{"id":959,"date":"2017-06-26T13:31:38","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T13:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=959"},"modified":"2017-06-26T13:31:38","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T13:31:38","slug":"liverpool-football-club-transfer-rumour-round-up-june-26th-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-football-club-transfer-rumour-round-up-june-26th-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Football Club Transfer Rumour Round-Up: June 26th 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I don\u2019t know, I go on holiday for a week or so and Liverpool end up signing a player in my absence. Thankfully I\u2019d covered the Mohamed Salah rumours in my transfer piece the week before and rated it as a 10\/10 likelihood of happening, but still. Can\u2019t the club save their transfer business for when I\u2019m around to write about it? I have to say I was absolutely delighted with the manner in which the club\u2019s social media team decided to announce that we\u2019d signed the Egyptian, wonderfully trolling all of the morons who spend their time tweeting John Henry, Linda Pizzuti and the LFC Twitter account telling them to &#8216;announce Salah&#8217;. Oftentimes these are grown adults, which makes me despair. Still, they\u2019ve had their noses wiped a little bit there and that\u2019s delightful.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"und\">&#x1f44b; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/07r2UAKRdX\">pic.twitter.com\/07r2UAKRdX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LFC\/status\/877978766156476416\">June 22, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The thing that has infuriated me the most regarding the Salah deal is the complete lack of patience of some Liverpool supporters. I\u2019ve long accepted that some of the people that love our club are, to be blunt, idiots, but even so I was surprised at just how impatient some people have been. Seeing the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea sign players has left some sections of our fanbase worried about the idea of us not getting anyone through the door, despite the fact that pre-season doesn\u2019t begin until the 1st of July. They have been tweeting criticism of Fenway Sport Group, suggesting that the owners aren\u2019t good enough because they\u2019ve been negotiating a fee with Roma for Salah\u2019s services. They wanted the club to just pay whatever the Italian\u2019s were asking, which is moronic on so many levels.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, if Liverpool had just paid whatever Roma wanted, what happens when the next player we want to sign has a ridiculous price tag slapped on him? Having not negotiated with Roma, doesn\u2019t the new club just demand we pay whatever they ask? Plus, these supporters want us to sign everyone we\u2019re linked with, but where\u2019s the budget for paying wages coming from if we\u2019ve just blown it all paying \u00a35 million more than we needed to for one player? Aside from everything else, Liverpool had time on their side. If we\u2019d have signed Salah a fortnight earlier than we actually did, all that would have happened is that he\u2019d have spent two weeks longer knocking around the city with nothing to do. Again, pre-season is still a week away.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_38\" style=\"width: 266px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/256px-John_W_Henry-Fenway_cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/256px-John_W_Henry-Fenway_cropped.jpg 256w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/256px-John_W_Henry-Fenway_cropped-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By Webjedi (Own work) [GFDL (http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theanfieldwrap.com\/2017\/06\/liverpools-transfer-turmoil-why-reds-shouldnt-give-up-hopes-of-a-good-window\/\">The Anfield Wrap did a good piece on this last week<\/a>, pointing out that we\u2019d only signed five players prior to the date we signed Salah in the previous ten years. Supporters have adopted a &#8216;now, now, now&#8217; attitude, but thankfully the club seems happy to ignore them. If, when the window shuts in August, we\u2019ve only managed to sign Salah and Dominic Solanke then I\u2019ll be the first to ask questions of Michael Edwards and the like. What I won\u2019t do, though, is have a go at him, FSG or the club in general over something that hasn\u2019t happened yet. Given we\u2019re still well over a month away from the start of the 2017-2018 season, I\u2019d suggest that there\u2019s still plenty of time to get some deals done.<\/p>\n<h2>The Runners And Riders Of The Rumour Mill<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of which, shall we have a look at the deals that might be taking place? We\u2019ll start with the possible outgoings, looking at the players who are most likely to depart Anfield for pastures new this summer.<\/p>\n<h2>The Outs?<\/h2>\n<h3>Andre Wisdom<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s no need for a question mark regarding this one, with the club <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/40290673\">confirming the sale of Andre Wisdom for \u00a32 million<\/a>, which could rise to \u00a34 million over time. Wisdom was Joe Gomez before we signed the latter from Charlton; the young defender who was destined to become our future centre-back. Instead he spent most of his career on loan before finally slipping away into obscurity. Wisdom player 38 games for Derby County during the 2013-2014 season, so he knows what it\u2019s like to play for the Rams and obviously enjoyed his time there. He\u2019s now joined the pantheon of youth players who were destined to be our greatest ever, only to leave without anyone really noticing.<\/p>\n<h3>\u00a3100 Million Worth<\/h3>\n<p>I have written about most of the players who will be leaving Liverpool this summer in previous weeks, so I won\u2019t bother doing an individual list here. Instead I\u2019ll refer to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/ten-players-who-could-leaving-13237422\">the Liverpool Echo\u2019s article<\/a> stating that there are ten players likely to leave whose departure could see the club raise as much as \u00a3100 million in player sales. Apparently both Mamadou Sakho and Daniel Sturridge are valued at around \u00a330 million, with the club keen to recoup the \u00a320 million they spent on Lazar Markovic. Alberto Moreno will likely leave for around \u00a315 million, whilst Kevin Stewart has a \u00a310 million price tag on his head. Finally, Lucas Leiva will be allowed to leave for roughly \u00a35 million.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_223\" style=\"width: 545px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-223\" class=\"size-large wp-image-223\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lucas-Leiva-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-535x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"535\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lucas-Leiva-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-535x400.jpg 535w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lucas-Leiva-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lucas-Leiva-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock-65x50.jpg 65w, https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lucas-Leiva-player-of-Liverpool_EUO_almonfoto-shutterstock.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 535px) 100vw, 535px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-223\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">almonfoto \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Given that RB Leipzig want in the region of \u20ac80 million for Naby Keita, essentially swapping Sturridge, Sakho and Kevin Stewart for one of the best young midfielders in the world sounds like decent business to me. The problem is, will we actually be able to sell all of those players for the fees we want? I\u2019m not sure Lucas goes to another Premier League club, for example, and I\u2019m equally unsure that a team outside of England\u2019s top division pays \u00a35 million for him. Daniel Sturridge\u2019s injury record means he\u2019s a gamble and even in today\u2019s crazy market \u00a330 million is a lot to pay for a player who may only play 10-20 games a year. I\u2019d be delighted if we did make that much and it was re-invested, but I\u2019m not holding my breath.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>The Rumours<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s only really been one name dominating the rumour mill for the last few days, but I\u2019ve had a dig around and found some others just for your delectation. Doubtless I\u2019ll have missed some, such is the extent to which players are linked with Liverpool on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<h3>Naby Keita<\/h3>\n<p>Say what you like about the club only negotiating over one player at a time, but at least it keeps the weirdos occupied. Now that the Mohamed Salah deal is complete everyone has turned their attention to Naby Keita, with heads falling off all over the place. The official Twitter account tweeted a video about the best goal of the 2007-2008 season and the only replies I saw were people saying &#8216;sign Keita&#8217;. The Guinean was &#8216;not for sale&#8217; according to reports last week, but now RB Leipzig have <a href=\"http:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2017\/06\/25\/rb-leipzig-want-70-4m-for-liverpool-target-naby-keita-6734059\/\">slapped a \u00a370 million price tag on his head<\/a>. Is that too much to pay for a 22-year-old? Absolutely. Will that stop people saying we should pay whatever the Bundesliga outfit want for his signature? Not a chance. Rumours are that he wants out and heads will continue to fall off until we either sign him or the transfer window shuts. What joy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Max Meyer<\/h3>\n<p>Nothing says &#8216;classy newspaper&#8217; quite like the headline, &#8220;Gorgeous UFC star DROPS towel at weigh-in before making opponent POO herself&#8221;, so it\u2019s fair to say we should take this story with a pinch of salt. Even so, the Daily Star\u2019s reporting that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/sport\/football\/624925\/EXCLUSIVE-Liverpool-Transfer-News-Max-Meyer-European-Under-21s-tournament-Mohamed-Salah\">Liverpool have been monitoring Max Meyer<\/a> as the Schalke winger takes part in the Under-21s European Championship this summer. The youngster only has a year left on his contract and is reportedly available for less than \u00a320 million. Personally I\u2019m very much in favour of brining in as many pacy wide attacking players as possible, so it\u2019s a &#8216;yes&#8217; from me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 4\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Kylian Mbappe<\/h3>\n<p>This is not the first time I\u2019ve written about our links to Mbappe and it probably won\u2019t be the last. The Monaco forward is almost certainly going to sign for Real Madrid this summer, with the Spanish giant\u2019s President having met with his family recently. Even so, the Reds are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skysports.com\/football\/news\/11669\/10927624\/liverpool-interested-in-signing-monacos-kylian-mbappe\">reportedly keen to be part of the conversation<\/a><a>, should it emerge that he would be happy to move to England instead of Spain. If \u00a370 million is a silly price to pay for a 22-year-old then I can\u2019t even begin to get my head around how ridiculous \u00a3130 million for an 18-year-old is. There\u2019s no question he\u2019s a brilliant player, but I simply don\u2019t see the club making that sort of commitment on an unproven talent.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 2\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Virgil van Dijk<\/h3>\n<p>You didn\u2019t really think this story was dead and buried, did you? It\u2019s always been clear to me that Liverpool\u2019s apology to Southampton was little more than a PR exercise, saying what needed to be said in order to keep them calm and to avoid the possibility of a transfer ban. I still firmly believe that we\u2019ll end up signing the Dutchman, even if we have to pay over the odds to do so because of our earlier misdemeanour. Chelsea have been keen on bringing him in but <a href=\"http:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2017\/06\/25\/chelsea-wary-of-virgil-van-dijk-still-wanting-liverpool-transfer-6732676\/\">are wary about the fact he wants to play for us<\/a>, which will likely limit approaches from other teams too. We want him, he wants to play for us and Southampton will be happy as long as they get the money. This deal will run and run all summer long.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likelihood Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Salah\u2019s signing is the big news of the last few days, with the club still tweeting about it. Even former Red Craig Bellamy\u2019s given his opinion on our new number 11, so that is keeping the vultures happy for now. It won\u2019t be long before Salah\u2019s forgotten about, however, so don\u2019t be surprised if Twitter is awash with &#8216;ANNOUNCE KEITA&#8217; tweets before too long. Whether anyone at the club is listening or not is a different matter entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Until next week\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I don\u2019t know, I go on holiday for a week or so and Liverpool end up signing a player in my absence. Thankfully I\u2019d covered the Mohamed Salah rumours in my transfer piece the week before and rated it as a 10\/10 likelihood of happening, but still. Can\u2019t the club save their transfer business for when I\u2019m around to write about it? I have to say I was absolutely delighted with the manner in which the club\u2019s social media team decided to announce that we\u2019d signed the Egyptian, wonderfully trolling all of the morons who spend their time tweeting John [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":702,"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\/959"}],"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=959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":960,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions\/960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}