like 75 mil for osimhen? In what world is that something to bring up in a conversation about Young and raw talents for peanuts.

28 Nov 2023 17:45:56
Don’t think we in any position to criticise the club scouting since klopp came. Couple of players it hasn’t worked out for couple others blighted by injuries. Every other seems to have been a success.

28 Nov 2023 22:35:11
Napoli must have been sleeping when we signed mo salah from their neighbours.

29 Nov 2023 05:02:15
Ed1 - this convo with Leek is hurting my brain haha. I think some people don’t quite see the nuance. They just see this happening over there and assume it can happen here. Meanwhile totally disregarding that we have turned plenty of bargain transfers into superstars. So even the premise to suggest that we don’t or can’t do what the likes of Brighton / Napoli do in principle is purely not true.

The other thing about it is that we make an assumption that the players Napoli signed would have either been straight into the starting line-up or prepared to bide their time on the bench. Marginal either way for all of those guy.

{Ed001's Note - exactly. It just shows a lack of understanding of reality.}

29 Nov 2023 07:27:31
There’s data, which has the potential to be turned into information, which has the potential, in its turn, to be turned into knowledge, which has the potential to turn into wisdom. This thread is definitely paddling in the shallow end.

29 Nov 2023 18:01:57
Ed01, I think you should abort mission on this one cos the longer you keep going, the less intelligent you're going to look.

21 Nov 2023 18:02:07
Hi Ed002,

If you have some time I would appreciate your opinion. I am not looking for you to tell the future.

I really like Diaz but if he left for a good fee I think he is replaceable and Jota and Gakpo don't give the same options as him as he is somewhat a "propel winger" in my opinion. Both of them are a lot more versatile. Who would you say could become an option if we replace at all?

Do you think Olise could be an option for the right?

Last but not least and a one word answer would suffice I will never ask again. Can we just remove from Liverpool rumours the names Wirzt, Mbappe, Osimhen, Saka and Valverde as these guys won't be coming.

Thank you in advance and I know this is a little random.

{Ed002's Note - Liverpool have Diaz, Jota and Gakpo who are LW - plus a real great option in Mateusz Musialowski coming through. They do not need to replace like for like but need a versatile placer who would be a Salah replacement - and this is what they are looking to. Liverpool have shown no interest in Olise even though Klopp seems keen to recruit ex-Chelsea Academy players - perhaps dragging the Liverpool Academy up to the same level would be better. Liverpool have looked at a series of options to replace Salah, but it won't be an easy job as you are no doubt aware. Klopp has his preferred choice as I have explained but he may not be an option and any addition of a Director of Fooball to eventually replace Jorg Schmadtke would have his own input. Liverpool seem o have pre-contract agreements to sign Wirtz, Mbappe, Osimhen and Saka in January. Valverde will not join before the summer.}

21 Nov 2023 22:14:07
Thanks for that and as always I really appreciate your thoughts. I understand there are too many unknowns but nice to get your opinion. I’m delighted with all the pre-contracts! The future is bright.

21 Nov 2023 23:01:16
Jota and Gakpo are definitely not left wingers. They can play there because they are good players but both are much better through the middle.

If we are selling Diaz and want to keep playing Nunez through the middle we will need to replace Diaz. It makes no sense at all unless he is pushing for a move.

22 Nov 2023 01:49:31
i would like to see nunez on the left salah on the right with gakpo feeding them similar to how we worked with mane n bobby, nunez is getting better through the middle but he was a monster from the left against us.

22 Nov 2023 07:24:21
I don't think we are aspiring to anything Chelsea are doing eds! Lol. the mask has slipped somewhat I think.

22 Nov 2023 06:25:26
Hi Ed002, I hope you are well. i've looked through the pages but can’t see who you have said Klopps preference is and was hoping you could advise please or point me in the right direction.

{Ed002's Note - Ideally Klopp wants Sane.}

22 Nov 2023 12:01:43
Do you expect us to extend Musialowski’s deal, ed?

{Ed002's Note - I have no knowledge of contracts but would expect Liverpool will want to keep him.}

22 Nov 2023 12:57:34
Thanks Ed completely agree - one question you mention Mateusz Musialowski my understanding was he was meant to be let go in the summer but some last minute change in deal meant it fell through.

Do you think his recent form is changing our staffs view?

{Ed002's Note - To somewhere in Austria I recall. He is certainly talented and well liked but he may, like so many youngsters, want a fast track solution.}

22 Nov 2023 17:35:36
Beckers Pecker, Gakpo himself has said he played as a winger for a number of years, so do you know better that he does?

22 Nov 2023 19:02:28
Ed your obsessed with liverpools obsession with Chelsea’s academy .
On the subject of academy football all age groups who is the top academy currently and what defines a great academy is it money earned from transfers is it most players in 1st team football what are the targets from academies other than the obvious of nurturing and producing very good footballers .

{Ed002's Note - Klopp is the one who has the hots for them. The best academises are seen to be Barcelona, Chelsea and Ajax.}

23 Nov 2023 10:07:38
Ed001 you say Chelsea have one of the best academies but I can only think of John Terry and James that has truly made it at the very top. They do produce lots of players but none apart from Terry and James I would say have been great a top 4 sides. I know a lot is thoughts of the young lad playing left back and cb for them this season but only time will tell with him.

{Ed001's Note - I think you are getting me mixed up with someone, unless you mean had? They certainly had one, but they have wasted it and now the best players go elsewhere.}

23 Nov 2023 16:54:09
Must be a kick in the gonads that a top 3 academys in the world would buy 20 players for a bill and not give them a chance haha.

23 Nov 2023 22:49:47
To be fair to Chelsea, they've made over £120m worth of sales from their academy players over the last 3 seasons, so from that perspective, I'd say they've been a success.

23 Nov 2023 22:57:57
Lofty, Wijnaldum played as a winger for a number of years too but that didn’t make it his best position in our team.

Gakpo can play there but he doesn’t have the pace or directness needed to play there in a front 3 full time. He’s much better dropping off into a deeper position where he can drag players to him and use his skill to maintain possession and create space for others. A lot like Bobby used to. Who incidentally did play as a winger for a number of years too.

Diaz is the perfect player for our system and we really missed him last season. If he hadn’t got injured we would be playing CL football this season.

If we sell him now we would be a weaker team.

24 Nov 2023 11:25:35
I kind of Agree Beckers but I can tell you never watched him play for PSV, being quick has nothing to do with being a good winger go and watch his goals and assists from the LW for the 3/ 4 years he played there he was fantastic if the club do move Diaz on which I don't think he will for a few years Gakpo would do just fine on that wing.

25 Nov 2023 18:22:51
Is it sarcasm when you said " Liverpool seem o have pre-contract agreements to sign Wirtz, Mbappe, Osimhen and Saka in January"? Or real?
.

26 Nov 2023 09:43:02
If we’re not looking at Olise, we should be.

Looks like a great prospect.

27 Nov 2023 21:23:28
Love Olise, Ron. One to watch.

20 Nov 2023 20:07:20
Hi ed002 hope you're well. Just a quick question. do you know if Barcelona are interested in Diaz? There seems to be several reports saying that a swap deal is being mooted for either raphinha or de Jong . raphinha seems a strange one as he plays on the opposite flank. unless he could possibly be a mo salah replacement if he follows the riches in Dubai.

{Ed002's Note - Luiz Dias (LW) Could be surplus. His agent already has one player in the Saudi league and has been offering another high profile player he has - so he may well be looking at Diaz as well given Liverpool are welk stocked in the position. Al-Hillal may offer a solution. Liverpool could look to a deal with Barcelona if they are serious about Raphina.

20 Nov 2023 21:56:22
Would never read to much into reports of moves during an international break. A lot of the footballing public have no interest in international football anymore so media have to create stories of transfer to get publics interest.
Always reports of a player r players family saying something about moving and it nearly always taken out of context or complete rubbish.

20 Nov 2023 22:02:04
Maybe some legs to it then Ed’s. but you very rarely see any swap deals being made 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ I know we’re well stocked on the left side so would probably be a smart move to have a quality right sided winger to challenge mo… I’m sure we was in for raphinha when he was at Leeds .

21 Nov 2023 00:13:14
Who is our other top left winger that is better than Diaz? I certainly can’t think of one.

We are a completely different team when he plays it would be strange to sell him now. Unless of course he wants to leave, in that case send him on his way and get someone else in.

I love Diaz but nobody is irreplaceable.

21 Nov 2023 00:42:54
Good quality rumour. We're definitely better stocked on the left than the right so could make sense to make a trade and even it out. Sad as I would be to see Diaz go, as he can change a game (ref: Luton) .

Can't see Mo wanting to job share and tho and can't see Raph playing back-up so it would have to be a replacement if Mo were to go. Obviously Mo is 'irreplaceable' but realistically, Raph is the kind of caliber I'd be happy with.

21 Nov 2023 01:48:41
BP - Nunez can play of the left. But he's better central. But Jota and Gakpo who can both play on the left too. Diaz is the best of the three, I agree, but leaving both Jota and Gakpo on the bench is a waste. If Barce would swap either of those for Raph then that would be the ideal but they won't so.

21 Nov 2023 07:11:36
Hope not, never really rated Raphina. Couple of half decent games and that's it. I actually think Diaz could do better if im honest. Good player but he's hardly set the world on fire with us has he?

21 Nov 2023 07:36:15
Only way I am happy with this situation is if Diaz swap wit raphinha and we use the salah money to fund mbappe . But when I last checked carlsberg don’t do transfer windows 🤔

Be a frightening front 3 with mbappe Nunez raphinha

Cheered me up the thought of this but a Liverpool team with no salah is no fun either.

21 Nov 2023 07:37:51
Apparently the club are not interested in selling - like they said about Mo in the last window.

21 Nov 2023 11:22:44
our starting leftwinger for a Barcelona flop! no thank you.

21 Nov 2023 11:59:04
Not sure why we're talking about Luis Diaz leaving. He's our best left winger and now he's fit and the terrible ordeal for his family is over, he's about to explode (in a good way) .

Let him get to work, starting with City.

21 Nov 2023 17:04:13
Not taking away from his family's dreadful recent hardship the fella has practically done nothing for the team.
Don't get me wrong a brilliant baller but the end product is way too inconsistent.
Ideally a player with similar style of play but with the goals would be Ideal.

21 Nov 2023 20:17:36
@FPF, it came from an interview with Luis’s dad. Something along the lines of Luis being a fan of their’s. A bit like us reading about Gvardiol being a Liverpool fan last year. Basically a slow news day.

21 Nov 2023 20:24:59
Whats this "well stocked on left" nonsense? In this age modern football, are you seriously talking about left legged player being restricted to play on left wing? C'mon, we have seen enough inverted wingers, we have seen Salah who has converted from left winger to centre forward. Diaz is one best ehen team go forward to attack, we should keep him! Raphina time has passed. let's go younger high ceiling like Musiala, Wirtz, Xavi Simons.

22 Nov 2023 02:45:46
@Lee watch out for Trent Kone-Doherty. Him on the left and Doak on the right. They’ll literally save us millions.

22 Nov 2023 09:32:13
Both excellent WDW, even if they became squad players they would save us a fortune.

22 Nov 2023 14:22:12
@WDW with Trent Kone-Doherty and Doak, both wingers bombing down flanks, we can afford to rest our 1rs team players and coast through initital rounds of Cup games.

22 Nov 2023 23:30:24
I haven’t seen anything of Raphinha since joining barce but the lad was exceptional at Leeds.

Salah is irreplaceable no doubt but Raphinha woukd be an excellent addition when does inevitably leave.

27 Nov 2023 21:24:38
Nunez should be nowhere near any wide position except him drifting ovzer there during games.

28 Nov 2023 07:33:05
@Bmena, nobody’s irreplaceable. All things must pass. The thing is we shouldn’t be looking for the next MomSalah, we should be looking towards the first Ben Doak or Kaide Gordon - someone at the start of their journey who can become our next legend.

16 Nov 2023 12:14:08
Ed002 hope you're well. Any Liverpool, interest in Antonio Nusa or just a random name being bandied about? Thank you.

{Ed002's Note - Antonio Nusa (LW/RW/AM) With Noa Lang departing and Skoras arriving the player has asked for confirmation from Della that he will be given playing time in exchange for staying and rejecting the interest of Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona where he would not be given first team opportunities in the short term. Chelsea and Manchester United remain keen whilst Real Madrid are now also showing some interest. Chelsea are looking at preferred options as well. Juventus, Spurs and Arsenal have sent scouts. One to watch for the future.}

16 Nov 2023 07:27:32
Good morning Ed’s…. just a quick question for yous. Are Andre, Thuram or Kone still of any interest for January or next summer would you think. Especially Andre in January. Cheers guys.

{Ed002's Note - Andre Trindade (DM) Recommended to Liverpool as Fabinho cover a couple of years ago. Arsenal have scouted the player and may well make a move prior to the January Window with Edu being praised as being more respectful than a representative of another club. Prior interest of Barcelona and Braga has gone. Fulham are keen to take him if Bayern Munich return and they lose Palinha - but there is a catch for interested parties who have been told must be resolved. Fluminense only own 80% of his rights and that would need to be addressed. They will also seek perhaps €40M including add ons. I would not rule out Napoli but they may be some way off meeting the transfer fee or indeed Manchester United who will need a Casemiro replacement. I am not aware of any agreement between Liverpool and Fluminense just yet but there is the possibility of completing the transfer for January although they will have competition. Fluminense have a replacement lined up.
Khephren Thuram (DM/CM) Nice felt they were messed around by clubs in the summer and then the player picked up an injury. Interest of Spurs, Liverpool and, in particular, Juventus remains. Interest of Newcastle will likely fall away. If interest further grows his price will rise and the club would sell given the emergence of Alexis Beka Beka and an impressive youngster in Reda Belahyane. Real Madrid have him on a list of potential additions given they are facing midfield departures in the summer - and I would not rule them, or indeed Manchester City, out. Player wants PSG but they have no interest at this time - but his representative is pushing PSG and will encourage the player to wait out the year and see what happens.
Manu Kouadio Kone (CM/DM) Prior interest of Milan has gone. Newcastle did approach Borussia Muenchegladbach but they will resist a sale although Newcastle remain keen. RBL were keen to add Kone to replace Laimer but that interest, like the interest of Bayern Munich has gone. Juventus and Liverpool may have a continuing interest but I expect both to look elsewhere.}