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The who should we sign in January thread

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Hansern

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Seeing as Virgil is out for the season. If he returns earlier it would be a bonus, but we wont see him back to his old self until the start of next season.
The question is, who do we buy? Because we have to sign a CB in January.
Klopp surely has his targets ready for both January and next summer, and most of the targets arent available in this first window.
Short term, long term or the best fit available. I've listed some potential players, but who would you go for?

Dayot Upamecano:
Fantastic player and would fit us like a glove. 40 mill release clause that will kick in next summer.
We wont have a chance of getting him before that, but this is a player we really do need to sign going forward. Will be the best CB around in the future. 6"2.

Ibrahima Konate:
Another Leipzig player. Very talented and built for the Premier League.
Has been out injured for almost a year now, so his transfer stock might have taken a hit. But is expected back soon. 6"4. Could maybe be worth a shot in January.

Pau Torres:
Playing extremely well for Villareal. Have all the qualities to be a top CB.
45 mill release clause. Can be signed in January. 6"3.

Jose Gimenez:
Top defender, but to expencive. Atletico would want the whole 111 mill £. Not worth it.

Koulibaly:
Top defender, but soon to be 30 years old. Napoli would want close to 100 mill £. Not worth it.

Milan Skriniar:
Came close to joining Spurs. Good player and could be available for 40-45 mill. Not sure how he would fit in with us mind.

Rudiger:
Chelsea want rid. Could probably be on a loan for the rest of the season. Could make sense if another target isnt available until next summer. Klopp would get the best out of him, and he has good pace and is very good one on one. That is essential in how we set up.
Decent short term option.

Umtiti:
Seems to be out of favour at Barca and will be allowed to leave. We have been linked with a move in the media already. Not sure how good he is these days, but still only 26 and is left footed. Another possible short term loan?

Wily Boly:
Underrated defender who has been playing great for Wolves. 29 years old, but only has 6 months left on his contract come January. Will probably sign a new deal though.

Tyron Mings:
Has impressed greatly during the start of the season. Looks a top defender and has all but every quality attribute you would want. English premium though, so would cost a fucking fortune.
Left footed aswell.
 
Upamecano is by far the best alternative, but he wont be available in January.
For next season, an easy yes.
 
Rudiger seems the smartest option
Chelsea wanted a £5m loan fee and for the club to cover his wages. That's stupid not smart. Smart move would be to get someone maybe like Garray on a short term contract till Jan see if we can expedite a signing that we want in the summer to Jan if not keep Garray till June
 
Rudiger seems the smartest option
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...-Antonio-Rudiger-12-5million-LOAN-player.html
[article]according to The Athletic, the Blues asked interested clubs to pay a £5million loan fee for the German centre-back - while they also asked for his entire wages to be covered by his new club.

The 27-year-old is currently on a £150,000-a-week contract at Chelsea, which equates to just over £7.5million-a-year.

The report says clubs were put off by Chelsea's steep asking price for the German centre-back, who showed defensive frailties during the back end of last season which nearly cost the Blues a place in this season's Champions League.[/article]

I think going for a longer term option will be wiser. Problem is, clubs will try to hold us to ransom knowing our urgency for top class signing to address the issue.

Kounde looks like a real prospect but Sevilla rejected a €55m bid from Manchester City. His release clause is apparently €90m :eek: while Diego Carlos' release clause is said to be 75m.
 
Marseille have a Croatian CB called Duje Caleta-Car who I think could be on our shortlist.

- 24 years old. 6'4 and two footed. Dominant in the air and pings it to the flanks with both his feet
- Experienced at playing in a high line and high pressing team. Played under Marco Rose at Salzburg and now with Villas Boas at Marseille
- Part of Croatian WC team, and now playing CL football as the leader of the Marseille defence
- Marseille are in a bit of a financial mess and are clearly open to offers. West Ham had a 20 million deal fall through last month.
 
You can see in this clip that he defends in a high-line in the fashion Klopp wants our defence to play. A lot of the positions you see him in are the ones that van Dijk usually takes up for us. Winning long-balls in the air, switching play quickly to the flanks and defending one-on-ones.

I'm certain he'll be on our radar.

 
Marseille have a Croatian CB called Duje Caleta-Car who I think could be on our shortlist.

- 24 years old. 6'4 and two footed. Dominant in the air and pings it to the flanks with both his feet
- Experienced at playing in a high line and high pressing team. Played under Marco Rose at Salzburg and now with Villas Boas at Marseille
- Part of Croatian WC team, and now playing CL football as the leader of the Marseille defence
- Marseille are in a bit of a financial mess and are clearly open to offers. West Ham had a 20 million deal fall through last month.
Lets get this guy asap if vvd is not gonna be back anytime soon.
 
Marseille have a Croatian CB called Duje Caleta-Car who I think could be on our shortlist.

- 24 years old. 6'4 and two footed. Dominant in the air and pings it to the flanks with both his feet
- Experienced at playing in a high line and high pressing team. Played under Marco Rose at Salzburg and now with Villas Boas at Marseille
- Part of Croatian WC team, and now playing CL football as the leader of the Marseille defence
- Marseille are in a bit of a financial mess and are clearly open to offers. West Ham had a 20 million deal fall through last month.
I get really nervous at the thought of a £20m rated Croatian centre back for some reason...
 
Don't fret chaps, I'm dusting off my boots as I speak. Was a wonderful CB in my time, can use both feet, quick across the ground and read the game very well. I'll even play for free. Slight issue, not put boots on in about 15 years, but I reckon I still.have it, haha.


That upamecano chap sounds good
 
Seeing as Virgil is out for the season. If he returns earlier it would be a bonus, but we wont see him back to his old self until the start of next season.
The question is, who do we buy? Because we have to sign a CB in January.
Klopp surely has his targets ready for both January and next summer, and most of the targets arent available in this first window.
Short term, long term or the best fit available. I've listed some potential players, but who would you go for?

Dayot Upamecano:
Fantastic player and would fit us like a glove. 40 mill release clause that will kick in next summer.
We wont have a chance of getting him before that, but this is a player we really do need to sign going forward. Will be the best CB around in the future. 6"2.

Ibrahima Konate:
Another Leipzig player. Very talented and built for the Premier League.
Has been out injured for almost a year now, so his transfer stock might have taken a hit. But is expected back soon. 6"4. Could maybe be worth a shot in January.

Pau Torres:
Playing extremely well for Villareal. Have all the qualities to be a top CB.
45 mill release clause. Can be signed in January. 6"3.

Jose Gimenez:
Top defender, but to expencive. Atletico would want the whole 111 mill £. Not worth it.

Koulibaly:
Top defender, but soon to be 30 years old. Napoli would want close to 100 mill £. Not worth it.

Milan Skriniar:
Came close to joining Spurs. Good player and could be available for 40-45 mill. Not sure how he would fit in with us mind.

Rudiger:
Chelsea want rid. Could probably be on a loan for the rest of the season. Could make sense if another target isnt available until next summer. Klopp would get the best out of him, and he has good pace and is very good one on one. That is essential in how we set up.
Decent short term option.

Umtiti:
Seems to be out of favour at Barca and will be allowed to leave. We have been linked with a move in the media already. Not sure how good he is these days, but still only 26 and is left footed. Another possible short term loan?

Wily Boly:
Underrated defender who has been playing great for Wolves. 29 years old, but only has 6 months left on his contract come January. Will probably sign a new deal though.

Tyron Mings:
Has impressed greatly during the start of the season. Looks a top defender and has all but every quality attribute you would want. English premium though, so would cost a fucking fortune.
Left footed aswell.

Aside from the quality, which obviously needs to be excellent, I think we've got two strategies: one is to go for a 30+ experienced player who is looking for one more big move, will slot right in immediately but won't block the progress of our promising young CBs; the other is to really go for a great younger talent who won't just fill-in for Virge but will also partner him for a few years.

But I don't who'd we could get in either category; FSG would need to get seriously drunk to countenance spending much on the former type of player, and they'd surely be really cautious about paying way over the odds in January for the kind of player we could probably do a better deal for later on.

So that suggests to me the rather grim prospect of going for lesser, cheaper talents. And that suggests an older player who'll probably be shipped back out as soon as VVD returns.
 
Was there any truth to the rumours over the summer of Ben White being a long term target. Maybe a more experienced CB is the better option now but if hes on the short list we cant rule it out

As I said in the Gini thread and Wijinaldum for Umtiti swap makes sense for all parties
 
I doubt the club will spend more than £10m on a defender, the cash isn't there, if it does venture into the markets
 
Was there any truth to the rumours over the summer of Ben White being a long term target. Maybe a more experienced CB is the better option now but if hes on the short list we cant rule it out

As I said in the Gini thread and Wijinaldum for Umtiti swap makes sense for all parties
Will only make sense if we add cash on top, his contract does not end till June 2023
 
Brighton rejected multiple bids by Leeds for White. I think Leeds went up to 30 million.

I doubt Brighton will let him go mid season unless we cough up a hefty sum (think 40 million plus).
 
Is he worth 40-50 mill? I havent seen to many of Brightons games, but they've shipped quite a few goals and his ratings havent been particularly good.
 
We'd get bummed to a VVD like fee but Koulibaly is the one for me, pace & strength are prerequisites to play both in this league and our system, he has both

The idea of having those two with alisson behind sounds like what this team needs to stay at the top for years to come
 
Tyron Mings:
Has impressed greatly during the start of the season. Looks a top defender and has all but every quality attribute you would want. English premium though, so would cost a fucking fortune.
Left footed aswell.

I mentioned it in the other thread, but if we want to raid Aston Villa, I'd be going for Konsa, who's played a big part in their defensive solidity so far this season. He's strong, quick and has great balance and composure. He's also very comfortable on the ball. Very much doubt Villa will be willing to do business, but he's a fantastic prospect.
 
I mentioned it in the other thread, but if we want to raid Aston Villa, I'd be going for Konsa, who's played a big part in their defensive solidity so far this season. He's strong, quick and has great balance and composure. He's also very comfortable on the ball. Very much doubt Villa will be willing to do business, but he's a fantastic prospect.
I agree with your analysis of Konsa, I just feels Mings reads and organises the defence better, and that's what we will need with VVD out
 
A couple of other players worth mentioning, both of whose contracts are expiring in 18 months.

Luiz Felipe Ramos at Lazio. 23 year old Brazilian CB. 187 cm. Quick and aggressive player, good at duels. Not really a van Dijk replacement but more someone who can compete with Gomez long-term. Should fit in well with our Brazilian contingent as well, and agent Lucas should certainly help as well. I think Lazio are open to selling because Leeds wanted him this summer, but couldn't match his 38 million euro price. Worth looking out for him in the CL this year.

Nikola Melinkovic at Fiorentina. 23 year old Serbian CB. A giant at 195 cm, but he's not exactly the van Dijk type organiser. He's more the aggressive front foot reactive defender. Again you look to him to be a long-term Matip replacement. Inter Milan wanted him as a replacement for Skriniar but the Skriniar to Spurs deal fell through. Fiorentina wanted 35 million euros. With 18 months left on his contract, he's someone who should be available.

Worth mentioning that both players are used to a very different tactical system (and are still relatively young), so will certainly need a period of adjustment both to our system and to the Premier League.
 
Brighton rejected multiple bids by Leeds for White. I think Leeds went up to 30 million.

I doubt Brighton will let him go mid season unless we cough up a hefty sum (think 40 million plus).
Brighton didn't want to sell to someone who they perceive to be a direct rival in a relegation scrap.
 
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