http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/05/liverpool-newcastle-hatem-ben-arfa Brendan Rodgers will consider a move for Hatem Ben Arfa this summer as the Liverpool manager looks to capitalise on the uncertainty surrounding the midfielder's future at Newcastle United and the prospect of Andy Carroll returning to St James' Park. Rodgers is a firm admirer of the France international, who has made no secret of his desire to play for Paris Saint-Germain. Ben Arfa did not push for a move in the January transfer window, as he recovers from a hamstring injury, but Newcastle's resolve to keep the player is likely to be tested at the end of the season. The 25-year-old has a contract at Newcastle to the summer of 2015 and would command a sizeable fee. Ben Arfa is older than all the signings Liverpool have made since Rodgers became manager and Newcastle's asking price could prove an obstacle, but their interest in re-signing Carroll could work to the Anfield club's advantage and an exchange deal. West Ham United have an option to buy Carroll at the end of his season-long loan but Liverpool dropped their demand for a guaranteed move to remove the £35m striker from their wage bill in August. --------------------------------------- The piece was written by Andy Hunter who is usually spot on. What do people make of this? My concern is that Newcastle will rip us off and we'll end up paying a stupid fee. On top of that, he's a bit injury prone - is he worth the risk?
no, like you said too injury prone, and also i hope we are not going to let Newcastle shaft us again with another player!
If it's a straight swap for Carroll then yes. He has plenty of competition for places so doesn't have to play all of the time. And as RVP, Agger and Ba proved, it's not the end of the world being a bit injury prone.
Fantastic player but no. His injury record is terrible lately, newcastle will want stupid money () and he is French. I'd rather keep Mandy than get ripped off again by the barcodes. Unless we could get a deal that really favours us then steer well clear.
I honestly can't see us being ripped off by Newcastle now Rodgers is in charge. We may have paid a little over the odds for Joe Allen but Allen is young and has potential. Ben Arfa, while he is very talented, is at his peak. we'll pay market value for him
Ben Arfa is a class act, but he's also a maverick, I can't see him being the kind of player who'd enjoy a power point presentation myself.
Good player but not sure such a player is required? I'd rather we went for a new GK, CB, LB and DM this summer, I think we're well stocked up front and I have feeling we'll revisit Blackpool in order to snap up Tom Ince.
The Newcastle lot have a thread up about it too, have a read and see their take on this. http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/195221-Liverpool-in-for-HBA-Mandy-swap
How many attacking players do we want: Suarez, Sterling, Sturridge, Downing, Assman, Suso, Borini, Coutinho (Carroll and Pacheco too atm) Then we Ibe, tex, Adorjan, jerome Sinclair, David Ngoo, Nacho all coming through. The last thing we want to do is bring in players we dont really need and hamper the development of our youthful squad. If he wants to go to PSG, let him go to PSG...We want players who want to play for Liverpool as their first option
I agree with you to some extent but how many of those players are likely to a) actually good enough to play in the first team and b) make an impact. Assaidi hardly plays which questions his involvement in the squad and can we expect players like Suso and Borini to come straight into the first team and make an impact? I would hope they would in the future but I can't see it just yet. And Downing - he simply does not make an impact. We may have numbers up top but in terms of actual quality and game changing ability, we only have Sturridge and Suarez.
I doubt Assaidi will be with us next season. Downing, who knows? and how many of those players are top 4 standard right now and how many are very good potential?
