{"id":1279,"date":"2018-06-21T17:32:22","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T17:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2018-06-21T17:32:22","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T17:32:22","slug":"liverpool-football-club-transfer-rumour-round-up-june-21st-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-football-club-transfer-rumour-round-up-june-21st-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Football Club Transfer Rumour Round-Up: June 21st 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Transfers do my absolutely head in sometimes. I\u2019m more than aware of the irony of railing against people who are obsessed with them at the same time that I\u2019m writing a piece rounding up all of the various rumours. Yet my problem isn\u2019t with people who love to get excited by transfers, it\u2019s with those that get obsessed with a player that they\u2019d never heard of a week ago and then rail against the club when it looks as if we might not sign them. I\u2019m also not overly keen on people who decide that a player is the best one in their position ever, regardless of how much they\u2019ve actually watched them play.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Now Liverpool must get Fekir<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kamo Marco &#x1f1eb;&#x1f1f7; (@MrSmilezkm) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MrSmilezkm\/status\/1009732319857475584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As an example, someone tweeted me and told me that both Jan Oblak and Alisson Becker are \u2018significantly better than what we\u2019ve currently got\u2019. Now I have no idea how much truth there is to that statement and it\u2019s entirely possible that people who know La Liga and Serie A and the Premier League equally would tell me that he was right. However, when I asked him how many times he\u2019d actually seen them both play, how many 90 minute performances he\u2019d watched, the Tweeter just blocked me and disappeared. It\u2019s that sort of thing that frustrates me, because people get obsessed with transfers to the point that they\u2019re convinced the only way Liverpool will be successful is if we make as many of them as possible.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_701\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-701\" class=\"size-large wp-image-701\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/IMG_1923-e1477238829643-300x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/IMG_1923-e1477238829643-300x400.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/IMG_1923-e1477238829643-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/IMG_1923-e1477238829643-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-701\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loris Karius Starting Position<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It really doesn\u2019t matter to these people how good the incoming player is. The only things that matter are that were sign someone and that they cost a lot of money. Sticking with Loris Karius for a second, I remember when he struggled to settle at the start of his time at the club and some people said, \u201cwell we only paid \u00a35 million for him, so what did we expect\u201d. Now as far as I\u2019m aware the goalkeeper had a buyout clause in his contract. Would his detractors have preferred that we pay three times that just so that he was worth more? I honestly believe that there would have been vast swathes of supporters more willing to give him time and being forgiving of his Champions League final errors if we had done. Forget what a player is worth, just spend load of money on them and make sure that they\u2019ve got a foreign name.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Can&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LFC<\/a> go for Bernard who recently left Shaktar Donetsk and Bruno Fernandes who also terminated his contract at Sporting Lisbon and ditch Jordan Henderson?<\/p>\n<p>We gotta move forward from mediocrity since we the fans are hungry for trophies<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Frederick Christon (@joellblankson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joellblankson\/status\/1009806841298202624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I honestly believe that if we\u2019d signed Jordan Henderson last summer for \u00a350 million from Inter Milan and his name was Jorda Hendersonho the same people that consistently slag him off at the moment would be raving about him and declaring him to be Liverpool\u2019s best signing in years. His passing would be referred to as \u2018cultured\u2019 and when he moves the ball from side to side to shift the opposition around and open up space he\u2019d be praised for his patience. Instead we get absolute morons saying he \u2018only passes sideways\u2019 and criticising everything that he does. Proof, were it needed, that transfers are far more important than a player\u2019s actual ability in the eyes of a lot of supporters. It\u2019s a shame, but it\u2019s the way it is.<\/p>\n<h2>The Runners And Riders Of The Rumour Mill<\/h2>\n<p>Having now attacked people who get obsessed with the arrival of players that they\u2019ve never heard of before, let\u2019s have a look at the players that we\u2019ve never heard of before who might be arriving this summer\u2026.<\/p>\n<h3>The Ins?<\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s be honest, the World Cup has slowed things down somewhat. Liverpool\u2019s transfer team seemingly sorted out the signing of Fabinho in a matter of hours when you look at the manner in which the news broke and then the deal was done, with the Fekir signing also supposed to be tied up before the tournament began. Obviously that has now developed into a saga, but which other players are supposed to be signing on the dotted line soon?<\/p>\n<h4>Rhian Brewster<\/h4>\n<p>Rhian Brewster is arguably the most highly-rated youngster on Liverpool\u2019s books since the days of Raheem Sterling and, before him, Michael Owen. Rumours swirled at the closing stages of last season that he was going to sign for a Bundesliga club and they got that strong that the Reds even cancelled a friendly with Borussia Monchengladbach over their attempts to sign him. It\u2019s clear that J\u00fcrgen Klopp thinks a lot of him, as evidenced by the fact that the manager even gave him a shout out when he delivered a video message to Mohamed Salah when the Egyptian won the PFA Player of the Year award. It will come as a great relief to the manager, therefore, that it now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/rhian-brewster-set-handed-first-14794592\">looks as if he is going to pledge his long-term future to the club<\/a>. Given that he was offered the chance to sign up when he turned seventeen and then again at eighteen, many at the club will have been fearing the worst when he didn\u2019t take said chance.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Common sense prevails as Rhian Brewster agrees first professional contract with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LFC<\/a>. Would have been a crazy decision to walk away from the club this summer. Young striker with a big future under Klopp.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamesPearceEcho\/status\/1008304526686908416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Now the reason this deal isn\u2019t yet in the \u2018confirmed\u2019 section of this piece is that Brewster hasn\u2019t actually put pen to paper on a new deal. Instead it\u2019s been announced by the press that he\u2019s going to and the general feeling is that he will, but rumours emerged today that both Arsenal and Tottenham are hoping to steal in at the last moment and snatch his signature. The rumours on Merseyside are that he\u2019s on a certain type of contract with the Reds that allows the club to extend his junior deal for another year, which the club is liable to do rather than lose him to a rival. Obviously it would be preferable for the player to sign a proper contract that will pay him a decent amount of money and if he does it then you can definitely see his path to the first-team under the manager. That might change other signings that we make in the attacking half of the pitch, though, so that\u2019s worth bearing in mind moving forward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Yann Sommer<\/h4>\n<p>Given what I\u2019ve just said about Liverpool cancelling the friendly with Borussia Monchengladbach over their behaviour around Rhian Brewster, there\u2019s a slight irony in us being linked with the singing of one of their players. Nevertheless, we definitely need to sign a goalkeeper and therefore the possible arrival of Yann Sommer from the German club would make some sort of sense. Now it\u2019s entirely possible that newspapers are simply putting our name in the same piece as any goalkeeper that fancies negotiating a bit more money from his current club, so that may well be what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bild.de\/sport\/fussball\/borussia-moenchengladbach\/sommer-spielt-liverpool-vor-56044254.bild.html###wt_ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.anfieldedition.uk%2F2018%2F06%2Fbild-yann-sommer-is-playing-for-liverpool-e30m-could-do-it%2F&amp;wt_t=1529500644296\">the German paper Bild has decided to do with this piece<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1280\" style=\"width: 571px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1280\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1280\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Yann_Sommer_1-561x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"561\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Yann_Sommer_1-561x400.jpg 561w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Yann_Sommer_1-281x200.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Yann_Sommer_1-140x100.jpg 140w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Yann_Sommer_1.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1280\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By Heynckesjupp [<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\">CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>], <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Yann_Sommer_(1).jpg\">from Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>It\u2019s also possible that Liverpool have decided to start the rumour in order to see if they can persuade Roma to shift their stance on Alisson\u2019s transfer fee, of course. J\u00fcrgen Klopp will doubtless still have plenty of contacts in his home country to whom he can leak whatsoever he likes. The goalkeeper is contracted until 2021 and is currently out in Russia as Switzerland\u2019s World Cup shot-stopper, so it\u2019s unlikely that any major deals are being struck regardless. Bild have suggested that the fee would be around \u20ac30 million for him, which would be a lot more respectable than the daft money that Roma appear to be trying to get. Given the meticulous manner with which Michael Edwards and co have approached previous transfers, I\u2019m not convinced that they\u2019ll just switch targets so easily.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 1\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Lucas Paqueta<\/h4>\n<p>I mentioned Nabil Fekir before and it\u2019s fair to say that that transfer still has a few more twists and turns to take before it\u2019s over. The French forward\u2019s agent was asked recently why his player didn\u2019t sign for Liverpool and simply said that the story isn\u2019t complete yet. Nevertheless, the Reds have to be looking at alternatives in case Lyon refuse to renegotiate their asking price and the doctors recommend that we don\u2019t sign him over the issue that caused the deal to fall apart in the first place. Enter Lucas Paqueta, the attacking midfielder who is yet to make the move to Europe and is currently playing for Flamengo in his native Brazil. The season is underway already in South America, with Paqueta having scored three times and notched up four assists in the fifteen games he\u2019s played.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1281\" style=\"width: 333px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1281\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Lucas_Paquet\u00e1-323x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Lucas_Paquet\u00e1-323x400.jpg 323w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Lucas_Paquet\u00e1-162x200.jpg 162w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Lucas_Paquet\u00e1.jpg 601w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1281\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By Agencia de Noticias ANDES (ECUADOR-BRASIL SUB 20) [<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\">CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>], <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Lucas_Paquet%C3%A1.jpg\">via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>As with the links to Yann Sommer, it\u2019s entirely possible that this has come from Liverpool in order to fire a warning shot across the bow of Lyon if they\u2019re insisting that the Reds have to pay full whack for a player with a dodgy knee. Given the likelihood of Rhian Brewster signing a professional contract, the arrival of a twenty-year-old attacking player would almost certainly limit his potential appearances and I\u2019m not convinced that that\u2019s something that the manager would allow. Rumours are there\u2019s a \u00a343 million buyout clause in contract and that\u2019s an awful lot of money to pay for a player that hasn\u2019t played in Europe and proven he can handle the move away from home yet. Even so, <a href=\"http:\/\/calcioinsider.com\/2018\/06\/interested-liverpool-could-sign-e50million-paqueta\/\">CalcioInsider think it\u2019s a possibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 2\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>The Outs<\/h3>\n<p>I wrote about these players leaving the club last week, but now they\u2019ve actually signed for someone else so it seems appropriate to give them one last mention.<\/p>\n<h4>Emre Can and Jon Flanagan<\/h4>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure that Jon Flanagan thought in his wildest dreams that he\u2019d be mentioned in the same sentence as Emre Can as often as he has been in my last two transfer rumour round-up pieces. It seems right to do it though, given that the club announced both of their departures in the same tweet. The manner in which they left has been markedly different, of course. Can came on in the Champions League final and the manager was apparently keen to sign his compatriot up to a new deal, whilst the former Liverpool Academy graduate left the club in disgrace after physically abusing his girlfriend. Never let it be said that such things end careers, however, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/44563574\">Steven Gerrard signing him Rangers for two years<\/a>. Disappointed as I am in Gerrard, I can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"da\">OFFICIAL: Emre Can signs for Juventus! &#x270d;&#x26aa;&#x26ab;<\/p>\n<p>&#x27a1; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HcQr9QpC6f\">https:\/\/t.co\/HcQr9QpC6f<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WelcomeToJu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WelcomeToJu<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ForzaJuve?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ForzaJuve<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nOlYUxdRYn\">pic.twitter.com\/nOlYUxdRYn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/juventusfcen\/status\/1009791909127172096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As for Emre, I don\u2019t think anyone who has been critical of the player over the years will be overly shocked that he took an age to officially sign for Juventus. The German always did enjoy taking far too long over his decision making, with the only major surprise being that he didn\u2019t take fourteen touches of his pen when one would\u2019ve done. He could be very, very good at his best, but he could also be ponderous on the ball when speed was of the essence. I personally think our midfield will be all the better for not having him as part of it and the rumoured \u00a314 million sign-on fee that he\u2019s been paid by the Italian club makes clear what his motivation is. Serie A will be much more suited to his pace, I think.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The World Cup rumbles on, transfer rumours remain few and far between. Might they pick up again now that players will be returning from their summer holidays if they haven\u2019t gone to Russia? We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n<p>Until next week\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transfers do my absolutely head in sometimes. I\u2019m more than aware of the irony of railing against people who are obsessed with them at the same time that I\u2019m writing a piece rounding up all of the various rumours. Yet my problem isn\u2019t with people who love to get excited by transfers, it\u2019s with those that get obsessed with a player that they\u2019d never heard of a week ago and then rail against the club when it looks as if we might not sign them. I\u2019m also not overly keen on people who decide that a player is the best [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1282,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions\/1282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}