[JRedknapp11]

Rafael van der Vaart, Ajax's £10m-rated midfielder, is being targeted by Liverpool. Anfield bosses face opposition from Inter Milan and Juventus for his signature. (Sunday Express)

[dcc134]

He would be a bargin at that price, IMO.

[JRedknapp11]

Another midfielder is last thing we need. There's too many guys bleeding red in the reserves that should be given the chance before some over hyped dutchman comes in and fills another slot in the midfield.

[LiverpoolFanatic]

I saw him play a few times last season. He's good. I don't know how true the rumour is though.

[dcc134]

Originally posted by JRedknapp11
Another midfielder is last thing we need. There's too many guys bleeding red in the reserves that should be given the chance before some over hyped dutchman comes in and fills another slot in the midfield.

I wouldn't be so quick to call him over hyped. Have you ever seen him play? He's much better than Murphy.

[Matt Clark]

He's amazing. I'd snap him up. The aim of the game is to improve the squad. The guys squeezed off at the bottom of the food chain by the arrival of top notch talent at the top are neither here nor there. We were all in favour of a bid for Duff, this is with the same motive in mind. The rumour will probably turn out to run cold, but the logic behind getting players of that calibre is irrefutable.

I mean, really - are we supposed to make it easy for Bernard Diomede to get a game?

[JRedknapp11]

Originally posted by dcc134


I wouldn't be so quick to call him over hyped. Have you ever seen him play? He's much better than Murphy.

I've watched him play a few times , around five or so. He has the skills for sure...however he just wouldn't fit in. If that 10million tag is right , then I just can't see justifying that type of purchase.

Another defender is where we should be putting our focus. The midfield is so deep for us this year, I'd even say that we are prbobably the deepest in the EPL.

[Matt Clark]

Well, possibly. Assuming the new signings gel quickly and prove to live up to GH's assessment of them when he bought them. But the one thing we STILL lack is a genuine talent out wide (Cheyrou's potential impact notwithstanding). van der Vaart is the real deal and that is what we are after - as I said, if the signing of Duff made sense, then the signing of this kid definitely does too.

[JRedknapp11]

At least with Duff we were looking at only splashing around 4-5 million pounds while offloading some dead weight in the form of Nick or Berger.

Just up and spending 10 million quid or more just doesn't seem right , especially at this time.

Then again this is a tough season for me...seeing Redders in a Spur uniform while LFC play for the title. This is going to be a hard season for me.

[Matt Clark]

Why? Either you're a Liverpool fan, in which case you are happy that we are in contention for the title, or you are a Redknapp fan, in which case you are happy that he has another shot at a career in football with a regular first-team football.

It's a win-win.

And let's face it - Redders was never going to be a starting member of an LFC title-winning side.

As to Duff, I don't know where you got £4m - £5m from. Houllier stated that he would not pay the £20m Blackburn were holding out for, but even allowing for some haggling, and the money made from sales of Barmby (£3m, eventually) and Berger (assuming this actually happens), we woud still have been staring down the barrel of at least £10m. That's probably one of the reasons van der Vaart has become a target - the usual nonsense that sees British and Irish players valued at massively higher prices than entirely equal talent from abroad.