04 Jun 2025 07:24:18
Well i guess no point in waiting now since news about inter is already out.
We are looking to add Lautaro.
Inter are likely going to face hell soon.
04 Jun 2025 07:28:48
You're early Akira! ?
First off - thx as always for the info, much appreciated
Second - yes please! He will be a revelation if this happens.
04 Jun 2025 07:36:04
How much is he likely to cost? Just checked his stats and he’s hardly prolific.
04 Jun 2025 07:36:39
Appreciate the inside info although it does seem strange to me, domestically he doesn't seem to have had a good season plus a long contract on high wages. Interesting to see how this one plays out.
04 Jun 2025 07:45:21
He's going to be 28 this year, certainly wouldn't have guessed him.
04 Jun 2025 07:49:33
Haha here we go, so does MK win some kind of prize for guessing the mystery striker?
Maybe Ed001 we should start giving out badges on the forum for such events.
04 Jun 2025 07:59:03
Nice one Akira.
Great striker, maybe not much sell on value but if we could get him we potentially have him for his best years 4/ 5/ 6 years! Fingers Crossed.
04 Jun 2025 08:04:41
With Inzaghi going I expect a clearout perhaps.
04 Jun 2025 08:05:05
A tad older than our usual targets.
04 Jun 2025 08:20:39
Not many players would top the excitement that the Wirtz signing brings but he is one (not by much, Wirtz is very exciting! ) . Let's hope it happens, and no not too old.
04 Jun 2025 08:23:48
Is that meeting you mentioned on 7 June about Chiesa? Lautaro would be a great addition, great linkup play, he misses a bit here under pressure and there but it is fine.
04 Jun 2025 08:26:38
Inter will face hell because they need to sell to finance a rebuild? Inzaghi did an amazing job for them but it's about time they blew everything up to find a new direction, it can be argued that this ageing squad has gone as far as it can.
I would love to have lautaro, he's one of my favorite forwards in world football. Works very hard, runs non stop, links up well and is a team player. He isn't really a true number 9 though and plays well in a 2 with a more conventional 9.
04 Jun 2025 08:28:10
Thanks for the info. I don't see us happening but I didn't see us getting Wirtz (even if it still hasn't happened) . So, fingers crossed, he is a great player.
04 Jun 2025 08:33:16
He's a good player but he doesn't seem like a Liverpool-type of signing at all.
04 Jun 2025 08:34:32
Now that would be a very good signing. If we could pull this one off RH would definitely get a pat on the back.
04 Jun 2025 08:37:44
Akira ?.
04 Jun 2025 08:39:06
Neither Argentina not Inter play with wingers that are basically strikers like Salah and Gakpo because they do not have that type of quality, so we do not know how would he set up in a front three.
Furthermore, Dominik was playing often in a second striker position last season, I guess with Wirtz in a 10 that would be even more frequent. Although I am not sure yet if Wirtz will be a 10 or will play from LW and enter the box. Interesting times ahed for sure especially if we land Lautaro.
04 Jun 2025 08:47:20
Interesting.
With every striker to be honest I have worries bar Alvarez. With Martinez it's a bit of a worry that we are sucking too much pace out of the forward line as a whole. We lose a little bit in the press/ defensive side also.
He would help if we are going with a fluid forward line. He is illusive and smart with his positioning. With Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Frimpong running all round, I could see him getting lost in the chaos and finding a dangerous space. Can bring others into the game and score himself which is what I asked for.
The 28 thing doesn't bother me. Gives us a chance to go for a young secondary striker to grow behind and pace is not his game anyway.
On the whole, if the price is right, decent option.
Not as exciting as Wirtz for me though :)
Ed1, as always, I trust your opinion more than most, including my own. Your opinion of Lautaro Martinez please.
04 Jun 2025 09:02:48
Yes he's away to turn 28 but look at the best forwards in the world Kane 31 lewandawski 35/ 36? Salah 31/ 32. OK Isak is mid 20s granted. But 27/ 28 is still a great age for a top player given you'll likely get 4/ 5 top years out of them and all that experience.
04 Jun 2025 09:08:39
Slow, doesn’t like to run in behind and bottles it in the big games. No thank you, pace of the prem will be too much for him and he will offer little to no resale value if/ when he flops.
With a front line of gakpo, Martinez and an aging Salah our front line from being on the the most dynamic in Europe a few years ago will become the complete opposite. In modern day football you need speed and we have built our style on speed on transition. Bad signing imo if we get him.
04 Jun 2025 09:09:06
No idea on payments and costs its just that club have declared interest and will meet on 7th. The two other players for discussion are chiesa and tsimikas.
Inter have a ongoing issue with cooking their books under asian ownership and fear is it will blow up.
04 Jun 2025 09:09:30
Tell them to bundle Bastoni in as a package deal.
04 Jun 2025 09:21:05
I've seen in regular click bait nonsense that mac allister has been on the door tmof the recruitment guys telling them to look at him .
TBH . I thought the days of sign my buddy had gone .
Player wise I can't offer opinion as not really ever seen him play other than the world cup and thought he was poor . (finishing wise) from memory i thought he missed more than nunez on a good day. ;-)
04 Jun 2025 09:22:34
After one YouTube video I can confirm he’s the perfect striker for Liverpool football club. Welcome Lautaro YNWA.
04 Jun 2025 09:27:22
Wouldnt be near top of a list for me, any time i've seen him he's been average. Always remember him playing vs us a few years ago he was chasing a through ball with VVD and when he realised it was Virg running with him he just stopped, gave up the chase! that's enough for me, would be majorly surprised and disappointed if we were actually chasing this guy.
04 Jun 2025 09:35:51
I love the player. Ed001 can you shed some of your thoughts whether he will be good for us. IMO his li k up play is good. He sure can score more than Nunez and Jota. He has Wirtz and Salah for link up who are standout. I think it will be a very good signing IMHO.
{Ed001's Note - I have already said I really like him and think he would be good for us. He probably won't rack up huge numbers of goals, but he would get a decent amount as well as helping to create more chances for others.}
04 Jun 2025 10:03:48
Navy Keith, I would accept a gift card or maybe a hamper. First time I’ve ever won anything. I’d like to dedicate this win to my missus for not throwing me out the house despite me spending 8 hours a day reading football news and rumours.
04 Jun 2025 10:14:50
More chance of us resigning Thiago to play in nets.
04 Jun 2025 10:24:59
PatrikBurgher - Hypothetically speaking, how do you see us lining up if we do buy martinez and another, cheaper, young forward to replace the 3/ 4 that look like leaving?
04 Jun 2025 10:33:36
So not a “world class” striker then?
04 Jun 2025 10:55:00
I think if this is true it points to what a few of us have been saying all along.
Salah is our prolific striker and there’s no room for 2 of them in one team. Martinez is someone who can run the defenders out of the way like Bobby used to do but his goal returns are similar to Bobby’s.
I have to say though whenever I’ve watched Martinez he’s been bang average.
04 Jun 2025 10:56:35
Great striker of the ball, two good feet. Great mentality. Good dropping deep. Right age to lead the line in massive games. Captain and worker. If we got him at a good price due to inter's troubles it would be a great signing. If he gets the chances our other strikers get he will score goals. Much needed high level experience into the squad would be a bonus. Take the second leg against psg for example. Calmer heads in front of goal might have seen us win that game. After isak he is definitely the most sure fire bet when compared to the younger strikers mentioned. Maybe won't get massive numbers of goals but neither did Bobby. Salah needs someone in the middle again that doesn't need a second or third touch to see the picture.
04 Jun 2025 10:56:54
Ron what are you smoking? These are Lautaro's goals in the last 6 seasons; 21, 19, 25, 28, 27 and 22. That's an insane level of consistency from the age of 21-27 years old. He's not even at the peak years for a striker of his mould (he's not reliant on pace at all) .
If he's not world class, then blow me sideways because nobody else has been that consistent in Serie A over the same time frame.
04 Jun 2025 11:26:27
@Brummyred
You can tell how important being fast is in the grand scheme of things by seeing how quickly Nunez misses chances, and the speed with which he can run into an offside position is amazing :)
04 Jun 2025 11:27:31
He had a long dry run this season though mk, to be fair, he isn't a super clinical finisher but to be honest it's not like our attack will revolve around him, it will work as a unit the way psg's does and if we are going for him surely we are doing so for reasons beyond his goalscoring prowess. He is a tireless runner, works non stop for the team, is a good dribbler, has excellent link up play and movement.
That being said it's true that he isn't the kind to sprint into space on the counter attack or continuously threaten to run in behind, he likes receiving the ball to feet. He works very very hard for the team which sometimes affects his scoring numbers, plus he rarely gets injured and plays a lot of minutes. In a way maybe you can think of him as the szoboszlai of forwards, in the work rate that he puts in.
As for how we would set up, I imagine that wirtz will start on the left wing, lautaro in the middle, Salah on the right, but both wirtz and mo tucking in as frimpong and kerkez overlap on the outside.
04 Jun 2025 11:33:43
I’d prefer Bastoni…not up front obvs.
04 Jun 2025 11:37:46
Slot was asked to describe what he wants from a nine.
Goals and work rate was the answer. So, not the 28 year old who won’t track back.
04 Jun 2025 11:37:55
@mancalledhorse - always better to have and create chances and miss rather than not have any at all. Also Nunez has 0 footballing brain, there is a middle ground where you get someone with pace who can play football.
04 Jun 2025 11:56:10
Won't track back? Are we all talking about the same player here?
04 Jun 2025 12:15:03
Thanks Akira and Carra appreciate the news!
Out of interest do either of you know our plans if diaz leaves as martinez would likely replace Nunez?
04 Jun 2025 12:16:36
Surely he is thinking of the wrong player, viceroy.
04 Jun 2025 12:22:40
Why0why, you might as well have written "never seen him play".
a) he's 27 for another 3 months so why do people keep saying 28 to exaggerate his age.
b) he tracks back as much if not more than Luis Diaz (who is 28 by the way) and is an absolute work horse.
Viceroy, I was thinking the same thing. Some baffling takes on Martinez. Without a shadow of a doubt one of the top 10 strikers in world football over the last half a decade.
04 Jun 2025 12:41:51
Outgoings are a bit difficult to track.
All i know for sure is we are discussing chiesa and have rejected some loan bids for him.
04 Jun 2025 12:43:19
You have a fair point Brummy, perhaps that's why we have an interest in Gordan - to help with the pace. I think you can't argue with this guys stats though and I think if he does come (with the other additions) then this will be the best transfer window, possibly, that we've ever had. Certainly the best that I can remember.
04 Jun 2025 13:02:56
Ha, good one.
I’ve watched him plenty. I remember when he ran to a channel saw it was Virgil and gave up.
But yeah. A player who is 28 as the season starts is a very likely signing.
That sounds like Edward’s MO.
04 Jun 2025 13:14:36
Why0Why we're talking about tracking back, which involves determination, not speed which you are referring to with VVD incident.
Signing a £100m+ player and giving 2 players well into their 30's a new contract isn't very Edwar.
04 Jun 2025 13:15:24
Dang sent to early -
Edwards either, but strategies change, clu.
04 Jun 2025 13:18:24
Thanks Akira appreciate your info mate!