Summer Clear-out

[Frogfish]

Listening to Chris Bascombe, Graeme Kelly etc. on The Red Room podcast, these are the 8/9 players they think will go unless the players dig their heels in and refuse a transfer :

Balotelli, Borini, Jones, Gerrard, Johnson and/or Toure, Enrique, Lambert and Lucas (it seems he still has his heart set on Inter Milan though this could change if he's now a guaranteed starter here).

He's convinced Sterling, Flanno & Henderson's new deals will get done.

We are definitely interested in Ings, and Ryan .. but United are also looking at Ings. He's heard nothing about Pjanic, Niangolan etc.

 

[Buddha]

Read this morning that Lambert agreed a 2.5 year deal at Villa on deadline day but 'needed more time to make a decision'.

This 4 months (in which he'll play roughly 200 minutes) will cost us about 4-5m in wages and lost fees in the summer. Cheers Ricky.

 

[red_maradona]

Read this morning that Lambert agreed a 2.5 year deal at Villa on deadline day but 'needed more time to make a decision'.

This 4 months (in which he'll play roughly 200 minutes) will cost us about 4-5m in wages and lost fees in the summer. Cheers Ricky.

Almost as bad a Borini refusing to go to qpr for 13m.

 

[red_maradona]

good riddance:
alberto (3m)
aspas (5m)
coates (3m)
borini (6m)
lambert (2m)
enrique (2m)
toure (free)
jones (free)

Keep:
Wisdom
Illori

Sell if price is right:
Lucas (12m)
Allen (10m)
Ballo (12m)

 

[Best Believe It]

Read this morning that Lambert agreed a 2.5 year deal at Villa on deadline day but 'needed more time to make a decision'.

This 4 months (in which he'll play roughly 200 minutes) will cost us about 4-5m in wages and lost fees in the summer. Cheers Ricky.

Fuck me. He's signed for his boyhood club in the summer, a chance he didn't think would come round (certainly not at 32 years old), is a hardworking pro who has scored goals for us, is happy being backup and has nothing approaching a negative attitude around the club and you're slating him for not wanting to move to Aston Villa, one of the worst teams in European Football after only six months at the club because it will cost us a bit of cash?

 

[peterhague]

I don't think I'll ever get over us losing out on that money for Borini. That might have been the difference between us signing a really good striker and Balotelli. And that might have been the difference between top 4 and not.

So basically his 'loyalty' could cost us £100m+.

 

[cloggypop]

Yeah, we could have got Falcao.

 

[peterhague]

He's been really poor this year tbf.

 

[Hansern]

I can understand Lambert. I would have done the same thing.

Borini? Still cant get over the fact that he didn't leave. If Rodgers told him his chances would be limited it just seems as a very unwise career move. Probably taken by his girlfriend.

 

[cloggypop]

I would be well pissed off if we were paying him 300K a week. Hopefully they have to buy him now for 40+ million.

 

[Mystic]

I would be well pissed off if we were paying him 300K a week. Hopefully they have to buy him now for 40+ million.

Wasn't it reported in the summer that part of the agreement was that they had to buy him this summer? The only reason they hadn't bought him straight out was because of FFP or something along those lines?

 

[Brizzle]

If QPR had bought Borini would they still have bought Austin? I don't know exactly when Austin joined in comparion to the Borini saga. They have probably been better off with Austin who was a lot cheaper!

 

[Mystic]

If QPR had bought Borini would they still have bought Austin? I don't know exactly when Austin joined in comparion to the Borini saga. They have probably been better off with Austin who was a lot cheaper!

Did he join the summer / winter before?

 

[Brizzle]

You're probably right... I heard some comments about him joining QPR from Burnley during a game on TV and assumed he'd be part of Burnley's promotion winning side.

 

[cloggypop]

Wasn't it reported in the summer that part of the agreement was that they had to buy him this summer? The only reason they hadn't bought him straight out was because of FFP or something along those lines?

A few papers were reporting it as a four year done deal. It was supposedly from Jorge Mendes but via Guillem Ballbag. Hopefully true but may well not be.

 

[hmmmmm1]

Compressed to seasons gone by at least we don't have load of deadwood to get rid of, with Johnson/Jones/Gerrard out of contract and the rest (excluding balo) we would be lucky to get 15 million for.

 

[peterhague]

Wasn't it reported in the summer that part of the agreement was that they had to buy him this summer? The only reason they hadn't bought him straight out was because of FFP or something along those lines?

That would be incredibly funny if true.


As for our deadwood, I read somewhere that Aspas is already a done deal to Sevilla for 6m euros. I'd hope for at least £10m for Borini and Lambert, plus the £5m for Assaidi already secured. Johnson and Gerrard will free up another £14m or so a year in wages.

That's not a bad little kitty to be starting off with.

 

[Silver Sean]

I think we'll sell some players and we'll buy some players. Hope this helps.

 

[hmmmmm1]

Wasn't it reported in the summer that part of the agreement was that they had to buy him this summer? The only reason they hadn't bought him straight out was because of FFP or something along those lines?

Think they have first option to sign rather have to sign him.

 

[TheRedCrusade]

I would keep all three of Balotelli, Allen and Lucas...I have always said that it is never a good idea to make wholesale changes in the team in one season. We really Need experience at the club when Gerrard leaves. Also Balotelli needs one more season to prove himself. I think he will come good

 

[tony]

I don't think I'll ever get over us losing out on that money for Borini. That might have been the difference between us signing a really good striker and Balotelli. And that might have been the difference between top 4 and not.

So basically his 'loyalty' could cost us £100m+.

I would have liked to like that 100 times!

He should have been told in no uncertain terms he was unwanted and had no future here, sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind.

 

[Judge Jules]

We don't know he wasn't though. Whatever the words used, I wouldn't imagine he was left in any real doubt about it. The irony of course is that we've had to use him this season after all (and that even he's looked better than Balotelli, until recently anyway).

 

[Buddha]

Fuck me. He's signed for his boyhood club in the summer, a chance he didn't think would come round (certainly not at 32 years old), is a hardworking pro who has scored goals for us, is happy being backup and has nothing approaching a negative attitude around the club and you're slating him for not wanting to move to Aston Villa, one of the worst teams in European Football after only six months at the club because it will cost us a bit of cash?

Yep.

So I should go easy on him because it's his 'boyhood' club? Great, give him a contract extension for being so pleased to be at the club. Don't worry about the fact he's well past his best, is completely ill suited to our style of play and pat him on the back for not having a 'negative attitude'.

Whatever you think of Villa (and they're not 'one of the worst teams in European football' eh), it's more his level and he'd get more chances of playing at the twilight of his career.

But hey, at least we're making his dream come true this year whilst shelling out roughly 7m in fee + wages. The fact that he's likely to contribute fuck all for the rest of the season whilst we could have invested the 5m elsewhere is by the by eh.

 

[Frogfish]

Not his problem Buddha. He's every right to think of himself and if being here (and on the bench at least for most games, if not getting 10-20 mins) makes great memories for him then that's his decision.

 

[Buddha]

Ditto Borini then too. But he doesn't get cut much slack for staying.

Granted, I've not fancied Lambert from early in the season and think more negatively about him than most. But granting him his dream twilight year is costing us having a better option on the bench and 7m that could be invested elsewhere. As much as he seems a likeable sort off the pitch, I'm more interested in the team being best prepared in a difficult enough season already.

I'm not getting the sentimentality about a player who's been here 5 minutes and looks well out of his depth.

 

[Frogfish]

Yep. I said the same thing re. Borini. No matter how much we, or the club, want him gone, it's his career and his decision. The club signed him on a contract for X years at X amount. That's an employment contract. He's entitled to see it out, no matter how that affects his career long-term.

Same goes for Lambert. It's our tough shit we made poor decision-making in signing them in the first place.

 

[StevieM]

Well probably hang on to Lambert for another year while Origi is bedding in.

Illori will probably replace Toure - in the reserves at least. Think Toure us out if contract as well.

Milner to replace Gerrard and a cracking new keeper - keep Mingy as backup.

That'll probably leave us enough cash to sign one big name ready to go, world class player - although not sure for which position - unless it's a Balotelli replacement.

 

[Frogfish]

The biggest worry for us at the moment is not making Top 4. Players want the CL ... 2nd last season and say 4th this (plus doing very well in the EL and winning the FAC) would make us a very attractive option but as we are seeing, world class players don't want to come to Anfield and aspiring, mostly Latin, players (wanting to go to Real/Barca) would rather stay in situ with a smaller/less successful team, but that are still playing in the CL, and wait for an approach than chance a few seasons here where CL is not guaranteed.

 

[Molbystwin]

I can understand Lambert. I would have done the same thing.

Borini? Still cant get over the fact that he didn't leave. If Rodgers told him his chances would be limited it just seems as a very unwise career move. Probably taken by his girlfriend.

I read an interesting article about Lambert just before Christmas where he said his attitude on arrival was all wrong. In as much as being a journeyman player who had come good he assumed that he was just a backup player...like eveyone else.... but that is instantly the wrong way to think on arriving at a new club... he should have had in his head to nail down a first team place and be the best player on the books in his position.

 

[Frogfish]

Liverpool FC transfer news today suggests Brendan Rodgers is set to fast-track the signing of Shakhtar Donetsk star Luis Adriano with other clubs sniffing around.
Liverpool have been scouting Brazilian hitman Adriano for months and had been planning to sign him on a free transfer next January, when his deal with Shakhtar runs out.
But reports say Arsenal and Juventus are sniffing around him, and Liverpool are now ready to make an offer and try to hurry through the transfer.
A fast, powerful and free-scoring striker, Adriano is rated at £7.5million.