20 Aug 2026 22:14:28
Ed1 what's going on in this window? Poor planning from Hughes and Edwards with slot that have led to new targets?
{Ed001's Note - more about a lack of ability to complete deals without just paying over the odds. Hughes is not a good negotiator and is struggling to close deals.}
20 Aug 2026 23:30:38
Adam Wharton isn't over the odds. Many players actually aren't over the odds we're interested in, apart from Barcola. The fact we've left it to this stage means we'll likely pay now over the odds for sub standard players. An entire summer and we're seeking Minteh?!
20 Aug 2026 22:23:30
Do you see us now just overpaying again for players Ed001 as the window comes to a close?
{Ed001's Note - everyone is this summer throughout the window. The prices are insane.}
20 Aug 2026 22:55:55
Can I ask how you know this Ed? Do you know someone who is close enough to negotiations to be able to rate Hughes's abilities? Or is this just in your opinion?
I am genuinely curious because there are so many that seem to think he's not very good but I see it more that he's trying to sign players who are huge assets to their respective clubs and so negotiations are more difficult.
If you have some solid evidence that he's at fault I'm happy to change my stance and go with your superior knowledge.
{Ed001's Note - it is both my opinion and that of people who have negotiated with him. How the heck can anyone have solid evidence? It can only ever be an opinion, even from those who deal with him as it is impossible to prove. No one else paid the money for Isak so you can only have an opinion on whether someone else would have got a better deal or not. No one can prove Newcastle had our pants down or the inverse, no one can prove he got a good deal. It is just opinion.
As for who he is trying to buy, Barcola is free to leave, they have replaced him, he was only a back up anyway and he wants to go but we are still waiting for a move to materialise and no one knows why. Just like when he failed to complete the Semenyo deal that was all agreed, twice. Both times the only thing that failed was him and Edwards. Edwards has thankfully gone and it is still a struggle to get deals done, so it is not all the fault of the overhyped one.}
20 Aug 2026 23:45:55
Thanks for the response Ed001, sounds like amateur hour from Hughes, glad to see Edwards leave and Hughes hopefully following soon.
I hope the next SD is capable of excelling in the role.
21 Aug 2026 00:11:27
I don't believe we overpaid for Isak. He was Newcastle's jewel in the crown and they were desperate to keep him. Plus they were annoyed he'd had his head turned at a point in their development where they'd just won a trophy for the first time in 70 years. They were quoting £150m because of all of these factors. He was always going to cost a lot of money.
Wirtz was slightly different as Leverkusen had accepted he was leaving but he was their jewel in the crown nevertheless. Most of the top teams in Europe wanted him and we got the deal done. Yes, we probably paid more than others were willing to pay, but I think that was necessary to get the deal done.
That happens all of the time such as the Anderson, Rogers and Tonali deals this summer. You pay a bit more if it's a player you really want to get it done.
He did ok with the 'next tier down' players such as Kerkez, Frimpong, Munoz. Got Ekitike through the door when he had one foot in Newcastle.
Agreed the Guehi deal and it wasn't his fault Palace pulled the plug.
Do you have any further info on the Semenyo failed deals? I never even knew we had a solid interest in him so if we had it agreed and Hughes somehow messed it up do you know how?
I just don't think the guy has done a bad job at all when you look at the known facts.
He's had to oversee a high turnover of players last season and he sold players that most of us would've agreed needed replacing and replaced them with players that most of us would've agreed were better players.
As you say, it's all about opinions and it sounds like neither of us actually know for sure. I just get frustrated when I see posters criticise someone when they have little to no idea about the job they do. He's not buying groceries from the supermarket he's negotiating for literally some of the best football players on the planet with some of literally the wealthiest people on the planet and we are talking about tens, even hundreds of millions of pounds. There are clubs, owners, DOF, managers, agents, families. All will have an input.
There must be so much more to it than people realise. I for one would not have the foggiest idea where to start so it would be a bit rich for me to criticise a man who has a CV like Richard Hughes.
21 Aug 2026 08:05:46
While you might argue that it wasn't his fault that Palace pulled the plug at the last second, Rio, it was his fault that we didn't agree a deal for Guehi early in the January window and let City steal a march. I would probably say that if you were to give me a choice between Jacquet and Guehi I'd go for Jacquet every time, though, so there is probably good justification there, even if we shot ourselves in the foot not having a starting caliber center half to rotate with Ibou and Virgil last year for a long term vision- Jacquet and Leoni really are top, top prospects and I think everyone will see this in time.
Not sure what happened with Semenyo, though. If we had Semenyo, folks wouldn't be losing their minds about not having a supposed Salah replacement. That being said, Barcola and Semenyo are somewhat similar players (on opposite flanks), but Barcola is probably a better version of that kind of player who still has time to develop into a true world beater. The things that Barcola is already good at, he is at an absolutely elite level, and if he can improve in other aspects he can double his already ridiculous price.
It would appear that Liverpool have a broader imagination of where the team is going and are making riskier choices with much higher upside, like appointing Iraola instead of Alonso, targeting the likes of Minteh and Mbaye rather than somebody like Neto, who is unspectacular but a proven decent option for a possession based team (and other teams are willing to pay that price simply for his experience in the CL and suitability in a possession oriented risk-averse system), Jacquet rather than Guehi.
At the very least you'd have to applaud the fact that Liverpool are choosing a different path than the other 'elite' or aspirationally elite sides who want to simply shade the small margins by playing 'smart' sterile football (arguably Slot was a step in that direction). We're going for broke gambling on bringing excitement back, going against the grain of evolved positional possession football, we still have a little less than two weeks of the window left to see if we can put together more of the pieces to realising that vision.