He passes the eye test. Even when at city he looked good.
The new number 9…
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Nope. 36 in 103 appearances for City, 23 in 44 (incl. 7 in 10 in Europe) for Atletico. Aggressive, versatile, good finisher. Excellent player.
But he's not the prolific scorer to fill a Mo-sized hole in our attack now or in a couple years.
The price Atletico paid seemed steep to me but they seem happy. Paying a markup above that seems poor value.
If we're shipping a record fee, has to be Isak for me.
Maybe Lautaro Martinez should be in consideration? 114 in 233 Serie A matches, although just 18 in 53 Champions League games.
Isn’t he hitting Suarez numbers at the same age?
Might be a release clause, who knows
I'll tell you who knows; the Spreadsheet Squad
I do really like Alvarez as a player but not sure we can afford to pay 80M or whatever it is for a soon to b 26 year old with his stats in our position. Wish we'd have bought him out of Argentina though - City got a steal.
As for Martinez, I don't watch Serie A but I've never seen him play well for Argentina. He's like the Argie Timo Werner.
As for Martinez, I don't watch Serie A but I've never seen him play well for Argentina. He's like the Argie Timo Werner.
Alvarez turned 25 less than 2 months ago.
Dunno. I don't remember his age but I do know Suarez was scoring for fun in the Dutch league, which doesn't necessarily translate to England but does show that he knew how to find the net.
Agree on Martinez.
As for Alvarez, one thing we certainly cannot afford is buying someone for 80 mill who is a flop. After Darwin I am willing to spend a bit extra on the sure thing. As in sign if we get the chance!
He’s practically dead!
You have to look behind the numbers though given that he was rotation player at City and played in multiple positions, and he has only 6 penalty goals in his career in Europe (2 this season). For Atletico he mainly plays as striker.
Salah has 11 penalty goals this season, Haaland has 4 and Isak has 3.
This season he averages a goal every 122 mins as a striker for Atletico
For City: 22/23 every 148 mins (9 goals in 24 appearances as a striker), a goal every 155 mins
23/24 every 183 mins (10 goals in 23 appearances as a striker), a goal every 130 mins
For reference:
Isak averages a goal every 113 mins this season, 118 mins last season, 166 mins in 22/23.
Haaland every 118 mins this season
Etkitike every 145 mins this season
Sesko every 156 mins this season
Salah every 115 mins this season, every 125 mins last season, every 143 mins in 22/23
Alvarez can be prolific if you play him and let him play as a striker. Stat pad with 1-2 more pens and he's right up there.
He struck me as being relatively reliable when presented with opportunities, often playing on & off around Haaland's availability. He could handle the physicality of the league so no learning curve. He'd mix well with our south americans (although we are hopefully ditching one of them).
The price would arguably be the same as Isak so I guess in that regard it might not be the best priority - but I think he would be a perfect CF for our current style.
The price would arguably be the same as Isak so I guess in that regard it might not be the best priority - but I think he would be a perfect CF for our current style.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeYTfprzOuI
and
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbRsYTy_5VE
to get an idea of his goals and style.
Good movement, tracks the ball and stays alive in the box. Could see him being great in counter attacks, making runs in tight spaces to make room for a pass. Scores with both feet in and around the box. Not afraid to shoot from outside of the box. Lots and lots to like, if this is a real link
All this and more is why I think we're interested. The fact that the second Madrid were out the CL the talks of "Liverpool wanted him last year" come out, screams we're putting feelers out. The fact Madrid haven't done similar to counter any links is also something to note
There was no way City were going to sell him to us so Hughes, masquerading as a useless lazy cunt to the public eye, set in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to Alvarez coming to us and Nunez going to Atletico Madrid.
The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.
The Spreadsheet Squad lives by the words of Sun Tzu
"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved"
Nunez + Simone = a match made in heaven
Excellent player but for the money we are going to pay for him, will he develop into an alpha like Torres, Suarez, Mane, Salah. We need him to provide that level of leadership or ownership of the attack if we are going to pay more than 80 million. We can’t pay that much money for someone who would rather be background guitarist like Diaz.
Not related to specifically number 9, but if we are to be competitive we need players who are worth at least two times what we paid for them in a short time frame. Mane, Salah, Robertson-we could have trebled what we paid for them in a year. In the case of Robertson even more.
We need that kind of return of investment if we are going to stretch the budget to address all of our needs and compete at the top level. Kerkez, Hjuisen, Alvarez are all excellent players. But I dont see the value multipliers with any of them.
I agree with the principle that we need one or two players to really exceed expectations and punch above their transfer fee, idealy in attacking areas, but there’s also plenty of room for transfers who come in and provide solid value for the squad. We’ve seen that with players like Wijnaldum, Fabinho, and Konaté. I don’t think we’ll see any significant increase in Alvarez’s value, but if Kerkez and Hjuisen succeed here, their value could rise considerably. It might not be on the same level as Robbo or Salah, but they’re the types of players that are going to be difficult to come by. A few years ago, many thought we overpaid for Mane and were nervous about the fee. Soaring inflation can make us forget how much £35M felt a few years back.
Personally, I’d be happy with decent players coming in who are hungry to prove themselves and can stay fit. I’m just as tired of injury-prone players as Momo is of Italians! Putting in 40+ games a year is such an under-appreciated quality and one we need to put right at the top of the metrics.
Personally, I’d be happy with decent players coming in who are hungry to prove themselves and can stay fit. I’m just as tired of injury-prone players as Momo is of Italians! Putting in 40+ games a year is such an under-appreciated quality and one we need to put right at the top of the metrics.
Also the other side of the coin of signing bargains is signing cheap dross.
Of course, everyone want to sign bargains. It goes without saying. But generally that hasn't been the secret of our success. We've probably signed as many top class sure things like VVD and Alisson as bargains like Robertson. As you say our main focus has tended to be players in the middle, expensive and proven but maybe slightly unfashionable or at least not very hyped: Mane, Salah, Fabinho, Jota, Konate, Wijnaldum, Gakpo.
I wrote about this before; many of the best Edwards signings felt like a pretty hefty outlay for the player we were getting; I don’t think we’ve ever “won the transfer window” or dominated anyone’s “value for money” signings lists in the immediate aftermath of a window. I think the reason for that is twofold:
1. We generally signed players who were not hyped in the media, so most fans were not automatically excited when they heard the name. “Salah - is that the guy who failed at Chelsea?” “Mane - I heard United tried to sign him, but now he costs even more… hmm not sure.” “Robertson - who?” “Van Dijk - is he actually THAT good?”
2. Unlike the media, the selling club KNEW the value of the player and were not willing to part with them unless we paid extra - that’s why many of these fees initially seemed above market price. Only with passage of time, when these players succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, those “steep” fees started looking like bargains.
What gives me hope is that while we didn’t sign anyone bar Chiesa in the Edwards/Hughes first summer, the process of hiring Slot followed the same pattern and logic. “Are we seriously replacing Klopp with a baldie Dutch manager, while everyone is making fun of Ten Hag just down the street?” Yes, yes indeed we are - ‘cause don’t you know, the data boyz don’t give a damn about stereotypes and perception.
Hopefully the same process will help us rebuild the attack in the summer.
Eintracht Frankfurt do not sell players cheap. Also, their strikers have a habit of being flops after transfer. £50-60m yes, but not much more than that. Looks him and Cherki combined well.
Cunha and Cherki could be replacement for Nunez and Diaz. If we sold Nunez, Diaz, Jota and Cheesy and got Cunha, Cherki and Ekitike, I'd get behind that
Also, winning the league should make it way easier to convince players who were unsure of Slot before to join and believe they are at a top club
Get Crouchy back, scored 2 lovely goals in the legends game
View: https://x.com/LFC/status/1903483070738514079?t=oYSZra12opqVCPmVmS_uhQ&s=19
View: https://x.com/LFC/status/1903492107513262500?t=l_zvZwNv1q53v75K5gxd7w&s=19
View: https://x.com/LFC/status/1903483070738514079?t=oYSZra12opqVCPmVmS_uhQ&s=19
View: https://x.com/LFC/status/1903492107513262500?t=l_zvZwNv1q53v75K5gxd7w&s=19