alias75

Pennant is still only 23! thought he was around 25/26 seems like hes been around for ages although he was only 15 i think when he signed for Arsenal.

Agree about the lack of pace but the signings of Gonzalez, Bellamy and maybe Pennant all of a sudden changes the potential team from a very slow one into a very quick one.

I still think Alves is Rafas #1 target whether it happens this season or next. Obviously a lot can change in 12 months but Finnan is in his 30s now and will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. Another year light on his contract Alves would be in a stronger bargaining position

Still very confident that Alves will be a Liverpool player, maybe not this season but Rafa will be patient and get his man for the right price, next year he'll have 1 less year on his contract and that can affect the fee. Finnan will be 31 next season and we will have to find a younger replacement for him soon. (assuming Krongkamp isnt it) Think Pennant will be a good addition to the squad, obviously gives us the right winger we need but also frees up Garcia to play in his best position (just off the main striker) and also means Stevie doesnt have to play there as much next year. As for the striker id be happy with Klose, havent seen muchof him in domestic football but was impressed with him for Germany, scores goals and leads the line well, think him and Bellamy looks a very good partnership.

How do Newcastle manage to spend all this money without any success on the pitch? First Owen now Duff with not even European football guaranteed this year. Are they a potential Leeds Ud?

Ithink its good business someone like Trezeguet for example may not be the player he was a few years ago but for the price we could get him he has to be a better option than some of the domestic options being mentioned. If Andy Johnson is an £8.5 million player and we can get someone with Trezeguets pedigree for less than that, thats good business and he will score goals in the PL as hes proved throughout his career for France and in Serie A. Also someone like Ibramhimovich could be signed now for a relatively small fee and moved on in a year or 2 for a big profit.

depends on the opposition...

If this money allows us to sign Alves then i think its a great bit of business. Alves is what 23 so if he signs he should be in the first team for the next 5 years at least all being well. With the buy back clause it means in a couple of years if he has impressed and with Finnan coming to the end of his career we could get him back when he has a real chance of pushing for the first team if he hasnt improved enough then we've tripled our money on the player and signed Alves too (hopefully)

Wigan have had a £5.5 million bid for Heskey accepted (thank f*** for that)

Think this is the ace card we hold on this deal, if Alves only wants to sign for us and noone else that puts us in a strong bargaining position. Yes Sevilla can refuse to sell him this season but then they have an unhappy player plus they've lost out on 15 million Euros (or whatever the fee is) in this situation the player usually gets their wish although with Del Nido we know things are never easy. Im still pretty confident this will happen and the comments of Alves' agent seem to be a message to Sevilla that they either accept our offer which did afterall meet their initial valuation or risk having an unhappy player next year who will more than likely leave for less money sometime in the future.

£14 million is too much, but we have Krongkamp and maybe even Dudek who we could use in part exchange for this player.

Im certainly happy with the players we've brought in so far, our best 11 last season was very strong, the 1 weakness was maybe a 2nd striker and Bellamy should be an improvement on what we had last year. The other signings should strengthen the squad consdierably. Aurellio is genuine competition for Riise and that strengthens a weakness in the squad at left back, Gonzalez will hopefully get his permit and thats another option wide left , i wont comment on the others as nothing is signed and sealed yet, but i think Rafas done a great job of getting a very strong squad together in just 2 years. A lot of big earners that arent in his plans have now been moved out and i think he has a group of 20 plus players everyone of which he trusts to do a job for the team when called upon.

Thats my hunch too, i think Rafa has called their bluff and now we have 2 realisitc options if it doesnt happen. Sevilla have signed their replacement and the player himself by all accounts has his heart set on this move, if it doesnt happen Sevilla are going to have an unhappy player on their books plus 2 right backs, if it doesnt happen this season i wouldnt be surprised to see it happen next season probabaly for less money. If Trabelsi has been in Liverpool for talks though i wonder if that deal would go ahead if we signed Alves? He is being signed primarily for right wing so i suppose its possible we could get both.

Geds a great man your right he got us back to winning ways and while he made mistakes (some we're still trying to repair) his commitment to the club couldnt be beat.

dont want to knock Ged but we're still trying to recover from the big money signings he brought in that didnt work out. When you see players like Cheyrou and Diao still taking millions from the club in wages every season its no wonder we cant spend what we need at the moment, slowly those players are being shipped out and the squad ceratinly has a much stronger feel to it with 2 top quality players in every position. A manager like Rafa deserves to be given all the financial support he wants hes earned that right, but i get the feeling he spends money like its his own anyway so if he thinks a player is overvalued he'll look elsewhere, if Alves is determined to play for us then im guessing he wont be too happy that his move could be dead because his current chairman moved the goalposts and is now holding out for a little more. I have a sneaky feeling we'll see him at Anfield even if its not this year.

re Kujt dont forget he usually plays with another stirker up there today it was 4-3-3 Look at Rooney today playing as the lone striker you could argue he had a very similar type of game to Kujt today in that he worked very hard and had a couple of half chances he didnt take, does that make Rooney a bad player? of course not the same applies to Kujt.

Gutted for Dudek hope he gets it all back. Is it also true that the Everton trophy room was emptied? Police are looking for a man carrying a blue carpet!

Kujt should start today against Argentina for those that have never seen him play before.

dont think there'll be a problem with the release clause as has been said its been reported in the press for months. As for Bellamy ive watched him a number of times in the flesh for Wales and hes one of those players thats always a threat, even when hes having a poor game because of his pace and workrate. He never stops and always gives his marker a tough game, think his pace will improve us greatly (assuming he signs) and this will be the best group of players hes ever played with so that should improve his game even more. Think he and Crocuh could be a great partnership.

Think it depends which team you could loan him team, if hes playing for one of the better teams in that league it could be a good experience for him, there are usually 2 or 3 teams that run away from the rest for example going out on loan to a side like Reading last season would have been a good experience for our younger players as they are a team that like to play good passing football.

id rather he was loaned out to a Championship team, let him get used to the English way of playing. Thought we should have done the same with Le Tallec and Pongolle when they first arrived.

That idiot Sven will probabaly play Stevie there.

Cos after this world cup his value is going to sky rocket. sorry wrong forum...

Its a lot of money but hes a young player that could have 6-7 years in the 1st team. He has a very good profile in Spain now so if for some reason it doesnt work out im sure there'd be takers for him. Everything ive seen of him though suggests hed be a great signing. His attitude is spot on, and hes very good going forward, he covers 3 positinos in the team (RB,RW, right wing back) really hope this happens.

If Alves signs thats him and Stevie for right side. Id like to see Luis used mostly as a 2nd striker hes seems much more effective there and is much more involved, Kewell is another option there with Gonzalez able to play wide left. Garcia could save us money on a striker, hes hit and miss in front of goal but is probably the best player in the team in terms of getting into goalscoring positions. If its only 1 striker it has to be a fast player like a Bellamy or Defoe or Owen, with Cisse now injured we need someone up front with pace that can play with Crouch.