The Unreliable Rumours Thread

[Chewbazza]

We all remember this, right?

Yes, everyone kept bringing it up when we were rumoured to be in for a loan deal last summer and unsuprisingly that never materialised.

I dunno. I just don't get how "we" can laugh so loud and so long at United spunking £90m and £200k+ wages on Pogba (high potential, poor attiude) and then when there's a chance we might end up doing the same thing, everyone is having a circle jerk over it.

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

Yes, everyone kept bringing it up when we were rumoured to be in for a loan deal last summer and unsuprisingly that never materialised.

I dunno. I just don't get how "we" can laugh so loud and so long at United spunking £90m and £200k+ wages on Pogba (high potential, poor attiude) and then when there's a chance we might end up doing the same thing, everyone is having a circle jerk over it.

United let Pogba go for buttons very shortly before because they didn't rate him good enough for playing time. He went to Juve and played from day 1 at superstar levels. Eventually United and others came circling. United where nowhere near the front of the queue so outbid everyone else by 30 million to scare them all off and agreed a ridiculous fee to make him "forgive" them. At the time he was the most expensive player ever. It's not even that certain United really needed a CM. It was funny.

Dembele has already been bought by one of the best teams on the planet for more than this deal would be. He actually hasn't been bad and if there was actually any long term planning and thinking going on at Barca then he probably wouldn't be for sale at all. There are several deals bigger than this and several more may happen this summer. We also didn't bin him off by previously not realising how good he was and not play him. He's also a 100% match to our biggest sporting need on the pitch when it comes to the squad.

By the flimsiest of flimsy comparisons you can say they are/were both young, talented, prospects with rumoured bad attitudes.

 

[rab]

Bit off topic but it's been pretty quiet across every PL team so far hasn't it? Chelsea have their ban but no movement yet from Spurs or City and Utd have done minimal business despite a massive rebuild being needed.

I guess it's a month until our US tour kicks off when you'd want players in by but seems awfully quiet across the board.

I was thinking this. There are some big pieces to move that I think will see the damn burst and get everything moving. Seems to be warming up now post Real's trolley dash.

In addition, there's an U21's tournament, Copa America and African Cup of Nations going on. Whilst it's not impossible for players involved in these to move mid-tournament, I think it's more likely teams will wait until afterwards. There may well be a second wave once these games are done.

On that note, an U21's tournament is exactly the kind of place we might find a gem or up and coming squad player. Thought Fode Ballo-Toure looked decent yesterday against England. Left back, plays in the French league so doubt he'd cost a fortune and his surname is a combination of Ballotelli and Toure so it's clearly written in the stars. A couple of very tenuous and unsubstantiated rumours linking us to him in the past.

 

[Limiescouse]

I dunno. I just don't get how "we" can laugh so loud and so long at United spunking £90m and £200k+ wages on Pogba (high potential, poor attiude) and then when there's a chance we might end up doing the same thing, everyone is having a circle jerk over it.

With whom? I cannot tell who you are talking about.

 

[SadiosMio]

Yeah, I also read that article suggesting that Barca might do that, but they haven't actually bought the guy yet and then there's this so they may not be buying him at all. He might move directly to PSG and if Barca then sell Coutinho and Dembele that should finance them buying Neymar, if they actually want him.

EDIT: I know what I'm saying sounds the same as what @redfanman said above, but in my scenario Barca sell Dembele to us not PSG. Which might work for them - Coutinho might be a good provider for Griezman.

Antoine Griezmann transfer news: Barcelona distanced from Atletico Madrid as club president Josep Maria Bartomeu admits to no transfer talks | Goal.com

Barcelona have held no talks with Antoine Griezmann regarding a move to Camp Nou, claims club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, with there “nothing to announce” when it comes to the Atletico Madrid striker.

www.goal.com

Send him on, one way or another, then. Think Barcelona is trying to protect themselves against tapping up charges/being liable for a larger fee by claiming there's been no contact with the player. But no doubt there has been with representatives or go-betweens.

So either the Neymar development causes them to not spend on griezmann when they likely would have, or they honor an agreement and then "loan" to psg with buy obligation.

Of course psg may just go and buy griezmann and go for dembele as compensation in Neymar deal, that is if the player wants to sign. Always depends on that.

I'm also wondering where this leaves a potential offload of Coutinho. Surely Barca wouldn't just go with Malcom as backup attacker.

 

[Kopstar]

With whom? I cannot tell who you are talking about.

He's referring to the links to Ousmane Dembele.

 

[SadiosMio]

We all remember this, right?

Yep that's the one I had in mind. Couldn't be bothered to look it up on the phone. But it's a great clip.

 

[Walshy07]

Bit off topic but it's been pretty quiet across every PL team so far hasn't it? Chelsea have their ban but no movement yet from Spurs or City and Utd have done minimal business despite a massive rebuild being needed.

I guess it's a month until our US tour kicks off when you'd want players in by but seems awfully quiet across the board.

Arent city on verge of breaking their transfer record with Madrid midfielder and buying Juve left back?

 

[SadiosMio]

The Standard's David Lynch talking up the Camacho link to Sporting, but continues to assert that there's nothing in links to Bruno Fernandes.

 

[Cologne-Liverpool]

David Lynch?:shocked:
All these rumours seem surreal to me lately.

 

[SadiosMio]

David Lynch?:shocked:
All these rumours seem surreal to me lately.

Well, it's not Twin Peaks' David Lynch. That would be weird.

 

[Prolix]

Well, it's not Twin Peaks' David Lynch. That would be weird.

That only makes it more likely! lol

 

[Limiescouse]

He's referring to the links to Ousmane Dembele.

Maybe an unfair interpretation of him, but fair enough.

 

[Chewbazza]

United let Pogba go for buttons very shortly before because they didn't rate him good enough for playing time. He went to Juve and played from day 1 at superstar levels. Eventually United and others came circling. United where nowhere near the front of the queue so outbid everyone else by 30 million to scare them all off and agreed a ridiculous fee to make him "forgive" them. At the time he was the most expensive player ever. It's not even that certain United really needed a CM. It was funny.

Dembele has already been bought by one of the best teams on the planet for more than this deal would be. He actually hasn't been bad and if there was actually any long term planning and thinking going on at Barca then he probably wouldn't be for sale at all. There are several deals bigger than this and several more may happen this summer. We also didn't bin him off by previously not realising how good he was and not play him. He's also a 100% match to our biggest sporting need on the pitch when it comes to the squad.

By the flimsiest of flimsy comparisons you can say they are/were both young, talented, prospects with rumoured bad attitudes.

Not comparing their circumstamces prior to moving, just the potential prices and potential consequences and pointing out the irony of the situation.

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

Not comparing their circumstamces prior to moving, just the potential prices and potential consequences and pointing out the irony of the situation.

Prices have changed a hell of a lot. Pogba would be the equivalent of £210-250 million at today's prices, he was quite a bit more than the last record. £90 million would probably be the equivalent of £45 million back then. A big signing but nothing like what Pogba was.

 

[Chewbazza]

Prices have changed a hell of a lot. Pogba would be the equivalent of £210-250 million at today's prices, he was quite a bit more than the last record. £90 million would probably be the equivalent of £45 million back then. A big signing but nothing like what Pogba was.

Oh sorry, I didn't realise £90m was peanuts these days.

 

[Red over the water]

I think they were relatively quiet last summer too weren't they? I wonder if this is becoming the new thing.

I wonder if we are seeing a strange phenomenon that with more and more money, the transfer of players from one club to another is actually slowing down a bit for Premier League teams? Sounds counter intuitive, but I'll offer a theory.

Say an upper Prem team wants to buy a mid or lower level Prem player. For example, let's imagine Liverpool want to buy Zaha from Crystal Palace. Well, back in the day we'd make an offer, and do the deal. We would slightly overpay, but basically our interests would prevail, and the smaller team would lick their wounds, accept their status in life, and then have a few bob to spend in the market themselves.

While that sort of thing still obviously happens, I'm wondering if we are seeing a slowing down because the smaller and mid sized Prem teams are rich themselves? Their new found riches enable them to stave off the bigger clubs, not completely, but they can definitley give them pause for thought. So in the same example, Liverpool enquire about Zaha, and Crystal Palace say, "That will be 100M please." We see the player, we think he can do a job as a rotating option for our wide forwards, but at that price we simply won't act.

While that is hypothetical, as we aren't in for Zaha, the same sort of phenomenon is playing out this summer, for example with Man City or Man Utd, who might be interested in Harry Maguire, and Leicester want 80M or something stupid like that.

You can take this principle and apply it beyond the Premier League. Let's imagine we are after play X, let's say in the Eredivisie. I dunno, Bergwijn, someone like that. And let's imagine 30M is the right price for that deal, but when it emerges that it is Liverpool who have an interest in the player, all of a sudden the price might be 50-60M.

I think overall the football transfer market is still coming to terms with the money swashing around in the Premier League. And these days even mid ranking Premier League clubs have the financial muscle to make waves in the transfer market and potentially upset bigger clubs on the continent. All this is to say that's why I think we aren't seeing as much transfer activity as we might expect.

Other reasons for the relative lack of activity might be the usual stuff, such as the domino effect of one or two sizable deals that are yet to happen, and when they do it will encourage all of the sharks to feed at their respective place in the food chain.

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

Oh sorry, I didn't realise £90m was peanuts these days.

Pogba was about a 10% increase on the maximum paid for a player and set the record. By the end of this summer what we could hypothetically pay for Dembele may not even be in the top ten fees paid. You don't agree that that's a bit different then fine.

Edit; I also described it as a big fee not as peanuts.

 

[boston red]

Dembele all you had to do was hit the barn door last second of the game. Thank you

 

[SpecialK210]

Dembele all you had to do was hit the barn door last second of the game. Thank you

To be fair, I think we would all $#!+ ourselves at the sight of Allison running out at us too.

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

So from the Melissa Reddy article on Twitter;

"Liverpool's idea is to be patient and responsible in the market, allowing them to react if game changers who fill a need become available."

Translation: Liverpool don't plan on buying anyone unless the right target they want comes on the market. Which might not happen in which case they wont sign anyone. But it might in which case they will sign someone.

 

[wibseyred]

So from the Melissa Reddy article on Twitter;

"Liverpool's idea is to be patient and responsible in the market, allowing them to react if game changers who fill a need become available."

Translation: Liverpool don't plan on buying anyone unless the right target they want comes on the market. Which might not happen in which case they wont sign anyone. But it might in which case they will sign someone.

It translates to sorry I dont have the foggiest what's going on and it's the offseason and it still need to fill column inches. So I'll do something rather vague like I know something because it will get hits.

 

[SadiosMio]

So from the Melissa Reddy article on Twitter;

"Liverpool's idea is to be patient and responsible in the market, allowing them to react if game changers who fill a need become available."

Translation: Liverpool don't plan on buying anyone unless the right target they want comes on the market. Which might not happen in which case they wont sign anyone. But it might in which case they will sign someone.

I wonder how many players (not counting Messi or some dumb crap like that) actually fit the description of "the right target". 5? 10?

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

My translation: we might sign Dembele if Barca become desperate and offer us a good deal. From the age perspective he's an ideal moneyball target so I could imagine our interest.

Barca probably hold the key to the merry go round. They must be under pressure to buy given Madrid's overhaul. 'Only' de Jong so far? If they add de Ligt and say Greizman they'll need others to leave. Not too many suitors for Coutinho with Chelsea banned and never for £100m. Dembele maybe their next best asset.

Weird that 'Origi not leaving' is the only news coming out. Sounds a bit like Lovren invaluable and not going for £25m or more.

Yep press release one on Lovren; Are you joking with us? Of course Lovren isn't leaving, why would anyone think that?

Press release two on Lovren; No he is definitely not leaving... well .... unless someone says they'd pay £25 million or more... but no what am I saying? Haha definitely not going anywhere. Why do you ask? I mean is someone interested? Do you think they have £25 million? Just out of interest you understand... just curiosity...but definitely not leaving. No.

Origi seems like press release 1 has been made. Maybe number 2 if he still hasn't extended towards the end of the window or in January?

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

I wonder how many players (not counting Messi or some dumb crap like that) actually fit the description of "the right target". 5? 10?

If you're talking about to challenge the front 3 I'd say maybe 5(?) could fit what I've convinced myself the template is. But in that template its players 18-24 that are good with potential to be world class so even the likes of Messi and Ronaldo don't even fit. Just interesting that I think Dembele and Mbappe would both fit in that list of 5. All my opinion based on my guesses of what we need and my limited knowledge of the market.

 

[SadiosMio]

If you're talking about to challenge the front 3 I'd say maybe 5(?) could fit what I've convinced myself the template is. But in that template its players 18-24 that are good with potential to be world class so even the likes of Messi and Ronaldo don't even fit. Just interesting that I think Dembele and Mbappe would both fit in that list of 5. All my opinion based on my guesses of what we need and my limited knowledge of the market.

I'd agree with your assessment. Add in maybe Havertz, Aouar, and a few others (maybe a kid like Joao Pedro), and yeah, about what I'm thinking. Aside from maybe a developmental LB and a replacement GK. There are guys that would be available for 25-35M that I think could improve the depth, but there's something to be said for keeping powder dry for a big boom when you need it.

 

[Walshy07]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1141417951821750274

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1141417745159991296

 

[redfanman]

My translation: we might sign Dembele if Barca become desperate and offer us a good deal. From the age perspective he's an ideal moneyball target so I could imagine our interest.

Barca probably hold the key to the merry go round. They must be under pressure to buy given Madrid's overhaul. 'Only' de Jong so far? If they add de Ligt and say Greizman they'll need others to leave. Not too many suitors for Coutinho with Chelsea banned and never for £100m. Dembele maybe their next best asset.

Weird that 'Origi not leaving' is the only news coming out. Sounds a bit like Lovren invaluable and not going for £25m or more.

I dont know if there was ever any serious interest in Lovren. I think the noises out of Italy today are that Milan are looking at someone else now.

 

[redfanman]

That's my point.... it's almost as if the story came from our end. :shocked:

The only thing we've heard all off season but maybe I've gone too David Lynch.

I thought the original story came from Italy, bit not anyone reliable?

 

[GaryBarlow99]

Am I being thick but what does this sentence even mean?!

The Reds are expected to have a quiet window beyond additions dependant on departures for squad depth. [Melissa Reddy]