David Hodgson

I’ll say first off that I’d be stunned if we took Pulisic this window . Pleased, but surprised . I think in an ideal world we buy a player now that could play in both midfield and attack, a la Coutinho. I think it’s nigh on essential that we get one who can near seamlessly slot into our front three. If Fekir isn’t the one , I’d take Zaha in a heart beat.

You’re obsessed. Just be happier that the club now makes much more money and it now gets spent. These are heady times.

Yes. I think Liverpool have offered around half with add ons that go up to the original price depending on appearances. I don’t buy the idea that LFC have complete walked away. Fekir is clearly viable in at least the short term, so there is a price that we would consider relatively risk free.

No, that’s far from obvious Cocknose. In fact I’d say that was very unlikely.

What happened to that poster called ‘Keita’ who promised us Fekir was done ? I’d quite like him to come back and get our hopes up again .

I don’t think the Rob Green thing is evidence of this, but I think them losing out on Alisson is. 3 years ago they blow us out of the water on a deal like that.

I suppose the truth is that if we don’t sign Fekir or an alternative it’s either the ‘fault’ of Jurgen/Edwards for being perfectionists or not having lined up enough options, or it’s FSG’s ‘fault’ for clipping the budget. Fwiw I don’t think either thing is the case here.

I’ve tried to rationalise too, and I can only keep coming to the conclusion that if we can see it, they can too. Some respect for how Klopp, Edwards and, yes, FSG, is due. If circumstance (or whatever we choose to call it) contrives to deny us this extra body then I think our fortunes will be dictated by : 1) how fit we can keep the front 3 (as ever). 2) just how good Keita is. 3) that at least one of Sturridge or Shaqiri delivers an impressive season.

We knew Coutinho wanted out last July . We tried to get Lemar in to replace him, but failed. The search wouldn’t have stopped on September 1st last year. We probably then both tried to search for a replacement whilst simultaneously trying to persuade Phil to stay. We couldn’t get him to stay. We spent January still feverishly looking to get someone in. But availability and prices were crazy, we said to ourselves. We’ll get this sorted in the summer. Now I know you don’t just replace Coutinho like that, but we finished last season with it being ridiculously clear that we were not equipped to deal with an injury to any of our front 3. In fact it was starkly obvious that we needed 2 very good attacking players to come in to provide the minimum depth required, Getting Shaqiri in made sense, but a top front 3 player remained essential. If he could also play in midfield, win-win. Our short list could not have consisted of merely one name . I’m only being hypothetically critical here because I’m fairly sure things are being worked on, but if we get to August 9th with no Fekir or equivalent then questions have to be answered. If the answers are, well we were very successful in recruiting in other positions but we accept it’s disappointing not to have got one more big attacking player in, then I think we shrug a bit, and go, ok, sort this by January please. But I’m not having that all concerned should just be chilled about the existing status quo. I’ve bought into all that but where’s the limit ? Say Salah is out for 2 to 3 months with an injury sustained on 20th December. What are we saying then ? And what if we get to the summer, target Pulisic, but then find Barcelona want him all of sudden ? Do we again curse our luck and wait another year for Mr Right ?

Cos I think we’re getting Fekir.

I agree. There is no way they sat down and said ‘right lads, which is it to be ? We buy Fekir and live with Karius or Danny Ward, or jib Fekir, don’t replace Coutinho, and go large on Alisson’. The margins simply aren’t that fine any more. The club has ‘written cheques out’ to the value of c.£350m in 12 months. No one at LFC is wincing about spending a further £50m to fix a position that all agreed needed spending money on (hence the actual bid and medical for Fekir). Ffs we could probably raise £25m tomorrow selling Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson. We’ve just shifted Ward out for £12.5m. Marko Grujic is worth at least £15m.

Have I missed something? Why are we selling Lallana here ?! He’s a really good player. If he doesn’t have fitness issues, and we don’t sign a Fekir, he starts loads of games next season. He was a first name on the team sheet player a year ago. I think we need better than him as a first pick but I wouldn’t be looking to get rid. He’s the level of squad player we want.

Yes.

I thought it was interesting last night that he suggested Keita could play as a 10 if need be. If he truly can then that’s a real bonus and takes some pressure off.

I agree that if Karius had played a blinder in the CL final and capped off a decent 6 months in style that the will to bring in Alisson would’ve diminished. But with the Coutinho position - I think that the will to replace him only intensified after Chamberlain’s injury, and the obvious lack of cover we had for the front 3 in the run to the CL final.

I’m as certain as I can be (without having the inside track ) that had Fekir passed his medical we’d now have both him and Alisson at the club.

Yep. Liverpool have been in the market for Alisson since January whilst also openly seeking to replace Coutinho. No one plans to spend 60-70m on two positions as different as a forward vs a keeper, and views it as an either/or. The practicality of planning to run those two deals in parallel, knowing you’ll just ditch one, if the other crosses the line first, doesn’t feel credible.

I think the price is everything here. They would’ve happily paid 60m for a fit player. They simply won’t pay that for one with a risk of injury. Which is not unreasonable. There is a number they’ll do the deal at though (or at least a contingent number). At the moment Fekir has 2 years left on his contract. From here on in his value falls fast. By next summer they may do well to get 25m for him. So in January, Aulas May be more willing to do the deal LFC want to do. Not saying it’ll play out this way, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. It depends on how badly the player wants us. In this sense it’s similar to VVD.

I do too. But I’m only marginally confident. The ‘Fekir or no one’ position doesn’t work this time round. Because we’ve had long enough. We knew Coutinho wanted out a year ago . The clock started ticking on replacing him then. Selling him and then not replacing him in January only works if you then use the next 6 months to make sure you get the job done properly. I’m not having it that we went into this summer with a short list of one. The reason we don’t go for an option 2 when we fail to bring VVD and Keita in last summer is because we KNOW we’re getting them eventually . With Fekir, we either KNOW we’re still getting him or we’re feverishly looking round for a second option. We aren’t just shrugging and going ‘thems the breaks, maybe next time’. And this is why I think Fekir gets done . Maybe even in January at a push.

Testify.

It’s a great defense. I shall be using it regularly on this forum. You’ve been warned Earl.

There’s all that, but also, we aren’t spending profligately now, we’re merely punching our weight for the first time in living memory. We’re, what, the 8th richest club in the world ? Why the f.uck shouldn’t we be spending £70m on players ? And btw we have just sold a player for £142m and reached the final of the champions league . What are we meant to do with the cash flow from that ? Pay it out as dividends ? Investing money made by football activities into a playing squad is not ‘cheque book management’. When discussing money and football, regard needs paying to the following contexts/ questions : - net f.ucking spend. An always and forever inconvenient truth. - was wealth expended on players earned or was it parachuted in ? If it’s the latter, it’s simply competition doping. - was the money spent on players effective ? So Klopp and Liverpool should be judged, not on a headline catching transfer price, but on : their actual overall net spend relative to rivals; how the club earned its money, and by how successful it goes on to be.

Or he thinks Fekir deal should still get done.

I’m not sure that gets over stated a bit. Julian Brandt was the main target ahead of Salah . The year before we took Mane after Gotze turned us down and Wijnaldum instead of Dahoud. Was Fabinho always our first choice DM ? Or was it Jorginho ? Weren’t we initially interested in Lemar ahead of Fekir ?

Since last summer we’ve spent about £350m and recouped £185m. We’ve just sold Ward and we’ll sell a few others . We might yet buy Fekir. Either way, the net spend is healthy.