Naby Keita - RB Leipzig

Never was a pure alternative to Keita.....If we go elsewhere probably will be up top and not in the midfield.

The way Klopp is singing Sturridge's praises, and how well he loves Bobby, and with Mo and Mane as wide options, and Divock Origi is still there, and they have signed the youngster Solanke and are including him in first team activities...I really don't expect us to sign a striker.

Center back is the position where we struggle for quality, numbers. I want an upgrade in midfield as well, mind, but unless someone is keeping secrets incredibly well, we are not moving for anyone else at that position.

The way Klopp is singing Sturridge's praises, and how well he loves Bobby, and with Mo and Mane as wide options, and Divock Origi is still there, and they have signed the youngster Solanke and are including him in first team activities...I really don't expect us to sign a striker.

Center back is the position where we struggle for quality, numbers. I want an upgrade in midfield as well, mind, but unless someone is keeping secrets incredibly well, we are not moving for anyone else at that position.

Didn't say a striker I said an up top player...another Salah or Mane type...or maybe they say F'it and take the €66 million for Keita and grab Aubaumyang....according to reports out of Germany he has 12 days left to find a new club or Dortmund won't let him go.

I'm not even sure we really need Keira that badly this season.

Van Dijk is a more important signing for us.

I won't say no to Keita as well of course

Bid £4m more and match the price they asked for and stop faffing around. If they ask for £70m and you offer £66m, all you're going to do is irritate the Leipzig billionaire.

They never asked for any money. Their offical position has always been he's not for sale. Anything else was paper talk, specifically Bild.

Didn't say a striker I said an up top player...another Salah or Mane type...or maybe they say F'it and take the €66 million for Keita and grab Aubaumyang....according to reports out of Germany he has 12 days left to find a new club or Dortmund won't let him go.

OK - unless there is some doubt about Mane's fitness. I wouldn't expect us to sign another wide attacker, especially for big money. We've got Mo and Mane there, and for squad rotation, we've seen Origi, Firmino, Daniel all play wide. I guess we are loaning Ojo (and maybe Kent), but Woodburn can play there also. Don't see this as a position where we'll spend big on.

and how do you know they won't? Why assume our club is a joke without knowing, its so damned negative. Its like all these F***ing remoaners on TV constantly talking down the UK saying that the UK side are all bumbling morons whilst the EU are so slick and clever, it really annoys me and I'm not even British!

To be fair they are all tory F***ing pricks, so the bumbling morons tag is F***ing apt!!

Van Dijk is a more important signing for us.

I won't say no to Keita as well of course

I'm thinking that way too, still need another centre-back imo, especially if we make it to the group stages in Europe.

At the back (primarily CB) is the only position that we really need reinforcements IMO.  I would have said LB, but it appears Robertson is on his way.  I would certainly wouldn't say no to another midfielder, but with Henderson, Can, Gini, Lallana, Coutinho, Grujic and possibly Woodburn and Milner I think there is enough cover. 

Mate, they just had a bid of £66 million turned down. I'm not sure what else you want them to do?

I don't think that that is the main reason as to why people are skeptical.

There is planning that is done in the previous season by looking at areas where a team may be lacking, and looking for players that fit a certain profile that can suit a particular role in the team. The problem that any team has is looking for a number of players for every position that they think can be bought, and having alternatives should any of the first choice players either move to another team, or you get a notice that they are not for sale.

In any case, in scenarios where players are seen as being priority targets, then the aim has to be to move early.

In the case where nothing is happening, or you think that the price for a certain player is unrealistic, then the right thing to do would be to go out there and shift focus to another player. Not long ago, City were without a right back, they thought that they would have Dani Alves, but he ended up going to PSG. Talk was that they were unwilling to match Spurs asking price of £50M, but losing out forced their hand.

All Daniel Levy had to do was wait, and hope that things went his way (and he is one of the best sellers in World football), and they did. Today, if Liverpool walk into a negotiation for a midfielder, his price will go up because perception is that the team is desperate, and the same applies for any center back the team may settle on.

The things that need sorting out when it comes to transfers are:

1) Stop annoying teams. There is a manner in which this team conducts transfers that seems to piss off teams. You rarely see other teams garner that sort of attention when they are doing most of their dealings.

2) Have a plan. This is one thing that has been a problem since FSG joined. It doesn't seem to get fixed each window. Brandt, Pulisic, Dahoud were players that the team ignored signing in the January window so that they could then chase after them in the summer. Extensions occurred, or they moved elsewhere, or a decision to stay put was seen as appropriate. The wide forward alternative has yielded Salah, but what are the alternatives to Keita (who RB Leipzig have insisted all summer was not for sale) or Van Dijk (who the team never managed to put in a bid for?). Lukaku may not have been plan A for United, but he is a good plan B. Mbappe was what Arsenal desired above all others, yet they have landed Lacazette. Barcelona really wanted Bellerin, but they had to settle for Semedo. City wanted Bellerin last season, he extended.....they wanted Dani Alves, and it looks like they will end up with Kyle Walker and Danilo. Chelsea look like landing Rudiger and Morata after missing out on Van Dijk and Lukaku.

Not having a replacement lined up is not having a plan.

3) Stop leaking interest in players to the media, and if you do, then simply don't tell people that the player in question has chosen Liverpool above any other team that may be competing for his signature. It always comes across as ''we will pay you what we think is appropriate as opposed to what you value the player at.'' Which leads to point 1.

4) Back the manager, and the manager also has to have a need to compete for everything. Sacrifice the League cup if it is a hindrance early in the season, but the League, European tournaments and the FA Cup are the three tournaments that a team should be looking to compete for regardless of what happens. Not having a plan for the market leaves us where we are, where we were last season, and the season before that where some tournaments were deemed not good enough.

and how do you know they won't? Why assume our club is a joke without knowing, its so damned negative. Its like all these f**king remoaners on TV constantly talking down the UK saying that the UK side are all bumbling morons whilst the EU are so slick and clever, it really annoys me and I'm not even British!

How do I know they won't? Well they haven't yet, what would he be waiting for exactly?

I don't think that that is the main reason as to why people are skeptical.

There is planning that is done in the previous season by looking at areas where a team may be lacking, and looking for players that fit a certain profile that can suit a particular role in the team. The problem that any team has is looking for a number of players for every position that they think can be bought, and having alternatives should any of the first choice players either move to another team, or you get a notice that they are not for sale.

In any case, in scenarios where players are seen as being priority targets, then the aim has to be to move early.

In the case where nothing is happening, or you think that the price for a certain player is unrealistic, then the right thing to do would be to go out there and shift focus to another player. Not long ago, City were without a right back, they thought that they would have Dani Alves, but he ended up going to PSG. Talk was that they were unwilling to match Spurs asking price of £50M, but losing out forced their hand.

All Daniel Levy had to do was wait, and hope that things went his way (and he is one of the best sellers in World football), and they did. Today, if Liverpool walk into a negotiation for a midfielder, his price will go up because perception is that the team is desperate, and the same applies for any center back the team may settle on.

The things that need sorting out when it comes to transfers are:

1) Stop annoying teams. There is a manner in which this team conducts transfers that seems to piss off teams. You rarely see other teams garner that sort of attention when they are doing most of their dealings.

2) Have a plan. This is one thing that has been a problem since FSG joined. It doesn't seem to get fixed each window. Brandt, Pulisic, Dahoud were players that the team ignored signing in the January window so that they could then chase after them in the summer. Extensions occurred, or they moved elsewhere, or a decision to stay put was seen as appropriate. The wide forward alternative has yielded Salah, but what are the alternatives to Keita (who RB Leipzig have insisted all summer was not for sale) or Van Dijk (who the team never managed to put in a bid for?). Lukaku may not have been plan A for United, but he is a good plan B. Mbappe was what Arsenal desired above all others, yet they have landed Lacazette. Barcelona really wanted Bellerin, but they had to settle for Semedo. City wanted Bellerin last season, he extended.....they wanted Dani Alves, and it looks like they will end up with Kyle Walker and Danilo. Chelsea look like landing Rudiger and Morata after missing out on Van Dijk and Lukaku.

Not having a replacement lined up is not having a plan.

3) Stop leaking interest in players to the media, and if you do, then simply don't tell people that the player in question has chosen Liverpool above any other team that may be competing for his signature. It always comes across as ''we will pay you what we think is appropriate as opposed to what you value the player at.'' Which leads to point 1.

4) Back the manager, and the manager also has to have a need to compete for everything. Sacrifice the League cup if it is a hindrance early in the season, but the League, European tournaments and the FA Cup are the three tournaments that a team should be looking to compete for regardless of what happens. Not having a plan for the market leaves us where we are, where we were last season, and the season before that where some tournaments were deemed not good enough.

You're talking about Van Dyke. Van Dyke may or may not have panned out, we'll never know due to the cock up. This is the Keita thread. I'm talking about Keita. The club has just had a £66 million bid rejected and some of you are suggesting the club isn't doing enough. Therefore, I ask you again, what would you like the club to do? Seriously, give us an answer. What would you like the club to do?

It is. RB have repeatedly said over and over again publically that their players aren't for sale and yet here we are making bids for them. Why is it when Dortmund issued a hands off on Pulisic we gave up right away, but RB do the same and we keep coming back?

You.moan if we don't bid and moan when we do. Pulisic said himself he wanted to stay so end of story

You're talking about Van Dyke. Van Dyke may or may not have panned out, we'll never know due to the cock up. This is the Keita thread. I'm talking about Keita. The club has just had a £66 million bid rejected and some of you are suggesting the club isn't doing enough. Therefore, I ask you again, what would you like the club to do? Seriously, give us an answer. What would you like the club to do?

Move on.

You're talking about Van Dyke. Van Dyke may or may not have panned out, we'll never know due to the cock up. This is the Keita thread. I'm talking about Keita. The club has just had a £66 million bid rejected and some of you are suggesting the club isn't doing enough. Therefore, I ask you again, what would you like the club to do? Seriously, give us an answer. What would you like the club to do?

Who knew Chelsea and Manchester City were after Van Dijk? I didn't, I only came to know of their interest when news started leaking that he had chosen Liverpool over both those teams, and his heart was set only on that move.

Why would anyone leak this when not even a formal approach had been made? To bring the price down before any negotiations took place......setting your own market so to speak.

When it comes to Naby Keita, I personally do not know where to start. If he was the priority, then you make a move for him early. The last transfer RB Leipzig made was the 6th of last month, and players that were leaving, also left early. In short, they look like the sort of team that wanted to do and complete their work in the market extremely early.

Now, you could work smart, and achieve a lot i.e. working smart, and you could do a lot of work and achieve little i.e. minimal efficiency. If a Manager, Chief Executive, Sporting Director come out in public and say that a player is not for sale, and that is backed by the owner........if reports are right that they have not once considered selling the player, and that that has been their stance the entire summer, then why not have a suitable replacement, and make a move for them?

I do not mind missing out on players, even the biggest teams miss out on some of the players they desire they should get.
Real Madrid have missed out on players like Ribery, Cazorla, Neymar.
Barcelona have missed out on Marquinhos, Bellerin, Dybala, Paulinho.
City have missed out on Isco, Dani Alves, Agger.
Bayern and City were thinking of signing Sanchez, same as PSG, they all look like they will miss out on him.
Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool and a whole host of other clubs are interested in Mbappe.....is the current sale at Madrid simply an exercise making room and generating cash to make a run for him? They may land him, they may not land him, regardless of outcome, there will be several teams missing out.

Missing out is normal in world football. Sometimes a player is comfortable, sometimes they prefer somewhere else, sometimes, a team is downright incompetent. Whatever the case, a team than plans for any eventuality always has a fall back plan.

Also remember this, that any team that is selling a starter who is one of their better players needs to replace. With every passing week, there is a smaller window that exists to do so because the teams they are likely to buy from may also want to have a replacement lined up before they make a move. So the question becomes ''are you willing to pay over the odds to make a team change its mind?''

Who knew Chelsea and Manchester City were after Van Dijk? I didn't, I only came to know of their interest when news started leaking that he had chosen Liverpool over both those teams, and his heart was set only on that move.

Why would anyone leak this when not even a formal approach had been made? To bring the price down before any negotiations took place......setting your own market so to speak.

When it comes to Naby Keita, I personally do not know where to start. If he was the priority, then you make a move for him early. The last transfer RB Leipzig made was the 6th of last month, and players that were leaving, also left early. In short, they look like the sort of team that wanted to do and complete their work in the market extremely early.

Now, you could work smart, and achieve a lot i.e. working smart, and you could do a lot of work and achieve little i.e. minimal efficiency. If a Manager, Chief Executive, Sporting Director come out in public and say that a player is not for sale, and that is backed by the owner........if reports are right that they have not once considered selling the player, and that that has been their stance the entire summer, then why not have a suitable replacement, and make a move for them?

I do not mind missing out on players, even the biggest teams miss out on some of the players they desire they should get.
Real Madrid have missed out on players like Ribery, Cazorla, Neymar.
Barcelona have missed out on Marquinhos, Bellerin, Dybala, Paulinho.
City have missed out on Isco, Dani Alves, Agger.
Bayern and City were thinking of signing Sanchez, same as PSG, they all look like they will miss out on him.
Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool and a whole host of other clubs are interested in Mbappe.....is the current sale at Madrid simply an exercise making room and generating cash to make a run for him? They may land him, they may not land him, regardless of outcome, there will be several teams missing out.

Missing out is normal in world football. Sometimes a player is comfortable, sometimes they prefer somewhere else, sometimes, a team is downright incompetent. Whatever the case, a team than plans for any eventuality always has a fall back plan.

Also remember this, that any team that is selling a starter who is one of their better players needs to replace. With every passing week, there is a smaller window that exists to do so because the teams they are likely to buy from may also want to have a replacement lined up before they make a move. So the question becomes ''are you willing to pay over the odds to make a team change its mind?''

Long post but you didn't answer his question.

Move on.

Question is what/where does the manager look to improve; I have always though as Keita as luxury buy because he opens up so many different option for the manager; another mid-fielder (even a quality one) might open up  some options but not like Keita.

 If you looked at our squad at the end of the season probably last place you would say we needed improvement out of back 4, midfield, front 3 it would have been the mid-field...we have quality and number in Hendo, Can, Coutinho, Lallana, Gini, Grujic.

VVD or someone else there is no doubt we need a CB; that is beyond obvious...honestly we could probably do with 2.

So I suspect if we are going to spend anything close to what we are willing to spend on Keita it will be somewhere/someone who gives the manager multiple options to change formation, tactics and move players around; doesn't have to be in the midfield but going to be somewhere in that front 5 players...in that respect it could be in any position including striker.

I don't think that that is the main reason as to why people are skeptical.

There is planning that is done in the previous season by looking at areas where a team may be lacking, and looking for players that fit a certain profile that can suit a particular role in the team. The problem that any team has is looking for a number of players for every position that they think can be bought, and having alternatives should any of the first choice players either move to another team, or you get a notice that they are not for sale.

In any case, in scenarios where players are seen as being priority targets, then the aim has to be to move early.

In the case where nothing is happening, or you think that the price for a certain player is unrealistic, then the right thing to do would be to go out there and shift focus to another player. Not long ago, City were without a right back, they thought that they would have Dani Alves, but he ended up going to PSG. Talk was that they were unwilling to match Spurs asking price of £50M, but losing out forced their hand.

All Daniel Levy had to do was wait, and hope that things went his way (and he is one of the best sellers in World football), and they did. Today, if Liverpool walk into a negotiation for a midfielder, his price will go up because perception is that the team is desperate, and the same applies for any center back the team may settle on.

The things that need sorting out when it comes to transfers are:

1) Stop annoying teams. There is a manner in which this team conducts transfers that seems to piss off teams. You rarely see other teams garner that sort of attention when they are doing most of their dealings.

2) Have a plan. This is one thing that has been a problem since FSG joined. It doesn't seem to get fixed each window. Brandt, Pulisic, Dahoud were players that the team ignored signing in the January window so that they could then chase after them in the summer. Extensions occurred, or they moved elsewhere, or a decision to stay put was seen as appropriate. The wide forward alternative has yielded Salah, but what are the alternatives to Keita (who RB Leipzig have insisted all summer was not for sale) or Van Dijk (who the team never managed to put in a bid for?). Lukaku may not have been plan A for United, but he is a good plan B. Mbappe was what Arsenal desired above all others, yet they have landed Lacazette. Barcelona really wanted Bellerin, but they had to settle for Semedo. City wanted Bellerin last season, he extended.....they wanted Dani Alves, and it looks like they will end up with Kyle Walker and Danilo. Chelsea look like landing Rudiger and Morata after missing out on Van Dijk and Lukaku.

Not having a replacement lined up is not having a plan.

3) Stop leaking interest in players to the media, and if you do, then simply don't tell people that the player in question has chosen Liverpool above any other team that may be competing for his signature. It always comes across as ''we will pay you what we think is appropriate as opposed to what you value the player at.'' Which leads to point 1.

4) Back the manager, and the manager also has to have a need to compete for everything. Sacrifice the League cup if it is a hindrance early in the season, but the League, European tournaments and the FA Cup are the three tournaments that a team should be looking to compete for regardless of what happens. Not having a plan for the market leaves us where we are, where we were last season, and the season before that where some tournaments were deemed not good enough.

1) - Something went wrong with the VVD transfer, granted. You still really don't know what that was, but beyond that - I don't think you can really assess our transfer business with "we annoy other teams." You're just buying into the relentless narrative on here.

2)Klopp most definitely has a plan. And the plan isn't "just buy someone - ANYone!" - So he's not in a panicked rush to buy someone else while the player(s) he wants are still being pursued. While he may not get everyone he wants, not getting them doesn't mean there was no plan. And here too, he has made it clear he only wants to buy if it improves the team, which includes said player fitting into his system, his idea of a team's framework, etc.

3) Not sure how different we are to anyone else here, but also not sure how much has actually been leaked. I might respond with 'stop believing everything you read." - It is also ironic that people bemoan leaking info about transfer targets, and then out of the other side of their mouth complain about "nothing happening" in the market when there is no leaked news.

4)Until the manager says otherwise, there is no ground for suggesting the ownership are jeopardizing our relationship with Klopp. In fact it's just the opposite. You will struggle to find a more proactive and consistently positive message from a manager about the rest of his club's leadership.

Long post but you didn't answer his question.

I did, and not only in this post, but in the original post he quoted.

The thing people are complaining about is not necessarily this deal alone, it is something that has been play for years.

The team wants a CB, the team needs a CB. The catch is that the only CB they want is Van Dijk who they were caught tapping up, who they never made a formal offer for, and an apology, a public apology was offered.

The teams wants Naby Keita. RB Leipzig not only say he is not for sale, their manager, CEO, Sporting Director and owner all utter the same things, they end up knocking down all offers for him.

Tell me, if you cannot get any of these players for any myriad of reasons, what do you do? You move on to another target because these were players being targeted for the first team.

If you do not have alternative targets, what does that tell you? That you did not plan well enough, and that you might have overplayed your hand in thinking that they would join regardless. It is a failure to plan for unexpected outcomes, and that as they say is planning to fail.

Some people are talking about a player in particular. That does not get us anywhere because this is a systemic issue that has plagued the team for years. You cannot get anywhere with confidence unless the underlying problems are addressed.

A lot of people losing their sh*t...

You know when the missus says 'No, ive got a head ache', i bung her paracetamol/annadin and tell her to be ready for bedroom olympics in 30 minutes as i'm going for gold, sometimes I even throw my trunks and swimming goggles on and parade around the bedroom like a peacock making her laugh her knickers off 'literally'...

Moral of the story, even the sternest of no's can be over come.

Long post but you didn't answer his question.

Nor is this the Van Dyke thread. People seem to think it's only us having this problem. Arsenal are refusing to sell Sanchez and Van Dyke chose Liverpool over City so they are missing out on top targets. Lukaku has already chosen United and apparently Morata also wants to go to them which means Chelsea are missing out on their top targets. Spurs want Barkley and Barkley wants a hundred and fifty grand a week to sign for them () so they're unlikely to land their top target. We aren't the only ones in this boat. There isn't much we can do when either players don't want to sign for you or their clubs refuse to sell (or in the case of Barkley, suddenly develop delusions of grandure). The Van Dyke drama is a wholly seperate conversation to the difficulties we're having in signing Keita. So we either move on and buy someone else or we move on and hope we can get him next year when his clause kicks in but either way, in this particular transfer, FSG can hardly be blamed for failing to land him.

and tell her to be ready for bedroom olympics in 30 minutes as i'm going for gold,

This bit from this line from this post ensures I will be in a good mood for the rest of the day, the rest of the week maybe.

I can't even remember what we were talking about, but just once in my life I am going to utter this phrase. Brilliant.

Nor is this the Van Dyke thread. People seem to think it's only us having this problem. Arsenal are refusing to sell Sanchez and Van Dyke chose Liverpool over City so they are missing out on top targets. Lukaku has already chosen United and apparently Morata also wants to go to them which means Chelsea are missing out on their top targets. Spurs want Barkley and Barkley wants a hundred and fifty grand a week to sign for them () so they're unlikely to land their top target. We aren't the only ones in this boat. There isn't much we can do when either players don't want to sign for you or their clubs refuse to sell (or in the case of Barkley, suddenly develop delusions of grandure). The Van Dyke drama is a wholly seperate conversation to the difficulties we're having in signing Keita. So we either move on and buy someone else or we move on and hope we can get him next year when his clause kicks in but either way, in this particular transfer, FSG can hardly be blamed for failing to land him.

Honestly Lukaku was the mancs 3rd choice

Griezmann>Morata>Lukaku.

All clubs supporters live in their little vacuum and lord knows we have screwed up more than once and it grinds on the nerves but as you said these two transfers are hardly the same issues that plagued us when we sold Suarez or screwed up with the likes of Dempsey etc..

As Blud said...things have a way of turning quickly so never say never.

As Blud said...things have a way of turning quickly so never say never.

Lets just say if the belief was there a deal couldn't be worked out, I don't think we'd be wasting our time, the squad needs additions and Klopp is aware of that and also the fact the transfer window clock is ticking.

Lets just say if the belief was there a deal couldn't be worked out, I don't think we'd be wasting our time

Yup.