Your last point is fair ... I am enjoying this - like crazy, but I just don't want to miss on this opportunity.
I hope your point re: werner is right ...
FSG owe us more ...
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Your last point is fair ... I am enjoying this - like crazy, but I just don't want to miss on this opportunity.
I hope your point re: werner is right ...
[article]Liverpool's coronation as Premier League champions may now be just two weeks away, yet the events of the last week should have set alarm bells ringing for the club's expectant fans.
As RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner saw his long-running campaign to engineer a move to Anfield come to a sudden end, when Liverpool's American owners refused to pay his €60million release clause on financial grounds, long-standing questions over the club's eagerness to compete for the world's top players boiled to the surface once again.
Even though these are unfathomable times for a sport so badly ravaged by the financial implications of the Covid-19 crisis, Liverpool's first salvo in this revised football landscape did not bode well for what lay ahead.
With 25 goals to his name in Germany's Bundesliga this season, 24-year-old Werner is a proven marksman who would boast a resale value that appeared to make his switch to Merseyside look like a deal that suited all parties.
Yet after video talks with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and a clear desire to join the Premier League champions-in-waiting, confirmation arrived earlier this week that the finances were not in place for Liverpool to complete the deal.
Chelsea quickly became the next option for Werner and a five-year-deal, worth over €10m for each of those seasons, was agreed with one of Europe's most wanted strikers, leaving Klopp and Liverpool to ponder what might have been.
Now the post-mortem on the biggest transfer of the summer has begun and Liverpool insiders have not tried to disguise the reality that a lack of financial firepower was the primary reason why they have allowed a team that may soon be equipped to challenge them, domestically and in Europe, to snatch a goal-scoring A-lister.
The Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Liverpool's American owners, did not consider a €60m deal for a player who may not be a first-choice starter in Klopp's team to be financially prudent in these uncertain times and the Liverpool manager has now revealed why his club could not justify the investment in Werner.
"All clubs are losing money," began Klopp. "How do I discuss with the players about things like salary waivers and on the other hand buy a player for £50-60m? We'd have to explain.
"If you want to take it seriously and run a normal business you depend on income. We have no idea how much the club will earn, especially because we don't know when we can start playing in front of spectators again.
"At the moment, without spectators, we have to pay back on season tickets and probably sell none next year. At least maybe the first 10 or 15 games. VIP areas won't be packed and tickets won't be sold."
With FSG investing heavily in making improvements to the club's Anfield home and bankrolling a £50m project to build a state-of-the-art training base in Kirkby, investment in new players does not appear to be at the top of their agenda.
They may not be alone in counting the cost of the Covid-19 shutdown, with news that Tottenham have been forced to take out a £175m loan from the Bank of England to avoid financial meltdown, highlighting the scale of the crisis gripping even the most affluent of clubs.
Yet in a summer that will see Liverpool activate their new multi-million-pound kit deal with Nike and also collect a huge windfall from their Premier League title-winning success, owners of the club that made a pre-tax profit of £42m and increased turnover to £533m last season appear to be reluctant to roll the dice to maintain their position of dominance.
Klopp's triumph in guiding the club to the Champions League title and imminent Premier League glory are all the more remarkable when you glance at the club's net spend in the transfer market over the last five years – which ranks Liverpool as only the 14th highest spenders in the Premier League.
Brighton, Wolves, Bournemouth, West Ham, Aston Villa, Leicester, Watford and even penny-pinching Newcastle owner Mike Ashley have offered up more cash to spend than Klopp has been given by FSG, with Liverpool's recruitment since 2015.
Analysis of Liverpool's transfer activity confirms the sales of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona (£142m in January 2018), Dominic Solanke (£19m to Bournemouth in January 2019) and Danny Ings to Southampton (£18m last summer) have funded the big-money signings of defender Virgil van Dijk, goalkeeper Alisson and midfielder Naby Keita, with the Anfield club frugal in their spending despite their position of prominence in the European game.
Klopp's failure to make any major signings last summer was evidence of a lack of finances at his disposal, yet he seemed keen to push for the signing of his compatriot Werner until the shutters came down on the deal from FSG.
Those controlling Liverpool's finances need to be wary of overseeing a stagnation for Klopp's team of history makers, with Manchester United's sustained success under Alex Ferguson's guidance based around a policy of adding to his squad after a trophy-winning season.
So if Liverpool want to build on the momentum they built over the last two seasons, their transfer activity over the next 18 months will be crucial and their decision on the Werner signing suggests FSG are not ready to spend big to protect their current status.
Rumours that Liverpool are eyeing up a move for Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe and reports in Spain suggesting they may look to sign Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele now seem fanciful after the Werner deal evaporated.
After waiting 30 years for an English league title, what happens next may dictate whether this season's triumph will be a sign of things to come.
Chelsea will undoubtedly be stronger after spending £100m to sign Werner and Ajax midfield playmaker Hakim Ziyech, while Manchester's big two are certain to use their financial muscle to strengthen their resources in a transfer window that is likely to see a majority of club diluting their ambitions.
The soon to be kings of English football should not be opening the door for their rivals to knock them off the perch they have waited so long to remount, but that could be the scenario facing Liverpool if their owners refuse to loosen their purse strings.[/article]
This line sums it all up for me.
There is a great deal wrong with that article, the main one being the author's blithely waving off the financial implications of the current crisis. A crisis which has has seen every one of Liverpool's revenue streams take a hit. That also includes that "huge" Nike deal.
The club misses out on one player whose fee it thought was too high and the sky has fallen with its entering a period of stagnation? We don't even know who is going to be relegated and which players are going to be available as result. And that's just in England.
The club misses out on one player whose fee it thought was too high and the sky has fallen with its entering a period of stagnation? We don't even know who is going to be relegated and which players are going to be available as result. And that's just in England.
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I agree - I don’t think there’s enough info about what the landscape will look like in a few months, let alone long term.
In most other industries, the expectation would be that plans would change and investment reassessed.
Chelsea & Man City, along with a few others would be the exceptions because they can be bankrolled by private income.
Statista has match day revenue accounting for 15%, broadcasting 50% and other commercial revenue 35% of total revenue.
Now doesn’t feel like the time to be buying players - unfortunately.
In most other industries, the expectation would be that plans would change and investment reassessed.
Chelsea & Man City, along with a few others would be the exceptions because they can be bankrolled by private income.
Statista has match day revenue accounting for 15%, broadcasting 50% and other commercial revenue 35% of total revenue.
Now doesn’t feel like the time to be buying players - unfortunately.
Well klopp is far more reasonable and far more persuasive than the average Liverpool supporter. Thank God.
It’s almost as though the Manager is holding a balanced and realistic position that’s easily understandable.
Eh?
You’ve lost me there.
Thinking it’s a good idea to hold off spending huge sums of money in the middle of a global pandemic that’s instigating a global recession is hardly an odd position.
Quite what any of that has to do with Benitez, I have no idea.
The two situations are not really comparable.
One set of owners were incompetent, and openly bickering. They were ruined by being way overleveraged and aggressive, due to foreseeable economic downturn.
The others have run things reasonably well, and are evaluating spending in the context of hugely reduced revenue due to a pandemic.
The managers are different too, of course.
We really need to lose this strange focus on LFC in isolation. All clubs have taken a hit. All clubs are affected by the financial implications. But many clubs, who had less in the bank than LFC before this started, will still be looking to strengthen. At some point, when the market is stabler and more transparent, the transfer deals will start again, and at that point LFC will need to decide if it really is Liverpool or merely Leicester, and thus either take part or risk surrendering their advantage - and, let's be clear, if this club does not consolidate on winning the title, THAT will lead to a big financial hit, and a loss of commercial appeal, and a loss of player appeal, and a loss of earnings. So the insular stuff can continue, but it's not a more sophisticated take on the situation, it's a cruder one.
People like to take the piss out of "fat" Sam, but I admire him and what he did at Bolton with so little money. Maybe we should that a leaf out of his book and bring in a few players on loan.
Or we can look for one quality player next season and make that one buy... Just saying
Or we can look for one quality player next season and make that one buy... Just saying
Ok now I'm worried.
This makes no sense. Loans are for lower clubs looking to get players on the cheap or in emergencies for bigger clubs. There is probably not one loan player available who would be available that would improve our squad (unless they're at a club that wants them off the wage bill but that should tell you what you need to know anyway)
Which is all true - but other than Chelsea’s indication that they’re willing to spend without pause, on the back of a transfer ban, it appears most clubs are holding off pushing ahead with transfer.
What if transfer market prices nose dive once clubs start to look for cash flow quickly - what point will have been made by us paying a pre-Covid Price?
I agree entirely that, at the time the market starts, we’ll have to show our intentions clearly - but this isn’t the time, so why should we do it now?
We don’t even know when the transfer window is. What if we agreed the fee, signed the player then does his ACL?
We just don’t want to go mad and spunk what cash we have till we know who we are actually getting rid off and where to strengthen.
We just don’t want to go mad and spunk what cash we have till we know who we are actually getting rid off and where to strengthen.
I think the game has changed. Might not be news but it's about who has the most spending power now. Maybe we lucked out and got 3-4 star players just before their peak, but to keep up with City, Chelsea and Man U we need to keep getting the big talents (yeah we're miles ahead of two of them now but do we really want to let them back in?).
Latest signing Minamino, was a very shrewd signing but we have no idea how it's gonna work out for him. Dortmund went all out and bought Haaland, paid the excessive "extra fees" and he looks like a fucking goal machine.
My point is, I don't think penny pinching will serve us well in the long term and our team is slowly getting older. Look at Tottenham.
Latest signing Minamino, was a very shrewd signing but we have no idea how it's gonna work out for him. Dortmund went all out and bought Haaland, paid the excessive "extra fees" and he looks like a fucking goal machine.
My point is, I don't think penny pinching will serve us well in the long term and our team is slowly getting older. Look at Tottenham.
Imo we will go bargain hunting from some clubs who appear to be fucked.
The talks of Cantwell for 30m may turn out to be 10m pretty soon
The talks of Cantwell for 30m may turn out to be 10m pretty soon
I suspect that is what will happen. Players from relegated clubs and maybe even championship talents who are going to go for very cheap as their clubs will be in serious financial trouble.
This will almost certainly happen, along with some bright prospects from the Championship at clubs who are suddenly staring into the abyss. But having spent nothing last season there was huge expectation that we need to reinforce in key positions.
oooh..bargains. Bet we're grealishing the prospects
There doesn't have to be anything wrong with bargains. Robertson was a steal, Matip and Milner were free.
I think you missed his grealishing point. Bargain or not, I don't want that hair anywhere near Anfield
You can ignore it all you like, but this is how American Sports Franchises calculate their outgoings, and it’s what our owners have done all along (ie consider the entire liability of the signing Including the players contract. It’s arguably a useful way of avoiding the Leeds Utd situation smacking you in the arse)
So were Coutinho and Sturridge.
Interesting-- I've just read that Spurs signed Heung Min-son because it wouldn't pay the full fee for Saido Berahino.
In my view, the wages you pay are a better (not perfect) indicator of the talent you have than transfer fees. By all accounts Liverpool has a fairly hefty bill, north of £300 million. That wage bill would seem to mirror our position in the league, no?
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