MFletcher

Anyone have any other information from the Spanish media? It'd be nice to have this "report" confirmed by someone else.

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index....opic=183343.960 A Spanish contributor (AnotherSpanishFan) writes: "When Liverpool will make the presentation or announcement, not too sure which they meant. Torres is on holiday in Polynesia and they're just going to wait on him to come back to sign. This according to Cadena Ser." Not 100% sure, but I think Cadena Ser is a radio station. Carry on people.

I reckon he'll spend most of his time on the right next season. We can't have Torres (potentially), Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin fighting for one spot in the team.

I don't see why we shouldn't take Tevez on a season long loan. The figures being suggested in the Mail are feasible for us. The £9M comes from both the fee to Kia and Tevez's wages. Now, we wouldn't be offering anywhere near the lunatic £115,000 a week that West Ham were supposedly offering - so it would be a deal similar to that we have for Mascherano. If he doesn't prove himself for us, then we haven't really lost out. Mascherano might not have worked out, but he's come in and proved himself. I've always thought we'd sign Tevez this summer. I don't know why, but it's always struck me as a likely move. Whether we can sign two top class players like Torres and Tevez is debatable. If we do - along with a top class left winger - then we should surely be looking at a proper Premiership challenge.

Garcia was a fantastic player for us. Should he ever return to Anfield with Atletico, the reception for him would be deafening. If he does move, we'll have to find someone who is capable of replacing his goals. He was infuriating at times, but he actually cared and showed real character (CL final, first season derby). I reckon the Torres deal is complete, with Atletico and Torres now deciding how they should break it to the fans. Torres will want to make it look he has to go to achieve his ambitions, however the board will want to show that they can match his ambition but he chose to leave rather than stay and help the club up. It's a delicate process. The board are unpopular as it is, and any move to sell Torres for less than his release clause gives them even more ammunition to throw at them. It's a delicate balancing act. And I'd be delighted to sign Tevez - even if it's only on loan for a year. It would give us a chance to see how he would fit into our system.

He probably came over here too early. Tim Vickery wrote a good article on it. He said he should've have went to Boca/River before coming to Europe. As it is, he's looked incompetent when on the pitch. I'm aware he's a young man, but against Portsmouth at the tail end of the season, he went missing twice. One time he just dandered back and watched after Dudek had made a mistake. Carra would have bust his gut trying to do something to put him off - even if he knew he had no real hope of doing so. I imagine we'll recoup our fee anyway. It was only a £2M outlay.

If Riise has been told that he has no place in the Liverpool team, then he'd move on. And he's too limited for teams like Barcelona, Inter etc. to be considering him. He's not good enough defensively for left back and not good enough in his dribbling or crossing for left midfield. He's a good solid player and a club like Newcastle is his level. That's just my opinion - an opinion I'm allowed to hold even though he's been a loyal player for a number of years now.

I could see Riise going to Newcastle actually. He fits the Allardyce mould. Strong, quick, direct. The only left back I can think of in La Liga who would command a fee as high as €18M is Zambrotta. Maybe Adriano of Sevilla (I'm pretty sure he can play left midfield and right midfield as well)? It's certainly interesting. I recall a line in the Echo about Riise being one of a number of players tredding on thin ice. He was pretty dire this season, despite some pretty crucial goals.

No doubt there are rules for the staff at Anfield. eg. no camera phones etc. We'll only have hearsay to go on until something is confirmed. My interpretation is that we're close to, if not having already agreed, a deal for Torres. This would explain why they're bidding a good chunk of money on Forlan (his replacement). The stories from the Atletico president are simply his way of "putting up a fight", even though the only thing that Atletico can play on is Torres' loyalty. They're in the Intertoto cup and have been in constant transition since he broke into the team. By claiming that he's staying they're showing the fans that they care and they want him to stay. If he does move, they'll pass it off that they had no choice - the release clause was met etc. etc. To be honest, if we were selling Owen when he was at his prime (before he ran his contract down), we could have commanded a similar fee from a big European club. I'd have expected the board at the time to put up some sort of fight to try and keep him. Or at least make sure that we were getting the maximum amount of money possible. I'm very, very hopeful this deal with go through very soon.

In the long-term, Atletico are more likely to do something with themselves. The French league is of a lower standard that La Liga and Marseille are hardly going to be doing overly well in the CL (no doubt they'll win it now that I've said that). I'm more hoping he'll move to Atletico - kill two birds with one stone then.

Yes, but Atletico are one of the top three supported teams in Spain. They're a sleeping giant - and not in the same sense as some deluded Newcastle fans think of their club. They're in constant transition and have a Real Madrid-like tendency to sack the coach if things start going slightly wrong. At the minute, they have a good coach and a good team with some promising youngsters and internationals. I think the sale of Torres would help them in a way, because his career has stagnated there. They can use the money to bring in some new faces and reinvigorate the team. I can't see why Cisse would turn them down to go to Marseille. If they're interested in him, I think he'll be part of the Torres deal. Of course, he could be dead-set on going to Marseille - and there would be nothing we could do about it. They have £17.5M from the sale of Ribery, so they can't plead poverty. I just want someone to cough up for Cisse. It looks pretty clear that Rafa doesn't want him back, so whether we sell him and put the money towards Torres or include him in the Torres deal itself, it doesn't really matter.

Try saying that over there. You'll be ridiculed, have your posts deleted and eventually banned if you persist. I don't trust any insiders. I don't see how some randomer could possibly know what Rafa intended to do during the next transfer window. If the did know, why the hell would they post it on some internet forum for everyone to read?

There's a bloke on TIA who most of the people there believe to be an insider. If you look at his thread, he's linked us to every forward that the papers have. If a credible link comes up, one of the others quotes his post and hails him as a genius. If he isn't right, it's claimed he only posts rumours anyway and it doesn't matter. His latest offering is that we'll be signing Torres, Benayoun and Mancini. The posters over there will fail to remember that the Torres speculation is at fever-pitch, we've had a confirmed bid for Benayoun rejected and Italian newspapers were reporting the recent rejection of a €19M bid on our part for Mancini. I've tried pointing out that he talks rubbish, but my posts get deleted and others have been banned for questioning his insider status. It's quite ridiculous really.

Torres' agent was speaking either yesterday or the day before and said our supposed offer of €24M and Garcia to Atletico wasn't good enough.

I've always thought he'd move out of Spain. He's a big Atletico fan and I don't think he'd be particularly keen to play against them. I think a move to us would suit all parties. Atletico would get the money to reinvest in different areas of the team, Torres moves on to stop his career stagnating and we get a top quality player. If only it was that easy.

I generally dismiss "insider" knowledge. There's a bloke on TIA who has pretty much indicated we're interested in every striker going (Eto'o, Tevez, Milito, Torres etc. etc.) Am I to assume that he "can't say anymore"?

I've also read that Torres' release clause drops from £27M to £18M this summer, on the condition that Atletico fail to qualify for Europe. Of course, it could mean £18M in straight cash, with possible add ons or players involved. If you could clarify what you're indicating Elisha, that would be helpful.

If anyone at the club agrees to another years loan then they need to be sacked. Cisse's value is reasonable at the minute. Allowing him another season on loan will leave him with only one year left on his contract - meaning any fee we receive would be nominal. I'm sure there are plenty of European clubs who would cough up €9M-€10M and if Marseille aren't going to then I'm quite happy to let Cisse rot in the reserves until he sees sense.

A move to either of those clubs would baffle me to be honest. I'm expecting him to move to West Ham now that Darren Bent has turned them down.

He claims. When Rafa commented on players who he might sell if there was a good offer, the first players who came to mind were Sissoko and Crouch. Granted I'm probably wrong, but I fail to see the options that Rafa likes in a front-line of Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin. Surely a pacey striker would be the obvious addition. Milito is strong, good in the air, good on the ground and can actually finish. To me, he's an improvement on Crouch without the height advantage.

I'd be concerned about our lack of pace in a frontline of Crouch, Kuyt, Milito and Voronin. Of course, there are many games where we control possession etc. etc. but Rafa likes his options. The inclusion of Bellamy was key to us winning in the Nou Camp. If Diego does come in, I could see Crouch moving on this summer. Chances are I'm wrong, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The stories linking us with Diego Milito are strange. A frontline of Kuyt, Milito, Crouch, Voronin would offer no real pace. I could only see us buying Milito as a replacement for Crouch (if he's being sold). If he isn't, then I'd like to think we'll buy someone with a bit of pace about him.

If I remember right, a staff member from Ajax said they were surprised the deal went through because they didn't know if Brouwer was good enough to make the breakthrough. I put it down to sour grapes at the time, but the reports I've read on him are anything but inspiring.

I can't see why Chelsea would bid. They already have Drogba and Shevchenko (and Pizarro). Arsenal seem to be skint and the only money they'll get is from selling Henry. Why would Eto'o go there if Henry has spent the last season complaining that they aren't buying good enough players? For us - we have no budget, the owners have already fallen out, Rafa is ready to resign and there are still disgruntled journalists writing about "war chests". The press talk a lot of crap at this time of year. They really do. There's a big difference between the SPL and the EPL. If Rafa feels he's not good enough for us, then so be it. If the player isn't good enough for our first team in the long run then there is little point in keeping him simply because he came through the academy.

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say: we'll cope.