I'm between the two of you (metaphorically speaking!) in that I think he's a better than average player, but I wouldn't have gone over £15m. Not that young either.
If Lallana was being signed for £12m-£15m then I'd be happy about it. If it was around £20m I'd bregrudgingly accept it as Southampton didn't want nor need to sell but Brod obviously really wants the player. But £25m...seriously??? Way too much IMO.
That takes me onto another statistic; there are three kinds of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't
I think a lot of that depends on where you place "Good" and "Average". By Good, I mean, he will serve a worthwhile purpose as a member of our squad. (not great, but good)- that might be "better than average" to some. (Is Average, average for us, average for the Premier league, or average for a professional). I too think £15m was a more reasonable fee... and would have gone 3 or 4 mill over for the "Liverpool/English/Soton didn't want to sell him tax"
Agreed. However, we all know English players are overpriced. You can usually add £5-15m+ to their true value. Don't have the real values to hand (and can't be arsed to look them up . . . for once!) but Carroll was £35m, Downing and Henderson around £20m. I think Lallana is far better than Carroll and Downing and will have a quicker impact on the team than Henderson (who's younger). I think, as a Saints fan has said, that he'll surprise a few people and (if he signs) he will do very well for us.
TBH, the only thing that I like about this deal (when I ignore the fee) is that statistic I put above about him and hendo being in the top five for covering ground. Allen works hard too so any combination of those alongside Gerrard will work well IMO
Expensive... if he exceeds expectations we'll forget about it, if he's average or below we'll be wingeing about it for the rest of our lives as he'll be on the list of flops. He's really only had one good season so is still a bit unproven for me, especially at the level for CL but so is most of our squad as it's been years since they've been there or they haven't at all.
He's had five good seasons in fact,albeit at different levels. Hope he does a great job for Liverpool. With Lambert and Lallana I will look at your results with interest. As he has a good touch, he might be able to offset the absence of the mercurial Suarez in the more attacking areas of the pitch, until the latter's return in November, unless Barca decide to twist LFC's arm.
I didn't know that. I knew he was a grafter but didn't think he'd be that close to Henderson. For me his biggest plusses are that he's technically very adept and he's the most two-footed English player I've seen. Add that to your graft stat and I'd take him into the team any day.
My guess is that he'll be a decent but not outstanding player for us. Happy to have him in the squad and in the team, but seems a bit expensive. So about the same opinion as everyone else.
At that price I expect a game-changer, not just someone who's going to fit in well. No offence to Lallana, but I think he's overpriced. I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
Seems a top heavy price but the fees just get madder and madder every summer. I guess if we look at it as 3 times the price of Coutinho then it's scary but look at it as £3mill less than Fellaini then it's a ****ing bargain
Agree but he will be a improvement to our midfield, he's better than Lucas, Allen or Coutinho for a box-to-box (Hendo type) role.
