I want to start this blog post by
saying that I, in no way claim to be an 'ITK' or anything of the sort. Very
rarely I get a couple of things passed down to me. After I have finished this
post, I will no longer be re-posting any information that might come my way as
there has already been too much hassle with it and I don't want an 'ITK'
hanging over my name.
So please, don't ask me about any
other player who isn't mentioned on here as I probably have no idea other than
my own personal opinion. If you're looking for inside knowledge on LFC
regularly, I suggest that you follow:
@AnfieldMole
@Jay_78_
@Jay82_LFC
Now, for the part that you've
been waiting for and not my endless waffle. In this blog will be what I was
told at the beginning of this week, June 2013. Things change in football very
quickly, but this person I believe to be extremely credible and told me way
back at the start of December that Daniel Sturridge was a completed deal.
Starting off with a man who
although has a YNWA tattoo has recently been linked with a move to Monaco - Daniel Agger. Liverpool do not want to
sell, but there is some serious interest from Monaco. Agger doesn't want to
leave either, but every single player at the club has their price as outlined
by Rodgers clearly in an interview several months back. Agger's is £22m. Now, I
do not expect anyone to pay that and nor do I expect Agger to leave, but you
never know and Monaco seem to have a bottomless pit.
Onto another CB - Martin Skrtel. Ideally, Rodgers would
like to keep Skrtel, as it means one less CB to replace after Carragher's
retirement and Coates's almost certain exit. However, Skrtel is a player who
could be sold to raise funds for other Rodgers targets and Skrtel was far from
impressed at his lack of game time last season. £12m would be enough for
Liverpool and Skrtel to part company.
Another defender, Glen Johnson, will be with us for next
season - but he has his heart set on a move to Spain at some point, so I
wouldn't be surprised to see him sold next Summer, but unless anything changes,
he will be a Liverpool player for next season.
Luis Suarez,
Luis Suarez - Luis Suarez. Where to begin and where to end? Once again, every
player has their price and Suarez is no different. However, it's my
understanding that it's Real Madrid or no-where for Suarez & a lot depends
on how their negotiations with Bale go first as he is their top target
confirmed by Guillem Balague. If Real Madrid want Suarez, he'll cost them £50m.
This money won't be spent on directly replacing the ST position. Priority
positions are: RF, CB, LB & CAM.
You've heard the potential
departures, now for the potential arrivals....
I've been talking about a player
for a couple of days on Twitter, who has emerged as our number one attacking
target regardless of whether Suarez stays or leaves. Some people have correctly
guessed, the lads name is Erik Lamela.
An Argentinian RF, currently at Roma. After his first real breakthrough season
in the Italian capital, Roma are incredibly reluctant to sell their up and
coming talent and this is why when he returns from holiday they want to try and
add an extra 2 years onto his contract to 2018 - so we must act quickly.
Despite their reluctance to sell, the club are confident that a bid of €25m (£21m) would be enough to sign
him. He would come in and play RF for us either in a 433 or 4231 and replace
Stewart Downing. I know 100% that there is genuine interest as this has been
confirmed by 2 other sources, regardless of what people might think or say. I'm not saying that he will sign for us!
Just saying he's currently our number one attacking target and the club believe
€25m would be enough for Roma to reluctantly part with Lamela.
Another player strongly linked is
Mkhyitaryan. He's been scouted on
numerous occasions and has impressed the Liverpool scouts. However, I
understand that we can't afford his £20m transfer fee unless we either sell
Suarez or don't sign Lamela. If either one, or both of those things happen then
a deal would be very much on, but as it stands no contact has been made.
Papadopoulos. Although interest has seemingly cooled, I
am told that the club are still confident
of signing him and are in negotiations with Schalke, but at the moment
the two clubs are a few million out on his transfer fee.
In terms of an attacking threat
this is how I believe the team would look next season:
With Suarez:
LF: Suarez, CAM: Coutinho, RF:
Lamela, ST: Sturridge.
Without Suarez:
LF: Coutinho, CAM: Mkhitaryan,
RF: Lamela, ST: Sturridge.
Once again, I will re-iterate
that everything mentioned is in their early stages and with roughly 11 weeks
left until the transfer window closes, anything can happen - but this is 100%
how it stands on the 5th June 2013.
Cheers.
