King Kante

Barca have serious problems with their wage bill, incredibly it is £480m. To put that in perspective ours was £260m. Further, Barca have zero wriggle room as almost all of their contracts still have 1+ year to run unlike us who have the likes of Pedro, Willian and Giroud expiring. In other words, any hit to their finances means they cannot afford pay their players which is why they got all desperate and started spreading rumours that the players were refusing to accept a pay cut. If this Corvid business means the season cannot end and they miss out on any TV/CL/La Liga/Gate Revenue they are going to have to sell just to cover wages. This is against a backdrop where most teams in Europe are also going to struggle to pay their players already on contract. As a result, Barca are going to either have to fire sale in the poorest market pretty much ever or loan the players out so they're not on the hook for wages. In my opinion, Coutinho will be loaned again as they cannot afford to pay him on top of the players in their current squad and no team in Europe is going to be paying serious fees as their income levels will have either been seriously hit and/or uncertain.

In regard to Coutinho, I wouldn't want to sign him full time but on a loan I think he would be decent if the market goes belly up. My personal opinion is that this window is going to see hardly anyone move as teams are going to have reduced revenue and they have still got to cover the wages of their players under contract. Further, players that will move will have to expect lower wages than what they thought they were going to get as clubs are going to have less money to spend due to reduced revenues. I honestly see a situation where the only players that move are players that are; a) out of contract, b ) only have one year left, c) need to be loaned out for whatever reason or d) are involved in swap deals. I seriously do not see anyone signing a Sancho for £100m+ with £300k a week wages guaranteed for 5 years as that is a minimum commitment of £178m for the duration of the contract.

He only said that after the move. No one really knows what he actually wanted. I'd imagine if we had got our act together we would've given him a higher wage so I am not so sure things would've panned out with him in Dipperland if we had done what should've been done.

Not really. Sancho is by all accounts a £100m player with a wage of £250k+ that needs to be guaranteed for 5 years. That is a £33m a year hit to the accounts for 5 years. Who is going to pay that if the virus business doesn't get itself sorted and a shed load of tv money doesn't get paid? Coutinho (who I suggested as a maybe not a certainy) would be a loan so it would just be wages that needed covering so that is around £10.4m-13m (his reported wages are £200-250k) for the year but no commitment outside of that. That is at least 60% cheaper but with no commitment outside of one year. Further in a years time Sancho would only have one year left. If the market does dry up he would be better off waiting rather than moving this Summer as every year he holds off the higher his signing on fee becomes, while negotiating a top wage in a bad market will be difficult. As for Alaba, he would be £60m plus £200k+ vs £25m plus £90k. That is a difference of around £24.4m v £11.1m per year on four year contracts. That is around 55% cheaper. Further as both players are 27/28 they are essentially sunk costs as these will be their final prime contracts that run them to their 30's. If we only needed Alaba then sure, maybe we could do something if he would be willing to come - questionable as he is a peak top draw player who would be walking into a rebuild job with a inexperienced manager. Further, when we need a; CF, AM, CB, LB, GK and possibly another CM/DM, comparimises will need to be made in certain areas as we cannot go out and buy top rate players in every area or even at all if our revenues dry up. Anyhow, any talk of transfers at this point in time is moot as we do not know what the financial implications of Covid is yet. However, if they are as bad as predicted teams are not going to want to shell out top dollar and/or sign themselves up to very expensive long term contracts when incoming revenue levels are questionable.

So if the Corvid 19 situation has wrecked everyone's finances who do you expect to be moving? As for Alaba have a fantasy wank all you want over it, it is not going to happen.

As Mo says, Alaba is nigh on impossible. Of course he is a great player but the chances of getting him are virtually nil, so there is not much point in trying because if he does not get a move to Spain he will likely stay in Germany. Anyway, this aside. What does everyone think will happen with Sancho this Summer? I am personally not sure that anyone is going to want to blow £120m after this Covid 19 business. Personally, I can see a situation where it may be better for Sancho to stay in Dortmund another season (he is only 19/20) and move next Summer as by that point he will only have one year left and get more money. If we are interested, we could then focus elsewhere on the squad for this Summer and maybe try and pick up a Courtinho on loan.

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.