Nabil Fekir (Lyon)

Yepp, a lot of teams come to anfield to sit back and win a point. Then we struggle to break them open. Last season Salah had incredible run, this season it is going to be. Ore difficult to him. Defenders gonna cover his left foot and not let him take a shot.
we need somebody who takes some pressure off Salah. We need a magician.

The story is coming from Dominic King who is also saying Alisson is signing a 6 year deal, when everyone else has been saying a 5 year deal.
All he’s done is try reading between the lines of an interview Klopp gave about trimming the squad, Klopp doesn’t actually mention that there will be no further signings. King has been so far off in Fekir all the way along so I’m inclined to not believe what he says.
How do we go from really wanting a Coutinho replacement to walking away from that altogether? It was basically the main area Klopp wanted sorted. I think it’s more a case of shifting a few players on and then getting one in. Just makes no sense, especially when Ox is out for so long too.
But then a few days ago they were all saying our stance on Alisson this summer hasn’t changed... now he’s signing.

Yepp, a lot of teams come to anfield to sit back and win a point. Then we struggle to break them open. Last season Salah had incredible run, this season it is going to be. Ore difficult to him. Defenders gonna cover his left foot and not let him take a shot.
we need somebody who takes some pressure off Salah. We need a magician.

Exactly. Even if it's not Fekir, and we've been scared off by the medical for now (or because the Alisson deal has stretched our budget too far), there are plenty of less renowned players who command significantly less fees who'd be capable of taking opponents on in tight spaces considerably better than, say, Lallana, Keita, or Shaqiri.

Because possibly salvaging our keeper situation is one thing, but I'm not convinced yet that we won't once again find ourselves moving sluggishly side to side for 62+% of the game and only managing 2 or 3 shots on target, against the number of teams we drew and lost to last year.

Keita and a fully fit Lallana will be a step up, but not sure it's enough. Shaqiri is a bit of an unknown when faced with ten players in front of him. I think he'll make some positive contributions here and there, but again, breaking through some of those buses that were parked before us last year will take some magic indeed.

The information given to English press they we’re done in the market is the same as the ‘Ward is no.1’ and ‘We’re not buying a keeper’ stuff. Released for a purpose. It’ll happen

For those wondering:

17/18   Knee contusion                   Feb 26, 2018   Apr 2, 2018   35 days   7 Games Missed
16/17   Knee injury                   Aug 28, 2016   Sep 20, 2016   23 days   3 Games Missed
15/16   Cruciate Ligament Rupture   Sep 7, 2015   Apr 7, 2016   213 days   39 Games Missed

For those wondering:

17/18   Knee contusion                   Feb 26, 2018   Apr 2, 2018   35 days   7 Games Missed
16/17   Knee injury                   Aug 28, 2016   Sep 20, 2016   23 days   3 Games Missed
15/16   Cruciate Ligament Rupture   Sep 7, 2015   Apr 7, 2016   213 days   39 Games Missed

So fairly stable then since his cruciate.

We still have Gini and Milner, they are going nowhere and with Fab, Keita and Shaqiri joining, I don't see the need to add another midfielder. Especially with Keita and Shaqiri.being able to operate in central attacking position.

No.

Gini and Milner are not Fekir (nor a 10 for that matter). We still need cover for a creative, attacking playmaker.

Bascomb says the deal for Fekir is off and won’t be resurrected. But that we are still in for another 10.

Who that is at this point is anyone’s guess.

Pulisic, Brandt, Draxler, Dybala?

Bascomb says the deal for Fekir is off and won’t be resurrected. But that we are still in for another 10.

Who that is at this point is anyone’s guess.

Pulisic, Brandt, Draxler, Dybala?

I also read in an article from the Guardian earlier that it's believed there'll be no Fekir deal. So yeah unfortunately that talk is beginning to mount.

As for an alternative target, would you be happy with Brandt or Draxler? Personally, I think they are fine one-on-one against opponents in space, but put them in tighter spaces with ten opponents before them, they'd be far from extraordinary. I also consider both a little bit lazy defensively.

For the fees they're likely to command, surely we need them to be magicians, otherwise we may as well just let Lallana and co have another crack. Also, Brandt recently re-signed with his club, so that makes it less likely.

As for, Pulisic and Dybala, both would command bigger fees than Fekir, and I don't think we're going to push that high after acquiring Alisson for that much money. Pulisic would be great though.

It's really a mystery to me who we'd realistically go for now. But yeah I think we're still considering it. Maybe it will depend on us trimming the surplus from our squad first.

Gut feeling is that this has been put to bed.

In any case, surely we're shopping at the 'international first team' level now and not the subs.

Come on Reds, get this deal done. Only thing missing from our team now is the #10. Think with a #10 like Fekir we can put it upto City next season. Dont leave us short again Jürgen :p

No.

Gini and Milner are not Fekir (nor a 10 for that matter). We still need cover for a creative, attacking playmaker.

Exactly.

Fekir was the Coutinho replacement who could play in the front three or midfield.

We still need one of those.

Gut feeling is that this has been put to bed.

I know it’s taboo to talk about monetising players on a football fans’ forum.

What if we can persuade the owners to put up their last £50m (beg borrow or steal) by convincing them he’s a £150m player which we can sell in three years? Technically a moneyball deal and they should get him this window. It’s a good reason to buy him now isn’t it?

Ok I’d better shut up. No sane football fan buys players to sell. Only to win matches and trophies.

Love us just to go out and get Pulisic and be done with it, we'd be sorted for this season as far as incomings go,

With the GK issues all but solved and now the central areas i think we are beginning to see what could be Jürgen's ideal team, of course there will be tweaks here and there and probable further strengthening but all in all most of the pieces are now in place, only a bit if fine tuning now and we will start seeing the fruits of his labour,
Pulisic would complete a formidable midfield that would support our outstanding front 3 and be very difficult to get through our defences, with Virgil and his band of brothers,

Very very exciting times ahead me thinks !!! 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁



YNWA

I know it’s taboo to talk about monetising players on a football fans’ forum.

What if we can persuade the owners to put up their last £50m (beg borrow or steal) by convincing them he’s a £150m player which we can sell in three years? Technically a moneyball deal and they should get him this window. It’s a good reason to buy him now isn’t it?

Ok I’d better shut up. No sane football fan buys players to sell. Only to win matches and trophies.

What are you on about?

I know it’s taboo to talk about monetising players on a football fans’ forum.

What if we can persuade the owners to put up their last £50m (beg borrow or steal) by convincing them he’s a £150m player which we can sell in three years? Technically a moneyball deal and they should get him this window. It’s a good reason to buy him now isn’t it?

Ok I’d better shut up. No sane football fan buys players to sell. Only to win matches and trophies.

wtf are you rambling about

Ok I’d better shut up. No sane football fan buys players to sell. Only to win matches and trophies.

This is the best thing you've said in the last 24hrs.

I know it’s taboo to talk about monetising players on a football fans’ forum.

What if we can persuade the owners to put up their last £50m (beg borrow or steal) by convincing them he’s a £150m player which we can sell in three years? Technically a moneyball deal and they should get him this window. It’s a good reason to buy him now isn’t it?

Ok I’d better shut up. No sane football fan buys players to sell. Only to win matches and trophies.

If we really want him, I don't think we're just not going to buy him because we brought in Alisson for a huge fee. Despite Aulas being a pain in the ass, even he realises he may not get more from him than what Liverpool have been offering. So if this deal doesn't happen, it's probably most likely that the talk of Liverpool not liking the work the surgeon did on his knee is the reason.

Sure, if Fekir was to play for us with minimal injuries for a few years in our system he'd likely be valued at 120+ mil. Considering none of us here are privy to that medical, however, it's a big if to essentially suggest it would be insane not to buy him.

I also read in an article from the Guardian earlier that it's believed there'll be no Fekir deal. So yeah unfortunately that talk is beginning to mount.

As for an alternative target, would you be happy with Brandt or Draxler? Personally, I think they are fine one-on-one against opponents in space, but put them in tighter spaces with ten opponents before them, they'd be far from extraordinary. I also consider both a little bit lazy defensively.

For the fees they're likely to command, surely we need them to be magicians, otherwise we may as well just let Lallana and co have another crack. Also, Brandt recently re-signed with his club, so that makes it less likely.

As for, Pulisic and Dybala, both would command bigger fees than Fekir, and I don't think we're going to push that high after acquiring Alisson for that much money. Pulisic would be great though.

It's really a mystery to me who we'd realistically go for now. But yeah I think we're still considering it. Maybe it will depend on us trimming the surplus from our squad first.

Brandt over Draxler for me, but something doesn't sit right for me with either one. I just don't know that they'd be industrious enough for a Klopp side.

Now Pulisic or Dybala.....that's who we should be looking at. I know Pulisic gets the overrated tag because he's a yank, but the kid has skill and he's still SO young. He's 19...imagine what he'd look like at age 24 with 5 years of Klopp's instruction........I don't think it's an overreach to say he could be one of the best in the world at that point. Unfortunately though, I think Klopp has moved on from him due to Dortmund not wanting to sell and the price likely being much too high.

If we really want him, I don't think we're just not going to buy him because we brought in Alisson for a huge fee. Despite Aulas being a pain in the ass, even he realises he may not get more from him than what Liverpool have been offering. So if this deal doesn't happen, it's probably most likely that the talk of Liverpool not liking the work the surgeon did on his knee is the reason.

Sure, if Fekir was to play for us with minimal injuries for a few years in our system he'd likely be valued at 120+ mil. Considering none of us here are privy to that medical, however, it's a big if to essentially suggest it would be insane not to buy him.

This seems to be what reports are indicating. It was Alisson or Fekir, not both. We've done the wrong deal in my opinion. Having Karius in goal was less a liability than the lack of creativity in the midfield, especially with the defence that did so well the second half of last season infront of him. After the news yesterday that Ox is probably out for most of next season, it was doubly important we have quality in there if we wanted to seriously compete on multiple fronts.

This seems to be what reports are indicating. It was Alisson or Fekir, not both. We've done the wrong deal in my opinion. Having Karius in goal was less a liability than the lack of creativity in the midfield, especially with the defence that did so well the second half of last season infront of him.

It was never either or, not sure where you are getting that.

All of the reliable (take that with a grain of salt I know) journos from our end have said all along that Klopp wanted a GK and a #10.

This seems to be what reports are indicating. It was Alisson or Fekir, not both. We've done the wrong deal in my opinion. Having Karius in goal was less a liability than the lack of creativity in the midfield, especially with the defence that did so well the second half of last season infront of him. After the news yesterday that Ox is probably out for most of next season, it was doubly important we have quality in there if we wanted to seriously compete on multiple fronts.

Oh you are so correct on this, if there is one thing I constantly told myself as Mo charged towards his golden boot last year it was that we lack creativity and goals!!! On the other hand every time I saw Migs or Karius in goal I got a warm fuzzy feeling, I just knew we were safe with both of them, especially in a final!!!!
The GK position was the #1 most important thing to sort out in the team, has been for bloody years, adding yet another attacking element would be nice but is far from crucial, hell its not even that important.

It was never either or, not sure where you are getting that.

All of the reliable (take that with a grain of salt I know) journos from our end have said all along that Klopp wanted a GK and a #10.

Yea, I don't think it's either or but I do feel it might be Fekir or no one.

What if we can persuade the owners to put up their last £50m (beg borrow or steal) by convincing them he’s a £150m player which we can sell in three years?

Maybe that's the reason they haven't punted.  Slightly dodgy knees are probably not going to improve with a couple of seasons of the Premier League.

Ah so, Fekir deal is off then. Yes?