King Kante

I am a big Alaba fan but we need to be serious about who we can sign, if we do go out and sign another top end AM and CF, whilst also needing a CB, I am not so sure we can blow a fortune on LB if there is another who would still be a very good upgrade . That said.... I never realised that Alaba only had one year left. What is his presumed value? As for Alonso, I am a huge fan and he is probably in my top three current favourite players. However, I am not sure SFL fancies him or that he is using 343 other than a last resort because of the state of the squad.

If we sign Chilwell for anything over £35m I would be fuming. Average player. Only reason I would even go to £35m is due to his passport which should protect his value somewhat. However, I do not put much stock into this link as Goal are just rehashing former links as it is obvious we are going for a LB. However, with his cost Telles, Alaba should be far higher up the list. Further, I am pretty sure Maatsen has been given some assurances about pathways as I do not see him signing a 5 year contract unless that was the case. Buying a Telles or a Alaba does not really cause issues like a Chilwell does, as they are both 27/28ish, so he could easily do 2-3 years of LB2 or loans before expecting to be LB1. Personally, I am of the opinion that next seasons our four FB's will be: James, Dave, Telles, Maatsen, as that gives another academy player a chance, while also providing Dave with a utility role that means he will still get a decent amount of minutes (RB2/LB2/CB4/5.) Agree, I am not a huge fan either. When it comes to CM/DM, I'd rather any of Nditi, SMS, Partey or even giving a chance to Ampadu. That said, I have always had a feeling that we could end up making a move for Rice. The reason I say this is due to him being a former academy player and I can see the club seeing him in a similar way that Barca saw Cesc for years before they signed him.

Great player, however I think it depends on what we want to do in other positions. If we do go for a Sancho type signing, then could we afford him or would we go for someone like Telles at £25m instead? Wages with Alaba would also be super high. Over a 4 year contract Alaba would likely cost something like 2.5× what Telles would. Obviously, he is the better player but I just do not see us spending so much more on him when Telles is available on the cheap and we have serious issues with goals and need to address that. Alaba would be something like £50-60m plus £190-220k a week, whilst Telles would be £25m plus £90-110k a week.

I agree. I have been saying since last Summer (elsewhere to be fair) that this should be Kante's last season. He is both our highest earner and this Summer is the last one we can cash in seriously on him. Further, our midfield is seriously unbalanced with too many small players and we need to address this. When looking at CM, I think whilst we have a good collection of individual players, the balance is not right. Next season, I would really want to see something like: No 4: Two of Jorgi, Gilmour, Amapdu No 6: Kova, SMS No 8: Mount, RLC To be fair to Kova he can play No 6 and No 4, so we could potentially go for just one of the No.4's listed. However, No.4 is a bit tricky. From one perspective losing Jorgi as well as Kante could be very dangerous as it would leave us with a very young collection of CM's, however like Kante, Summer 2020 is a prime time to sell him (especially if Sarri is still at Juve) which could open up serious funds. That said, both Amapdu and Gilmour need serious game time, so it may be best for both of them to get loans that assure them of minutes (personally I never understood why we did not send Amapdu to Villa this year.) Personally, I think of the three No.4's Jorgi will stay as we need his experience and I am not certain Juve will pay a serious fee for him considering their wage bill and current crop of midfielders. That then leaves Billy and Ampadu, with my inclination being that Billy will be told to play his way in/keep his place. Ampadu, whilst bigger and stronger (what we need, imo) will be loaned as he is nearly 20 and is now at a stage where he cannot afford to try and play his way in and fail. At No.8, I think Dross Barkley will be sold no matter what this Summer unless the season re-starts and he gets something like 6+goals and a number of assists. The bloke is going to be 27 in Dec and has been consistently inconsistent throughout his career. If somehow he does pull everything together then I can see RLC being in a bit of trouble. I say this as for me Mount has been good this season, is still very young and has been played out of his best position (No.8) a lot. RLC on the other hand has never really had more than a 8 game run and is always injured and I have no faith he can play 90 mins more than once a week.

Telles makes a lot of sense. £25m in this market is low and he can get up and down, cross and defend a bit. Not expecting him to become Roberto Carlos or anything but a solid first XI player who can play in a back four without stinking the place out. That then has us on £61m'ish for him and Ziyech. That should still give us some serious dollar to play with (unless our finances get wreck by Corona.) After that, we need a: CF, CB, GK, AM and CM. With £61m spent I would say we have around £80m left to play with before we sell anyone but expect the following to bring in decent fees (£20m+): Jorgi/Kante, Barkley, Emerson, Bakayoko, Zouma and Bats. Squad Gk; Kepa, GK, Cummings/Willy(?) CB: CB, Rudi, AC, Tomori/Amapdu (one to be loaned) FB: James, Dave, Telles, Alonso/Maatsen CM: Jorgi/Kante, CM, Kova, Mount, RLC, Gilmour AM: Ziyech, CHO, Puli, AM CF: CF, Tammy, Giroud(?) (?) = possible extension.

Looks like the league title may have just been decided. Covid-19 Liverpool 18

Not if the Coronavirus shuts down the league before it can be finished!

Serie A has been suspended and it looks like the PL may have to follow suit shortly. How brilliant would it be if Liverpool couldn't claim the title because the season couldn't be finished?

I wouldn't say we looked that comfortable defensively, especially Zouma. There were at least three times he got caught out high up the pitch in no mans land. The first time he did this Rudi also did not cover him properly and Calvert Lewin should really have scored. That would've made it 2-1. The real difference in this game is that midfield actually had a pair of balls and didn't allow Everton to bully/overrun us.

I think we can also add Alonso to the list of players that should've been playing more frequently. Obviously, he does have his flaws but he is much better than Emerson. When I think about missed opportunities this season, I keep having flash backs of Emerson heading straight at the Bournemouth keeper from six yards out with a free header and then them scoring five minutes later.

After reading this, I have no expectations of him starting a match until the end of the month of early April.

I have always been a big supporter of Alonso. Yes, I get that due to him being slow he is a real issue in a back 4 but when we play 343 or 351 (which for me is also our best fit formation with the current squad) he is normally very good and more dangerous than most of our AM's. As for things moving forward, I rather see him playing than Emerson or Dave in the lb/lwb role. As for the Summer we obviously need a LB and Telles is looking primed, however Emerson has surely got to be the first guy to go as he has been awful. After that, I would keep Alonso to be LB2 as he would provide depth and give us flexibility to play the 343. However, if a good offer does come in and we can get Telles, I can see the club thinking we'll promote one of the young boys and have Dave cover both LB/RB behind James and Telles.

Not if they do not get CL. If they miss out this year there Adidas deal drops by £25m and I believe their shirt sponsorship also drops significantly.

One of the reasons they get them is because they tell them they won't stand in their way in 2-3 years time. Obviously, if they start winning stuff and they can give them the same wages as they can get elsewhere then maybe they will.

I am not saying we have to sign Sancho, I am saying we have to sign someone like Sancho. I do agree if you have someone like Telles then maybe the need for a wide player is not so great but then again if he is playing in a four then he will not get as much licence to go forward unless you play a super high line and press. Further, I disagree with your assessment of Puli, he has quick acceleration but is not fast per se. Additionally, whatever way you want to slice it his best position in No.10 which is where the US national team play him. Arguments can be made about Ziyech playing out wide but he will always come in like Willian does now. Further, looking at your lineup for midfield the first thing that hits me is how lightweight it is. I really hope this offseason we also sort out CM and get a more imposing player as otherwise it is still going to be like children vs men at set pieces and us being overran in the middle of the park virtually every game.

Ziyech whilst a good player is not the same player and to some extent still does not sort out the issue of balance we have with our AM's. Firstly, when looking at the AM's I think both Willian and Pedro are going. That leaves us with CHO, Puli and Ziyech. However, both Puli and Ziyech are more No.10/inverted No.11 types rather than pacey wingers, which means we only have CHO as our conventional winger. For me, Sancho or another player of his type is quite important as otherwise we are going to have a collection of AM's that all want to play through the defence rather than stretch them out. This is one of the reasons why Alonso is so effective for us as he actually plays out wide and stays there whilst everyone else tries to play through two banks of 4/5. Further if SFL is here next season, I am pretty sure he will switch to 4231 full time. If that is the case you can probably add Mount and RLC to the AM list, however, again, they aren't pacey wide players and are best in the No.10 role of the 3. Whatever happens, next AM that comes through the door has to be a pacey wide player as otherwise AM next season is going to end up like CM with Kova, Kante and Jorgi in that we will have good individual players there but really poor balance as all of them want to do the same thing, give or take.

As much as I dislike Kepa, I am not sure we can go out and buy another GK of this sort of level. Kepa was not only £72m but is also pulling £170-190k a week, which makes him one of our top five earners. For me Kepa is a sunk cost as no one is going to a) pay his wages and b ) pay anywhere near what we paid for him. This means unless AM break out the crack pipe and agree to some sort of Oblak swap we are stuck with him as I cannot see us dropping another £50m+ on a GK with similar wages. Our best bet is to hope Newcastle get relegated and we can pick up someone like Dubravka for £30-35m.

SMS won't be £100m. He is more likely to be €80m as there are a lot of runours that Lazio agreed to let him go for a more reasonable amount if he gave them a couple more years. Still super expensive but not quite as high as £100m.

Yea I am sure everyone does. Unfortunately for us the AM board do not smoke crack.

I am not a MR fan but the fu*ker has a number of players we need. If dealing with him means you get a Haaland or a Romgnoli then you have to deal with him or otherwise we will end up with an Ake and a Wilson or something.

I just reckon Lampard woke up and smelt the coffee. I mean seriously, what does Kepa do well? I know Willy isn't a good GK but at least you can rest assured that if a shot it at him he is not going to let it go through him as if he is a ghost.

Not too surprised by the line up, I thought he would stick with 343/351 as whilst it is not ideal it is more suited to us than 433 where we are wide open to the counter all the time. As for starting XI, I am not surprised Alonso starts. I say this as after Giroud he is our most dangerous player that is fit. Further who actually wants to see Emerson again? Willian looks like he will be on his way out. If he cannot get in ahead of Barkley and Pedro when both CHO and Puli are injured then that speaks volumes. Mount is not going to play wide, he will be behind Giroud. Width is going to come from Alonso and James. Good to see Tomori back and that AC looks as if he is CB1. For me, whilst AC lacks aggression and physicality, he actually does the basics of defending pretty well i.e. positioning, showing the defender down the lines, not allowing himself to get caught cold by ball watching etc. Obviously he has his flaws but as a CB he actually appears to know how to play the position in a mature manner than the other three. Lastly, happy to see Kepa on the bench again. Bloke is an absolute liability.

I do not disagree with this but also think it is slightly generous. I would not say we are a top 4 side. A large reason for us being there currently is due to the spectacular underperformance of Utd, Spuds a Le Arse who all have better squads than us. Further I do not trust our board whatsoever with transfers (although to be fair they are probably better than the other three which says more about the boardrooms in the PL rather than ours.) Tonight for me showed that there are currently only two players that are currently fit that can deal with this level of opposition and that is Christensen (who does have faults still) and Kovacic. Mount and James get passes due to age and willingness but the rest were miles off. Further, whilst such areas as CF, LB, GK etc will be looked at my biggest worry is CM. For me our CM as a collective is awful as we are always easily bullied, overrun, have a lack of goals/assists and lack muscle. CM is meant to be the engine of any team and ours are all small, lack attacking nous in the final third and are mainly un-athletic. People talk about RLC being some sort of saviour but the guy is always injured and even when fit does zero work off the ball. For me the sooner we can get someone like a SMS the better.

If I see Emerson start a game again this season without it be due to injuries I will be furious. He has literally been worse than Bakayoko this season. Le Arse away is the worst performance I have seen in a Chelsea shirt since Jovanokic.

It is weird as originally the rumour was €30m/£25m then it went up to €60m/£50m now it is back to €30m/£25m. Maybe the higher figure was if someone wanted him in Jan. Anyway, yes Werner would be a great signing. However, he is on record as saying that Liverpool would suit him so I think it is pretty clear that there has been some contact there unless he is just flashing his knickers. Further to this he was also talking about joining either Utd or Liverpool in 2018; https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fourfourtwo.com/features/werner-i-dream-playing-premier-league-im-more-man-united-liverpool%3f_format=amp For me it is pretty clear that if he gets a chance he will end up with the Dippers. Only way it does not happen is if someone goes absolutely mental on wages. However, as his wages are going to be in the £250-£300k region if his buyout is £25m, we are talking insane amounts. I expect his wages to be so high as due to him being worth £70-90m on the open market, he is likely to command a serious signing on fee and wages as the saving on a fee for someone of his caliber is so large.