Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 28,382]

Werner is waiting on Liverpool and they have until April to complete £51m move

https://theathletic.com/1624500/2020/02/27/timo-werner-liverpool-barcelona-manchester-united-transfer/

Jurgen Klopp had steered his Opel Insignia past the vast walls of the sprawling Ince Blundell Estate beside Formby’s bypass last autumn when he realised he needed to have a conversation with his wife, Ulla.

Earlier that day, Klopp had been in Kirkby — the site of Liverpool’s new training ground, which is expected to open this summer.

He had seen the outstanding facilities, the close proximity to the club’s youth academy a little further up Arbour Lane and Anfield’s main stand shimmering in the distance, recognising that he had helped establish a visible, practical and emotional connection between three significant locations. Then he looked at the open shell where his office will be and imagined someone else looking out at the view, directing operations from a space created at his command.

Klopp had told Liverpool’s owners in 2016 that a new training facility was a priority.

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) had already done their research, knowing it would cost more than £50 million. They also knew the Liverpool squad needed improving. This meant that extra funds were not lying around in the bank waiting to be used on other projects.

Klopp’s request had the potential to impact on their reach in the transfer market, but he didn’t mind. ‘We’ll just have to work harder,’ he thought. FSG, led by Mike Gordon, listened to Klopp’s suggestions and four years later Liverpool will soon enter a new era away from Melwood just at the point the team’s development is accelerating and the possibilities seem greater than they have been for generations.

On that drive home, Klopp tried to imagine himself being anywhere else and could not.

Liverpool’s owners had long feared he might walk away at the conclusion of a contract that ran to 2022. They had reassured him that negotiations on a new deal were only ever a phone call away. Klopp had resisted because he’s not the sort of person to peer too far ahead. His father had looked forward to a retirement that ended up lasting only a couple of months before his own death. This had prompted a re-think in Klopp’s own life. He tries his best to live only for the moment.

Still, an important matter had germinated in his own mind and later that night, Klopp and his wife allowed themselves to consider what the future might hold.

Spain was an option. For Klopp, there would always be offers. Yet La Liga had never captured Klopp’s imagination like the Premier League did. Language had long been one of his most powerful tools and he does not speak Spanish. Would his words have the same impact there? Would Spanish fans appreciate his style of football the way they do in England and Germany? Would time run out quicker on him than in places he knew better, considering how differently his teams play compared to those that traditionally represent Real Madrid and Barcelona?

What about a return to Germany? He would not enjoy the control he has at Liverpool at Bayern Munich — where there are plenty of admirers, despite him being their enemy in a previous life as Borussia Dortmund coach. The national team? Klopp is a great unifier but that job is not available and maybe it is for later in his career anyway…

Ulla Klopp loves living on Merseyside, and so does her husband. They were not keen to move away from a region where they are able to lead relatively normal lives despite its passion for football. Klopp had helped engender a triangle of trust between himself, his players and the owners. When that happens, the fans follow. Both in a social and sporting sense, the conditions were right for them to stay. Klopp told his agent, Marc Kosicke, to have a chat with Gordon and it did not take long to hammer out details. Gordon, needless to say, was relieved as well as delighted.

Crucially, Klopp had concluded, the prospect of a new challenge was within the framework of an environment he’d already fostered: the rebuilding job to come after this current team’s cycle is done. He realises the trick is not to make it seem like a rebuilding job at all, rather a smooth transition from one to the next: where outstanding players are replaced by other outstanding players ready to carry on their good work.

He recognises the conditions at Liverpool are there for him to do what Sir Alex Ferguson did at Manchester United and what Arsene Wenger did at Arsenal, albeit to a lesser extent because he does not see himself still managing Liverpool a decade from now. He believes he can build a second great team — something he has not managed in his previous jobs, and nor has any other German coach working abroad.

At Mainz, he never had an opportunity to maintain a culture of relative success because his better players always got sold to the sort of clubs hoping to push into the Bundesliga’s European qualification places and Mainz were not a big enough deal to attract ready-made replacements. With Dortmund, he never had it because his best players moved either to Bayern, Spain or England. At Liverpool, he has more of a defining influence on the future because of the team’s achievements, the club’s rediscovered status and what else might happen.

He can dictate the market more than he has ever been able to.

Klopp’s and Liverpool’s strong position is reflected in their stance on Timo Werner. After scoring the winner against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League last week, the RB Leipzig forward could not have made it any clearer that he would relish a move to Anfield if an offer came his way.

“I know that Liverpool is the best team at the moment in the world and when you are linked with that team it makes me very proud,” Werner said.

The Athletic understands Werner has already received proposals from Barcelona and Manchester United but is waiting to see whether Liverpool make a move. There is a clause in his contract which means that he can agree a £51 million move away as long as it is negotiated before a deadline in April, which would then give Leipzig longer to make their own plans to replace him for next season.

It was put to The Athletic by a key source this week that if Klopp chooses to go for Werner, who has 28 goals this season, negotiations are most likely to start in the middle of March. That is the month when discussions really got going in previous years on the eye-catching deals that brought in Fabinho and Alisson from Monaco and Roma respectively.

Immediately, Klopp is thinking about his attacking options for next season because of the scheduling of the Olympic Games (July 22 to August 8) and Africa Cup of Nations (January 9 to February 6). Both tournaments might have an impact on a campaign that’s unlikely to involve either Adam Lallana and Xherdan Shaqiri, who are both expected to leave the club in the summer.

A longer-term consideration is that his brilliant front three are roughly the same age — Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah both turn 28 in the next four months while Roberto Firmino is 29 in early October — and though Klopp wants them to finish their careers at Liverpool and achieve plenty more before then, the introduction of a younger forward (Werner is 24 next Friday) could be beneficial.

Werner would not be signed as anyone’s replacement but as competition, someone who has the ability to push one of Salah, Mane or Firmino out. Of the three players currently at Klopp’s disposal, only Firmino does not kick up a fuss when he is substituted — yet he is arguably the most valuable of them all. Even on Monday night against West Ham United, Mane seemed frustrated when he was taken off in stoppage time until a greeting from the Kop distracted him.

Mane and Salah have a healthy, competitive rivalry and Klopp benefits from this but he does not want to disrupt the balance. Loyalty is also a big deal to him. Both players signed for him and have given him their all. It will take conversation and careful reasoning if he is to convince each of his present front three of the benefits of heightened competition at a point in the calendar where promises of the earth from elsewhere will probably come to their agents. The timing of such conversations will also be crucial considering what Liverpool can win from here.

Werner, meanwhile, is said to be perceptive. He has seen the struggles of Philippe Coutinho after a big move from under Klopp’s Anfield wing to Barcelona and knows that club’s current team is probably its weakest since before Frank Rijkaard took charge in 2003. He also knows Manchester United have been in flux since 2016.

It has been suggested Werner also does not want to waste prime years waiting for Liverpool’s star players to move on, but surely Klopp has noted another comment from last week where he admitted, “I know that Liverpool play a lot of good players and I have to improve myself and I need to learn many more things to get to that level and to play there.”

Those who have followed Werner’s career closely in Germany say his character is a mature mix of talent, patience and perseverance. He is strong-willed. There had been an agreement for him to go to Bayern last summer but they messed him around by pursuing Manchester City’s Leroy Sane more aggressively instead. When that move broke down in August because of a serious injury to Sane, it was too late to turn back. Werner was said to be so disappointed by the way Bayern handled the matter that he instructed his representatives to return the contract — an indication it would never be signed.

He has gone from strength to strength this season, emerging as one of Europe’s best forwards, and is still wanted by a section of Bayern’s board, who were banking on his original Leipzig deal running out so they could sign him on a free transfer this summer. This left Werner feeling like he wasn’t a priority — or, at worst, not really wanted — so he agreed a new contract which gave him freedoms around fresh options over the next few months.

Though Klopp and Werner come from the Swabia region of south-western Germany and both grew up supporting Stuttgart — the club where Werner began his career — there is a clearer link between the pair: the involvement of Karlheinz Forster, Werner’s agent.

Forster was Klopp’s boyhood hero, a pillar in the Stuttgart defence that helped secure only the third Bundesliga title in the club’s history in 1984, shortly before the future Liverpool manager turned 17. Klopp’s grandmother Anna had knitted him a white jumper in the style of Stuttgart’s kit with Forster’s No 4 on the back. Klopp then clung to the No 4 in his own playing career, even when he was used as a centre-forward by Mainz.

It is claimed that when they first met decades later, Klopp did not arrive with the sort of big gestures we are now familiar with. Rather than greet Forster with a bear hug, he stretched out his arm and offered a rather more restrained handshake, such was his respect.

There might be a convenient arc to this relationship, because their next handshake could prove to mark the beginning of Liverpool’s next stage.

[Chelsea_firstlove 178]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

I know he has been injured with a hip flexor muscle fibre tear, but I still think Ibrahima Konaté has a higher upside than Dayot Upamecano

Nope.

Konate is a beast but Chelsea needs Upamecano more than Konate. Even Konate hasn't been injured.

First, Upamecano is more comfortable on the ball, and his passing is far better. Fit Lampard's tactic.

Second, both are right-footed CBs. But  Upamecano's weak foot is better, he can play as LCB but Konate can't.  Rudiger is bang average, he must  be replaced before being the next Willian- OuR LeGeNd.

Third, Upcamecano only have one year left on his deal, more possible and cheaper signing.

 

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Blues Forever said:

FRANK LAMPARD knows the standard needed to compete with the best in Europe.

Now he wants Chelsea to back him with a squad capable of returning the club to former glories. The 3-0 destruction to Bayern Munich was not just a hammer blow to the side’s Champions League hopes this season. It was a public exposure of how far the Blues are off the top level. Bayern were cool, calm and clinical – everything Chelsea were not. Yet the last person to be surprised at Tuesday night’s events at Stamford Bridge  was Lampard himself because deep down he knows the limitations of the group he has to work with.

As a player he understood what it takes to win domestic titles and reach the latter stages of the Champions League. As a manager he knows some of his players are short of what is needed. His post-match message was clear when he challenged his players to examine their own display against their direct opponent and ask themselves what they have to do to be able to reach that level. Lampard admitted he “learnt a lot about my players” in the way they were outclassed and made it clear it was not just the youngsters he was talking about.

After almost eight months in charge, his mind is rapidly being made up on who has what it takes to survive a major cull this summer. Among those now in danger of being eased out are England midfielder Ross Barkley, £72million goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and £50m midfielder Jorginho. Also under the microscope in the final stages of the season are Kurt Zouma, Willian and Pedro as Lampard prepares to get tough with the established names. And there is little doubt left-sided defenders Marcos Alonso, sent off for a stupid elbow against Bayern, and Emerson are not rated as good enough.

Whether the manager will be able to engineer a situation which will see so many players offloaded in one transfer window remains to be seen. But he wants to radically change the  squad with at least another four signings following  the capture of £33m Ajax forward Hakim Ziyech. Leicester and England left-back Ben Chilwell is rated highly, while a swap deal with Atletico Madrid for their keeper Jan Oblak would solve the Kepa problem. And then there is the obvious interest in Jadon Sancho, who would be massively expensive at £100m-plus but would bring what is clearly missing right now at Chelsea – goals and assists from out wide.

When club legend Lampard was appointed manager last summer,  the levels of performance he was expected to deliver were made clear. Lampard is now making it clear to the power-brokers at the Bridge that if they want to be competing at those levels then they are going to have to get busy this summer. He is not content with slugging it out with Sheffield United, Tottenham, Manchester United and Wolves just to seal a fourth place finish in the Premier League. Nor is he of the belief Chelsea should be a club happy just to make it out of the group stages of the Champions League, He wants more.

The levels he spoke of in the wake of the Bayern game were of being a squad capable of fighting it out with Liverpool and Manchester City to be the best team in England again. To be challenging for Champions League glory once again as well. It is those demands he is placing on the Chelsea board - including director Marina Granovskaia and his team-mate Petr Cech, technical and performance adviser - to sanction a massive investment in new players over the close season.The manager is clear he is up for what is needed to bring glory back to the Bridge. Now to find up if the Chelsea board are just as keen.

 

Aah, the classic 'Team X to sell flops after heavy loss' article... 

[Jase 43,479]

Since there were talks about Liverpool needing to sell to spend big and all that before, here's something on their financial state...

Klopp’s kings of Europe help Liverpool to record-breaking revenues

https://theathletic.com/1634138/2020/02/27/liverpool-finances-record-revenues-jurgen-klopp/

Liverpool’s success on the field has been accompanied by record-breaking revenues off it with the club announcing a pre-tax profit of £42 million.

The accounts for the year to May 31 2019 show that the now European champions’ turnover went up by 17 per cent — a £78 million annual increase to £533 million.

During a season which ended with Jurgen Klopp’s side winning the Champions League and finishing as runners-up in the Premier League, media revenue increased by £41 million to £261 million (up 19 per cent), commercial revenue by £34 million to £188 million (up 22 per cent) and match revenue by £3.5 million to £84 million (up four per cent).

Most of that cash has been invested into a squad which stands on the brink of winning the club’s first domestic title since 1990.

Figures show that Liverpool spent a club-record £223 million on players. Klopp made four major signings in Alisson (£65 million), Naby Keita (£52.75 million), Fabinho (£43.7 million) and Xherdan Shaqiri (£13.75 million). The Athletic understands that total of £223 million also includes agents’ fees and one-off costs related to new contracts.

During that period, Liverpool offloaded the likes of Emre Can (free transfer), Danny Ward (£12.5 million), Ragnar Klavan (£2 million), Dominic Solanke (£19 million) and Lazar Markovic (free), while they also received a payment from Barcelona in relation to the £142 million sale of Philippe Coutinho.

Eleven players signed new deals and securing the long-term futures of stars such as Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold did not come cheap.

The Anfield wage bill climbed from £263 million in 2017-18 to £310 million in 2018-19 — a sharp rise of nearly 18 per cent. It remains at around 58 per cent of the club’s turnover of £533 million. Champions Manchester City’s wage bill for the same period was £315.6 million — 59 per cent of their turnover of £535 million.

Liverpool’s financial health is underlined by the fact they made a hefty profit while also significantly reducing their debts.

Their net bank debt was slashed from £46 million to £12 million, while their intercompany debt is down from £100 million to £79 million. That intercompany debt relates to the £110 million loan owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) took out to finance the cost of Anfield’s new Main Stand, which opened in September 2016 and boosted capacity to 54,000. Liverpool have repaid in excess of £30 million of that capital.

The success of the stadium expansion is highlighted by the fact that annual match-day revenues have climbed from £62 million to £84 million since it was completed.

That figure will rise further if Liverpool are granted planning permission this year to redevelop the Anfield Road Stand. They recently unveiled revised plans for the £60 million project which would add another 7,000 seats in time for the start of the 2022-23 season.

The latest accounts also include part of the £50 million outlay for the club’s new training complex in Kirkby, which will open its doors in July. The full cost will be spread across three financial years.

“This continued strengthening of the underlying financial sustainability of the club is enabling us to make significant investments both in player recruitment and infrastructure,” says Andy Hughes, Liverpool’s chief operating officer.

“Being able to reinvest over £220 million on players during this financial period is a result of a successful business strategy, particularly the significant uplift in commercial revenues.

“The cost of football however does continue to rise in transfers and associated fees, but what’s critical for us is the consistency of our financial position, enabling us to live within our means and continue to run a sustainable football club.”

Liverpool’s financial landscape has been transformed under the decade-long ownership of FSG.

Overall revenue stood at £301 million for 2015-16, meaning that in the space of three seasons that figure has shot up by 77 per cent to £533 million — aided significantly by back-to-back Champions League final appearances.

Liverpool sit seventh in the Deloitte Football Money League but look certain to climb higher. In terms of the Premier League, they have closed the revenue gap to Manchester City (£535 million) and Manchester United (£627 million). With United facing a hefty drop this season as a result of their absence from the Champions League and Klopp’s men on the brink of title success, Liverpool are well placed to leapfrog their great rivals.

Commercially, Liverpool have cashed in on the impressive progress of Klopp’s side.

Led by managing director and chief commercial officer Billy Hogan, they signed a lucrative training kit partnership with AXA and secured a further nine partnerships with Intel, Levi Strauss, Lavazza, Mitel, NH Foods, Nord VPN, PB Bintang, Tigerwit and Verbier.

Commercial growth has continued in the wake of winning the Champions League and the imminent Premier League title celebrations will increase the club’s appeal still further. A five-year kit deal with Nike starts on June 1 that will bank Liverpool £30 million per season as well as offering royalties of 20 per cent on all net sales of merchandise. If various bonuses are triggered, Liverpool believe it will be worth £60 million-£70 million per year. Their existing deal with New Balance is worth £40 million per year.

The club enjoyed a record-breaking 2018-19 season in terms of retail sales with footfall surpassing a million fans in official LFC stores. Their international expansion plans gathered pace with new initiatives in Malaysia and Thailand as well as new selling channels on Amazon in the United States, Canada and Germany. E-commerce orders were shipped to a record 190 countries worldwide.

Digitally, the club’s global social media followers increased by 26 per cent to nearly 70 million. Liverpool’s official YouTube channel reached 2.5 million subscribers, making them the most followed club in the Premier League. Their Twitter following also increased by 11 per cent to 13.5 million and reached 59 million total engagements during the 2018-19 season — six million more than any other Premier League club.

“What we’re seeing is sustained growth across all areas of the club, which is aligned to the recent performance on the pitch,” Hughes says.

“Since this reporting period we have continued to reinvest in the club’s infrastructure and we look forward to the opening of our new training base at Kirkby ahead of the new season.

“We have also just completed a second phase consultation on a proposed expansion of the Anfield Road Stand which could see an increase in the stadium’s capacity.

“There is more work to do and, importantly, we will continue our dialogue with all key stakeholders including local residents, businesses and community groups.”

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Werner is waiting on Liverpool and they have until April to complete £51m move

https://theathletic.com/1624500/2020/02/27/timo-werner-liverpool-barcelona-manchester-united-transfer/

Jurgen Klopp had steered his Opel Insignia past the vast walls of the sprawling Ince Blundell Estate beside Formby’s bypass last autumn when he realised he needed to have a conversation with his wife, Ulla.

Earlier that day, Klopp had been in Kirkby — the site of Liverpool’s new training ground, which is expected to open this summer.

He had seen the outstanding facilities, the close proximity to the club’s youth academy a little further up Arbour Lane and Anfield’s main stand shimmering in the distance, recognising that he had helped establish a visible, practical and emotional connection between three significant locations. Then he looked at the open shell where his office will be and imagined someone else looking out at the view, directing operations from a space created at his command.

Klopp had told Liverpool’s owners in 2016 that a new training facility was a priority.

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) had already done their research, knowing it would cost more than £50 million. They also knew the Liverpool squad needed improving. This meant that extra funds were not lying around in the bank waiting to be used on other projects.

Klopp’s request had the potential to impact on their reach in the transfer market, but he didn’t mind. ‘We’ll just have to work harder,’ he thought. FSG, led by Mike Gordon, listened to Klopp’s suggestions and four years later Liverpool will soon enter a new era away from Melwood just at the point the team’s development is accelerating and the possibilities seem greater than they have been for generations.

On that drive home, Klopp tried to imagine himself being anywhere else and could not.

Liverpool’s owners had long feared he might walk away at the conclusion of a contract that ran to 2022. They had reassured him that negotiations on a new deal were only ever a phone call away. Klopp had resisted because he’s not the sort of person to peer too far ahead. His father had looked forward to a retirement that ended up lasting only a couple of months before his own death. This had prompted a re-think in Klopp’s own life. He tries his best to live only for the moment.

Still, an important matter had germinated in his own mind and later that night, Klopp and his wife allowed themselves to consider what the future might hold.

Spain was an option. For Klopp, there would always be offers. Yet La Liga had never captured Klopp’s imagination like the Premier League did. Language had long been one of his most powerful tools and he does not speak Spanish. Would his words have the same impact there? Would Spanish fans appreciate his style of football the way they do in England and Germany? Would time run out quicker on him than in places he knew better, considering how differently his teams play compared to those that traditionally represent Real Madrid and Barcelona?

What about a return to Germany? He would not enjoy the control he has at Liverpool at Bayern Munich — where there are plenty of admirers, despite him being their enemy in a previous life as Borussia Dortmund coach. The national team? Klopp is a great unifier but that job is not available and maybe it is for later in his career anyway…

Ulla Klopp loves living on Merseyside, and so does her husband. They were not keen to move away from a region where they are able to lead relatively normal lives despite its passion for football. Klopp had helped engender a triangle of trust between himself, his players and the owners. When that happens, the fans follow. Both in a social and sporting sense, the conditions were right for them to stay. Klopp told his agent, Marc Kosicke, to have a chat with Gordon and it did not take long to hammer out details. Gordon, needless to say, was relieved as well as delighted.

Crucially, Klopp had concluded, the prospect of a new challenge was within the framework of an environment he’d already fostered: the rebuilding job to come after this current team’s cycle is done. He realises the trick is not to make it seem like a rebuilding job at all, rather a smooth transition from one to the next: where outstanding players are replaced by other outstanding players ready to carry on their good work.

He recognises the conditions at Liverpool are there for him to do what Sir Alex Ferguson did at Manchester United and what Arsene Wenger did at Arsenal, albeit to a lesser extent because he does not see himself still managing Liverpool a decade from now. He believes he can build a second great team — something he has not managed in his previous jobs, and nor has any other German coach working abroad.

At Mainz, he never had an opportunity to maintain a culture of relative success because his better players always got sold to the sort of clubs hoping to push into the Bundesliga’s European qualification places and Mainz were not a big enough deal to attract ready-made replacements. With Dortmund, he never had it because his best players moved either to Bayern, Spain or England. At Liverpool, he has more of a defining influence on the future because of the team’s achievements, the club’s rediscovered status and what else might happen.

He can dictate the market more than he has ever been able to.

Klopp’s and Liverpool’s strong position is reflected in their stance on Timo Werner. After scoring the winner against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League last week, the RB Leipzig forward could not have made it any clearer that he would relish a move to Anfield if an offer came his way.

“I know that Liverpool is the best team at the moment in the world and when you are linked with that team it makes me very proud,” Werner said.

The Athletic understands Werner has already received proposals from Barcelona and Manchester United but is waiting to see whether Liverpool make a move. There is a clause in his contract which means that he can agree a £51 million move away as long as it is negotiated before a deadline in April, which would then give Leipzig longer to make their own plans to replace him for next season.

It was put to The Athletic by a key source this week that if Klopp chooses to go for Werner, who has 28 goals this season, negotiations are most likely to start in the middle of March. That is the month when discussions really got going in previous years on the eye-catching deals that brought in Fabinho and Alisson from Monaco and Roma respectively.

Immediately, Klopp is thinking about his attacking options for next season because of the scheduling of the Olympic Games (July 22 to August 8) and Africa Cup of Nations (January 9 to February 6). Both tournaments might have an impact on a campaign that’s unlikely to involve either Adam Lallana and Xherdan Shaqiri, who are both expected to leave the club in the summer.

A longer-term consideration is that his brilliant front three are roughly the same age — Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah both turn 28 in the next four months while Roberto Firmino is 29 in early October — and though Klopp wants them to finish their careers at Liverpool and achieve plenty more before then, the introduction of a younger forward (Werner is 24 next Friday) could be beneficial.

Werner would not be signed as anyone’s replacement but as competition, someone who has the ability to push one of Salah, Mane or Firmino out. Of the three players currently at Klopp’s disposal, only Firmino does not kick up a fuss when he is substituted — yet he is arguably the most valuable of them all. Even on Monday night against West Ham United, Mane seemed frustrated when he was taken off in stoppage time until a greeting from the Kop distracted him.

Mane and Salah have a healthy, competitive rivalry and Klopp benefits from this but he does not want to disrupt the balance. Loyalty is also a big deal to him. Both players signed for him and have given him their all. It will take conversation and careful reasoning if he is to convince each of his present front three of the benefits of heightened competition at a point in the calendar where promises of the earth from elsewhere will probably come to their agents. The timing of such conversations will also be crucial considering what Liverpool can win from here.

Werner, meanwhile, is said to be perceptive. He has seen the struggles of Philippe Coutinho after a big move from under Klopp’s Anfield wing to Barcelona and knows that club’s current team is probably its weakest since before Frank Rijkaard took charge in 2003. He also knows Manchester United have been in flux since 2016.

It has been suggested Werner also does not want to waste prime years waiting for Liverpool’s star players to move on, but surely Klopp has noted another comment from last week where he admitted, “I know that Liverpool play a lot of good players and I have to improve myself and I need to learn many more things to get to that level and to play there.”

Those who have followed Werner’s career closely in Germany say his character is a mature mix of talent, patience and perseverance. He is strong-willed. There had been an agreement for him to go to Bayern last summer but they messed him around by pursuing Manchester City’s Leroy Sane more aggressively instead. When that move broke down in August because of a serious injury to Sane, it was too late to turn back. Werner was said to be so disappointed by the way Bayern handled the matter that he instructed his representatives to return the contract — an indication it would never be signed.

He has gone from strength to strength this season, emerging as one of Europe’s best forwards, and is still wanted by a section of Bayern’s board, who were banking on his original Leipzig deal running out so they could sign him on a free transfer this summer. This left Werner feeling like he wasn’t a priority — or, at worst, not really wanted — so he agreed a new contract which gave him freedoms around fresh options over the next few months.

Though Klopp and Werner come from the Swabia region of south-western Germany and both grew up supporting Stuttgart — the club where Werner began his career — there is a clearer link between the pair: the involvement of Karlheinz Forster, Werner’s agent.

Forster was Klopp’s boyhood hero, a pillar in the Stuttgart defence that helped secure only the third Bundesliga title in the club’s history in 1984, shortly before the future Liverpool manager turned 17. Klopp’s grandmother Anna had knitted him a white jumper in the style of Stuttgart’s kit with Forster’s No 4 on the back. Klopp then clung to the No 4 in his own playing career, even when he was used as a centre-forward by Mainz.

It is claimed that when they first met decades later, Klopp did not arrive with the sort of big gestures we are now familiar with. Rather than greet Forster with a bear hug, he stretched out his arm and offered a rather more restrained handshake, such was his respect.

There might be a convenient arc to this relationship, because their next handshake could prove to mark the beginning of Liverpool’s next stage.

I need to ban the words Werner and Liverpool on here...

[Vesper 28,382]

Just now, Chelsea_firstlove said:

Nope.

Konate is a beast but Chelsea needs Upamecano more than Konate. Even Konate hasn't been injured.

First, Upamecano is more comfortable on the ball, and his passing is far better. Fit Lampard's tactic.

Second, both are right-footed CBs. But  Upamecano's weak foot is better, he can play as LCB but Konate can't.  Rudiger is bang average, he must  be replaced before being the next Willian- OuR LeGeNd.

Third, Upcamecano only have one year left on his deal, more possible and cheaper.

 

Valid points in the short term, I just think that there are so many clubs in for Upamecano that we may miss out, and Konaté may, may be a tad cheaper due to his injury. That said, RB will never let both go in the same window, so Konaté is more than likely not going to happen, in fact, I doubt the board is even seriously looking at him atm.

[Vesper 28,382]

Just now, Jason said:

I need to ban the words Werner and Liverpool on here...

I surely must get points for being the first and most persistent little poster on this from the start though!

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Vesper said:

I surely must get points for being the first and most persistent little poster on this from the start though!

The ban hammer will come down on you the day he signs for Liverpool... 

[Vesper 28,382]

Just now, Jason said:

The ban hammer will come down on you the day he signs for Liverpool... 

[Alabama 1,992]

5 minutes ago, Chelsea_firstlove said:

Nope.

Konate is a beast but Chelsea needs Upamecano more than Konate. Even Konate hasn't been injured.

First, Upamecano is more comfortable on the ball, and his passing is far better. Fit Lampard's tactic.

Second, both are right-footed CBs. But  Upamecano's weak foot is better, he can play as LCB but Konate can't.  Rudiger is bang average, he must  be replaced before being the next Willian- OuR LeGeNd.

Third, Upcamecano only have one year left on his deal, more possible and cheaper signing.

 

If we have any chance I will go for Konate as we can in on either of Zouma or Christensen and add a little bit to purchase...I see in him Van Dijk esque kind of player...I could be wrong but I prefers him to Dayot...

[Alabama 1,992]

5 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Valid points in the short term, I just think that there are so many clubs in for Upamecano that we may miss out, and Konaté may, may be a tad cheaper due to his injury. That said, RB will never let both go in the same window, so Konaté is more than likely not going to happen, in fact, I doubt the board is even seriously looking at him atm.

They will if the price is right...They have a very smart sense of conducting business unlike our shit board...

[Chelsea_firstlove 178]

29 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Valid points in the short term, I just think that there are so many clubs in for Upamecano that we may miss out, and Konaté may, may be a tad cheaper due to his injury. That said, RB will never let both go in the same window, so Konaté is more than likely not going to happen, in fact, I doubt the board is even seriously looking at him atm.

Yes, RB will never let both go in the same window, so they will sell Upamecano-1 year left their contract and keep Konate.

24 minutes ago, Alabama said:

If we have any chance I will go for Konate as we can in on either of Zouma or Christensen and add a little bit to purchase...I see in him Van Dijk esque kind of player...I could be wrong but I prefers him to Dayot...

Van Dijk's passing ability is better so far than Konate's .

Konate's passing ability is too weak.

Bundesliga 2018/2019( injured present season):  Konate passing accuracy 76% long ball  1.9 per game

2019/2020 Upamecano 88.9% long ball 5.8 per game.

He should improve his passing ability to be the next Van Dijk.

 

[Pizy 18,341]

At this point we may need to bring Didier out of retirement. There's going to be no strikers left!

[Chelsea_firstlove 178]

In my opinion, top 3 centre backs target are:

Rogmanoli, Upamecano and Zagadou.

They are young players potential,  strong, experienced, comfortable on the ball, good passing ability, good left-foot and possible signing( e.g. Laporte is impossible).

[Blues Forever 1,232]

25 minutes ago, Pizy said:

At this point we may need to bring Didier out of retirement. There's going to be no strikers left!

There are still plenty of decent strikers available in the summer beside Werner for ex: Lautaro, Edouard, Osimhen, Dembele, Mertens, Aubameyang, and Weghorst.

[Vesper 28,382]

38 minutes ago, Chelsea_firstlove said:

In my opinion, top 3 centre backs target are:

Rogmanoli, Upamecano and Zagadou.

They are young players potential,  strong, experienced, comfortable on the ball, good passing ability, good left-foot and possible signing( e.g. Laporte is impossible).

Romagnoli signed with Mino Raiola months ago, in October

he will never come here with that cunt as his agent

I must have posted this 25 plus times now

as he was for years one of my top CB targets

it is like nobody reads what people type

Mediaset: Romagnoli chooses Raiola as new agent – his Milan career is at risk

https://onefootball.com/en/news/mediaset-romagnoli-chooses-raiola-as-new-agent-his-milan-career-is-at-risk-en-27820051?variable=20200227

Milan, Romagnoli va con Raiola: rinnovo pesante o addio

https://www.calciomercato.com/news/milan-romagnoli-va-con-raiola-rinnovo-pesante-o-addio-34478

[Blues Forever 1,232]

He isn't bad, but i prefer SMS who can offer physical presence in the midfield.

[Vesper 28,382]

44 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

There are still plenty of decent strikers available in the summer beside Werner for ex: Lautaro, Edouard, Osimhen, Dembele, Mertens, Aubameyang, and Weghorst.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin as well, although Everton will want a shedload of cash, thus my positing we should toss in Zouma and/or Bats

only 22yo (soon 23, in 18 days), and HG

he is so pacey, decent at pressing, has a great motor

he is on a bit of a run since December

9 goals in 12 league games, including his brace against us