Look who's back in the gossip column: Liverpool FC are favourites to sign Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos, that's according to reports today. The Greek centre back was a transfer target for Brendan Rodgers back in 2013, but the Reds failed to agree a deal with the German club and instead moved for Mamadou Sakho. Papadopoulos is now on-loan at Bayer Leverkusen and, despite Leverkusen's desire to make the deal permanent, the Reds are said to be front-runners for his signature. A bid of £4.4m has been made by Leverkusen, but Papadopoulos' desire to move abroad could ensure that he could be set to make the move to Anfield. The 23-year-old has struggled with injuries throughout his career, making just four appearances last term and 11 league appearances for Leverkusen this year.
Metro: Reds get green light for Schalke ace 25th Mar 2015 - Media Watch please log in to view this image This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club. please log in to view this image Liverpool have moved into pole position to sign Kyriakos Papadopoulos with the Schalke defender ready to move abroad. Papadopoulos, who has been watched by Reds scouts for the last two years, is currently on-loan at Bayer Leverkusen until the end of the season. They want to make the deal permanent and have made a £4.4million offer, but reports say he would prefer to move to a new league, clearing the way for Liverpool to move in. Brendan Rodgers is believed to be lining up a move and with Papadopoulos now ready to change leagues, this transfer would be easy to complete. Source: Metro This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club. please log in to view this image
We clearly want more injuries next season. - Personally I'd be hesitant to touch the defense at all this summer. Rodgers has changed it so many times and for the most part its been crap. But this current one is working quite well. We need to focus on CM and strikers more to make sure with have all the experience, steel, skill, pace, creativity and depth we need in those parts of the field.
We have very little cover at RWB - in fact, we're reliant on Ibe and Marko to some extent. Moreno is the only LWB we have who is decent and not busy swanning off on holidays or posting pics on Instagram every day. If we persist with the 3 centre backs at the moment, we're reliant on Sakho who is injury prone, Skrtel who is rubbish IMO, but effective in this role, however he's getting odler and we need to upgrade, and Can who is a 20 year old midfielder. Kolo is a good experienced backup, and Ilori and Wisdom are youngsters. Defence needs a bit of work. Agree with the central midfield. Need more quality and physicality.
Skrtel's 30. That's not old for a CB. Toure's in pretty good shape still to. Personally I think Skrtel has been very good lately. His only issue in recent times has been his natural playing style, which is very different and non-complimentary to Sakho, Toure and Agger's, causing our defense to become very unbalanced when used in a partnership with the 3 mentioned. With Lovren he is more balanced but Lovren struggles instead. I say stick to 3 CB's, see how it continues to perform and give Wisdom, Ilori, Flanagan and Manquillo a chance to establish themselves. I agree on RWB and would be tempted by a player like Nathaniel Clyne. That not only adds stability to our wide and wing back options but allows Markovic a better chance of playing in AM where I believe he will be best used. Sticking to 3421 would most likely be cheaper to. That is not a reason to choose a system, but it can be a deciding point when choosing between to high potential options.
I think 1. Talk of buying if a system is probably sensible 2. Yes having more cbs and wing backs is cheaper than having 4 front line strikers 3. Is 3-4-3 or a variant right in today's game? Not sure frankly. I think as you go higher up the benefits in big games are nil and a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 kind of flexible set up is much more solid than a 5-4-1 Hell it was 6 across the Middle from utd and they learned from city by flooding the area where coutinho found space (second half)
Gaaah, we need Champions League football before we can dream of Lacazette and the like, realistic targets like Berahino are more like it. Perhaps a dig at Suchy, the Basel centre half, he looked decent at Anfield when they came to town.
I think, (sometimes) that we need to flick through the Premier League to strengthen our squad, as said before, I think Saido Berahino would be a good capture. A back up 'keeper too, perhaps McGregor of Hull? Cheap and British home grown quota. I'd take a punt on Danny Ings and Ward-Prowse, if Southampton want to sell. I even like the look of Diafara Sakho, a busy lad. These are good players, players to be moulded into very good players, one's I believe Rodgers could really mold into real Liverpool players. People mention Alex Song...no thanks, he's West Hams level, god knows what Barcelona were drinking when they decided he's a better option than Masch. Holding midfielder? Put shackles on Moussa Sissoko and I think you've got a top player.
Pullis would not let go except for incredible offer.We should have got him instead of : please log in to view this image Mario Balotelli!
We have loads of home grown players so I wouldnt think about quota's. We're incredibly safe. I do think we can do what we need with just 4 or 5 signings in the summer, with some being free's. What we need to add: -Maturity in midfield (Gerrard's off) -Another Henderson (We are pretty stunted with out him) James Milner - Free -Another top striker option who fits our style perfectly (Sturridge is injured far to often, and some times 2 strikers suit us better) Lacazette, Aubemejang - £20m+ and Champions League Options Lavezzi - Cut price Option Berahino, Ings - Best of the rest? 1 of above there. -We need genuine competition for Mignolet and I expect to see Sergio Romero in for free. - In our current system some creative spark in midfield will do wonders, like a young Alonso. Basically Joe Allen with added creative magic and preferably extra muscle. Illeramendi - Highest profile realistic option? Pjanic - Big money plus Champions League option Khedeira - Available for free - stiff competition expected The thing I like about our current system is it offers an attacking outlet from all areas of the pitch, we have AM's and proper wide players, with a proper striker or2 to match. Henderson attacks from CM and Can adds extra options from deep and long balls. The shape is great for dominating possession to, if we have the right players.
I'd like to see a three of Henderson, Can and Coutinho in the middle, Illaramendi would be great but it'll be a tall order to acquire him. Lucas and Allen as back up. Do we really need a replacement for Gerrard (Wouldn't be surprised if we re-signed him on loan) I think Can is a natural replacement. We are desperate for a runner up top, Ings is that type of player, create the space for Sturridge, though his final ball may lack the quality to feed off. However, I don't think anyone will replace Suarez in that department. Sami Khedira wont come, Arsenal or Dortmund I'm guessing. However Coquelin is looking good. Pjanic? Cant see where he'd fit in.
