Sadio Mane

[mark1975]

On paper it's a simple question however why didn't United, Chelsea, City, Spurs or Arsenal or for that matter even Bayern, Juventus, PSG (best placed), Atletico, Barca or Real pick up Kante or Payet ?
The answer probably lies in they, like us, can only take so many gambles, sometimes they pay off others times they don't. We can't beat ourselves up for missing out on gems of that quality.

It's not really a valid comparison when all of those teams can buy and compete for the best players on the market. We can't, which is exactly why we should have the transfer nous and scouting set up to spot these sort of players. Those other teams don't necessarily need to, bar Atletico & Spurs, who arguably make these sort of purchases anyway.

 

[Frogfish]

It's not really a valid comparison when all of those teams can buy and compete for the best players on the market. We can't, which is exactly why we should have the transfer nous and scouting set up to spot these sort of players. Those other teams don't necessarily need to, bar Atletico & Spurs, who arguably make these sort of purchases anyway.

Yet both Kante and Payet are hot property now and even PSG missed them - and one would assume they have the best L1 scouting network.

It's just not as easy as some may believe. Maybe another 30 foreign players will arrive this Summer. And only a couple, if even that, will hit those heights. All a gamble.

 

[Arn]

My point about Rodgers is that he allowed the committee to push him around. He wasn't strong enough to say no to them. Everyone know the result, a mess.

Klopp will never allow any committee to push him around. That means that we won't be in that situation with Klopp as our manager. If we would have signed Mane with Rodgers as manager then it is a big chance that he would be played out of position or not played at all if he was a committee signing. If we sign Mane this summer then he would strenghten the squad and played in a position that is the best for the team and make the team stronger.

Klopp will build his team, not a mix of his and any committee team, he will build his team. You can be 100% sure of that.

Mane will get a much fairer chance than many of our signing the last few years. Markovic will get a fair chance. He didn't get any chance at all so far with us but now he will get it. Klopp used him as a toy in his war against the committee. Klopp won't use any player as a toy. You can be 100% sure about that.

This will be the first year since Houllier that the manager will be able to build his squad. He will decide how it will look.

 

[mark1975]

Yet both Kante and Payet are hot property now and even PSG missed them - and one would assume they have the best L1 scouting network.

It's just not as easy as some may believe. Maybe another 30 foreign players will arrive this Summer. And only a couple, if even that, will hit those heights. All a gamble.

I agree that it's not simple, I'm just saying two things really. We can do alot better in the transfer market, and our current strategy and setup is proven to be flawed.

 

[manwithnoname]

My point about Rodgers is that he allowed the committee to push him around. He wasn't strong enough to say no to them. Everyone know the result, a mess.

Klopp will never allow any committee to push him around. That means that we won't be in that situation with Klopp as our manager. If we would have signed Mane with Rodgers as manager then it is a big chance that he would be played out of position or not played at all if he was a committee signing. If we sign Mane this summer then he would strenghten the squad and played in a position that is the best for the team and make the team stronger.

Klopp will build his team, not a mix of his and any committee team, he will build his team. You can be 100% sure of that.

Mane will get a much fairer chance than many of our signing the last few years. Markovic will get a fair chance. He didn't get any chance at all so far with us but now he will get it. Klopp used him as a toy in his war against the committee. Klopp won't use any player as a toy. You can be 100% sure about that.

This will be the first year since Houllier that the manager will be able to build his squad. He will decide how it will look.

Shut up Arn

 

[binomial]

Mane Firmino Coutinho
Studge/Origi

Thats pretty boss in all honesty. The Firmino and Origi hate is strange. Very strange.

Don't feed the haters, he questions if we're proper fans then he calls 3/4 of our team crap....

Laughable really.

 

[Hansern]

It really fucks me off when people say "why didn't we just sign him for £10million two years ago" as if the player just sits on their arse and doesn't improve in the two years they spend at Southampton. It's such a nonsense argument, we buy expensive from Southampton because they've improved the player to a level where they can walk into our team by giving him the first team time we wouldn't have, and also they have taken the risk and proved that the player can adapt to the premier league, it's hardly like they all do, I don't see any of you clamouring that we should have signed Dani Osvaldo after all.

You missed the point mate, as the others have said. We were interested in him 2 years ago but decided not to sign him.
We bought Markovic and Lallana instead for 45 mill £. Neither have the "winger qualities" Mane would have added to the squad.

Rodgers didnt seem to have a plan or a clue about how to build his squad. But thats another discussion.

We bought the wrong players, for more money than neccessary, and we have done that repeatedly.

Not that we definetly should have bought Mane either, but there were other more suitable options out there.

 

[Zlate]

Read a report he has agreed a 4 year contract with us, all that's left is for us to agree a fee.

 

[Whirly]

I don't know if you can lump Payet in with Kante/Kane in this discussion.

Payet's been a known entity for years in world football.

 

[Judge Jules]

Not to dispute that directly, but I did hear a French journo say on the radio a day or two ago that he's amazed French fans with his displays so far and that they couldn't believe how well he's done.

 

[Mystic]

It's not really a nonsense argument, it's the crux of the point. Southampton bought him for £10m two years ago. Why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we finding these players at that stage, instead of a couple of years later when they have had their price grossly inflated thanks to a relatively short spell of good form? I think that's a fair argument.

Like I said, people are already talking up this midfield lad we've bought as a shrewd piece of business, so for all this clever talent spotting for a pittance (that's failed so many times, it's untrue), why the fuck do we repeatedly feel the need to supplement that, or rather completely undo it, by blowing a wad at a bloated Premiership transfer? It's a strategy that's failed so many times, it's nigh on impossible to back it up as being good business OR football sense.

It's only a nonsense argument if you take a binary view of it, like you have.

Did one year at Leicester turn Kante into a 25m superstar? His improvement so fucking amazing that he's now an international and everyone from PSG to Arsenal interested?

What about Payet? Totally unknown until playing under managerial genius Bilic and world class talent like Noble and Tomkins improved his skills so much that Real want him?

Both sides of the argument have merit; our scouting is either risk-averse or just shit. Perhaps we have different (wrong) sets of criteria. Maybe it's all of these things.

And saying we buy players that have been improved to such a level that they could 'walk' into our team is risible, since about half the regular first team squad shouldn't be in our first team.

Lots of players haven't improved themselves. They've just proved themselves.

I kind of covered that in the taking the risk side part of my post, Southampton take the risks that we aren't prepared too, or really need to as we can afford the "finished" article, as mentioned, our scouting is risk adverse, and that's because we're frankly loaded, it makes more sense for us to let someone else take the risk. As for Mane, if he joined us two years ago, he wouldn't be the player he is today as he wouldn't have got in the team ahead of Sterling, Coutinho, Firmino, etc, and that first team time is essential for a players development. The reason I think it's a nonsense argument is because people want us to sign these players for the first team, but they want us to sign them at a stage when they haven't fully shown they're that player, that approach would only work with the benefit of hindsight, or with luck because all the scouting in the world wouldn't have proved that Payet would have had the season he just did, and look at the average season Mahrez had the season before. Just imagine if two years ago (ignore who we actually signed) we signed Divock Origi as our main centre forward, as our marquee signing, there would have been riots on the forum!

 

[Hansern]

I kind of covered that in the taking the risk side part of my post, Southampton take the risks that we aren't prepared too, or really need to as we can afford the "finished" article, as mentioned, our scouting is risk adverse, and that's because we're frankly loaded, it makes more sense for us to let someone else take the risk. As for Mane, if he joined us two years ago, he wouldn't be the player he is today as he wouldn't have got in the team ahead of Sterling, Coutinho, Firmino, etc, and that first team time is essential for a players development. The reason I think it's a nonsense argument is because people want us to sign these players for the first team, but they want us to sign them at a stage when they haven't fully shown they're that player, that approach would only work with the benefit of hindsight, or with luck because all the scouting in the world wouldn't have proved that Payet would have had the season he just did, and look at the average season Mahrez had the season before. Just imagine if two years ago (ignore who we actually signed) we signed Divock Origi as our main centre forward, as our marquee signing, there would have been riots on the forum!

We spent twice that money on Markovic. For just those reasons you argue against.
How Mane would have developed or not in a Liverpool side during those 2 years is impossible to say.

 

[Oncy]

Mane scores goals.

 

[willby]

I honestly forgot all about him. We'll do well to get 7 or 8mil and get him off the books.

Not until after the preseason though. I genuinely believe Markovic is a talented footballer, just need to grow some balls first, thats all.

 

[livvy145]

LFC’s £30m bid for Sadio Mane has been accepted by Southampton. Mane will have medical on Monday.

Bascombe

 

[HC]

That's big money.

I actually like mane and think he could do well here but £30m? Hes surely never going to be worth that to the club.

 

[livvy145]

Apparently we're after Hector too for £20m. Good times ahead

 

[Arn]

That's big money.

I actually like mane and think he could do well here but £30m? Hes surely never going to be worth that to the club.

Southampton don't need the money because of the new TV deal so their players will be much more expensive. £30m isn't that much money for them. Then you will also have to think about that we are buying the player from an English club and that most probably means that we pay the transfer fee in pounds and the pound isn't worth as much now as a few days ago because of Brexit.

 

[Hansern]

30 mill £ is a lot of money no matter how you dress it up.

 

[cloggypop]

It's only a Troy Deeney

 

[livvy145]

Less than a Benteke

 

[Hansern]

You can get two Manés for one Di Maria aswell

 

[Whirly]

30M is a good figure considering lately the number sounded a lot more like 40M. Happy with that.

 

[Mystic]

£25million would have been my limit, but hey ho, it's not my cash.

 

[hmmmmm1]

We can get at least 10 goals from in midfield and add another 10 or so from frim and the t team starts to take shape

 

[mom]

I'd like to know what we're paying him.

 

[Gary25]

Great signing this. He'll rip it up.

 

[Mystic]

Right I'm going to go into optimism mode as this looks like it's on, he's quick, a good if not consistent finisher, and fit the role of goal scoring wide player I've been banging on about for ages. Working with Klopp from the start of preseason alongside Coutinho (is he still leaving?), Sturridge, Origi, Firmino and Lallana, this could be good.

 

[Gary25]

I suspect this'll be our only attacking signing.
Think Kloppo will be content enough with Lallana Coutinho Mane Firmino Sturridge Origi Ings as his options in the final third.
Would expect Ibe and Markovic to leave especially as we've no European Football next season - not gonna be enough games for everyone.

 

[Gary25]

And Benteke too, obvs.

The worry is we'd still be massively dependant on a fragile Sturridge. Aside from that we're relying on Origi to continue the form he showed in flashes prior to his injury and Ings to come back strong from his long lay off.

I do think there's goals in this team now though. It's a lot healthier looking than it was when we had Balotelli Lambert and Borini ambling around the forward line 18-24 months ago.