27 Jul 2019 12:15:25
Reports suggesting that Pepe will sign for Arsenal and Bruno will sign for Manchester Utd; both snubbing Liverpool or perhaps we weren't interested.


1.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 12:35:04
Surely to be snubbed, we’d have to make an offer?


2.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 12:40:37
Whereas I don’t think Pepe is all that good and at the price quoted we have dodged a bullet, Bruno Fernandes is a really good player and I think we’ve missed a trick in not going for him as he’s a talented player who scores for fun, works hard, creates chances and can cover multiple positions in midfield and attack very well, the textbook flexible attacking player.


3.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 13:09:22
we were not seriously interested in this window anyway, Pepe was only seen as a replacement for another player and seeing as we are not selling him then no bid was made. we need an playmaker who can cover the front 3 not an expensive signing for the bench.


4.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 13:09:46
Bit concerned we havnt pushed on to strengthen the squad if I'm honest.


5.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 13:10:30
Also it baffles me how Arsenal will pay that price but won't pay the extra £9m for a player deemed their top target.

{Ed047's Note - to be fair Adam there is so much rubbish reported in the press, like the £40 million was all we had to spend, turns out maybe it wasn’t. 🤷‍♂️


6.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 13:15:45
Sure we are/ were interested, but just holding an interest does not always translate to actually trying to sign them, which we haven't done for either, according to the eds. So no, we weren't 'snubbed'.


7.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 13:21:03
If its true will be good buy, but still think you need to sort your defence out though,


8.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 15:04:54
I’m with you 6times, we will have missed a trick if we don’t go for Fernandes, he’s creative, can play through the middle and score goals. Last season he was deployed access the left and to the right of midfield too he’s a very versatile player that would fit perfectly into our system.


9.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 15:28:33
Think we should have thought about a CAM, so far we are relying on:
Keita - who I don't think has shown the quality to be a top player so far
OX - who's just come back from a year out, and has yet to prove himself, though i would expect he gets that chance this year.
And i guess Lallana!


10.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 15:29:55
Drogie with all due respect, how does he “fit perfectly into our system”? We don’t play with a CAM and he’s hardly going to replace Mane is he?

I’d like a CAM to provide further flexibility, but it’s not our preferred system. If we don’t get him it’s not the end of the world, haven’t heard anything concrete about us being in for him anyway. I’m a fan of his but like the vast majority of us my ‘scouting’ consisted of the odd game and YouTube highlights. Let’s have faith in the actual scouts.


11.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 15:40:19
He’s a versatile midfielder Eamon that can also play further forward, not only he’s creative but scores goals from midfield.

I’m at the match every week mate, you see the game from a totally different perspective. Put it this way, he’d be an ideal replacement when Lallana goes next season.


12.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 15:46:11
Eamonsf Fernandes has also played as a wide forward player in a front three and started as a winger.


13.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 15:57:59
Fab now fully settled, Hendo backing him up and Gini getting more freedom to get involved in goals, he is an attack minded player after all. Ox also has so much to offer as we saw before he got injured. Milner our go to guy.

We also have to remember, Klopp sets his midfield up to control the game, not to score bucket loads of goals.

That is why Klopp likes his attacking fullbacks, we have Robbo and Trent who are the best in the League and we pretty much have the best front 3 too.

We will see more from our midfield this season. Hoping Keita works out for us this season. No doubt he can score and assist.


14.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 16:11:51
Max, I agree we Keita, when started to get a run in the team, he definitely showed his talent. His work rate and tackling was excellent. If he can stay injury free, we’ll have a good player there.


15.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 16:57:34
I think a lot of people are forgetting just how good the Ox was playing before he was injured. Without one of Keita or Ox moving, I don't think there's space in that place in the midfield. I can't really see where we can obviously strengthen the first 11.


16.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 17:35:38
My point was he doesn’t break into our starting 11 unless you’re thinking of replacing mane with him. Not unless we change our formation. While I’d like him, he’s a very expensive rotation option, something that might not be appealing to the player. Again I’ve not heard of any serious interest from Liverpool other then the odd transfer rumour.

Cornet feels far more likely.


17.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 17:57:31
Not sure our midfield are set up to control games. They look more like they are set out to disrupt games with their work rate.


18.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 20:17:10
We've had the lions share of possession in most of our games last season jk23 so I think our midfield does a bit more than break up play.


19.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 20:36:29
If that's true, Arsenal are having quite a window.


20.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 20:44:24
It isn't just a matter of whether LFC want another player of Fernandes quality. They know Salah is most likely leaving next year, so ideally they would want a player now who they can bed in with plenty of time.
But think about how much has been spent in the last few windows. It's an enormous amount, even taking the Coutinho fee into account, and increased revenue. Wages have also gone up.
I think it's quite likely the club are pushing the financial limits, and would be struggling to splash out another 80-100m on a top player.
We just don't have the unlimited cash that City have, we have to actually work and generate real profit as a business. It's gutting that City can just splash another 60 or 70 mill for bit part players, but we just can't do that.


21.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 20:47:26
One of the other things doing the rounds is that although the club are apparently willing to listen to offers for Wilson, Klopp has also (apparently) promised him some first team chances this season after his efforts last year on loan. It could be that he’s done enough to save the club paying out for cover, I’d certainly say there’s no value selling Wilson to bring in someone like Cornet as he’s not discernibly better. Plus I would also say that if Brewster, Wilson and Lewis broke into the first team successfully I’d feel over the moon that our youth set up was producing the goods, never mind the fact that it would look good in terms of fair play nonsense that we’d not spaffed loads of money.


22.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 21:42:25
Gmil you do realise our defence and attack contribute to keeping that possession as well. The midfield are very good at breaking up play and yes they are pretty good at keeping possession of the ball. Would be nice to see them being a little bit more creative with all this possession though.


23.) 27 Jul 2019
27 Jul 2019 22:13:25
anonymush the whole "city have unlimited funds" argument is wrong, they still need to generate income to stay within FFP and the owner pumping money in to the club doesn't count as income regarding ffp (anybody correct me if i’m wrong like, I don’t understand finances in football despite ed2s major financial breakdown post several months back)


24.) 28 Jul 2019
28 Jul 2019 11:47:53
Where has this "all of a sudden" link between Pepe and Arsenal come from?

I thought that the reason that Napoli were ahead of everybody else was of their structure of the payment of the transfer fee. Also, Ed002 categorically denied that Pepe would be joining Arsenal on the Arsenal page.

Then, out of the blue, the reason that Arsenal are now in the running is that Lille are happy for it to be paid in instalments. Why does that make sense as far as Lille stand, when they already had better arrangements with Napoli?

I'm still unsure if there's any weight to it, really.

[cue the confirmation that he's signed for Arsenal hours after I've posted this, lol].

{Ed001's Note - isn't it simply that Pepe rejected the offers from other clubs so Lille had to go down the list of offers made and take ones they were less keen on. They have made Pepe a promise he can go this summer, so they can't just turn down offers that meet their asking price really.}


25.) 28 Jul 2019
28 Jul 2019 11:55:38
Thanks for the reply Ed001.

That makes sense. Although if I was an up and coming promising player, I'd be more comfortable signing for Napoli (that do have a chance of winning something) than the shambles that is going on at Arsenal.

{Ed001's Note - I am not so sure either team show signs of winning trophies personally.}