2 million is pocket change. We need to get rid of dross though.
Berahinho
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English please, Modo.
Assuming Modo is referring to Balotelli, despite the evidence to the contrary that was still a legitimate gamble at a decent price. Balotelli at £30m would have been crazy but at £16m he was a risk worth taking. If the worst does indeed come to the worst we'll get our money back on him. There is no comparison with Berahinho.
I assume he's talking about Lallana ... again.
We've had this exact discussion bout benteke. Nah
In which case he's still wrong...again.
Hmm...ok.
The only top strikers who were plausibly within our reach this summer were Cavani and Benzema. But Zlatan has since gotten injured, and Benzema has signed a new deal with Real. There's really no one else in top 5-10 strikers in the world who we could get.
We're best looking at the next rung - upcoming strikers - but those who have 2-3 years of first team experience already. In that category, Aubameyang and Lacazette are the stand out candidates, and I've advocated signing one of them for a while now. Both should be available (Dortmund are struggling, and Lacazette is due a big move anyway), and are the sort who'll develop into very good strikers (if not world class). There are players with similar profiles in lower leagues - like Finnbogason in Holland and Kramaric in Croatia - but I don't count them as having enough top flight experience.
The likes of Berahino, Origi, Alcacer, Icardi on the other hand are a bit too undeveloped for me right now to take a punt and place our hopes on. They've just had about a year of first team football.
There's then a third category - the likes of Doumbia, Jackson Martinez and Luiz Adriano - they've been around for a while and are proven goalscorers. But they're all 27+, and haven't yet made a move to a big club. Not sure what the reasons are, but I don't think it's very wise to waste money trying to find out.
The complicating factor in this is Origi. Brendan clearly rates him highly, so will he want to spend that big on a player who could restrict origi's game time?
Don't think that should be a consideration at all. With Sturridge being as injury prone as he is, we can easily carry 4 strikers in the squad, especially if we go with 2 up front.
Finnbogason moved to Sociedad in the summer; hasn't played much though. I don't think he fits our profile from what I've seen of him anyway; good finisher, but he doesn't look that pacy nor crafty.
I wonder how much patience Rodgers has for Balotelli. He made up his mind pretty quickly on Carroll, while Borini's and Aspas' fates were pretty much decided after a season. Only a couple of months left for him to make up his mind.
If we decide against buying anyone, it would still be good if we could work out an arrangement with Lille that involves Origi coming back in January in exchange for a loan or permanent move for Borini. Wishful thinking, I know.
Man, you're obsessed with Reus.
I just want the player our club deserves.
Me too, I hate to burst your bubble though....Reus will never join us.
All the players I've wanted to sign these past five years, Cavani, Jovetic, Hazard, Aguero etc joined other teams.
Is there a lazier strain of journalism than this bollocks. Decent young player has a few good games and suddenly it's nailed on we're buying him.
While I don't think it should be an issue I agree with this 100%.
Assuming we're top 4 this season there's no problem carrying 4 strikers next season but I reckon Rodgers will be thinking he's got Origi next season so he just has to get us through this one. I hope not - I hope he breaks the bank for a top level goal scorer in January.
Not as our marquee player though.
So do I. CL qualification for next season is crucial IMHO.
I'd love either a Benzema and a Neymar myself pweeasseee.
I'd love us to sign a top top striker too. Unfortunately very unlikely to happen.
When was the last time we signed a top top player? Back in the 80's?
All our top players in the last 15-20 years joined us as "potential players": Xabi, Mascherano, Torres, Suarez etc.
And all of those players left us once their potential materialized and they became top top players.
We cannot compete against the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Citeh, PSG and (unfortunately) MU.
As for Berahino - I don't think he's similar to Origi (other than age and position). From what I've seen of both (and it's not an awful lot) they look like totally different players to me. Of the two I'd bet on Berahino being the more likely to succeed for us.
That's overcooked, jimmy. All the players you name were top players before we signed them, and there were unusual circumstances surrounding the departure of a couple of them. Let's not go overboard here.
Not sure I agree with you JJ.
Of course they were top players, but were still not considered at the same level as players like Benzema, Higauin, Costa, Aguero are now.
Xabi was young when he joined us (22) and was still not the Woeld class player he became while playing for us.
Mascherano was also very young (23) and came after playing for West Ham (ownership issues). He was very promising but still not the player he became with us.
Torres - Another 23 years old when he came to us. Probably the most established name of the 4. Yet, he was in Raul's shadow and only after coming to us he became Spain's main man (alongside Villa).
Suarez - for me the best player of those 4. Came to us at 24 from Ajax. Admittedly had a breakthrough in the 2010 WC, but was still far from the status he's now.
Again - each and every one of them was a great player before he joined us, and on the verge of breaking through, but none was considered world class (I'd dare saying that Balotelli was a "bigger name" than those 4 when he joined us)
That's the kind of players we shoould be looking at, and I think that Rodgers had that in mind when he signed Sakho, Markovic, Moreno and Origi.
Of course they were top players, but were still not considered at the same level as players like Benzema, Higauin, Costa, Aguero are now.
Xabi was young when he joined us (22) and was still not the Woeld class player he became while playing for us.
Mascherano was also very young (23) and came after playing for West Ham (ownership issues). He was very promising but still not the player he became with us.
Torres - Another 23 years old when he came to us. Probably the most established name of the 4. Yet, he was in Raul's shadow and only after coming to us he became Spain's main man (alongside Villa).
Suarez - for me the best player of those 4. Came to us at 24 from Ajax. Admittedly had a breakthrough in the 2010 WC, but was still far from the status he's now.
Again - each and every one of them was a great player before he joined us, and on the verge of breaking through, but none was considered world class (I'd dare saying that Balotelli was a "bigger name" than those 4 when he joined us)
That's the kind of players we shoould be looking at, and I think that Rodgers had that in mind when he signed Sakho, Markovic, Moreno and Origi.
Some of that is fair enough, but quite a lot isn't IMHO. The above significantly underestimates Mascher's status when we signed him - that was around the time he became captain of Argentina. Torres may have been overshadowed by Raul for Spain but he was already a big name in club football - ManUre had been scouting him for a while. Suarez was captain of Ajax, still one of Europe's premier clubs. Benzema doesn't always figure for Real and Higuain definitely doesn't have the rep he once had.
Let's agree to disagree.
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