Liverpool look set for a big summer transfer window, but it feels like we say that almost every year. The Reds have been caught in a cycle of investing in quantity over quality, drafting in a raft of over-hyped players and seeing if they’ll sink or swim at Anfield.
So with Jurgen Klopp looking to rebuild the club as a European powerhouse, would Liverpool be better off targeting players already tried and trusted on Merseyside? With that in mind, we asked Reds fans earlier this week to vote for which former chargers they’d like to see back at Liverpool this summer.
The results of our exclusive poll are now in, so here’s a rundown of the top three.
3. Fernando Torres
He may have become a shadow of his former world-class self after leaving Liverpool for Chelsea, drawing plenty of calls of treachery in the process, but perhaps due to Liverpool’s lack of out-and-out striker options this season, Reds fans voted Fernando Torres third in our poll. Admittedly, a return to Atletico Madrid has gone some way to reviving the Spaniard’s career, netting 19 times in 69 La Liga appearances for Diego Simeone’s side. With much change expected at Atletico this summer, could Torres make a shock return to Merseyside?
2. Pepe Reina
Goalkeeper has been another problem position for Liverpool this season, with neither Loris Karius nor Simon Mignolet particularly convincing as the Reds’ No.1. Our poll suggests Liverpool fans see former charger Pepe Reina as a potential solution; errors entered the Spaniard’s game after a number of consistent seasons at Anfield but he’s been more than solid between the sticks for Napoli over the last two years. Aged 34, the shot-stopper still has a few years left at top level.
1. Javier Mascherano
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Liverpool only got three full seasons out of Javier Mascherano before he was whisked away by Barcelona, where the Argentina international has gone on to lift two Champions League titles and four La Liga titles – in addition to reaching the World Cup final with his country in 2014. Unquestionably a top-class talent at centre-back and in midfield, its no surprise to see the South American claim top spot in our poll. No longer a guaranteed starter at the Nou Camp and on the verge of entering the final two years of his contract, a return to Anfield this summer may not be as ridiculous as it initially seems.
Tom Cleverley is one game away from making his loan move to Watford from Everton permanent, reports the Watford Observer.
What’s the word?
The midfielder joined the Hornets in January on a short-term loan after falling down the pecking order at Goodison Park.
It is believed that a clause was written into the deal stating that Watford will sign Cleverley on a permanent contract if he makes a certain number of appearances.
The Watford Observer claims that the clause will be triggered when Cleverley next plays for the Premier League club.
So far he has made eight appearances, but a ninth will ensure his position at the club beyond the summer.
The midfielder has started seven league fixtures and come on as a substitute in another, and could possibly make his ninth appearance against Sunderland after the international break.
Has Cleverley finally found his level?
It has taken time for the 27-year-old to find his place in the game following failed spells elsewhere.
Cleverley came through the ranks at Manchester United, eventually making his senior debut in 2008.
He was loaned out to four clubs, including Watford, during his seven-year stay at Old Trafford before eventually deciding to move on.
In his first season at Everton in 2015-16, Cleverley made 22 Premier League appearances, 17 of which were starts, and scored two goals and made four others.
In the first half of the current campaign under Ronald Koeman, the midfielder started just four top-flight games and made six substitute outings.
At Watford, Cleverley has impressed in Walter Mazzarri’s side and it seems that finally he has the chance to settle.
With Celtic having won the Scottish Premiership for the sixth year in a row, Brendan Rodgers is afforded a generous amount of time to get his plans in place to go again next season.
Having signed a new four-year deal with his beloved Bhoys, his immediate future is secured as the former Liverpool coach tries to take his rebuild at Parkhead to the next level. Clearly, there’s still a lot to play for in terms of maintaining his unbeaten run in Scotland, as well as winning the Scottish Cup.
Still, improvement in the Champions League is the next big step for the Hoops and it will be interesting to see who Rodgers is able to attract to the SPFL over the course of the summer.
Curiously enough, one of the names linked with a move to the club is actually already plying his trade in Glasgow. Just for bitter rivals, Rangers.
Earlier this month, American international Emerson Hyndman was touted as a rather surprising target for the Scottish champions, once he has finished his loan stint with the Gers from Bournemouth.
Clearly a talented player, the form of Scott Sinclair, Tom Rogic, Stuart Armstrong and James Forrest behind the central striker would provide the sort of competition for places not in play at Ibrox.
So, with that in mind, as Celtic fans, would you take Hyndman next season?
After getting back to Premier League winning ways against Swansea City last week, West Ham United were held against struggling Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
In a match many Hammers fans were hoping to win given the Black Cats’ woeful form, they dropped two points right at the death after Darren Randolph was caught out and Fabio Borini converted to equalise the match.
It wasn’t the first mistake Darren Randolph has made this season and supporters are now growing increasingly impatient the goalkeeper and calling for Adrian to start getting a regular start again. Adrian hasn’t played in the Premier League since way back in November after he made a string of errors himself.
You’d imagine West Ham will on the hunt for a number one in the summer transfer window given the amount of points lost this season due to poor errors between the sticks.
Leeds United look set to lose left-back Charlie Taylor this summer after the 23-year-old turned down a new deal and then refused to play in their final Championship fixture of the season against Wigan Athletic on Sunday.
The Whites youth product handed in a transfer request last summer in order to try and push through a move to the Premier League – with West Bromwich Albion understood to be leading the race for his signature – but it was rejected as the club aimed for promotion.
Despite spending large chunks of the campaign in the top six, they missed out on a play-off position following a poor run of form at the end of the season.
Taylor looks set to seal a move to the Hawthorns and despite the fact that Gaetano Berardi has impressed in the position over the course of the last few months, the club and manager Garry Monk – if he remains with the Yorkshire outfit – will surely look to sign a new left-back this summer.
Here are five Charlie Taylor replacements Leeds could sign…
James Meredith
The Bradford City left-back has enjoyed a brilliant season with the Bantams and his impressive and consistent performances throughout the campaign deservedly saw him named in the League One Team of the Year.
With the fellow Yorkshire outfit due to face Millwall in the play-off final later this month his future is far from certain, and he could look to make the step up even if his team fail to.
The only thing that could count against him is his age, as Leeds could look for a younger player rather than one that turns 30 next year.
Ben Chilwell
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Despite the 20-year-old being really highly thought of at the King Power Stadium, Chilwell has made just 17 appearances in all competitions for Leicester this season with many of his nine Premier League outings coming from the substitutes’ bench.
Often finding himself as the second choice left-back behind Christian Fuchs, he could look to go out on loan in search of regular first team football this summer unless he is guaranteed more playing time next term.
Leeds would certainly be one of the teams interested in taking the England Under-21 international if he was allowed out on a temporary basis, but they may have competition from some top flight teams too.
Matt Targett
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Another England Under-21 international, the Southampton left-back has spent the majority of the campaign on the sidelines because of a hamstring injury and it has potentially seen him slide down the pecking order in the position.
The 21-year-old looked to be competing with Ryan Bertrand at the start of the season but with the former Chelsea man enjoying another impressive campaign, and another Saints youth product Sam McQueen impressing when he has been given an opportunity, Targett is arguably third choice now.
He could be helped by speculation that Bertrand could leave St Mary’s this summer, but if he doesn’t Targett could look to make a temporary move away and Leeds would surely be keen to bring him to Elland Road.
Targett is valued at £2.55m by transfermarkt.com.
Amari’i Bell
The Fleetwood Town left-back was heavily linked with a move to a number of Championship sides – Norwich City, Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion – during the January transfer window following a string of eye-catching performances for the Cod Army.
The 23-year-old – who has scored two goals and provided a further six assists in League One this season – would have add an eye on making the step up when Uwe Rosler’s side finished in the play-off positions, but they were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by Bradford City to miss out on promotion.
The failure to go up will mean that Bell is in demand this summer, and Leeds should be one of a number of teams interested in snapping him up.
Brendan Galloway
Following some mature performances at left-back for Everton when Leighton Baines was absent because of injury, Galloway looked to have a bright future at Goodison Park and he joined Premier League rivals West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan deal last summer.
However, the 21-year-old struggled to break into the first team at the Hawthorns and made just five appearances in all competitions before being sent back to Merseyside by Tony Pulis last month.
While Baines is getting no younger, Ronald Koeman may believe that the Zimbabwe-born defender needs to go out and get regular football again next term – perhaps with a Championship side – and Leeds would surely be one of the interested clubs.
Currently sidelined with injury, Daniel Sturridge may have kicked his last ball for Liverpool.
There’s no doubting the England international’s pedigree and he can border upon unplayable for opposition defenders when in top form, boasting a strike-rate better than one-in-two in the Premier League since signing for Liverpool in January 2013.
But Sturridge’s injury problems are notorious and he hasn’t enjoyed a solid run of form since Jurgen Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as Anfield gaffer last season – so a departure this summer seems inevitable.
Earlier this week, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic revealed his admiration for the Liverpool striker. The Irons boss is certainly in need of extra firepower for next season, with his side struggling for results during Andy Carroll’s recurring injury absences.
But according to the results of our recent poll, the majority of West Ham fans wouldn’t back a bid for Sturridge this summer, with 52% voting against a potential transfer deal with Liverpool. The east Londoners clearly need to sign another striker this summer, but Bilic might be better off looking elsewhere.
Everton have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Swansea City playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson after the 27-year-old hinted he could stay at the club.The Iceland international is being targeted by the Toffees – along with West Ham United and newly-promoted Newcastle United – after scoring nine goals and providing a further 13 assists for the Welsh outfit this season, but he said that he isn’t “looking to leave†after winning both the Players’ Player and Supporters’ Player of the Season on Wednesday night. Ronald Koeman is said to be lining up a £25m offer for the Premier League star as a potential replacement for Ross Barkley, who is yet to extend his contract with the Merseyside outfit.Everton supporters were quick to have their say on the quotes from the attacking midfielder via social media, but they still believe that he will choose to move to Goodison Park if he is ambitious because they can offer him European football and higher wages.Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
One of the tragedies of football is that the jobs which are the most unseen are often the most important.
Ballons d’Or and player of the year awards are usually doled out to attacking players for their goals, while goalscoring defenders are heralded above all others. Just look at Garth Crooks’ team of the week on any given Monday morning to see a mismatched team of outfield players all of whom scored goals, including the defenders.
But the Premier League is becoming a more sophisticated place. As statistics enter the collective consciousness to a greater degree, players like N’Golo Kante get recognised more and more, and this season’s PFA Player of the Year was indeed a defensively minded individual.
He’s noted for his tackles, though. And as a defensive player, if you’re not scoring goals, the best way to get noticed is by making tackles. And yet, there’s a school of thought which holds that tackles are an inherently bad thing: if you have to make a tackle, after all, it’s because you’re making up for bad positioning.
But perhaps it’s just a different method of defending.
This season, the likes of Oriol Romeu, Ander Herrera and Jordan Henderson joined Kante on the list of players who made the most tackles, suggesting that tackling is more of a midfielder’s pursuit these days. Defenders don’t make the tackles if they’re protected by midfield players who do it for them. It’s probably little coincidence that N’Golo Kante plays for teams who win things.
It’s when it comes to interceptions that defenders seem to earn their coin. This season, the most interceptions per game was made by Curtis Davies, and that was by a country mile. No one even came close. Whilst the Hull City defender made exactly as many interceptions as Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny, that was done in far fewer appearances. But the fact that the Hull man made so many may not be a huge surprise – his side’s defence was placed under enormous pressure in the first half of the season.
It’s perhaps more surprising that Nicolas Otamendi is in the top six: Manchester City conceded fewer shots than anyone else in the Premier League this season, even though their defence looked vulnerable on the counter attack throughout. Otamendi’s prowess in winning duels and executing lunging interceptions with Action Man-like physicality are probably the reason for that.
Also on the list, though, is Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman could be on his way to a bigger club this summer, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him expand on those interceptions next season in a top team with a struggling defence: Liverpool and Manchester City would be obvious destinations.
As reported by The Teesside Gazette, West Ham United are set to test Middlesbrough’s desire to hold onto Adama Traore this summer.
What’s the story?
One of the big drawbacks of being relegated to the English Championship from the top-flight is the clubs left in the Premier League taking advantage of your misfortune and circling around your best players.
That’s the situation Middlesbrough find themselves right now with West Ham United set to lodge an £8m bid for winger Adama Traore this summer. That’s according to The Teesside Gazette anyway, who say Slaven Bilic is keen to add his pace to the Hammers attack.
Is he the kind of player West Ham should be moving for this summer?
What does he offer?
Potential is perhaps the biggest thing Traore offers. Still just 21, he gained a football education at the famous La Masia academy in Barcelona.
Last season he showed great ability in flashes but failed to put together the kind of consistency that could prevent Boro making the drop from the English Premier League.
He completed 135 dribbles in total across the campaign, demonstrating he can beat men one-on-one and if Slaven Bilic can harness that raw ability then West Ham could have a very fine player on their hands.
His lack of goals or assists is of course a real problem but with his whole career ahead of him, the reported £8m fee required to bring him to the London Stadium feels like a gamble worth taking.
According to reports in The Sun, West Ham United are in pole position to sign Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud after the Gunners stepped up their bid to complete a deal for Lyon star Alexandre Lacazette.
The Sun states that the north London outfit are closing in on a £50m deal for the France international, and it is a transfer that will allow an unsetltled Giroud to leave the Emirates this summer.
The Frenchman was frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities last season and wants to play regularly with less than a year to go until the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The 30-year-old is keen to stay in London according to reports in The Guardian, but they are likely to face competition from other clubs in the striker’s homeland too.
West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on the rumour via social media, but they are far from confident that they will get Giroud with many believing it definitely won’t happen.