Liverpool FC Forum

by **Owzat** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:35 am

GLEN JOHNSON (IN)

Rafa Benitez will step up his efforts to finance a deal for Glen Johnson over the weekend and hopes to unveil the England right back as his first summer signing in the next few days.

Manchester City and Bayern Munich have enquired about Johnson, but Chelsea are Liverpool's chief rivals for his signature after having a £17million bid accepted by Portsmouth, as revealed in Sportsmail last week.

However, Benitez remains confident of seeing off the 24-year-old's former club after it emerged that Anfield would be his preferred destination.

Raising the necessary finance appears to be the Liverpool manager's main stumbling block, but it is understood he is ready to utilise an outstanding amount from Peter Crouch's move to Portsmouth - thought to be around £7million - to top up his available funds and match Chelsea's £17million offer.
That should be enough to push a deal through for a player who has become Benitez's No 1 target in recent weeks.

Johnson's attacking forays down the right for Portsmouth and, in particular, England have convinced Benitez of his worth, but his arrival will leave little leeway for further strengthening.
Benitez has also lodged a £2m bid for Johnson's Fratton Park team-mate Sylvain Distin, but will have to consider selling before making any other signings.

He could raise badly needed revenue by sacrificing Yossi Benayoun after reports in Israel that Tottenham, as well as Barcelona, had made an approach for the midfielder.

Benayoun has been priced at £12m for foreign clubs but would cost even more for any of Liverpool's Barclays Premier League rivals.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport....ez.html

Kind of player we should be looking at but £17m seems a lot and is he that much better than Arbeloa who Madrid reputedly rate at £8m?

ALVARO ARBELOA (OUT)

REAL MADRID are set to step up their astonishing spending spree — after an £8million offer for Liverpool’s Alvaro Arbeloa.

There is even speculation the Spanish billionaires will bid £15m for Chelsea’s Ashley Cole to keep him away from Barcelona.

Just 24 hours after agreeing an £80m fee for Cristiano Ronaldo, Real president Florentino Perez contacted Liverpool with the official bid for right-back Arbeloa.

The Spain ace, 26, was a key player in Kop boss Rafa Benitez’s team last season.

But Benitez will struggle to resist Madrid’s offer after being told he needs to sell before he can make any major signings this summer.

Arbeloa actually started his career at Real but played just two games for the club before moving to Deportivo La Coruna.

He was signed by Liverpool for £3m in January 2007 and Madrid — well aware of Liverpool’s mounting financial problems — are convinced they can prise Arbeloa back to Spain.

Having spent £62m on Brazilian superstar Kaka and agreeing Ronaldo’s switch, Madrid are now turning their attentions to their defence.

And they could snatch England ace Cole from Chelsea.

New Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti is keen to tie him to a new deal after recent interest from La Liga champions Barcelona.

But Madrid are prepared to top any huge offer to the left-back from rivals Barcelona and Chelsea

http://www.thes*n.co.uk/sol....ar.html

"key player last season" ?!?!?! Only RB more like, nearly murdered by Carra to boot. I'd consider £8m for him, depends if Degen is any good or if we need to get cover. Last thing we really want is to be playing Mascherano or Carra at RB again.

SAMUEL ETO'O (IN), JAVIER MASCHERANO (OUT?)

Samuel Eto'o has been offered to Liverpool by Barcelona in a swap deal as the European Champions step up their bid to land Javier Mascherano.

Eto’o, 28, is one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe after failing to agree a new deal at the Nou Camp.

Barca believe offering him to Liverpool for unsettled Mascherano could help to smooth a deal. Reds boss Rafa Benitez insisted earlier this week that he wasn’t willing to sell his Argentine defensive midfielder to Barca “at any price” – even £50million.

But Mascherano’s agent, Walter Tamer, also spoke this week about Mascherano’s “dream” of playing for the Champions League winners.

And Barca are also well aware of Liverpool’s financial woes as well as their lack of depth in attack. Eto’o has just a year left on his current deal.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/most-po....1436574

We're not exactly inundated with CFs, but many believe Mascherano is a priceless asset. I think we'd find it easier to land a replacement for Mascherano who is a luxury against weaker opponents of whom we play more of a season than the kind of teams Mascherano "shuts out" than land a goalscorer like Eto'o.

ALVARO NEGREDO (IN), XABI ALONSO (OUT?)

Rafa Benitez has made a £6million offer for Real Madrid’s Alvaro Negredo – but faces competition from Valencia.
Cash-strapped Valencia want Negredo, 23, to be part of any deal for striker David Villa, who is a £35m target for Real.

Madrid sold hitman Negredo to Almeira in 2007 but exercised a £4m option to re-buy him – even though he is likely to be sold this summer.

Liverpool boss Benitez believes Negredo has huge potential but might only be able to land him by making Xabi Alonso available to Madrid.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport....1436579

I wonder exactly how much Madrid would offer plus Negredo for Alonso. I am surprised at the poll results for the 'sell Mascherano or sell Alonso' thread, I think Alonso is much more influential in more games and harder to replace than Mascherano. Go through each game of the season and I'd put Alonso in instead of/before Mascherano in the vast majority. eg Alonso or Mascherano vs Stoke/Hull/Bolton/Blackburn etc

by **Toffeehater** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:54 am

Some good rumors , i'd take johnsen in a heart beat , take the 8 million that madrid are offering and top up 12 million or so for samuel eto . 20 million should be enough to land him as he has a year left on his contract . We have about 20 million to spend , 10 million for johnsen and the 7 from crouch's transfer equates to chelsea's offer .

I've heard that perez now wants to trade robben for xabi and if that fails , trade heinze and pay 18 million . I'd keep xabi if we can sign both players above . What a team we will have next season .

Reina

Johnsen Agger Carragher Aurelio

Kuyt Masch Alonso Gerrard

Eto Torres

The team is still deperately crying out for wingers and stevie on the left as no matter where you put him , he will perform

by **fivecups** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:03 am

Rafa said something in the newsletter about fighting to keep the spine of the team intact. That's the number one priorty this summer if we want to win the league next season.

I wish all these :censored:

would leave our players alone.

Selling Arbeloa even if we sign Johnson would be stupid given we have no other fit right back. Similarly selling Xabi or Macherano is going to reduce our title chances next year no matter who comes in. After last seasons progress despite our transfer failings last summer it should be clear to everyone that continuity is the key to success. Last season we finally saw Liverpool play as a team rather than a group of individuals.

by **Ciggy** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:33 am

Owzat never post a link to the S*n on here mate :no

by **JoeTerp** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:50 am

Toffeehater wrote:Some good rumors , i'd take johnsen in a heart beat , take the 8 million that madrid are offering and top up 12 million or so for samuel eto . 20 million should be enough to land him as he has a year left on his contract . We have about 20 million to spend , 10 million for johnsen and the 7 from crouch's transfer equates to chelsea's offer .

I've heard that perez now wants to trade robben for xabi and if that fails , trade heinze and pay 18 million . I'd keep xabi if we can sign both players above . What a team we will have next season .

Reina

Johnsen Agger Carragher Aurelio

Kuyt Masch Alonso Gerrard

Eto Torres

The team is still deperately crying out for wingers and stevie on the left as no matter where you put him , he will perform

I don't think you get to put Eto'o and macherano in the same team

by **Trewyn** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:59 am

fivecups wrote:Rafa said something in the newsletter about fighting to keep the spine of the team intact. That's the number one priorty this summer if we want to win the league next season.

I wish all these would leave our players alone.

Selling Arbeloa even if we sign Johnson would be stupid given we have no other fit right back. Similarly selling Xabi or Macherano is going to reduce our title chances next year no matter who comes in. After last seasons progress despite our transfer failings last summer it should be clear to everyone that continuity is the key to success. Last season we finally saw Liverpool play as a team rather than a group of individuals.

Agreed. We should buy to enhance, not buy to replace. Of course excess players should be offloaded to add to our transfer kitty.
A world-class winger should be a priority followed by a 2nd named striker that will put fear into the hearts of opponents coming off the bench or banging in at least 15goals IF *touch wood* Torres is injured.

Anyways, I don't mind Glen Johnson as a primary RB and Arbeloa secondary.

We're Liverpool :censored:

FC, we should be spending smart and proud and not trawling any bargain basement! :buttrock

:

by **Toffeehater** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 12:12 pm

JoeTerp wrote:
Toffeehater wrote:Some good rumors , i'd take johnsen in a heart beat , take the 8 million that madrid are offering and top up 12 million or so for samuel eto . 20 million should be enough to land him as he has a year left on his contract . We have about 20 million to spend , 10 million for johnsen and the 7 from crouch's transfer equates to chelsea's offer .

I've heard that perez now wants to trade robben for xabi and if that fails , trade heinze and pay 18 million . I'd keep xabi if we can sign both players above . What a team we will have next season .

Reina

Johnsen Agger Carragher Aurelio

Kuyt Masch Alonso Gerrard

Eto Torres

The team is still deperately crying out for wingers and stevie on the left as no matter where you put him , he will perform

I don't think you get to put Eto'o and macherano in the same team

Eto wants to leave as he's not happy at barca and has a year left on his contract , if we can get the 8 million from the sale of arbeloa , we top up another 12 , and buy him for 20 million which is alot for a player who only has a year left

by **burjennio** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 12:59 pm

why would anyone pay £20m for a player in the last year of his contract? He he wanted to leave he could buy out his own contract for a lot less.

by **Owz@t** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:25 pm

Ciggy wrote:Owzat never post a link to the S*n on here mate

I thought about it, but honestly is there a huge amount of difference linking it to bbc who link it to the s*n or the link itself? The source is the same, it's not like a bought the paper

by **Owz@t** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:27 pm

burjennio wrote:why would anyone pay £20m for a player in the last year of his contract? He he wanted to leave he could buy out his own contract for a lot less.

You could say the same of Barry who went for £12m, some clubs just think a player is worth paying out to get them early. Didn't Citeh pay £17m or something for De Jong when he was in the last 6-18 months of his contract?

by **Toffeehater** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:33 pm

Hmmm owzat why are you using another account mate

by **Madmax** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:34 pm

Would be pointless buying eto.. First thing is we don't want to change our formation for 4-4-2... Wouldnt not bring the best out of stevie G and torres.. Also if we stick to our normal formation would be silly equiping eto just to warm the bench...
If we want to try some ridiculour deal why not save it for someone creative..

by **Owz@t** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:38 pm

Toffeehater wrote:Hmmm owzat why are you using another account mate

Problem with the boards. I was in my control panel and noticed the e-mail address was more out of date than peewee's "jokes" so I changed it. It then locked me out awaiting validation just like if I'd registered and I think the validation e-mail went to the original address!

Try it if you don't believe me.......................!

Rumours of my ban for calling someone a name have been grossly exaggerated :laugh:

by **Glen Quagmire** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:43 pm

by **Owz@t** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:48 pm

I heard Real Madrid have just bought Villa..........................................

................................s for Ronaldo and Kaka to live in

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