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Is this the real life, Is this just fantasy?: Liverpool to Break Transfer Record Thrice this Summer

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doctor_mac

My cowboy name is Garland Justice
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[bcolor=#ffffff]So according to David Maddock we're going to have our cake and eat it, and buy more cakes. Doubt ye this @manwithnoname ? My name is Liverpool, Look on my transfer activity, ye Mighty, and despair!'[/bcolor]



Liverpool set to break their transfer record TWICE more this summer once they secure Mohamed Salah


Jurgen Klopp also wants a central midfielder and a centre-back — and his targets would cost far more than the £39m winger
Liverpool’s £39million deal for Mohamed Salah smashes their previous transfer record of £35m, paid for Andy Carroll six years ago.
Don’t expect it to stand anywhere near that long, though.
Indeed, it may not even last the rest of June!
By agreeing to break the bank for Roma star Salah, the Reds have posted bold notice that Salah is the first piece in a summer jigsaw that could cost upwards of £150m to complete.
Boss Jurgen Klopp has been consistent in his desire to bring in at least FOUR key signings for big money this summer, with several other less high-profile captures to round off his squad.

Liverpool-manager-Juergen-Klopp-celebrates-after-Liverpool-scored-a-goal.jpg

It could well cost over £150m to complete Klopp's summer transfer jigsaw (Photo: Reuters)

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Salah will become Liverpool's costliest signing since Carroll in January 2011 (Photo: AFP/Getty)
Klopp has prioritised a central midfield controller and a centre-back. Both are likely to cost significantly more than Salah.
Despite various setbacks – and even greater embarrassments – the club has endured in a turbulent summer so far, Klopp has a clear plan that remains firmly in place, and also includes the arrival of a top-class left-back to replace the outgoing Albert Moreno.
It remains to be seen where the fallout from Southampton’s complaint to the FA over an alleged illegal approach for Virgil van Dijk will leave that deal. But, with the player himself still intent on an Anfield move, a central defender is still a priority for Klopp.

Before the embarrassing U-turn and grovelling apology delivered by the Anfield hierarchy, it seemed certain Van Dijk would become Liverpool’s most expensive ever signing at a fee well beyond £50m.

Klopp would still love to be able to make up with the Southampton board and put the ‘misunderstanding’ over their interest in Van Dijk behind them by agreeing a fee for the player that would be acceptable to them.
If not though, he will in all probability still have to pay a world-record fee for a defender to bring in an alternative, with the likes of Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich) and Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) all rated in the same price bracket.
Klopp’s midfield target has remained consistent throughout the summer too, with the German boss determined to bring Guinea international Naby Keita to the Premier League.
Keita wowed the Bundesliga last season as he helped RB Leipzig to Champions League qualification, and a ruling on Monday confirmed they WILL be allowed into that competition, despite an ownership conflict caused by their Austrian sister club Red Bull Salzburg also qualifying.
Leipzig have made clear their intent to hold onto the 22-year-old and getting the green light to compete in Europe’s top competition strengthens their hand.
It is thought if the Reds have any chance of prising him away from Germany, it is likely to cost at least £50m to make them change their mind.
The alternatives are in a similar price bracket.
Klopp is an admirer of Leon Goretzka, the youthful Germany international who inspired his country to a Confederations Cup victory over Australia this week, but with Bayern Munich keen too, he will not come cheap.
Those signings alone could take Liverpool’s summer spending past £150m — but it won’t stop there, with Klopp keen to add further squad players to his capture of Chelsea youngster Dominic Solanke, who will officially join on July 1 for a compensation fee expected to be around £3m .
While he wants a left-back, he will not pursue Monaco's Manchester City target Benjamin Mendy.

Rangers-v-Celtic-Betfred-Cup-Semi-Final.jpg

Liverpool are also after a left-back, with Celtic's Tierney among the candidates (Photo: Getty)

Instead, Klopp could turn his attention to Celtic’s 19-year-old Kieran Tierney, while his fellow Scotland international Andrew Robertson, of relegated Hull, is another left-back to have been linked with the Reds.
He could also bring another striker into the club, though that may depend on departures, with the future of talented but injury-plagued England international Daniel Sturridge still a subject of much conversation around Anfield.
 
I do like Maddock (used to chat with him on occasion many many years ago in the Mount Vernon), but I struggle to believe the club have given him a list of our targets & the amount we want to pay for them, no matter how damn good that list looks.
 
I'd be delighted if that happens.

Amazed and delighted.

This is what summer transfer windows are all about!
 
Getting a new CB and CM is obvious, although the use of the word controller is vague - it could mean a more defensive Xabi Alonso type player, I suppose. But having a top quality holding CM player is crucial.

But I'm still rather perturbed about the lack of striker. Klopp really does worry me sometimes - it's almost as if he always wants to do things the hard way, and be "clever" rather than take more obvious routes.
 
It may not be a coincidence that Michael Edwards is the real name of Eddie the Eagle. He approaches each transfer with all the hopefulness of Eddie ascending to the start of a 70 meter jump, and then descends right back to cruel reality.
 
It may not be a coincidence that Michael Edwards is the real name of Eddie the Eagle. He approaches each transfer with all the hopefulness of Eddie ascending to the start of a 70 meter jump, and then descends right back to cruel reality.

If he does get, say, three of those "big" four signings that Klopp purportedly wants, we may have to give him some credit. Maybe.
 
Getting a new CB and CM is obvious, although the use of the word controller is vague - it could mean a more defensive Xabi Alonso type player, I suppose. But having a top quality holding CM player is crucial.

But I'm still rather perturbed about the lack of striker. Klopp really does worry me sometimes - it's almost as if he always wants to do things the hard way, and be "clever" rather than take more obvious routes.

We know he has targeted CB from our embarrassment with the Saints; I think the links to Keita sound very plausible, and he would be an excellent acquisition, being great defensively and prepared to play his part in breaks forward; I don't think any of the links to strikers have been terribly authoritative. I'm not sure he's planning to bring in a striker as yet. I wonder if he wants to look at Ings and make his mind up if Studge has a future here. I wouldn't write off the idea of us bringing in a striker before the end of the window, but I suspect it might be the last signing we make.
 
Getting a new CB and CM is obvious, although the use of the word controller is vague - it could mean a more defensive Xabi Alonso type player, I suppose. But having a top quality holding CM player is crucial.

But I'm still rather perturbed about the lack of striker. Klopp really does worry me sometimes - it's almost as if he always wants to do things the hard way, and be "clever" rather than take more obvious routes.

I would have thought trying to an overpriced Southampton player is anything but clever
 
I'll only give Edwards real credit when he has league trophy tattooed on him following a league win.

That HAS to be the standard we hold our players, managers, owners & senior staff to now.

Up until now I was happy getting CL footy again.

The reason for that is because you need that stature (& financial boost) to attract the top tier players.

We are not a poor club. We may not have the wealth of some clubs, but we do have enough money to build a squad capable of challenging for the league, & now we have CL footy which means we shouldn't be hamstrung when trying to attract the players of the quality we need.

If we haven't won the league or come damn close by the end of the 2019 season the club will have failed.

The signings we make this summer will give us a huge signal as to our owners intent going forwards.

So far they seem content to use Klopp & his aversion to buying a team wholesale as a shield for not spending big, that has to change & now.

The figures in this article don't ring true. Four big players it says, then lists prices between 30-50m each, & also says that we want further squad players.

Unless those squad players are practically free then we need to spend more than the 150m the article also claims.

200m would be the minimum to get the first team improved & the squad bolstered. That's not a huge amount considering out turnover/profit, the lack of net spend over the last few years & our increase in revenue this coming season. Especially when you see mid table clubs paying what was recently considered silly money for players.
 
I'll only give Edwards real credit when he has league trophy tattooed on him following a league win.

That HAS to be the standard we hold our players, managers, owners & senior staff to now.

Up until now I was happy getting CL footy again.

The reason for that is because you need that stature (& financial boost) to attract the top tier players.

We are not a poor club. We may not have the wealth of some clubs, but we do have enough money to build a squad capable of challenging for the league, & now we have CL footy which means we shouldn't be hamstrung when trying to attract the players of the quality we need.

If we haven't won the league or come damn close by the end of the 2019 season the club will have failed.

The signings we make this summer will give us a huge signal as to our owners intent going forwards.

So far they seem content to use Klopp & his aversion to buying a team wholesale as a shield for not spending big, that has to change & now.

The figures in this article don't ring true. Four big players it says, then lists prices between 30-50m each, & also says that we want further squad players.

Unless those squad players are practically free then we need to spend more than the 150m the article also claims.

200m would be the minimum to get the first team improved & the squad bolstered. That's not a huge amount considering out turnover/profit, the lack of net spend over the last few years & our increase in revenue this coming season. Especially when you see mid table clubs paying what was recently considered silly money for players.

150 million net man. It is all about the net spend.
 
150 million net man. It is all about the net spend.
We don't need or want to get shut of many players at all, & I can't see more than 30m or so coming in from sales.

Assuming the 150 is correct, that's 180m maximum.

For four big players between 30-50, so split the difference & say 160 for the four. That leaves 20m for any other squad players.

If you want players who can come in & do a job that's just one player at current prices, or two if we're damn lucky & get a couple of bargains.

It's not enough imo.

It's a start, but it's not enough, & we do have the cash to spend more.
 
We don't need or want to get shut of many players at all, & I can't see more than 30m or so coming in from sales.

Assuming the 150 is correct, that's 180m maximum.

For four big players between 30-50, so split the difference & say 160 for the four. That leaves 20m for any other squad players.

If you want players who can come in & do a job that's just one player at current prices, or two if we're damn lucky & get a couple of bargains.

It's not enough imo.

It's a start, but it's not enough, & we do have the cash to spend more.
Come on mate, it's £180million and we already have a pretty good squad. Four players in the £30-£40million bracket is a massive improvement for us, and I'd argue enough.
 
I've always been confident that we'd spend £150m or more - regardless of sales - this summer.

I suppose the questions are "is that enough?" and "will Klopp buy the right players?"
 
Getting a new CB and CM is obvious, although the use of the word controller is vague - it could mean a more defensive Xabi Alonso type player, I suppose. But having a top quality holding CM player is crucial.

But I'm still rather perturbed about the lack of striker. Klopp really does worry me sometimes - it's almost as if he always wants to do things the hard way, and be "clever" rather than take more obvious routes.
The bulk of our money needs to go towards the CB and CM.

Strikers costs the most money and we won't win anything if we pour all our resources into a PEA/Lacazette.

Let's face it, Firmino is number 1, and his false 9 role suits having Mane/Salah running in behind. I think we can win trophies with the attacking resources we have. Scoring goals wasn't our problem last year. Preventing them, was.

VVD (for his aerial dominace and ability to play out of the back) seems crucial.
A CM/DM in the Alonso (deep lying playmaker) or Kante mould seems essential too (depending on how Klopp views Can/Henderson).
A left-footed left back for balance/cover/first team is needed too.

All more important than a big ticket CF (which I doubt we can afford this summer anyway, unless Sturridge and Ings/Origi are sold).
 
I rate van Dijk and if Klopp still wants him I hope we can still get him, but the tone of that article worries me. Leaving aside the question whether the fee originally demanded for him was OTT or not, I see absolutely no reason for us to go brownnosing Southampton now. IMO their combination of greed (i.e.their insistence on trying to spark a bidding war which van Dijk's determination to join us denied them) and sheer stupidity (i.e.their inability to see where things would end up if they acted as they eventually did) means it's they who are over a barrel. Either they sell van Dijk to us or they're left with a rapidly depreciating asset who will never be at his best in a Southampton shirt again. We should grind Les Reed and the rest of those chiselling b@stards into the ground over this.
 
From the Echo, James Pearce:

This summer was always going to be about quality rather than quantity for Jurgen Klopp.

The Liverpool boss was standing in the bowels of Sydney’s ANZ Stadium last month when he was asked about the prospect of bolstering his ranks during the upcoming transfer window.



“The basis of this squad is wonderful,” he told the ECHO in the wake of the Reds' fourth placed Premier League finish.

“If everyone is fit then we are really strong and it’s difficult to make this team better. We will try to do that but we don’t need 12 new players or whatever.

“There won’t be too many leaving but we need to make decisions on those players who have been out on loan.

“I believe it will be a good summer for Liverpool. Then we will talk about real decisions and not what might happen.”

This was never going to be a summer of sweeping changes at Anfield.

Why would it be? Liverpool proved last season they have a first XI capable of beating anyone.


Their problems came when key personnel were missing. There were times when the absence of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip cut deep.

Lessons were learned. Klopp pin-pointed three areas which needed to be addressed with top-class acquisitions to provide greater depth.

He didn't want rookies with untapped potential, but proven performers capable of making an instant impact at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah certainly fits the bill. The club record signing of the Egypt international addresses the dearth of high-calibre wide options in Klopp's squad.

Now they won't be so reliant on the pace and creative spark provided by Mane.

Salah will undergo a medical in Liverpool on Thursday ahead of his £39million move to Anfield.

The Reds, who initially bid £28million three weeks ago, are set to pay Roma £35million with a further £4million in add-ons.

It's Liverpool's first statement of intent this summer and it won't be the last.

Once the ink is dry on Salah's contract, the Reds will ramp up their efforts to deliver further injections of similar quality.

Liverpool are prepared to spend big on a commanding centre-back and a dominant centre midfielder.

Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk and RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita were Klopp's top targets but both those deals are far from straightforward.

It remains to be seen whether the Reds go back in for Van Dijk after publicly withdrawing their interest earlier this month and apologising to Saints, who had accused them of ‘tapping up’ the Dutch defender.

What happens next depends to a large degree on Van Dijk himself.

He's desperate to move to Anfield but is he prepared to push for it and put in a transfer request?

Southampton informed him he was staying put but how will he respond when he reports back for the start of pre-season training?

Will Saints' new manager really want to retain an unhappy player?

This summer was always going to be about quality rather than quantity for Jurgen Klopp.

The Liverpool boss was standing in the bowels of Sydney’s ANZ Stadium last month when he was asked about the prospect of bolstering his ranks during the upcoming transfer window.



“The basis of this squad is wonderful,” he told the ECHO in the wake of the Reds' fourth placed Premier League finish.

“If everyone is fit then we are really strong and it’s difficult to make this team better. We will try to do that but we don’t need 12 new players or whatever.



“There won’t be too many leaving but we need to make decisions on those players who have been out on loan.

“I believe it will be a good summer for Liverpool. Then we will talk about real decisions and not what might happen.”



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This was never going to be a summer of sweeping changes at Anfield.

Why would it be? Liverpool proved last season they have a first XI capable of beating anyone.


Their problems came when key personnel were missing. There were times when the absence of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip cut deep.

Lessons were learned. Klopp pin-pointed three areas which needed to be addressed with top-class acquisitions to provide greater depth.

He didn't want rookies with untapped potential, but proven performers capable of making an instant impact at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah certainly fits the bill. The club record signing of the Egypt international addresses the dearth of high-calibre wide options in Klopp's squad.



MOHAMED SALAH AND THE BIG DILEMMA JURGEN KLOPP WILL NEED TO SOLVE AT LIVERPOOL


Now they won't be so reliant on the pace and creative spark provided by Mane.

Salah will undergo a medical in Liverpool on Thursday ahead of his £39million move to Anfield.

The Reds, who initially bid £28million three weeks ago, are set to pay Roma £35million with a further £4million in add-ons.

It's Liverpool's first statement of intent this summer and it won't be the last.





Once the ink is dry on Salah's contract, the Reds will ramp up their efforts to deliver further injections of similar quality.

Liverpool are prepared to spend big on a commanding centre-back and a dominant centre midfielder.

Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk and RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita were Klopp's top targets but both those deals are far from straightforward.

It remains to be seen whether the Reds go back in for Van Dijk after publicly withdrawing their interest earlier this month and apologising to Saints, who had accused them of ‘tapping up’ the Dutch defender.

What happens next depends to a large degree on Van Dijk himself.

He's desperate to move to Anfield but is he prepared to push for it and put in a transfer request?

Southampton informed him he was staying put but how will he respond when he reports back for the start of pre-season training?

Will Saints' new manager really want to retain an unhappy player?

Stephen Pond/Getty Images
GettyImages-631131942.jpg

What happens with van Dijk?


Will Liverpool table the kind of eye-watering offer which actually suits all parties? There would certainly be a premium to pay after what's gone on and the Reds will know they need to tread carefully.

Liverpool are willing to pay £50million for Keita but there are no guarantees that will be enough to convince Leipzig to sell.

The Bundesliga outfit don't need the cash and their hand has been strengthened by UEFA's decision to allow them to take their place in the Champions League next season.

Will the Guinea international, who shares the same agent as Mane, push for the move to Anfield? Time will tell.

Other deals are in the pipeline. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a target as he looks to cut his ties with the Emirates this summer.

The England international believes he needs to move in order to further his career and playing for Klopp appeals to him.

Liverpool are keen but only at the right price and it's unlikely they would pay more than £20million for a player who only has one year remaining on his contract.

A left-back to compete with James Milner is also on the shopping list as Alberto Moreno prepares to leave Liverpool this summer.

After a frustrating few weeks, the cheque book has been opened to land Salah. The Reds' spending spree is only just beginning.




 
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