jimmylibel

I’m rationalising that with the (probably misguided) hope we want to get Sessegnon next summer.

We certainly need another player along these lines. The other interesting point is that we knew the Ox news since the day after he picked up his injury. So technically it shouldn’t be impacting any transfer plans at this stage.

And this... Dean Jones @DeanJonesBR Am told Fekir now progressing well again... This could be a defining week for Liverpool

Major pinch of salt here but Turkish paper reporting we’ve had a £20m bid accepted for Croatian defender Vida. Signing a 29 year old CB doesn’t seem like something we’d do, but after the last few days international reports are probably worth casting an eye over. https://turkish-football.com/super-lig-club-accepts-20m-liverpool-offer-croatia-international-star-personal-talks-set-go-ahead/

We're getting busy... Taiwo Awoniyi has today signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool FC. https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/307427-taiwo-awoniyi-new-contract-liverpool

The rumour doing the rounds is that they've accepted €35m bid from Real Madrid.

Did you just reverse mocker Pearce?

There's been a few I think. Here's the relevant passage from one of them... "Klopp won't buy for the sake of it, he only wants a significant upgrade. That's why available alternatives such as Jasper Cillessen, Jack Butland, Nick Pope and Thomas Strakosha have so far been ruled out." https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/loris-karius-shot-liverpool-redemption-14874645

West Ham have completed deals for Balbuena and Felipe Anderson.

On Kane, it does seem they pander to him too much. Doesn’t seem like a proper fit for the captaincy at all, seemed like he was being kept on for golden boot purposes...

Your point about there being few players who will cost £140m is absolutely spot on. Although even at that level the number is growing and will more than likely continue to grow. However I would quibble with the focus on ‘worth’. Worth is just whatever another club will pay for them. The reason this £140m figure is being discussed in the first place is because someone overpaid for that player. As we’ve seen in the transfer market repeatedly, today’s overpayment can quickly become tomorrow’s good value.

Ok but it was the club who put out the line about Ward getting a run. Seriously? Again the club put the line out there about Ward getting a run. Next game up, well actually a Karius is getting more than 45 mins today.

Still seems a bit odd though doesn't it. We say we're going to give him a run in the team over preseason, partly due no doubt to the fan reaction to Karius after the last game. So next game out we leave Ward completely out so he can do some prep for the friendly the following week? I do wonder if Ward has an offer on the table from elsewhere. Wouldn't blame him if he's after guaranteed first team football.

Fee was very low as well. I suspect they’ve included a significant sell on clause to help get that deal done.

It is an amazing deal. They also got him and his teammate Marchand for a combined £30m (Seri’s release clause was supposed to be £35m). He had also been linked, strongly, with Chelsea. Another sign they may be close to getting Jorginho?

John Percy of the Telegraph, who broke the Shaqiri details the other day... “Xherdan Shaqiri set for medical at Liverpool on Friday. Deal agreed with Stoke, release clause is around £13.75m. Will be Klopp’s third summer signing #lfc #scfc”

FWIW, there was a story linking us with him yesterday, but also suggested he’s eyeing a move to Bayern (his coach last season, Kovac, is their new boss).

He can be commanding, he can deal with crosses and he had two strong seasons, one not great one. You’re clearly not a fan, but I think he is a player who will make a big step forward over the coming years.

He had a poor season just gone but I’d happily roll the dice on Donnarumma (if he’d come to us). Has shown great ability in the past and the potential is massive. If his form recovers he may not be gettable again. Also, y’know, not Migrius

All the Liverpool correspondents have it this morning, so it looks like the briefing has commenced. Andy Hunter saying we're confident of completing the signing. James Pearce saying he favours a move to Anfield and Stoke expect him to sign for us.

He should have been sold Klopp’s first summer frankly. Wasn’t good enough then and was never going to be. Was seen in the FA Cup against West Brom, think it was his last appearance and hopefully he’ll be gone before his 3 week,post World Cup break concludes.

As amazing as Klopp has been on many, many levels, truth be told he’s not earned that sentiment when it comes to the keeper situation at the club yet. For example, he should have seen enough of Mignolet to bomb him out long before now.

Well, being devil’s advocate, if he genuinely believed it was all down to concussion then, after tonight he may be wondering about the lasting impact of the pressure/ scrutiny is having and how that will play out.

Klopp’s take on tonight... "No one likes this goal," he told reporters. “It is obvious, we don't have to hide it. "Yes, he could have made that save even though the shot was not easy to deal with. I've seen this situation 500 times at least in my life – bam, against the chest and the ball is going down. “But no-one likes that in these situations.” "We cannot start the story always after each mistake," he said. "Mistakes will happen. I don't like it, you don't like it, he doesn't like it but they do happen so let's carry on and make the best of all these situations to learn from it. “You [the media] can all stop it immediately – promise? You never ask again, that would be one little step! “Yeah, it will probably happen for a while until he has a few fantastic games, that is how the situation is. We cannot change that. Our job is to perform and you do what you do and that is part of the deal. “No-one likes that goal but if we talk about the second goal I think it was Millie's [James Milner's] fault together with [Pedro] Chirvella. Two brilliant footballers make this mistake, which one was the bigger? I would say the second one but we don't talk about that."

Looks like they are hawking around Higuaín and Dybala. As well as Pjaca (to us!) LB Sandro also a saleable asset. Rugani looks like he may be Chelsea bound. Pjanic being eyed by Barcelona, Matuidi also potentially on the way out. Anyone else of note? Expect the FFP critique to start imminently.