While we could do with signing both, if you have to pick one, which will it be. The Premiership experience and nationality of Downing The youth and talent of Mata?? I'd go for Mata personally.
Depends on the difference in price. Downing isn't worth £15 mill, let alone 20 that Villa value him at. With that in mind my choice would be mata.
Tell me how Mata is going to settle over the next two seasons and how happy he'll be not to go back to Spain in three years and I'll tell you who'll be better for us.
Mata easily, and I don't care if he wants to go home in 3 years as long as we make a profit on him. Then Sterling can take his place.
Bearing in mind that Mata will cost a little more than Downing (extra £4-5m maybe), and that Downing is almost 27 - it would seem Mata would be the logical choice as he has more talent, younger and higher potential resale value (using Commoli's statistics etc).
In a perfect world Mata, but I think we will get Downing, not really bothered though as long as he plays well and fits into the team.
this is REALLY easy. 1. downing is about to turn 27.. apply the logic of a previous poster and assume a 3 year stay. he'll be 30 and prob worth 6mil max? 2. mata, pay 20mil, he stays 3 years, unless he's an aquilani.. which is a risk... he'll be <24 and worth 20million still... its that simple. I'd take the guy with huge potential over the guy who's done not so much with his career with a struggling boro who got relegated then was second fiddle under MON to milner and young unitl milner left.... for me the fee for downing is silly.
Mata. Younger and worth the £20million reported tag. Downing is costing too much and if Villa don't want to sell him, it don't Mata. (See what I did there? I'll get my coat..)
"Carragher sent off in thrilling FA Cup final. But it doesn't 'Mata' as Liverpool's star winger slots home in the final minute to bring glory back to Anfield"
Supposing both Downing and Mata cost £20 million. In 3 years time,Downing will be worth £8 million even if he is successful. If Mata is successful in 3 years he will be worth anything between £35-£40 million. So my in my view it has to be Mata.
im pretty sure you knew the answer before you published this article, every liverpool fan ive spoken says they love mata lol. its more the problem with, can you get mata? man city's millions, and arsenals champions league ( if they qualify ) might tempt him there.
IT DOESN'T MATA! (definitely singing this at anflield if we signed him!) [video=youtube;VAag-nlCJQ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAag-nlCJQ0[/video]
So basically it doesn't "Mata" how he does as long as he's an investment? I know that's part of FSG's policy, rightly so, but you guys cannot tell me you'll be happier next summer having finished lower in the league than we expected provided we have more expensive players who'll bring a better price when they're sold. Sorry but the comments about Mascherano when he left show Lucas was, in fact, a better buy, despite many fans having been unable to see it for his first few seasons. So much for the talent-spotting. Torres wasn't much better than a liability for two seasons but we didn't know that three seasons ago and £50m is a very good resale fee. Three seasons ago nobody would've swapped Suarez or Carroll for Torres. They would now, obviously. Tomkins has a new and very good free piece in which he says: I personally prefer Juan Mata, but perhaps that situation is more complex; or perhaps Liverpool want both players. Either way, I don’t suspect that any of these players are being bought on a whim; far from it. As with Jordan Henderson, Downing creates a lot of chances from open play, even if he has a low stepover ratio. Ditto Charlie Adam: one of last season’s best midfielders, he has excellent vision and takes set-pieces that rip right into the heart of the danger zone. He has his faults – not the quickest or, it seems, with his barrel-chested posture, the fittest – but if you can play to his strengths he’ll prove a valuable asset. (And it stands to reason that Liverpool have better fitness people than Blackpool.) Perhaps some of these players wouldn’t be my dream signings, but then football doesn’t work that way (unless you think that it’s the same as Football Manager), and it’s not my masterplan that’s being developed behind closed doors. If you can improve the squad and the team, and lower the average age at the same time, then that’s all part of moving forward. So, it could be argued that Liverpool need to buy proven Premier League experience to sneak back into the top four before going for more sophisticated options. I’m not sure that it’s quite that simple, but right now, having been temporarily crippled by Gillett and Hicks, the club must learn to walk before it tries to run.
