Wild deal.... no wonder we were all in on Mac Allister. Allows us to still get 3-4 more impactful players. And hate saying it - a big reason we couldn't get Bellingham and blow our whole transfer budget on 1 player.
Yeah , definitely a bargain and a super bit of business. I was wondering who gets the credit Schmadtke or Ward ? Not that it really matters I guess.
getting Mac A in, whether 35 or 45mill, is huge. I'm really glad he's joining us - but it's been on the radar so long I guess it's kinda baked-in now so I don't find myself "excited" about it. I guess it's because one guy simply won't be enough, and although he's very talented, he doesn't play the Fab/Hendo role we desperately need. I just hope to hell we get one or two of the "6" players we're linked with - and announce them soon.
Clearly the decision was made to pass on the super expensive options and box clever in the market instead and Mac is a smart purchase at that price. Also needed..... two more mids , a cb and perhaps one more defender if there's any cash left.
Honestly, good for Bellingham. That's a major move, hard to be mad at him, and moreover it allowed Liverpool to move on early, not wind time away still thinking that move could happen, and conduct their business the way they need to do it right now... in the aggregate.
My guess is he was effectively on "gardening leave" as soon as it became public that he was leaving. How much negotiating power would he have had once everyone else knew he had no "pull" with the management or coaching team? My guess is that this deal was put together, like the Gakpo deal in January, with more junior people on the recruitment team and Klopp or elements of the management/coaching team. When you look at the Ward tenure (as short as it was), he wasn't super effective in bringing in players that were able to contribute. Of the eight players brought in during the 2022/2023 season (Nunez, Gakpo, Carvalho, Ramsay, Doak, Olafunwa, Melo, and Trueman), several basically never hit the field (Carvalho, Ramsay, and Melo). Doak, Olafunwa, and Trueman were all prospects that were unlikely to see the first-team pitch, although Doak looks a good long-term prospect. Of those that were brought in ostensibly as first-team players, only Gakpo has been truly impactful. Nunez has had some significant trouble adapting to the premiere league, and neither Carvalho nor Ramsay have had much impact. The less said about Melo the better. When you look at that track record it is pretty clear why Ward (and possibly some other higher-level people in the recruitment team) were running for the hills. Some of that may have been management telling these people that they should probably start looking for other employment.
The problem was waiting for him for a full year and doing nothing last summer. Glad he didn't go to a PL team.
I'm pissed at all the social media stuff from him, for months on end, basically teasing LFC, Hendo and Trent.
After all we've seen here, I for one am really relieved we didn't get him. Never saw this level (price wise) of signing in our best interests given all that we need.
He's bald, he's old, he's worth his weight in gold! Gary Mac! Gary Mac! That final against Alaves was bonkers. That free kick he scored against Everton...wow. I had so much fun that season.
Italian journalist and transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Liverpool have held discussions in their pursuit of signing OGC Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram this summer. José Mourinho could be about to spoil Liverpool’s hopes of signing Youri Tielemans this summer Franck Kessie's agent has poured cold water on reports that the midfielder has been made available for transfer by Barcelona. French defender Evan Ndicka is leaving Eintracht Frankfurt after turning down a new contract at the Bundesliga club with Liverpool and Newcastle his likeliest destination. Liverpool will look to Benjamin Pavard as a long-term replacement for Joel Matip. The Athletic’s James Pearce says Liverpool expect Leighton Clarkson—who scored six goals and nine assists in 38 games in Scotland last season—to depart permanently this summer, news which should give Aberdeen a boost.
We seem to do some sound business in the 30m-ish range, £37M - Salah £35M - Konate £37M - Luis Diaz £37M - Gakpo £35M - Mac Allister
Hmmm...isn't that pretty much what Samarkand posted earlier today (see post #787) Ooops - and as I am posting that...Newt just posted the same thing...pretty much...
good to see we've landed our first midfield replacement, but let's wait to see how the rest of the needed upgrades pan out. I think we need at least one, possibly two more midfield positions that are "ready to play." I'd also like to see some movement in the defense. Either a new CB, or a RB who can also play CB. We don't need quite as much as a lot of people have been suggesting, but I do think we need a new defensive player, particularly one who can slide between CB and RB in defense.
I’d prefer a centerback who can also play left back. We already have Gomez who can play right back. Konate is also good when asked to play in those right back areas. It’s a left centerback that the squad lacks. Robertson has been playing there, but I’d like to see Tsmikas sold in favor of a left footed centerback who can play where Robertson has been playing.