We are only a couple of weeks into transfer season and already it is one of the most exciting I have ever experienced. As was the case during the FSG’s only previous transfer window, they have gone about their business in a manner befitting the clubs history and traditions by keeping their cards close to their chest and acting swiftly to ensure they captured their first priority at a price they deemed agreeable. Their first priority of course was Jordan Henderson, the England U-21 player signed from Sunderland for a fee in the region of €20 million. One transfer attempt which did leak was our bid for Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers, another star for England U-21’s, this time a Centre Back. At the same time as signing Henderson, it was widely being reported that we were very close to capturing Jones’ signature, as the day wore on though it became apparent that Man Utd had also tabled a bid which had been accepted by Blackburn, and not only that, Jones was actually in Manchester completing a medical and discussing Personal Terms. It seemed we had been pipped at the post and that Jones to Utd was now a formality. It was strange however that such a formality did not seem to be being completed. The reasons for this became clear last night (11/0/2011) when the Guardian reported that a spanner had been thrown in the works by Liverpool attempting to gazump the deal by placing another bid of £22M for the player. This resulted in Rovers’ owners (Venky’s) calling a halt to the deal with Utd as they attempted to start a bidding war between the two neighbouring cities. At the moment there is a bit of a stalemate going on, it has been revealed that there is a clause in Jones’ contract which states that any club which bids more than £16M for the player is allowed to speak directly to him to discuss personal terms, It seems that the Utd hierarchy interpret this as a transfer clause, whereas Rovers’ Chiefs say that they are not obliged to accept the offer and can accept a larger off if available. Liverpool’s second offer, while obviously has a main objective of signing the player, has some further intentions too. It shows that for the first time in a long time, we are credible contenders for the best available players. It also proves that for the first time, maybe since Greame Souness sat in the hot seat, Liverpool can genuinely contend with Man Utd with regard to value in the transfer market. I personally think that after a bit of wrangling Jones will still end up a Man Utd player, he has already made his decision it seems, but isn’t it refreshing to see our great club showing Utd that no longer will they have it their own way. We might even cause them to spend an extra €7 million on a player they thought they had sewn up days ago. This could also be a tactic to ensure they have less cash should we go head to head on another target down the road. Wherever Jones ends up now, the manner in which our club have handled this transfer has given Liverpool supporters further cause for optimism as the window continues.
Damien Comolli spoke during the week about our targets going forward, saying there would definitely be more signings and that they would most likely be from within England stating "If a player is English, or British or has played in the Premier League, we'll look at that over someone abroad” This would be in-line with the players we have been linked with over the past 2 weeks, I’m sure you have heard most of the names by now, Downing, Adam, Wickham, Dann, all players who could add something to our squad. They may not be the exciting continentals that get fans pulses rating but they are all proven quality in England and could settle into the side with the minimum amount of adjustment required. I won’t go in depth with regard to any of the players until they are, if they are, signed but I am pleased with all of these names, in particular Wickham the exciting young goal scorer from Ipswich who fits perfectly with our current policy of signing the best young British talent available. The policy which Comolli has spoken of is easy to understand in that we will be signing players who don’t need as much time to adjust to life in Liverpool and the English culture, but I do hope this doesn’t mean we will forsake exceptional talent from abroad. Players we have been linked to recently, in particular Juan Mata from Valencia are true quality players with the ability to lift any team, and while I certainly will back Comolli and Dalglish’s choices I hope we are still considering every option available.
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On another note, thanks to everyone who voted for The Red Article’s player of the year. I don’t think it will come as much of a surprise that Lucas Leiva has won by a large amount picking up 47% of the votes. As we continue to sign midfielders lets hope Lucas can continue his rate of improvement and cement his place in the side again next season.
