I have a feeling the Reds might look for some touching up in the January transfer window. Here are two players that in my view would slot in brilliantly with the Red Army. For those who read my articles on here I am known to aspire for realistic targets. This means that the player is likely to want to move from his current club, the price is affordable, and more importantly his characteristics would make them very useful for the cause. So let’s take a look at the candidates:
Miloš Krasić is a Serbian 27 year old winger and attacking midfielder currently plying his trade with Juventus. The arrival of Antonio Conte at the technical helm of the club has sidelines the talented player who was linked for Man Utd before making the switch to the Italian giants. Conte has a very pragmatic approach and is known to look at performance rather than names. Krasić, like Amauri and Del Piero, has been marginalized and will therefore seek a move away from Turin. Sources say Juve will let him go for Euro 15 which is not hefty considering how we have been spending this year! The Serbian would be slot in the right flank and would offer the kind of depth that Bellamy and Downing can offer on the left. He is also a good finisher and scored 8 goals in 38 games for Juve last season.
Niko Kranjčar is another 27 year old attacking midfielder. The Croatian attacking midfielder is a known quantity in the Premier League and has been frequently linked with the Reds in previous transfer windows. Kranjčar is a virtuoso with the ball and I personally would put him on the same level as Alberto Aquilani in as far as technical ability and vision of play are concerned. The advantage in this case is that he is not getting first team football at Spurs and he would not come at an exorbitant cost. Definitely an excellent substitute for our ageing and injury ravaged captain but also would be an invaluable asset with his distribution and accurate passing, as well as having a crack at goal from long range.
Stg 15 million max for two quality players and respective internationals! Hope Comolli is reading!
if spurs will sell to us, then i prefer Giovani Dos Santos instead. The lad is dangerous with the ball plus a good age for long term benefits. Only that he will be available on summer, i guess. Hope Comolli reads this one as well.
hahaha very classy player you make me laugh.Krajncar is an average player and that fucker Krashit even worse,have you ever seen him playing for juventus he sucks
Guess we were watching different players.
And yes I did see Krasic play for Juve last season where he scored 8 goals (from playing right wing) and where he was, by far, the most missed player when he was injured. New manager, new system, from which he has been excluded. Did Joe Cole do any good for us playing 10 minutes every now and then. Sometimes people really speak from their ……… !
Would you not say adam johnson an gary cahill were not realistic targets?
with carra on the blink cahill would be a solid replacement who i feel is more reliable than skertal,who dont get me wrong is strong but prone to bouts of inconsistancy.
johnson would also sort the right wing,and although is still scoring goals,is looking frustraited on the bench (if he gets that far).
possibly get them both for a little more than you are paying above.
thoughts?
Cahill yes, Johnson don’t think so.
why?
i admit its questionable that they would sell but it would be worth a shot. Would you leave a bit part place in a squad currently doing well but has a manager that has publicly stated he treats him badly on purpose,for a upcoming revival with a vision?…and king kenny.
Because Mancini would not let us have him. Me thinks!
would be more a question of adams values as a player then.
I think that krasic will be a great transfer,he is very good player and will help the team a lot,w need him more than any player!
We don’t need Niko in this time,we have a good bench players,and I think aquillani should return and stay with reds,he is talented and will become one of the best players in the world.
Nico Gaitan from Benfica, I really rate the lad…
Id take either :)
Let me make something very clear. These articles are meant to raise debate. I am sure, almost entirely convinced, that both these players are nowhere near Comolli’s plans.
So don’t take it personal, as nothing is cast in stone, just leave you comments, possibly creative, and let’s get on with it! :-)
always have been a fan of kranjcar..but i think we need a good attacking mid and right winger too.defense i think is somwhat sorted at the moment.maybe when/before carra retires we should go shop for another cb but what we need now is more attacking minded players.i dont think downing is a plyer that will consistently perform and he lacks some sort of creative spark sometimes.after a while players can read his style of play and that will not be good.
would love it if higuain came but we all know thats too far fetched.i’ll leave the idea of to buy to those that know more about it.come what may!!
would benzeema be more realistic? he’d have a better time in the prem id feel. higuain i think would have more of a struggle to settle an start scoring.
obv this article isnt about strikers, it is an area i feel will be looked at if things carry on. i am very pro carrol,but if he continues to dtruggle we may look for someone to take the pressure off.
I think we also need to get another striker, the young lads coming through are taking a little more time then we hoped (through no fault of there own) yes Suarez is world and Carroll will get there but back up to them is kuyt and Bellamy – neither of which I would class as a out and out forward now.
The 2nd thing I think we need most is a right winger – I like Jordan dont get me wrong but I don’t know if he’s kenny’s long term plan for a rm, then you have people like kuyt quality workhorse and love him as a player but in the last ten mins or the first for that matter he’s not gonna go bombing past someone so I do believe we need pace (although I understand you can’t just buy anyone) but in this case maybe we need to spend big on a proven winger and not just one for the future.
Last point defence I think we can cope and actually do well with what we got Kelly and jhonson, skirtel agger and carra, Jose and robbo – my opinion is we get the other two and we can really put a run for 4th or 3rd together I think the cb can wait.
Breaking News : Sky are reporting that Gary Neville is a SCOUSER!!!, his great great grand-parents were SCOUSER’S…………..hilarious. They tell him on A League Of Their Own, on SKY………..apparently they gave him a Liverpool shirt with his name on it!!!…………..ha ha ha
All of the above are good and it’s a matter of price only. One of them can take over Lucas ( who is not up to the club’s expectation) place in the team. Those days we heard the ‘hard man’ of the club like Tommy Smith followed by Jimmy Case and then we have Graeme Souness, Steve McMahon, Jamie Redknappe, Didi Hamann, Momo Sissoko and lastly Javier Mascherano. Lucas does not fit in the bill.
You really don’t want to give up on the Lucas crusade do you? I will leave others to slam you on that!
I wonder people like you watch liverpool play i think you don’t.
Buddie get to anfield or any other place you can watch liverpool play take a good look at lucas a very close one..
One thing that i can say about lucas is that he is lacking goals but he makes up with his passes better than adam. His tackles are class. The other day lucas was suspended al i read on comments after the game where ‘we miss lucas’
what i highlight again,when the last time i hada lucas argument with this guy…statistically highest pass and tackle completion in the prem so far…need we say more.
Don’t forget that Gary Cahill is very comfortable on the ball and He carries on the ball well: something which can resolve the lack of quality in our defensive line.
I’m looking for a Cahill – Agger centre backs duo: They could provide all the skills required for a strong back line.
Rick, I too would love to have Cahill, I love the way he interprets the game. I also agree that him and Agger would be pure class for us, especially post-Carra. Coates for back up, Skrtel, well, don’t know really….!
Both are not exceptional players, imo. what a shame if we are going to spend the money on them.
In fact we won’t!
If you dont think we are going to buy them, would that make them unrealistic targets?
Its obvious we do need a right winger, I think an attempt on Adam Johnson is realistic, get his head turned and revisit in the summer. A cheaper alternative is lil Nathan Dyer who ran us ragged last match- wouldn’t cost anywhere over 6mil but deffo a buy for the present and future
i still think we lack a real winger, downing is a gloryfied midfeld player.he does not go past defenders he does not have great speed, henderson is a midfield player not a winger.i,, love to see sterling on bench and given mins on games, i also think suso is a better player than henderson. even morgan thoe still raw could be on bench. owen was a kid yet he done well as did fowler.one thing for sure kelly is a better play than johnson will ever be.hazrard would be my choice but we wont get him..
el_iyke says Giovanni Dos Santos.I agree that Santos could be useful addittion. By no means a John Barnes but underated player gives us an option wide. Adam Johnson would be awesome but City want a squad and not a team so hes too good to sell. It should also be borne in mind that no Champions League makes it harder to get in the real quality players. The Champions League is the golden ticket to attract quality. I also believe that if the future purchases look to focus on UK players only it will be detrimental. In this day and age i dont think if we want top 4 a team built on UK players will take you there. In the 90’s yes as proved by Blackburn and Newcastle. Take Luis Suarez out of the current Liverpool team and you tell me honestly where we are.
Adam Johnson (man city) and Soldado from Valencia. For me these two signings could turn our season around instantly !!!
and why not give Glen Johnson a try on the right wing ?? its worth a shot seeing as Henderson or Downing when he is placed there isnt setting the premiership alight
Mancini has already said he’s not letting Johnson go. In the off season I thought nzogbia was a realistic buy but we never really pursued him. I see most of our problems at the moment is that in the 4-4-2 the strikers are being left stranded so suarez will either need to drop deeper or we need some more adventurous midfielders. I agree with dos Santos. He should come cheap and has a high ceiling. I don’t know what ever happen to our link with arda turan. I personally think a lot of our stagnation can be healed though if when stevie g comes back we play him in the hole behind the striker like he did with torres. And for those who are including downing in the underperformers I believe him and Enrique are combining well down the left. Charlie Adam is who needs to step his game up
I think having G Johnson on the right with Kelly covering his defending lapses would be absolute brilliance. The attack that has looked so dangerous in the first half of games is almost entirely left sided and opponents are able to adjust the defense and stall all our creativity. The top 2 on my wish list for January: 1. Seydou Doumbia (blistering pace and natural poacher, teamed with Suarez’s ball skills would be unstoppable) 2. Lucas Moura (kid has all the tricks and we need to snatch him up before his price goes up to the sheik and Madrid level. He will take us from dreaming of being in the champions league, to dreaming of trebles)
I think Kenny should bring in G. Cahill and E.Hazard during January window to strenghten the squad depth and options!