The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

Eastern_Pride · August 04, 2009, 06:16:06 PM

Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on August 04, 2009, 06:13:21 PM
On the official site.

QuoteLiverpool Football Club this evening confirmed they had reached agreement for the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, subject only to a medical.
The terms of the deal will remain confidential and undisclosed.

Confidential= €30 mill...great news for a Chelsea fan, means that this could be the start of our Second revival....

GalwayBayBoy · August 04, 2009, 06:56:53 PM

QuoteLiverpool agree £30m fee with Real Madrid for Xabi Alonso

By Rory Smith
Published: 6:36PM BST 04 Aug 2009

The fee is believed to be £30million and the deal is now subject to Alonso passing a medical with the La Liga club.

A statement on Liverpool's website said: "The terms of the deal will remain confidential and undisclosed."

Christian Purslow, Liverpool's managing director, met Real Madrid counterpart Jose Angel Sanchez in Barcelona on Sunday to thrash out the deal.

Real had been reluctant to meet Liverpool's asking price – £30 million up front with a further £3 million dependent on his success at the Bernabeu – with the club's president Florentino Perez angry at being held to ransom over a player he does not see as a marketing and merchandise investment.

Real had previously intimated they were only prepared to pay a total of £26 million.

Talks between the clubs had reached a stalemate but the dynamic of the negotiations was changed by Alonso's decision last week to hand in a formal transfer request.

Perez was under pressure from his coach Manuel Pellegrini and technical director Jorge Valdano to submit an improved offer.

Need to go out and spend it now and I mean every penny of it as our squad now looks a bit thin in parts.

Hound · August 04, 2009, 07:00:47 PM

Presumably Aquilani to come in by the weekend. Though Duffour of Liege has been linked today also.

I wonder if there's anything in the story of Lucas to Corinthians to get 1st team football to further his international prospects.

Hound · August 04, 2009, 07:14:09 PM

Sky Sports News saying Christian Poulsen of Juve is lined up as the replacement. They bought him for 9m from Sevilla last year.

Archie Mitchell · August 04, 2009, 07:16:33 PM

Poulsen is a great player. Wouldn't be as good as Alonso but a good replacement. Has had a poor season with Juventus but was great when playing with Sevilla

GalwayBayBoy · August 04, 2009, 07:17:26 PM

Quote from: Hound on August 04, 2009, 07:14:09 PM
Sky Sports News saying Christian Poulsen of Juve is lined up as the replacement. They bought him for 9m from Sevilla last year.

I wouldn't be happy with that at all. Unless we had someone else lined up as well like a Silva.

689908 · August 04, 2009, 07:40:10 PM

Quote from: Archie Mitchell on August 04, 2009, 07:16:33 PM
Poulsen is a great player. Wouldn't be as good as Alonso but a good replacement. Has had a poor season with Juventus but was great when playing with Sevilla

He really isn't. He is a very poor man's mascherano. I think the reason Liverpool did so well last season was because of the contrasting styles of Alonso and Mascherano. Two Mascherano-type players probably wouldn't work as well.

Aquilani would be a much better fit.

Capt Pat · August 05, 2009, 02:16:04 AM

Anyone who has played for Seville in the past few years is a good passer of the ball as that is all they do.

DennistheMenace · August 05, 2009, 11:46:54 AM

Quote from: Capt Pat on August 05, 2009, 02:16:04 AM
Anyone who has played for Seville in the past few years is a good passer of the ball as that is all they do.

They must have dismantled that passing mentality then with the signing of Zokora.

Carmen Stateside · August 05, 2009, 01:55:41 PM

Sorry to see Alonso go but glad Rafa held in there for the money he wanted. Now who can he get to improve our midfield and attack? This guy from Roma seems like a cert to join, know nothing about him but he seems to be well thought of in Italy. Surely he has got to go out and find a second striker somewhere or is he going to give the Voronator his chance along with Nemeth? ... really hope not!

AZOffaly · August 05, 2009, 02:01:10 PM

I'm holding off my fire this summer until I see where we are at the start of the season, but I'd definitely be trying to replace Alonso. I'm disappointed he's gone, but as someone else said, £30m is a nice kitty, assuming that Stadler and Waldorf allow it to be reinvested in the playing staff.

Up front, I'd like to see another striker brought in, and Liverpool revert to a 4-3-1-2 formation with Gerrard playing just behind from an advanced midfield type position, but if no striker is brought in then the 4-4-1-1 needs a good passing midfielder, and I don't think Lucas will fill that hole. Not sure about Acquillani, but if he's that type of player, grand.

Kuyt's unorthodox style won't be as big an issue if he's on the right this year, as Glen Johnson will bomb forward on that flank, and Kuyt's workrate will help out Johnson's less than solid defensive strengths on the right.

With no more signings, I'd expect this to be the Liverpool first choice team

Reina

Johnson Carra Skrtel Aurelio

Kuyt Mascherano Lucas Reira

Gerrard
Torres

anportmorforjfc · August 05, 2009, 02:06:24 PM

Quote from: AZOffaly on August 05, 2009, 02:01:10 PM

With no more signings, I'd expect this to be the Liverpool first choice team

Reina

Johnson Carra Skrtel Aurelio

Kuyt Mascherano Lucas Reira

Gerrard
Torres

Not trying to start anything here, but do you really think yous will win the league with that team? I think yous will need at least another 2 good signings to stand a good chance.

Over the Bar · August 05, 2009, 02:25:19 PM

Rumours (wrong thread??) are that Liverpool are trying to hijack Patrick Vieira's move. Quality.

blewuporstuffed · August 05, 2009, 02:37:14 PM

Quote from: anportmorforjfc on August 05, 2009, 02:06:24 PM
Quote from: AZOffaly on August 05, 2009, 02:01:10 PM

With no more signings, I'd expect this to be the Liverpool first choice team

Reina

Johnson Carra Skrtel Aurelio

Kuyt Mascherano Lucas Reira

Gerrard
Torres

Not trying to start anything here, but do you really think yous will win the league with that team? I think yous will need at least another 2 good signings to stand a good chance.

prob not, but that wont be the first choice team , there will be 2 more signings at least.
that team would win alot of games in the premier league, but its the strength in the squad that would be worrying.
i can see it being a far more open premier league this year with the big 4 dropping more points than in recent years

supersarsfields · August 05, 2009, 02:54:57 PM

The only thing is that the league winners are also going to be weaker than last year. Replacing Tevez and Ronaldo will be harder to do than replacing alonso.
Therefore with one or two more buys we could be in with a good enough chance. To be honest the only team outa the top four that actually looks like inproving their squad is Cheski. And to be honest I'd be tipping them to win.

On the Alonso saga, gutted to see him go. He was a player I liked and seemed to have a very quiet workmanlike attitude. It would have be rare to see him mentioned for anything other than his football. But the money offered was great business and hats of to Rafa for not cracking and accepting a lesser sum.