Liverpool FC Forum

by **tubby** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:00 pm

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague - a close friend of Rafael Benitez - believes Spanish ace Raul could be made available for transfer in the summer.

The Real Madrid hitman's future is currently up for discussion and Balague wonders if Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez may be interested in signing the 28-year-old.

Balague said: "What is certain is that we may have reached a point in his career where he is so burned out by off-the-field disputes, by being in the same place for so long - more than 10 years - that he may need a new challenge.

"Indications from the Bernabeu suggest that the new president may be wondering if keeping Raul, with his €6.7m wages, is such a good idea.

"Would Liverpool welcome him?"

Personally hes barley cutting it in Spain no, if he came to England he could just turn out to be another Morientes story. Even worse.

I could be wrong though.

by **LFC #1** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:12 pm

bavlondon wrote:Personally hes barley cutting it in Spain no, if he came to England he could just turn out to be another Morientes story. Even worse.

I could be wrong though.

Agree with that, past his best IMO - Although to be fair his best was pretty special.

He hasn't been doing well at R.Madrid for two years now, he's on his last legs. Would be a big mistake IMO, and as you said could turn out to be as bad, if not worse, than the Morientes signing.

World class at his peak, but no longer anywhere near that level. No thanks.

by **tubby** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:15 pm

Lets hope thet Rafa has leant his lesson from Morientes.

by **red37** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:17 pm

id leave well alone. he is past his best, however well find out in germany wont we.

torres keeps being brought up as well.

not over convinced by him either.

by **Red Indian** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:20 pm

Good posts, in some of the games he has played in the last 2 seasons, he hasn't even been getting into scoring positions, never mind scoring. The fact of the matter is, if he's struggling in Spain, he'll find it a hell of a lot harder in England. IMO he's too similar to what we've already got (Fowler, Crouch Morientes) he has good movement, a good touch but no pace and seems to let his head drop when he's not scoring goals.

by **The_Rock** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:21 pm

If morientes can't really cut it here....raul deffo can't cut it here.....

There is only 1 spanish striker we should be looking at.... DAVID VILLA :bowdown

If david villa had any ambition, he should leave valencia (i know he signed a new contract and all)..and join one of the most supported team in the world......

by **mighty mo** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:29 pm

raul is evidence of burn out,he has been averaging 50 to 60 games a season since he 17 years old,he is finished and a shadow of his former self,and i think rafa knows he's finished.

by **tubby** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:44 pm

The_Rock wrote:If morientes can't really cut it here....raul deffo can't cut it here.....

There is only 1 spanish striker we should be looking at.... DAVID VILLA

If david villa had any ambition, he should leave valencia (i know he signed a new contract and all)..and join one of the most supported team in the world......

David Villa could still be a possibility but the fact that he has signed a new contact will push his price up a few mil and dont forget if he has a half decent world cup his price culd soar even more. In fact if we are to sign anyone of the highest leve who is going to the world cup we should do it before becasue the prices always increase after a major tournament. Look at how much we paid for Diouf all for one good game against France on 2002.

by **The_Rock** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:24 pm

bavlondon wrote:Look at how much we paid for Diouf all for one good game against France on 2002.

Not sure about that....If i can remember correctly, we signed diouf before the world cup...

by **tubby** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:32 pm

The_Rock wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Look at how much we paid for Diouf all for one good game against France on 2002.

Not sure about that....If i can remember correctly, we signed diouf before the world cup...

yes your right,, sorry i retract that

by **crazyhorse** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:09 pm

Raul is not the burned out shell he is being portrayed as here.

He has recovered from a really bad injury in recent months and will take several more before he is fully fit again.

Having said that i would not like to see him signed by the club.

by **redmikey** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 8:57 pm

he would take a season to adjust to english culture and style of play which we can't support at the moment, we need strikers that have settled in the epl or championship or even scotish leagues,

i think rafa is wise enough to relise that the spanish league is alot different to ours,

david villa is highly rated but would cost an arm and a leg due to the buy out clause

yakubu has scored in smaller teams and could be worth a risk

defoe and owen should be our top targets

but in rafa i trust roll on next season and the 19 title

by **puroresu** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:36 pm

Villa is going nowhere unless someone is going to pay big money. Valenica are not going to let their top striker go when next year they will be in the CL and hopefully pushing for the title. Not going to happen.

Raul is finished. Nothing like the player he was

by **RichardLFC1** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:39 pm

He is

and even though he is :censored:

he will come with quite a huge price tag

by **Theo@home** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:52 am

I'm not keen on Raul coming to us and tbh I don't think Rafa would really entertain the idea unless it was a similar financial package to Morientes ie around 5-6mill and Raul was realistic about his wage demands.

Raul has definately been dissapointing over the past two seasons but it is interesting to speculate why... could he be bored at Madrid, is the politics now too much to deal with, has the constant change in managers sapped the team's focus and concentration? Who knows...

Another question which fascinates me is what is the true value of teamwork and understanding bewtween strikers on the pitch? Could the friendship and understanding between Nando and Raul compensate for a lack of pace? Pace is probaly all that's missing from thei game today and there's no doubting that both men, when in form, can be deadly and they did work extremely well together. What if we get Owen and Raul? The two of them combined once or twice as well. How's that for a forward line (albeit on paper)? Raul, Morientes, Crouch, Owen and Fowler. If Nando and Raul could find their form of 2-3 years ago we'd be unstoppable.

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