Well seeing as we're entering silly season and after the weekend/next week discussion in this forum will be a bit stale for a while, i've posted this for us to discuss transfer rumours. Obviously there'll be quite a lot of truth in the rumours but obviously there's some for the LOLs too.

The BBC football website has a page with the tabloid rumours - a great read. My rule of thumb is if it involves my club (Liverpool) buying a player I like I believe it; if it involves Liverpool selling a player I like I take it with a pinch of salt.

 

I'll be annoyed if the rumour that Xabi Alonso is leaving for Real Madrid for 23 million if Perez is elected president, is true. He had a great season. Glad we didn't sell him to Arsenal.

 

The Sun had a story (reported on Radio 1's Newsbeat as a rumour) that Liverpool would sign Tevez for 50 million. Surely not?

 

I don't like the Xabi Alonso rumours, but I think it may happen. Unofrtunately every player has a price and Perez wants to bring Real Madrid back to glory and he wants to do this by buying Spanish players. Alonso fits that catergory perfectly. I couldn't see us selling to someone like Arsenal or Man City purely because it'd be a stupidly foolish thing to do.

 

The Tevez rumours i'm not sure about. £50m? No chance. More like £22m if it goes through. Liverpool will buy a big player this year I am sure of it and it will be someone who can play in the front 4 positions. Whether that be Tevez or Lavezzi I don't know.

Rumours of Owen going back to Liverpool...

 

God please no... we're meant to be moving forward as a club, not backwards!

I'd love someone like Owen or another big name striker to go to Liverpool because then they'll try to them them AND Gerrard and Torres which will probably completely mess them up! :cheer:

I think Owen would be a decent signing for any of the 20 Premiership clubs, providing he's only on a pay as you play deal. If he works on his fitness (which I think he can improve, as Newcastle must have about the worst medical staff in the country) he will score goals. And on a free transfer, he could easily be the signing of the season for someone.

I'd love someone like Owen or another big name striker to go to Liverpool because then they'll try to them them AND Gerrard and Torres which will probably completely mess them up! :cheer:

 

Nah. There's no way Rafa can mix up the 4-2-3-1 formation we play now. We saw what happened with Robbie Keane (also I bet that's the last time Rafa takes player reccomendations off any players...). I think we'll sign another striker this summer, but not Owen. We need someone whose willing to sit on the bench and be an able alternative to when Torres is injured and Owen is not that player. Someone like Tevez however...

 

I seriously think Owen will end up at Man City, Spurs or Everton. Definitely not Liverpool.

Robbie Keane only didn't work because Rafa didn't want him to. He finally gave him a run, he scored 3 goals in two games against decent opposition and then Rafa, being Rafa, dropped him and sold him soon after, preferring Kuyt and Babel as replacements for an injured Torres and playing Keane for just 7 minutes in draws against Stoke and Wigan. Surely one of the basics of management is that if a player is in good form and is fit, you play him?!

Robbie Keane only didn't work because Rafa didn't want him to. He finally gave him a run, he scored 3 goals in two games against decent opposition and then Rafa, being Rafa, dropped him and sold him soon after, preferring Kuyt and Babel as replacements for an injured Torres and playing Keane for just 7 minutes in draws against Stoke and Wigan. Surely one of the basics of management is that if a player is in good form and is fit, you play him?!

 

Keane messed up everything at Liverpool. He didn't fit in anywhere. He's too good a player not to play, but where should be play? He's wasn't capeable to play the lone striker role, as he comes too deep to try and get the ball. He's not the right sort of player to play behind Torres and he's not versatile enough to play on the left or right imo. He f***ed up so much its unreal. Keane is an individual player, and not a team player, which is why he didn't fit in to Liverpool.

 

For Keane to work as good as he can be, the whole team has to play around him. Liverpool can't do this, as we have better players to play our game around than Keane. Spurs however can afford to do this, as he was/is the spine of their team.

Robbie Keane only didn't work because Rafa didn't want him to. He finally gave him a run, he scored 3 goals in two games against decent opposition and then Rafa, being Rafa, dropped him and sold him soon after, preferring Kuyt and Babel as replacements for an injured Torres and playing Keane for just 7 minutes in draws against Stoke and Wigan. Surely one of the basics of management is that if a player is in good form and is fit, you play him?!

 

:wacko:

 

I don't know what football you were watching.

 

But I along with 99.8% of Liverpool supporters would argue ex-Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry won the title for Manchester United this season by signing Robbie Keane against Rafa Benitez' request instead of Gareth Barry.

 

Robbie Keane is a very good footballer but with the system/formation Liverpool operate it was like buying a square peg to fit into a round hole.

Good players and a good manager will make more than one system work. Man Utd can, Arsenal can, Hiddink proved Chelsea can, so why can't Liverpool?

 

I really don't know why Barry would've been any better an option than Keane. It's highly doubtful he'd have got into the team ahead of Mascherano and Alonso and deservedly so. So where as he going to play... He doesn't play far enough forward to work in Rafa's system so again, it would've been on the bench. Liverpool could've won the league this season if they attacked more and had decent strikers. They became the first team never to win the league despite losing only two games, that proves they're fine in defence and it was the attack that let them down with too many draws (often 0-0). You want a generally defensive minded midfielder (or box-to-box at best) ahead of a proven International and Premiership striker leaving only two natural strikers in the squad (including David N'Gog) then fine, but I certainly feel you had a much better chance of actually winning something with Keane than with Barry. He didn't fit in originally but I don't think he was given anywhere near enough time and when he did find form (one against Arsenal in a 1-1 draw followed by 2 in a 3-0 win over Bolton) he got dropped?! It makes no sense!

 

He had a record of 5 goals in 1253 League minutes, it's not exactly great but it's a record of 1 goal in just under every 3 games. It's pretty much on par with his Spurs record, better than Drogba, better than Berbatov and much better than Tevez who people have said is a brilliant player and key to Man Utd winning the things!!! Flop? Maybe. Scapegoat? Definitely.

But it doesn't hide away from the fact that Keane was terrible. In other matches we drew (and only JUST won) he had handfuls of chances but he missed them because he was off key. Like I said before Keane is an individual player, and its why he's been at so many clubs as in the end the club has to play around him, and not Robbie Keane playing around the cup.

 

The fact is Robbie Keane was a bad signing. And its basically been confirmed that the signing was a Rick Parry signing as opposed to a Rafa Benitez one. This isn't to say Rafa didn't want Keane, as he clearly wanted someone like him, but Parry pushed the signing because he's a bit of a cok-eyed idiot. I think Barry would have played either central midfield, or on the left. His signing would have allowed Lucas to become the alternate to Gerrard 9which is Lucas' natural position). He was just a bad signing, and it didn't work for either Liverpool or Keane. I was pleased when we signed him, bue extatic when we sold him as we would never have got £12m this summer for us unless he played phenomenal in the latter end of the season (wasn't gonna happen).

Keane is a fish out of water without Berbatov

 

If we get Berbs back we will be potential CL qualifiers next season as that is the best football partnership since the SAS days at Blackburn, Keane since he came back to us has not played well with Pav, Defoe or Bent if we are not going to get Berbatov back I would be happy to sell Keane on and get Crouch who would play well with Defoe

Keane is a fish out of water without Berbatov

 

If we get Berbs back we will be potential CL qualifiers next season as that is the best football partnership since the SAS days at Blackburn, Keane since he came back to us has not played well with Pav, Defoe or Bent if we are not going to get Berbatov back I would be happy to sell Keane on and get Crouch who would play well with Defoe

 

Can't see Berbatov going anywhere away from Old Trafford this close season tbh. Fergie even sent his own child relatives out in '9 Berbatov' shirts after we won the Prem. It seems that although the whole of MUFC's fanbase is desperate to rid of him, Fergie is certainly not of the same opinion. Plus it'd be an extremely risky option to sell, with Tevez on his way and Ronaldo constantly on a knife-edge over his future. And apparently no big money spending at our end this time around. Rooney-Welbeck-Macheda as attacking options for next year would practically be handing the title over before the season had even begun.

Can't see Berbatov going anywhere away from Old Trafford this close season tbh. Fergie even sent his own child relatives out in '9 Berbatov' shirts after we won the Prem. It seems that although the whole of MUFC's fanbase is desperate to rid of him, Fergie is certainly not of the same opinion. Plus it'd be an extremely risky option to sell, with Tevez on his way and Ronaldo constantly on a knife-edge over his future. And apparently no big money spending at our end this time around. Rooney-Welbeck-Macheda as attacking options for next year would practically be handing the title over before the season had even begun.

 

If you sold Ronaldo you would have a good £80m to spend which would be enough to get you Benzema and a decent right winger, you are being heavily linked with Huntelaar today too and he would score for fun in the premiership

 

I think if one or both of those 2 came to you then Fergie might do business in terms of Berbs as apparently he was very annoyed at being left out of the first 11 in Rome

 

Tevez is the most overated player going for me, can't understand the hype about him, because he runs around a lot and has a lot of energy he is hero worshipped but his goal rate doesn't match the hype, headless chicken far as I am concerned, if he was English he would be laughed at

I don't think Ronaldo will leave Man Utd. The guy whose looking likely to be the next Real Madrid president doesn't want Ronaldo. But i'm 99.9% sure there's some sort of SIGNED pre-contract agreement between Ronaldo and Real Madrid where they had already agreed to pay 60m euros for him. But the new president is looking for a loophole in the contract.

 

I don't believe Man Utd will have no money to spend either. They'll probs have to be a lot of cautious in the transfer market like all clubs will. But the problem for Man Utd is players like Giggs and Scholes are not getting any younger and they need proper replacements. Nani is definitely not going to be the replacement for Giggs, and if Tevez does leave, it'll mean more game time for Nani which is a good thing if you support another team, but not if you're a Man Utd fan.

 

At this moment in time there are quite a few weaknesses in the Big 4 teams, who all need players to replace other players. I think this is going to be a big summer for Arsenal. They need to catch up to Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd this season in the transfer market, or else I definitely think they'll drift away for the time being into the Everton, Spurs, Villa, Man City clan.

If you sold Ronaldo you would have a good £80m to spend which would be enough to get you Benzema and a decent right winger, you are being heavily linked with Huntelaar today too and he would score for fun in the premiership

 

I think if one or both of those 2 came to you then Fergie might do business in terms of Berbs as apparently he was very annoyed at being left out of the first 11 in Rome

 

Tevez is the most overated player going for me, can't understand the hype about him, because he runs around a lot and has a lot of energy he is hero worshipped but his goal rate doesn't match the hype, headless chicken far as I am concerned, if he was English he would be laughed at

 

He's been amazingly shit in La Liga. I doubt Real Madrid would wanna sell him so soon anyway as they are trying to re-create the Dutch national team afterall.

He's been amazingly shit in La Liga. I doubt Real Madrid would wanna sell him so soon anyway as they are trying to re-create the Dutch national team afterall.

 

Took him a while to settle in but I thought in the last 3rd of the season he was scoring for fun

 

Players take time to settle, look at Drogba and Bergkamp and Henry never set the world on fire in his first half of his first Scum season

Nani won't play much at all next season, that's if he's still at the club. He's been heavily linked with a move away from the club ever since he stormed out after being substituted at half time against Spurs. He'd be fine for many smaller Prem teams, he's got a good shot on him and has pace. But for Manchester United, or any of the big four for that matter, he'd be a weak link.

 

Plus we've been linked with Huntelaar every year for the past three seasons. Somewhere in the region of £10-15m. It never materialises.

Yeah Nani is Wigan/Bolton level, to think i was pissed off at Man Utd when he chose you guys instead of us :o bullet dodged by Spurs for sure ^_^