Karim Benzema, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Christain Metzelder are the players Rafa has been linked with, whilst Lassana Diarra and Royston Drenthe may also become available.
This lad is undoubtedly a talent - great first touch, powerful shot and very fast, he is widely regarded as the heir apparent to Thierry Henry's French throne. Whether or not he was ever worth 30m, and whether he indeed is worth anything more than 20m remains to be seen, but I do get a feeling he could be another Cisse or Babel - fantastically talented, but too emotional for Rafa's hardline approach.
Maybe
VDV has been a favourite player of mine for a while now, as he and Sneijders always seem to play well for the Dutch team. A classic number 10, who can also drift out into wider positions, he would certainly be one of the "four top players" that Steven Gerrard would want to see at the club. My fear here is that we start littering the club with numerous midfielders, albeit VDV is class, when what we really need are 2 top class strikers.
Yes
Experienced, German and Free. Sounds like a good move to me, and possibly Rafa looking to cash in on Martin Skrtel whose own form was superb in the first season but got found out a little in his second. Metzelder looks more likely to return to Germany, and with injury problems to rival Aquilani, that is probably for the best. However, with such experience inc a trip all teh way to the World Cup Final, I would personally welcome a Hamann-esque German influence as our 3rd/4th choice centre back.
Maybe
This is the interesting one for me. Rafa may feel he owes Real Madrid a deal or two, after the amazing single 30m payment we received for Xavi Alonso and of course his fondness for the capital club. Mascherano has been fantastic all year, but still not signed his new contract and with little chance of ever getting in the Barcelona team, I could easily conceive of a Diarra/Mascherano swap. A classy confident footballer and regular in the French setup (my tip for the WC by the way), plus the fact you don't want to keep unhappy players, I'd smile a wry smile on this one.
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Madrid went for Drenthe, Liverpool got Babel. These two players were light years ahead of any other player in the 2007 Euro U21s tournament and I marvelled at the pace and ingenunuity of both. It may therefore be a strange twist of footballing fate if both players cross the Anfield turf, with the latest addition being the kind of player we hopedthe first one would have been. Drenthe is fast, very tricky, arrogant and confident, and can play left back, left winger and switch to right winger. Considering we have two big holes in our team down that side, I would personally go all out to sign the moody little sod.
Yes
I've been reading your posts and I must say that they are really enjoyable reads.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your reviews on these players. My main focus though is to see a striker or two join the club that can promise us double figures. This year, we've been unlucky with injuries to an extent and I think if we had, had Torres for the season we would have faired better.
This summer will be a big summer and I am interested to see who comes.
Nice read!