No idea if correct but couple of sites say he's on £64k a week so that might be a stumbling block! The reason I mention the games played is that experience is quite often a quality a defender needs and although he did have a run in the Liverpool side, it's a bit easier defending for them than most other teams and felt that is not enough experience to pay a lot of money for. Equally I would take Neuton right now
Based on nothing, it feels like Rodon is the surprise that could happen. Strange if he doesn't get a loan at all.
£64k per week is nothing for four months if it helps you stay up. How much do you thing we’re going to waste on tearing Rose’s contract up?
So £64k a week for 25 weeks plus the loan fee. £3m all in? That’s significantly less than we spend buying up all of Mogi Bayet’s bin ends in positions we have less urgency. It would be brilliant if our owner could prioritise for once rather than chasing his own bonkers agenda where we are secondary consideration.
I would like to think a deal could have been done. But 64k is a lot for him. If our interest in Henderson is genuine, it makes the lack of movement on Phillips make a lot more sense.
I imagine Liverpool's Sarr interest will be focussed on when we are definite relegation fodder, or look like we might miss out on promotion. They are bargain hunters and aim to unsettle players to force through a cheap move. I imagine they'll come snooping around in a couple of months time, and they'll get him for half his market worth.
He's played in 17 PL games (15 starts) and 5 Champions League games (4 starts) - that's not plenty, that's half a season of top flight football as a 24 year old. Even Cathcart had managed to play a full PL season by that age! It's not even as if he's had much experience out on loan either, only managed 16 starts for Stuttgart in the 2. Bundesliga - that's his whole senior footballing career, 31 starts - by the same age both Cathcart and WTE had made over 100 each. Obviously not saying they're better defenders than Phillips but it's not a great sample size to on, especially since the gulf in quality between us and Liverpool
He has, but he's played alongside much much better players with Liverpool than he would with us - he could very well be immense for us but it or his weaknesses would be amplified and he be no better than our other CBs. I'm not a scout but a loan to buy deal at the price that Liverpool want does seem very expensive for what is rather an unknown quantity
I’m not advocating spending what Liverpool want as a final fee. And of course his lack of games isn’t great. But some are using the latter point as reason for not even taking him on loan - and I think it’s a point that’s being given too much focus. Also if it means we are close to a different PL loan, then it’s worth keeping away from the deal - I don’t deny that. But with every hour that passes with us not seemingly bringing anyone in, the annoyance at the Phillips/Bournemouth deal increases for me. Obviously there could be reasons why we didn’t do it even if we don’t bring in anyone else - the problem is that Gino has eroded a lot of peoples desire to give them the benefit of doubt.
That kind of suggests WTE could slot straight into Liverpools back four and look good, which I highly doubt.
Yeah. Never a problem for Bayat’s back catalogue. They bid £7m for him earlier. Why are they unsure of him now? You don’t need to make things up to defend them. Also it’s not Gino’s money either. It would just be added to the vast debt pile he has run up.
Not really what i'm suggesting as WTE is pretty awful on the ball which is a big part of how Liverpool play - but he would certainly have to defend less which would be a benefit!
Well we did make some sort of loan then buy offer it seems but presume Bournemouth’s offer was better .
It’s reported as 1.5 plus 0.25 if they stay up. Plus full wages presumably. Where are you getting £15m from?
It was an example. Apologies, I didn’t know the details had been reported. Strange deal though as they wanted £15m but are accepting under £2m?
If he went on loan or a permanent transfer to another Premier League side then Watford would have been rightly criticised for missing out on someone they have been reported as having made a bid on. But despite links with us, Leicester City, Newcastle Utd, West Ham and Burnley, as well as Eintracht Frankfurt back in December, he ends up in the Championship on a short term loan. You'd think if it was the player then West Ham would be a decent choice right now, as would Leicester. Even Newcastle with their injection of cash and new players should appeal. But he's gone to Bournemouth!?! So why hasn't an EPL side or a club in Germany where, after his loan at Stuttgart he will have been known, gone the extra mile to sign him? It looks to me like Liverpool are behind him not moving to the sides mentioned. His contract runs out in 2025 so if a loan with a view to buy was ever put forward it suggests Liverpool don't want to sell. Fair enough. The only reason I can think for him joining Bournemouth is guaranteed game time as part of the loan, something a Championship side may be more willing to give. Due to his lack of 1st team football there is no cast iron certainty he will be any better than our centre-backs over half a season, or those of Burnley or any other sides who supposedly held an interest in him. And for someone so inexperienced to go anywhere in the top flight and hit the ground running is more than likely not going to happen. So what does a manager/coach do? Play someone even if he doesn't adjust to his new surroundings quickly and turns out to be no better or, heaven forbid, even worse than he already has at his disposal because of a (possible) agreement in the terms of the loan? Not only would the team be weakened/not significantly strengthened but it would also cause discontent within the squad, having players on the sidelines at the expense of someone who hasn't added anything to the team but is assured of his starting place.
It would sound sensible apart from the fact it is simply not possible to have a worse output over half a season than Troost, Cathcart and Sierralta have. They have all been dreadful. There would be nothing to lose by guaranteeing game time to Phillips. I suspect this is Pozzo not wanting to do a deal where he doesn’t have possibility to make a profit, even if that attitude harms our prospects. But Pozzo has been doing that for years.
As an owner he'd have lost a couple of million quid on Phillips' wages and whatever money he's paying to the central defender currently under contract but not named in the final 25 man squad. So it could be he loses upwards of £4m with no guaranteed upgrade. I'd say you were right if the player had ended up at another Premier League side but it really looks to me as if Liverpool want him where he'll play week in week out. Another EPL side was never going to have him, in my opinion.
I need to see the venn diagram of centre backs we should and could sign and who would actually improve us. They’re always either too good, or not good enough, yet we have Craig Cathcart and WTE on our books. Do we genuinely exist in such a vacuum that every other centre back in the world is either too good, or too bad compared to them?
Having Bournemouth in the PL is in Liverpool's interests. Its an extra £30m in their coffers every window.
