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You Aina seen nothing yet

rurikbird

Part of the Furniture
Honorary Member
As Liverpool prepare for what could be a transformative summer transfer window, the club’s recruitment team is already lining up contingency plans — and one name gaining traction is Nottingham Forest full-back Ola Aina.

The upcoming window promises to be one of upheaval at Anfield. Several first-team players are expected to depart, but no potential exit looms larger than that of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The England international is attracting serious attention from Real Madrid, and sources indicate he could be on the move, leaving a significant void in Liverpool’s defensive and creative structure.

Liverpool’s recruitment department has already turned its attention to finding a suitable replacement should Alexander-Arnold depart. According to sources via Caught Offside, Ola Aina has been identified as a serious target.

The 27-year-old Nigerian international has enjoyed a standout season with Nottingham Forest, making 32 appearances and emerging as one of the Premier League’s most reliable right-backs. His blend of pace, composure, and tactical intelligence makes him a natural fit for a high-pressing, possession-based side.

Aina’s versatility — equally capable of operating as a traditional right-back or in an inverted role — aligns well with Slot’s tactical fluidity, further elevating his appeal.

Liverpool are not alone in their admiration for Aina. Chelsea, where he began his professional career, are exploring the possibility of a reunion. The Blues, along with Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, have expressed interest in securing the defender’s signature this summer.

Chelsea’s pursuit carries a sentimental angle — Aina was developed in the club’s youth academy and made senior appearances before moving abroad. A return to Stamford Bridge would represent a full-circle moment in his career.

Newcastle and Spurs are also monitoring the situation closely, and are expected to initiate contact with Aina’s representatives in the coming weeks as they look to bolster their squads.

Nottingham Forest remain determined to keep hold of their defensive talisman. The club are in active negotiations to offer Aina a new long-term contract. However, with his current deal set to expire this summer, Forest face an uphill struggle to retain the player.

Given the volume of interest, Aina may feel the time is right to return to a club competing in European competitions. His future could hinge on how compelling Forest’s vision for the coming seasons proves to be.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are also monitoring Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong as an alternative option at right-back. But the Premier League-proven pedigree of Aina may give him the edge as Liverpool consider their next move in what is shaping up to be a critical summer.

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Thoughts on him?
 
You know, I want him but AFCON, and can we say we can trust Brad to cover for maybe 7 games straight ?...NO
 
You know, I want him but AFCON, and can we say we can trust Brad to cover for maybe 7 games straight ?...NO
Roll out Gomez again? 🤣
It's becoming a joke. Let Gomez go to another team and cement a place in the world cup squad.

Right back is probably one of the easiest positions to cover. Sign him for free and let him go to the AFCON for 6 weeks. If Bradders can't cover for him, Bajcetic, Quansah and Jones can.
 
Haven't seen much but he was very good against us in both legs and largely pocketed Diaz. His one on one defending is solid. He's a tall lad, too, and decent on the ball. I'm not sure how much he has going forwards, though.

If we sign Kerkez as a more dynamic outlet then Aina could he a decent option to save resources elsewhere, but we would still have to find creativity elsewhere to make up for Trents departure.
 
I don’t see it - he’s the opposite of the sort of player we tend to - the profile is all wrong

- 29 in October - therefore zero or very little on sale value and a short term fix.
- plays in a team with a completely different set up, therefore integration and replicating previous form and stats may not be easy
- has had one season where he’s looked good, so therefore you’d have to question his quality
- Only 3 European games in the Europa League games in 10 seasons - so you’d have to question experience
- add to that at 28 and despite being Home Grown, he’s only played like 60 times in the EPL.
- likely to miss a chunk of the season for AFCON

The only positives would appear, he’s had a good season, is Home Grown and would be cheap on a free.

None of it stacks up for me - we rarely do these sort of transfers and there’s a reason for it - you’re generally not adding any quality to the team.

Nothing’s impossible, but I’d be very surprised if this has actual substance.
 
I don’t see it - he’s the opposite of the sort of player we tend to - the profile is all wrong

- 29 in October - therefore zero or very little on sale value and a short term fix.
- plays in a team with a completely different set up, therefore integration and replicating previous form and stats may not be easy
- has had one season where he’s looked good, so therefore you’d have to question his quality
- Only 3 European games in the Europa League games in 10 seasons - so you’d have to question experience
- add to that at 28 and despite being Home Grown, he’s only played like 60 times in the EPL.
- likely to miss a chunk of the season for AFCON

The only positives would appear, he’s had a good season, is Home Grown and would be cheap on a free.

None of it stacks up for me - we rarely do these sort of transfers and there’s a reason for it - you’re generally not adding any quality to the team.

Nothing’s impossible, but I’d be very surprised if this has actual substance.

Resale value is irrelevant when it's a free signing. In fact it's pretty much irrelevant full stop: a successful signing for us is one who leaves for nothing when they're in their 30s having given all their prime to us. What matters is the number of years you're getting for a given fee.
 
Quick reminder, we signed Miner when he was 29.
For free.
He came in when we were shit, helped improve us, ran his legs off and left 8 years later.

Was anyone hurting when he left?

It's a smart move.
 
I have not seen much of Aina and his compilations don’t look particularly impressive, however I do think this is the profile we should pursue for a @Bradley backup - having an experienced player (preferably with PL experience) who is physically robust and defensively sound would mitigate a lot of concerns over Bradley as our main RB next season. I liked what I saw of Givairo Read, for example, but I don’t think this would be the right situation to go for someone so young and inexperienced - maybe in a couple of years.
 
Haven't seen much but he was very good against us in both legs and largely pocketed Diaz. His one on one defending is solid. He's a tall lad, too, and decent on the ball. I'm not sure how much he has going forwards, though.

Looks like Aina is fairly two-footed for a full-back, I think at least one of the goals he scored this season was with his left and he can cross with his left as well. I think this is where the bit about him being able to “invert” into midfield comes from. He often plays at LB or left midfield for Nigeria.

Other than that, he doesn’t seem very attack-minded.


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/HaQolZ3rjnI?si=TO-UymGjVtOpUtLL


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/48S4PU_zj2o?si=TvZvRH9qxIHpCpNf


View: https://youtube.com/shorts/yLHR_V-kKrA?si=rFEekdRdJb27sZvH
 
Ok, can we be confident that he actually is 28 as he plays for an African national team, but as he is born here is he really 28 ? Can someone who is Of African decent on this site take a good look and confirm ? @Modo has kinda convinced me, but dont want to see the best midfielder in world football curtis jones covering at RB, more suited to the running of Szobo.
 
Quick reminder, we signed Miner when he was 29.
For free.
He came in when we were shit, helped improve us, ran his legs off and left 8 years later.

Was anyone hurting when he left?

It's a smart move.
Well firstly 'free' isn't free and secondly Milner was an England international with tons of experience at City and hundreds of games in the PL ! Are you seriously comparing them?!
 
Well firstly 'free' isn't free and secondly Milner was an England international with tons of experience at City and hundreds of games in the PL ! Are you seriously comparing them?!
True, but how much of the transfer kitty do you expect us to put aside to get some competition for Bradley in? And what sort of age/experience profile are you hoping for? Someone who will clearly number 2? Or someone who will push Bradley to improve for the number 1 spot?

Personally, I want to put the majority of our budget towards a CF, Wide Forward and LB. And probably CB and another midfielder. Obviously funded by 4-5 sales too.
 
True, but how much of the transfer kitty do you expect us to put aside to get some competition for Bradley in? And what sort of age/experience profile are you hoping for? Someone who will clearly number 2? Or someone who will push Bradley to improve for the number 1 spot?

Personally, I want to put the majority of our budget towards a CF, Wide Forward and LB. And probably CB and another midfielder. Obviously funded by 4-5 sales too.

100% agree
We have just too many holes to fill and no one RB out there worth spending big money on.
 
I mentioned his months ago as a really great free option, much to the disgust and humour of StevieM.

If he’s keen I think he’d be perfect to rotate with Bradley.
 
Resale value is irrelevant when it's a free signing. In fact it's pretty much irrelevant full stop: a successful signing for us is one who leaves for nothing when they're in their 30s having given all their prime to us. What matters is the number of years you're getting for a given fee.

Yes, if they’re successful - that’s the case with any signing, though isn’t it - you want everyone to be successful, stay through their prime years then they can leave for nothing when they’re no longer good.

The problem with “free” signings is they tend to ask for high wages on account of being free, so if they don’t work out, you end up stuck with them or effectively paying for someone else to take them.

Besides, given his age, there’d be no re-sale value even if there was a fee, so my point would be that it’s a signing that likely offers no chance of recouping the cost of signing, agent fee or wages, with a higher risk of not being successful.

I’m struggling to think of anytime signing what is effectively a journeyman player, past their prime, with such little track record of success or quality has worked out well for a top team.

He’s the sort of player you sign and 6 months later ends up on loan to Crystal Palace with us paying 50% of his wages.

I’d almost rather give Calvin Ramsey a chance.
 
Quick reminder, we signed Miner when he was 29.
For free.
He came in when we were shit, helped improve us, ran his legs off and left 8 years later.

Was anyone hurting when he left?

It's a smart move.

Hang on… you’re comparing 29 YO James Milner, former EPL young player of the year, with over 400 EPL & 60 odd CL appearances for the likes Leeds, Villa, Newcastle & Man City, with 50+ caps for England and who had won every domestic trophy in England… with Ola Aina who never got past representing England at U20 level, has played about 80 EPL games with Fulham and Forest, having spent most of his career in SerieA with Torino, has never played in the champions league and the only thing he won is listed as the 16/17 EPL with Chelsea, in a season he played 3 times.

Mate, there’s no comparison there at all, other than they’re footballers and exist in the same space-time continuum.

It would be up there with suggesting we should sign Anthony Ralston from Celtic as backup for Bradley because we once signed Kenny Dalglish from Celtic and he turned out ok!!!
 
I mentioned his months ago as a really great free option, much to the disgust and humour of StevieM.

If he’s keen I think he’d be perfect to rotate with Bradley.

Tell me Dreamie, I’m genuinely keen to understand - what is it that would make him perfect to rotate with Bradley?

When did you first become convinced that Ola Aina was Liverpool material.

Please tell me it’s not from just this season?
 
Quick reminder, we signed Miner when he was 29.
For free.
He came in when we were shit, helped improve us, ran his legs off and left 8 years later.

Was anyone hurting when he left?

It's a smart move.
Yeah but Millie was the ultimate professional, playing in the PL from 16, played in the CL, won the biggest trophies and was hugely versatile. And even then he's the exception that proves the rule really.

The only common factors are "home grown" and "free".
 
I cannot see it, unless the plan is for Bradley to be number 1. Even then it's still a weird one, purely down to AFCON. We'd be losing our entire right side near enough for 2 months
 
True, but how much of the transfer kitty do you expect us to put aside to get some competition for Bradley in? And what sort of age/experience profile are you hoping for? Someone who will clearly number 2? Or someone who will push Bradley to improve for the number 1 spot?

Personally, I want to put the majority of our budget towards a CF, Wide Forward and LB. And probably CB and another midfielder. Obviously funded by 4-5 sales too.

Surely there must be better, younger, affordable players that are good?
 
Do you remember when quite a few people were all talking about how we should sign Lloyd Kelly n a free as he’d be great back up.

That’s a better example of what could happen here than Milner - except Kelly’s younger.
 
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