Somethings Finally Stirring At Anfield
Im not sure what technical problems caused the site to crash for the last few days but its great to have it back up and running again, as I was really starting to get withdrawal symptoms. We still havent made any real moves in the transfer market since my last blog, but there have been some interesting developments over the last week.
We are still pretty much in the position of having to rely on rumours and speculation in regard to our transfer targets but at least the scatter gun approach of the press in linking us to just about every footballer on the planet, seems to have died down a little and we are now starting to see the same few names consistently cropping up, with at least some degree of back up. How valid these links will prove to be, remains to be seen, but I think its fair to say that something finally appears to be stirring at Anfield.
Firstly, the one player we know for sure that the club has made an approach for is Wet Spams Israeli international Yossi Benayoun. Although he could hardly be described as being among the more glamorous names linked with the club in recent weeks, he is nevertheless a signing that I would welcome. We all know that there is a severe shortage of creative talent in our squad at the moment and Benayoun would be a player who fits into that category. I saw him play for Israel against Ireland a couple of years ago and the bastard tore our defence apart in that game with his skilful play.
Although he may not seem to be an immediate candidate for our first eleven, he certainly has Premiership experience and I think at about £4million he would be great value. Besides this, I think we also have to keep in mind that Rafa is trying build a strong squad of players and I certainly dont want to see us in a situation where we go limping out of the domestic cup competitions again, because we dont have enough strength in depth.
After Benayoun things start to get a little bit sketchy, but theres no doubt about the name of the player who is on everybodys lips at the moment, Fernando Torres. Interestingly, I put a poll up on my Vital Liverpool site which has been running for more then two weeks, asking fans who would be the striker they would most like to see us sign over the summer, and the result was;
Torres 33%
Tevez 28%
Owen 10%
Etoo 9%
Villa 9%
Henry 5%
Huntelaar 4%
Bent 2%
You can count me among the 33% that voted for Torres but I would also have no objections to Tevez and I will be a very happy man if we manage to sign either. As for the other names in the poll, I dont think Owen is Rafas type of player and I dont think he will leave Newcastle for at least another season. I never really thought the signing of Etoo was on the cards, theres no doubting his ability but there are big question marks about his temperament and he would cost an absolute fortune.
Villa is a good player but I have my doubts about whether he could cut it in the Premiership. The links to Henry were a total joke and Ive just heard that he has now apparently signed for Barca, things really seem to be unravelling at Arsenal. Huntelaar would be a good signing but not as our main striker and Bent of course has plenty of experience and goals to his credit in the Premiership but the price Charlton are looking for is ridiculous.
So that brings me back to Torres who I think is a brilliant player and would be an excellent signing. Hes averaging about a goal in every three games at the moment with 82 goals in 220+ games as captain for Atletico Madrid and 14 goals in 42 games for Spain. Although this may not be the most prolific of ratios, its not too shabby either and the guy is still only 23 with bags of ability. Its been pretty well documented that Liverpool have had a delegation over in Madrid but as ever the stumbling block is the price.
Torres has an escape clause in his contract set at £27million and it appears that Atletico are unwilling to move from this valuation (click here) . This is also the case with another of our targets, Romas Brazilian winger Alessandro Mancini. He is another great player and reports in Italy have claimed we have had a £13million bid rejected by Roma, who are unwilling to sell what they see as one of their key players and are in fact trying to get him to sign a contract extension (click here) . If its true that these two players are our primary targets then it would certainly explain the delay in our transfer activity.
Both clubs involved appear to be genuinely unwilling to sell and it seems that the only way they will budge is if we cough up the cash. And whether we pursue some of the other targets weve been linked with, such as Malouda etc, may ultimately depend on how these two deals pan out.
There are some fans who question whether we should be paying out this kind of money for players and for me the answer is quite simple, yes we should.
The price tag is not down to the player, its not down to Rafa and its certainly not down to us, its the clubs who set these prices and its down to them to work things out. If we are unwilling to match these kind of valuations then we shouldnt be wasting our time pursuing these type of players and should move on to some of the lesser targets on our list.
However, if this proves to be the case then please lets not have any more of these press conferences where Gillett and Hicks are banging on about making us the biggest club in the world blah, blah, blah. To be the best, you need the best players and the best players cost the most money, and it really is as simple as that, so its time for our American owners to either shit or get off the pot!
