Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain says he is fully focused on the club despite reports linking him with a move to Arsenal, according to the Marca.
The Gunners are on the look out for a new striker this summer and the Argentina ace along with Barcelona striker David Villa are said to be on Arsene Wenger’s list of targets.
Higuain has struggled to establish himself in the Real side this season due to niggling injuries and the form of Karim Benzema but he has still managed to ship in with five goals in the last six games.
There have been suggestions Higuain could head to the Premier League in the summer with the Gunners and Tottenham both keen, but the player says he is staying focused on Real for now.
“I’m not going to talk about that now,” the striker revealed. “I can only say that I’m committed to the club and will help the team until the end of the season.”
Whether Arsenal could conclude a deal remains to be seen as the transfer fee coupled with the player’s wages would mean Wenger having to break the bank to land him.
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Thomas Vermaelen could be heading for the exit door as Arsenal step up their interest in Swansea defender Ashley Williams.
Vermaelen fell out of favour at the Emirates Stadium last season as Arsene Wenger preferred to go with a central defensive partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.
The Belgium international will now be made available for transfer but the Gunners can only expect to receive half of the £10million they paid Ajax for his services back in 2009.
Wenger will use any money raised to fund a swoop for Williams and is ready to make a move despite the fact Swansea insist they are under no pressure to sell and wish to keep hold.
A fee of £12million has been mentioned for Williams and that should not be a problem for Wenger as reports continue to suggest he could have as much as £70million to spend on new players this summer.
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One of the few positives for Liverpool fans to take from the story linking Xabi Alonso to Chelsea is that the midfielder hasn’t had the best of seasons at Real Madrid. But then the downside is that Alonso hasn’t really been displaced as one of the leading midfielders in the game and one who can only help to improve Chelsea no matter his age.
It shouldn’t really matter if it’s Liverpool fans or not, any club’s supporters would feel a great deal of disappointment at having to witness one of their heroes wind up at a heated rival. Even if the tenure is to be short due to the player’s age, there is little in the way of comfort for those who had hoped Alonso would find his way back to Anfield before the end of his career.
The outlook for Chelsea would be promising. More of the pieces look to be coming together for Roman Abramovich and his wish for attractive football. There might be some level of conflict in that Jose Mourinho is set to become manager, but let’s not forget that Mourinho’s Madrid were thrilling to watch for most of last season, and notably with Alonso at the hub of many of their attacks.
It’s what Chelsea will need as a transition from defence to attack. Adding to that, the club may be bringing in the short-term replacement for Frank Lampard, regardless of the England midfielder’s future.
Alonso has had to take on more defensive duties this season alongside the box-to-box Sam Khedira. In the German’s absence, Alonso held his position in the midfield while Luka Modric pushed forward. It’s been a criticism of Madrid and Mourinho’s approach this season, limiting Alonso from launching those rapid counter attacks which proved to be so devastating last season.
For Liverpool fans, it will also act as a reminder that the club’s downfall really began when Alonso transferred to Real Madrid in 2009. Whatever may be said of Fernando Torres scoring form and his partnership with Steven Gerrard, it was Alonso who ran the engine room. His creativity and intelligence has been greatly missed, and it was a great indicator as to how good he was that he was able to break up the partnership with Xavi and Andres Iniesta in the Spanish national team’s midfield.
Aside from Liverpool, it is also thought that Alonso would like to end his career at Real Sociedad, returning to the Basque club when his days at the very top are at an end. That remains a few years down the line, however, and Alonso is more than likely to take up a position in Spain’s starting XI at next summer’s World Cup.
What can be taken from this is that nothing at this stage is certain in terms of Mourinho to Chelsea. Without the draw of Mourinho – who it was said clashed with Alonso this season – there is unlikely to be much movement. The Spanish international also wants to see who succeeds Mourinho at Real Madrid before committing his future to the club.
The subplot of the story that seems a little out of hand, however, is that which suggests Alonso will be brought in to try and help Fernando Torres back to top form. There’s no getting away from that Liverpool team under Rafa Benitez in 2008-09, but that ship has sailed.
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The other matter for Liverpool at present is that the club are moving in a different direction and have shown no sign of wanting to invest in a player of Alonso’s age and wages. Not to say the Spaniard wouldn’t provide a great boost to the midfield and in guiding the younger players, but while this potential move to Chelsea may be chalked up as a disappointment, it’s no great loss for Liverpool on the footballing front and their aims for the future.
Arsenal have been here before. A star player taking unsavoury avenues to push for a transfer away. Of course, Arsenal haven’t quite been in this situation before, with the player currently in question apparently pushing for move to the Emirates, but it’s still an unpleasant side of the transfer game.
So why should Arsenal continue on? This isn’t really a question of whether Arsenal supporters want Luis Suarez at the club or not; that matter is secondary to this. But instead it’s a question of values for the game. Arsene Wenger spoke of amicable talks between the two clubs, but how comfortable is it to know that Suarez is seeking legal advice to force Liverpool to submit?
Transfer requests are one thing. You accept now that taking that option is a part of the game, even if the player sours his relationship in a way with his club. And then you get to the darker side of transfers, when clubs hold firm and wantaway players begin seeking alternative options to get what they want. Arsenal have dealt with Cesc Fabregas going “on strike,” and Barcelona were roundly criticised for their actions in the outcome of that saga. It was a similar situation with Robin van Persie, with the player more or less making his position at Arsenal untenable with that address on his website last summer.
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Arsenal like to do things the right way, to hold their cards close to their chest and to be respectful and mindful of all parties involved. Maybe it’s irony that once Arsenal finally have the money to spend, they embroil themselves in one of the most convoluted and potentially ugly transfer sagas of this summer.
Isn’t there some questioning from within as to the likelihood that Arsenal could go full circle on this one, with Suarez possibly taking similar action in a few years when he tires of life in north London? But even that aside, Arsenal don’t take on underhand tricks to get what they want in the market; there’s no media storm, or players tapping up targets on international duty. It’s one thing for the current Arsenal squad to talk up the possibility of a player of Suarez’s calibre arriving, but it’s a completely different thing to openly court him via the media or social networks.
Spending big isn’t a sign of abandoning ones values, but spending badly is. And once again, this isn’t a debate as to whether Suarez is wanted at Arsenal or not. The signs were already on the wall for Wenger to avoid the Uruguayan. The incidents in the past with Patrice Evra and more recently with Branislav Ivanovic; the fact that he’s done this sort of thing before, forcing Groningen to sell him to Ajax when the club wanted to stand firm. The matter of the fee isn’t really an issue; for his footballing ability why wouldn’t Suarez’s value be around £40 million? But the £40 million plus £1 was misguided, largely for the respect that should be held between both clubs.
It may get to the point this summer where Liverpool feel it’s in their best interest to sell Suarez. Isn’t legal action the point of no return, even for a player who is head and shoulders better than the rest? But it’s getting to the stage now where there are more and more reasons for Arsenal not to buy the Uruguayan, with so many controversial issues now surrounding his obvious on-pitch brilliance.
He’s not an Arsenal player – and that is very much a term that has been regularly thrown around during Wenger’s tenure. It’s about Arsenal being respectful and the players very much upholding the standards of the club. There is a good harmony in the dressing room going into next season, and while a star name is needed, how far would Suarez go to align himself with the values and tranquillity in place?
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Should Arsenal continue to pursue Suarez in spite of the player’s legal threats?
There is something illogical about international friendlies, stretching a little further beyond simple annoyance.
Defending World Champions Spain are in South Africa for a friendly, shipping off many of their key names for a journey half way across the globe that benefits very few. If it isn’t injuries picked up directly from matches, it’s the strain on the body accumulated from meaningless trips. From a playing perspective, is there any reason Spain needed to make the trip onto another continent over this two-week period?
Tottenham and Real Madrid have thus far come off the worst from this latest round of international football. The Spaniards will now be without Sami Khedira after he picked up a season-ending injury in a friendly against Italy, and Spurs may be without Christian Eriksen for up to three months.
For Germany, the loss of Khedira is obvious. For Madrid it borders on the infuriating. But Tottenham are looking to take action against FIFA over Eriksen’s injury.
There is a constant war between clubs and countries over the use of players, each with their own set of targets and therefore a mentality to look out for their own backs first and foremost. But while Germany may look to the World Cup next year and the likelihood of being without one of their important players, Real Madrid are having to make immediate arrangements to cater for the loss of Khedira. There may be an insincere apology from the German Football Federation – as mentioned, each are out to cover their own backs – but there is nothing tangible that will help to compensate for the loss of a key player in the middle of November.
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The problem is there is too much football. Firstly, there is little need for a round of international friendlies at this time, even if some nations are competing in playoffs for the World Cup. Haven’t those who have qualified earned the right to take a breather at this stage?
Of course there is the issue of international coaches wanting time with their squads, which is understandable. But that side of the argument only forces one to ask the bigger question yet again – why is there so much football?
There is never a sustained break in the football calendar. After next summer’s World Cup, those who featured will be given time off but at the expense of losing out on early preseason training with their clubs. It’s an endless, relentless strain on players, and as with the case of Spain’s trip to South Africa, it only increases the likelihood of long-term injury – a problem for both club and country.
The frustration from clubs such as Tottenham and Real Madrid is that they prepare for the coming season with player purchases and the subsequent paying of wages. With injuries such as these, there is no return on their investments. And while FIFA may eventually find themselves in a position where they compensate Tottenham, there isn’t a history of this happening. It could also cause further problems, with other clubs believing themselves to be owed some form of compensation for injuries that took place in the past. Do FIFA really want to go down that path?
The German national team is currently a topic of debate. Joachim Loew has chosen to rest a number of important players ahead of the friendly against England, including Philip Lahm and Manuel Neuer – two players from one of the deepest squads in Europe, Bayern Munich. In their places comes Roman Weidenfeller, Marcel Schmelzer and the retaining of Marco Reus – three players from a Dortmund side whose resources are not equal to that of Bayern.
Again, it’s a friendly. England themselves may feel insulted, but honestly the feelings of an opposition nation shouldn’t really be a concern for an international coach. It’s highly unlikely that Jurgen Klopp will be compensated if one of his key players picks up a lengthy injury while on international duty.
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The most obvious means of tackling this problem for clubs is to look to the transfer market, though that in itself is an irony due to UEFA’s desire to curb spending. Yet what makes the whole thing even more farcical is that these friendlies are predominantly put in place for the purpose of cashing in.
Should international teams be held responsible for player injuries?
The home side could have had eight, had their finishing been sharper, it was that sort of performance.
It was Tranmere’s turn to face the second placed team in League One, their five-one win over a very good Coventry side. This maybe added a seed of doubt about the evenings result in the minds of some Wolves fans. Thankfully, that doubt was cleared by half time. We saw a Wolves side utterly dominate a frankly awful Tranmere side.
Like the introduction suggests, Wolves could have had eight, statistically we could. Twenty five shots were amassed by the home side, eight of which were on target. It was a sparkling performance, which began with a blunder by the man between the Tranmere sticks. After Wolves had carved out some half chances, shots from Griffiths, Doyle and new signing, Michael Jacobs, tested Fon-Williams early on, but the aforementioned three found it really difficult to connect properly with ball, in order to test the ‘keeper sufficiently.
Wolves looked very tidy in possession, Tranmere were applying zero pressure to the ball, letting their opponents do what they wanted, basically. The owness was on Wolves now to finish them off, Tranmere were there for the taking. The goal game on seventeen minutes, Leigh Griffiths found himself with in acres of space through the middle, he looked up and hit what was, in reality, a rather weak shot, that most ‘keepers would have dealt with comfortably. Not Mr Fon Williams! He watched Griffiths’ shot all the way and then preceded to let the ball roll underneath his body and trickle into the back of his own net.
Nerves were settled and the home side could go and enjoy putting their mark on the game. They duly obliged, minutes after the goal, Sako’s first cross was in was cleared away, only for the mercurial Parisian to be given the time and space to hit another low cross which Kevin Doyle squandered, Wolves were turning up the heat, despite the wintery conditions. The captain, Sam Ricketts, then went on a Danni Alvesesque run down his right hand side, beating players seven or eight years his junior, with ease. His run brought him to the Tranmere penalty area, where his shot blazed a few feet over the crossbar, the fourteen thousand people inside the Molineux sat there agog at what they just saw, a thirty two year old making runs that any South American wing back would be proud of.
Wolves really were piling on the pressure now, Tranmere were struggling to deal with the almost tidal attack on their defence. Kenny Jackett decided to go with two attacking midfielders, Edwards and Macdonald, with Jacobs and Sako occupying the wings. The only change made since the frustrating nil-nil draw against Brentford, was the introduction of the attacking full back, Scott Golbourne, for Matt Doherty. Tranmere made just the one change in the defensive department, Taylor was replaced by Goodison at centre half, surprising Rovers made any changes considering their emphatic and rather unbelievable result away at Coventry, beating the Sky Blues five-one. Hatrick hero Ryan Lowe started up front, with former Albion player, Jason Koumas sitting just behind. Akpa-Akpro, the only Rovers player to register a shot on target, played on the right, with Kirby operating the left hand wing.
The lively Michael Jacobs saw an opening in the Rovers defence and drove forward with the ball, his low ball was cleared to an oncoming Sako, ‘shoot!’ was the cry from the crowd, Sako instead took a touch and hit a low drive that brushed inches past Fon Williams’ goal. Minutes later, the home side executed a training ground move from an indirect free kick, culminating in an out swinging cross which was cleared away.
Minutes before half time, Wolves took all three points.
After yet another Wolves attack, Sako took the resulting corner which Dave Edwards effortlessly glanced his header in from outside the six yard box. Even with forty-five minutes to go, the crowd knew that three points would be theirs. Two goals up, game over. Rickets then went on another lung busting run down the right, almost identical to the previous one, sadly, the finish was identical. Rickets’ shot blazed over the bar and the referee called time on a dominant first half.
The second half began with the replacement of the mercurial goal scorer Leigh Griffiths for the less mercurial Jake Cassidy. Soon after his introduction, Cassidy was slipped through one on one with Fon Williams, ten yards out, Cassidy put it wide. There is a lot of talk about Cassidy, some argued, myself included, thought it was him that should have gone out on loan rather than his fellow striker Liam McAlinden. Jackett obviously rates him and has persisted with him, but if Cassidy wants to break up the fruitful partnership of Doyle and Griffiths, he has to put chances like this away. Fon Williams spread himself, he narrowed the angles and all that jazz, but Cassidy should have made a better decision, lofting over the keeper maybe.
Rovers then registered their first attack, Akpa-Akpro flashed a low shot wide, to the left of Ikeme’s post, the first time in the game that the Wolves ‘keeper had been properly stretched. Ikeme then rolled the ball out to Batth, who maruaded forward into the Tranmere half, Batth gave the ball to Golbourne, he knocked it back into Jacobs who dazzled his way through the Tranmere defence, his last touch was that bit too heavy and it went out of play, to the frustration of the Derby man and the Wolves fans.
Wolves were doing all sorts of driving, this time it was Kevin Doyle in the proverbial driving seat. The Tranmere defence were left back peddling again, Doyle ran a good thirty yards before squandering a great chance to really put the game to bed, and Fon Williams did well to tip the ball out after Doyle used a sledge hammer (his right foot) to thump the ball at the net. The resulting corner saw Bakary Sako hit the ball into row-z, not able to get his head over the ball and thus squandering another chance.
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Sako made amends soon after, Wolves hit Tranmere on the break and the French men’s low shot was spilled by a busy Fon Williams, Cassidy went to pounce but his former Tranmere team mate claimed the ball.
Tranmere, wanting to make amends, made two changes, Kirby and Koumas were replaced by Bell-Baggie and Sodje, Ronnie Moore wanting to gain some pride back for his side who had been outclassed by their opponents. Cassidy had another two headed efforts which went wide, it was good to see him working hard and not letting his head drop, but he really needs to start being more clinical in front of goal.
Wallace then chalked one up for Tranmere, his low drive was screwed miles wide, almost going out for a corner, summing up the away teams night really, hapless. Doyle then had two good chances, one saved by Fon Williams, then next shot was blazed high and wide. Jackett then went defensive with a few minutes left, Jack Price replacing the excellent Michael Jacobs, who rightly went off for to a standing ovation, his contribution as good as James Henry, made sure that the Milwall man was not missed. In the dying minutes of the game, Sako was slipped in but yet again Fon Williams prevented Wolves adding a third. Not that it mattered as Wolves eased to all three points.
Wolves will surely face sterner tests this season, starting with a game away at crestfallen Peterborough who will surely want to arrest their recent slump, what better way to do it? In front of your home crowd against the top of the league. The tough draw against Brentford is but a distant memory, Wolves go into the Christmas period with the best form in the league, timing could not have been better, both Orient and Peterborough are suffering ‘wobbles’, its Wolves’ time to assert their dominance on this league, and show them whose boss.
With large sums of money comes a huge amount of expectation and for Mesut Ozil this burden has become all too evident of late. The Arsenal playmaker has suffered a severe dip in form, something that many have been quick to pick up on and exploit. With Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge fading, the criticisms of Ozil have only intensified in recent weeks.
Ozil clearly isn’t playing anything like he can, but shouldn’t we all be a little more understanding?
Mesut Ozil is clearly a quality player, you only have to look at his performances for Werder Bremen and Real Madrid to realise this. So we aren’t looking at an unknown, we all know what he can do and when he doesn’t the natural response is to start asking questions. Wenger tried his best deflect some of these concerns a couple of weeks ago, speaking to the Mirror he said:
“You want the guy who plays behind the striker to score some goals and sometimes he is too obsessed with making the perfect pass when he could take a shot at goal,” said Wenger.
“For me, he is an exceptional player. He feels the pressure of course, because he knows a lot is expected when you are a big transfer like that.”
“There is a big expectation level, but he should not worry about that, just play in the team and enjoy it, give his best. That’s the best way to deal with it. You must say he doesn’t come from a small club. He comes from Real Madrid, where the pressure is always huge as well. So he’s used to it.”
“He needs understanding. Because he always wants to do well. He cares. He’s not a guy who doesn’t care. His style can sometimes look like that, but he’s really the opposite character. He cares about the game, he wants to do well, he needs more support.”
It is widely accepted that the Premier League is one of the hardest leagues in the world to adapt to, you only have to look at the likes of Drogba and Henry to realise that all is not lost for Ozil in England. Fans though are much more accepting of players that work hard even when they aren’t playing particularly well, Ozil though has a tendency to look disinterested and isolated, something that doesn’t help when trying to deflect criticisms.
Comparisons to Madrid though are difficult, because there is such a stylistic difference. At Madrid he was given a free licence to roam without the concerns of tracking back and defending. In La Liga Madrid’s primary thoughts are towards scoring ahead of anything else, and Ozil flourished with this mentality. The Premier League is different though, with Arsenal’s midfield quintet expected to chase back as well as contribute offensively, a definite change in style for someone like Ozil.
The other issue is whether people actually understand what Ozil is all about; because it seems some are confusing him for the likes of Bale and Ronaldo at times. Ozil is a playmaker and the dictator of tempo; distinctions should be drawn with the likes of Luka Modric rather than attacking showmen like Ronaldo. There seems to be this expectation that Ozil will score 30-yard screamers on a weekly basis or that he will be in and around the final third wreaking havoc. This isn’t the player Arsenal bought, and whilst he has been disappointing as a playmaker to date, I still think people’s expectations of him are misguided.
Clearly Ozil needs more support; he didn’t place the price tag on his head and much of the animosity towards him of late has actually been unjustified.
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8 assists and 4 goals in the league is hardly a poor return by anyone’s reckoning; Modric was lavished praise in England and he barely ever troubled the scorers. Now I accept these are two different types of playmaker, Ozil is the more direct and clearly expect to trouble the keeper more, but you can understand the argument here.
People are all too keen to get on Ozil’s back before he even steps out to play, clearly an atmosphere unlikely to breed success. The German has been underwhelming at best, but arguably we are as much to blame for his failings as the diminutive midfielder himself.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes that this summer’s transfer window may end in a last ditch scramble to get signings through the door.
The Toffees are set for a big few months in terms of securing additions, with last season’s impressive displays having guaranteed Europa League football at Goodison Park for 2014/15.
A number of the players that fired the Merseysiders to success – Romelu Lukaku, Gareth Barry and Gerard Deulofeu – were loanees, which could result in a large void being left in Martinez’s first XI if they head off.
With added fixtures and possible losses, Everton have already been linked with a number of players amid talk that they may look to tie up deal quickly in order to ensure they’re prepared for a gruelling season.
But Martinez feels that the transfer window could be tricky, and that deals may have to wait until the very end of the summer:
“I do feel we have to be really clear in what we need, who we bring in, and it is going to take until the last day of the window to finalise the squad.” He is quoted by the Daily Star.
“It is a World Cup year and things will get delayed and certain situations will be worth us waiting until the last second to see if they happen or not and that is something we are well in control of.
“We have our targets and we have highlighted the positions we need to bring players in.
Martinez went on to say that he may also look to his young players for next term:
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“I also have a few young players who will be given an opportunity in pre-season and depending on how they do they will fill some of those positions in the first-team squad.
“I think our young players next season will have a massive say in how good we are going to be.”
Manchester United completed their final signing beyond the deadline as Colombian international Radamel Falcao became their 7th arrival of the window.
It’s Louis van Gaal’s first season managing in the Premier League and after 4 matches in all competitions, he is still without a win. He has decided to combat this poor start with words about how it will take time to get this side back to lofty heights of Sir Alex’s reign.
van Gaal has attempted to speed up this process by spending more money than any other Premier League boss. The Red Devils have splashed no less than £170million of which £20million is to secure Falcao for just a year-long-loan. Bizarrely Manchester United didn’t sign a centre-back, which seemed the most obvious weakness in the squad but instead van Gaal managed to spend £60million on three left sided defenders.
It seems to me that Manchester United have tried to buy themselves out of trouble, but it is only two seasons ago that Sir Alex managed to win the title by an 11 point margin in his final season in football management. The two most influential players that season were Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie – two players who have been ever present in both David Moyes’ short stint and in the early days of van Gaal’s regime. Apart from those two, there was nothing particularly special about that squad apart from Sir Alex, and it took for him to retire for us all to realise just how much he was contributing to the club.
David Moyes’ most used eleven was pretty much identical to that of Sir Alex’s in his final league winning season but Man United managed to drop down to seventh place and accumulate 25 fewer.
After such a lacklustre start to the season, even with big money signings of Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, and Angel di Maria all playing small parts, the problem must be deeper than purely squad quality. A simple way of putting this is that with the greatest of respect to Swansea City and Aston Villa, there are not many of United’s current squad who would struggle to walk straight into either of the aforementioned starting line-ups, yet both have got off to fantastic starts and confidence is evidently high.
I think the problem lies with the previous structure being completely in Sir Alex Ferguson’s perfect mould. He spent over a quarter of a century building the squad, selecting the youth players from birth to first team and everything about Manchester United was to his specification. It’s then bound to be difficult when the change comes and suddenly everything changes, and it does have to change because each manager is different. The coaching staff changes, the team selection changes, the philosophies change. Effective change is a gradual process and when everything changes your bound to go backwards before you can move forwards again.
It’s the price you pay for staying loyal to a manager over a long period of time and Arsenal fans almost certainly have this to look forward to when Arsene calls it a day. Arsenal is all about Arsene, from the passing football philosophy to the production of the young stars coming through the club. The immediate future that follows Arsene will not be as good as it is now, but sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards.
Sir Alex had a tough time to begin with. David Moyes most certainly did, and Louis van Gaal will have as rough a ride as his predecessor but Manchester United must embrace the tough times to get back to the ‘old times’, as sometimes going backwards is the only way to go forward again.
One thing is for sure, David Moyes didn’t deal with the situation as well as he should have and the United supporters need to see that the manager is aware that any change won’t be immediate, and van Gaal certainly seems to share that view.
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My message to Manchester United fans is to be patient as you’ll certainly be back amongst the big boys soon, and you’ll pass Arsenal on the way up.
Despite losing talismanic striker Luis Suarez, Liverpool enjoyed a decent summer transfer window on the whole, with Brendan Rodgers swooping to nab nine new stars.
With the money received for the sale of ‘El Pistolero’ and the exits of other players such as Pepe Reina, the Reds actually ended up with a net spend of close to £30m despite splashing over £100m to get fresh players through the door to and a squad capable of coping with the return of European football.
Despite having numerous options in most roles, Rodgers may look to add a few more players to his ranks when the window re-opens, with Liverpool still short in some departments. And here are FIVE the Northern Irishman may look at…
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Victor Valdes
Football – Manchester City v FC Barcelona – UEFA Champions League Second Round First Leg – Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England – 13/14 – 18/2/14Victor Valdes – FC Barcelona Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Carl RecineEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
In truth a deal for Valdes could go through anywhen given his free agent status, but we’ll place him on this list as Liverpool may have to wait until around Christmas time to see the Spaniard. The ex-Barcelona goalkeeper is out of contract after leaving the Catalan club over the summer, but his knee injury has deterred interested clubs – rumours suggest Monaco pulled out of a pre-arranged swoop.
Reports in Spain claim Liverpool have agreed personal terms with the experienced stopper, who could come in to replace Simon Mignolet after one and a half unconvincing seasons for the Belgian on Merseyside.
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Sami Khedira
A few years ago a player of Khedira’s stature would have been way out of Liverpool’s reach. But with Champions League football back at Anfield and hopes of another push for the title genuine they may be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal to land the German.
Khedira is likely to ask for wages of around £150,000-per-week, but his transfer fee could be below £10m given that he’s now in the last year of his contract at Real Madrid. With Steven Gerrard not getting any younger, the 27-year-old may be a good option for Liverpool.
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Jay Rodriguez
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Liverpool made a habit of snapping up Southampton players over the summer, and Rodgers may look to continue the trend in the New Year. Rodriguez was a star the Northern Irishman tracked, but a troublesome knee injury saw the Reds stop short of making an offer.
J-Rod impressed for the Saints last term alongside Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert and he may be tempted by a reunion with the pair. Liverpool could also benefit from his versatility, with the England international able to play on either flank or as a main striker.
Isco
A loan offer for the Spaniard was mooted over the summer, but Real Madrid opted to hold onto Isco, even with the signing of James Rodriguez. The talented playmaker may grow frustrated with a lack of action at the Bernabeu in the coming months, which, in turn, could open the door for a genuine offer in January.
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The 22-year-old appears to match Rodgers’ mould, with his technical abilities likely to make him a good fit alongside the energetic Jordan Henderson in midfield.
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Morgan Schneiderlin
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One Southampton star that Liverpool were not too strongly linked with over the summer was Schneiderlin, but that may change by January. The Frenchman was excellent in a holding role for the Saints last season, and Ronald Koeman’s decision to give him a little more freedom this time around seems to have extracted yet more talent from him.
Offers of over £20m are likely to tempt the South Coast club to alter their steadfast stance that Schneiderlin not for sale, and he could be used as the heir to ageing captain Steven Gerrard.