Thomas Lemar

[Mystic]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...est-rumours-updates-live-monaco-a8120436.html

Liverpool will go in for Monaco's £90m-rated Thomas Lemar in January, as they attempt to bolster their chances of securing a top-four spot, and beat Arsenal to the French international's signature
Jürgen Klopp has a longstanding interest in the 22-year-old forward, and the belief at Anfield is that his first choice is Liverpool, even though Arsenal came close to signing him in August.
Arsene Wenger was looking to sign an attacker as a potential replacement for Alexis Sanchez, but the deal fell down, partly due to Lemar's desire to play Champions League football.


Liverpool could be in a broadly similar situation as they anticipate Barcelona coming back for Philippe Coutinho, although there is more to their interest in Lemar than that.
While the club do not want to be in a situation where any sale leaves them short of options, Lemar is targeted as someone to give Klopp even more attacking variety and create what may well be one of the fastest attacking line-ups in the world.

Barcelona still want Coutinho but since they also plan to sign Griezmann through his £100m release clause, they have become reticent about the type of fee that purchasing the Brazilian would require, with Liverpool so far insisting that even an offer of £120m would not convince them to sell.

Almost certainly this has come about because the Coutinho situation, but it's super exciting to see us linked to this guy again. Perfect scenario for me? We verbally tell Coutinho we'll accept £135million in the summer, and we sign this guy now so he can bed in. Who knows, after we win the champions league Phil might decide he wants to stay too.

 

[Brizzle]

£90m is insane - but I trust Klopp's judgement of attacking players. Might depress Mane even more though...

 

[KFC]

WTF MAN!!! He is cup tied with Monaco.

 

[LarryHagman]

The Firm more or less said it's happening. Get used, flapface.

 

[HC]

Hasnt he been shite this season?

 

[keniget]

This is the problem with selling your best players in the current market.

A mega deal for a star player used to allow you to build out a team. Now you're paying through the nose to get an inferior replacement that may or may not work out.

 

[doctor_mac]

It's on guys. I'm setting up a winter camp!

 

[KFC]

Hasnt he been shite this season?

PERFORMANCE DATA 17/18

[xtable=450x157]
{thead}
{tr}
{th=colspan:2|261x@}Competition{/th}
{th=26x@} {/th}
{th=14x@} {/th}
{th=14x@} {/th}
{th=38x@} {/th}
{th=57x@} {/th}
{/tr}
{/thead}
{tfoot}
{tr}
{td=colspan:2|261x@}Total 17/18:{/td}
{td=26x@}18{/td}
{td=14x@}2{/td}
{td=14x@}4{/td}
{td=38x@}659{/td}
{td=57x@}1.317{/td}
{/tr}
{/tfoot}
{tbody}
{tr}
{td=31x@}

{/td}
{td=224x@}Ligue 1{/td}
{td=26x@}13{/td}
{td=14x@}2{/td}
{td=14x@}4{/td}
{td=38x@}511{/td}
{td=57x@}1.021{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td=31x@}

{/td}
{td=224x@}Champions League{/td}
{td=26x@}3{/td}
{td=14x@}-{/td}
{td=14x@}-{/td}
{td=38x@}-{/td}
{td=57x@}178{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td=31x@}

{/td}
{td=224x@}Coupe de la Ligue{/td}
{td=26x@}1{/td}
{td=14x@}-{/td}
{td=14x@}-{/td}
{td=38x@}-{/td}
{td=57x@}28{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td=31x@}

{/td}
{td=224x@}Trophée des Champions{/td}
{td=26x@}1{/td}
{td=14x@}-{/td}
{td=14x@}-{/td}
{/tr}
{/tbody}
[/xtable]

2 goals 4 assists this season in all comps

Transfer fee around £90m

vs

[xtable=519x96]
{thead}
{tr}
{th=colspan:2|261x@}Competition{/th}
{th=38x@} {/th}
{th=21x@} {/th}
{th=22x@} {/th}
{th=55x@} {/th}
{th=82x@} {/th}
{/tr}
{/thead}
{tfoot}
{tr}
{td=colspan:2|261x@}Total 17/18:{/td}
{td=38x@}24{/td}
{td=21x@}8{/td}
{td=22x@}8{/td}
{td=55x@}232{/td}
{td=82x@}1.857{/td}
{/tr}
{/tfoot}
{tbody}
{tr}
{td=45x@}

{/td}
{td=210x@}Premier League{/td}
{td=38x@}22{/td}
{td=21x@}7{/td}
{td=22x@}8{/td}
{td=55x@}253{/td}
{td=82x@}1.769{/td}
{/tr}
{tr}
{td=45x@}

{/td}
{td=210x@}EFL Cup{/td}
{td=38x@}2{/td}
{td=21x@}1{/td}
{td=22x@}-{/td}
{td=55x@}88{/td}
{/tr}
{/tbody}
[/xtable]

8 Goals and 8 assits

Transfer fee around £50m

 

[Hansern]

He hasnt performed as well this season, but that is to be expected given how the Monaco team look this season compared to last.
He's a brilliant player with loads of potential.

The 90 mil fee was quoted this summer, surely it will be a bit lower now given his and their season (hopefully).

 

[RedStar]

£90m for him would be absolutely horrendous business. Hes had one decent season in his career thus far. Granted hes still relatively young at 22 but that is an incredible gamble to take. He would have to massively improve in both quality and consistency in order to come close to justifying that price tag.

 

[doctor_mac]

What's he worth then?

 

[doctor_mac]

PT 1

PT 2

 

[doctor_mac]

Checking out Lemar, he has a different skill set to Coutinho. There would be gains and losses. He is an incredible crosser of the ball, and is probably pacier than Coutinho. Whilst he passes well he doesn't have Coutinho's wizardry in the passing department. He definitely looks a massive talent, but he won't have Coutinho's goal threat or overall unpredictability. Watching that video poses more questions than answers.

 

[Best Believe It]

Fuck me, we spend ages barely spending any money at all and now we're spooging huge wads of cash on players from foreign leagues I've never seen play and people are grumbling? This is what transfers should be like. Sure, I'd love them to be described as 'astute business' but I also want us to sign foreign superstars for huge amounts of money.

 

[dmishra]

Checking out Lemar, he has a different skill set to Coutinho. There would be gains and losses. He is an incredible crosser of the ball, and is probably pacier than Coutinho. Whilst he passes well he doesn't have Coutinho's wizardry in the passing department. He definitely looks a massive talent, but he won't have Coutinho's goal threat or overall unpredictability. Watching that video poses more questions than answers.

14 goals last season, so he definitely has goal-getting ability. Struggling a bit this season to be fair, but should be expected given that Monaco sold half their team.

We should really be taking advantage of that, and try and do a deal for a reasonable figure. 90 million is insane. 60 million is what he's worth tops, and even that's pushing it.

I do like him a lot as a talent. Has an amazing left foot, and is quicker and stronger than Coutinho.

He's obviously not a like for like though, and I think Klopp might be inclined to switch to a 4-2-2-2 long term with Lemar and Mane interchanging on the wings, and having Keita + Henderson/Can/replacement in the middle.

I do think though that that transition will require time. We've tried some variations in formation this season already, but still think that Klopp's favoured formation with the current squad is the 4-3-3.

 

[Glen C]

14 goals last season, so he definitely has goal-getting ability. Struggling a bit this season to be fair, but should be expected given that Monaco sold half their team.

We should really be taking advantage of that, and try and do a deal for a reasonable figure. 90 million is insane. 60 million is what he's worth tops, and even that's pushing it.

I do like him a lot as a talent. Has an amazing left foot, and is quicker and stronger than Coutinho.

He's obviously not a like for like though, and I think Klopp might be inclined to switch to a 4-2-2-2 long term with Lemar and Mane interchanging on the wings, and having Keita + Henderson/Can/replacement in the middle.

I do think though that that transition will require time. We've tried some variations in formation this season already, but still think that Klopp's favoured formation with the current squad is the 4-3-3.

ERrmmmm what about Salah?

 

[Brizzle]

ERrmmmm what about Salah?

Salah plus Firmino as the front 2, i imagine.

 

[Rosco]

What's he worth then?

One good season at a decent level = 75m

 

[mark1975]

Long shot this, but I wonder if Firmino might be capable of dropping into the AM role if Coutinho goes? That still allows us to play Mane and Salah wide, with another coming into the more central position.

Firmino defends from the front, which will add more protection ahead of the midfield two and he has an eye for a pass, not at the same level as Coutinho, but he does have a similar level of flair and unpredictability.

 

[beejay]

We won't be able to replace Coutinho's skillset, that is pointless. But the huge fee we will get for him is an opportunity to improve the side as a whole. We all say that our midfield is not strong enough so here's our chance to add shape, composure and balance to the engine room.

We lack technical ability and composure in the centre and that's where I would love to see us improve, so we can play much more of a fast, short-passing game. Lemar is that type of a player from what I've seen, very comfortable on the ball, left-sided and inventive in his passing. A combative midfielder pivot as well and the team structure starts to look a whole lot better. Coutinho is a genius and always put in a shift but is inclined to fade badly in games where we are under the cosh and can often be wasteful with the ball. A more compact, assured build-up is possible if we make the right signings rather than concentrating on a Coutinho-lite replacement. That's all for next season though because we can't expect to re-shape the midfield in the middle of the season when the games come thick and fast and there's no time for finessing the routines on the training pitch. Keep Coutinho happy with a deferred sale and make sure we have the new players lined up for the summer.

If we can also replace Sturridge, Ings & Origi and use the funds to bring in another striker, we should be in business.

 

[beejay]

Long shot this, but I wonder if Firmino might be capable of dropping into the AM role if Coutinho goes? That still allows us to play Mane and Salah wide, with another coming into the more central position.

Firmino defends from the front, which will add more protection ahead of the midfield two and he has an eye for a pass, not at the same level as Coutinho, but he does have a similar level of flair and unpredictability.

It's not a long shot at all, the problem with Firmino has always been when we have played him wide as one of the front 3, he is far less effective tracking back down the wings. But as a 2nd striker, it may suit him and in fact that's how we've played at times this year, especially away from home, with Salah playing ahead of him down the middle and running into the space behind the defence.

 

[Frogfish]

Long shot this, but I wonder if Firmino might be capable of dropping into the AM role if Coutinho goes? That still allows us to play Mane and Salah wide, with another coming into the more central position.

Firmino defends from the front, which will add more protection ahead of the midfield two and he has an eye for a pass, not at the same level as Coutinho, but he does have a similar level of flair and unpredictability.

I've been saying that for ages .. with Aubameyang as the #9.

 

[Modo]

So have we bought him or not?
Yahoo sports says done deal.

 

[Glen C]

So have bought him or not?
Yahoo sports says done deal.

Main source seems to be Duncan Castles who's mourinho's fluffer.

 

[Insignificance]

Long shot this, but I wonder if Firmino might be capable of dropping into the AM role if Coutinho goes? That still allows us to play Mane and Salah wide, with another coming into the more central position.

Firmino defends from the front, which will add more protection ahead of the midfield two and he has an eye for a pass, not at the same level as Coutinho, but he does have a similar level of flair and unpredictability.

We spent tons of energy and frustration turning him to supernumbernine... leave him at that.

 

[Red Bird]

Is there an age thing with those transfer figures?

 

[doctor_mac]

Main source seems to be Duncan Castles who's mourinho's fluffer.

I had to look up Urban dictionary for 'fluffer'. Lol.

 

[Mystic]

Main source seems to be Duncan Castles who's mourinho's fluffer.

Castles was a speculative piece, Miguel Delaney at the independent was the first reliable source I saw on this, which is why I posted it.

 

[Roopy]

If we are wanting a like-for-like replacement for Coutinho - in terms of position, skill set & technique - there is only 1 player in my opinion that fits the bill.

Lorenzo Insigne.

 

[rurikbird]

If we are wanting a like-for-like replacement for Coutinho - in terms of position, skill set & technique - there is only 1 player in my opinion that fits the bill.

Lorenzo Insigne.

He reminds me more of Salah than Phil. Not really a playmaker.