KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum summer transfer window rumors and bullsh!t

Tony Barrett, James Ducker

Liverpool’s pursuit of the best available young English players has led to an offer of almost £8 million being lodged with Ipswich Town for Connor Wickham. The club are also stepping up their attempt to sign Jordan Henderson, the Sunderland midfield player.

Wickham, who scored nine goals last season, is valued at £10 million by Ipswich and the 18-year-old centre forward has also been targeted by Tottenham Hotspur. However, Liverpool are confident that the opportunity to become part of an array of attacking talent that includes Luis Suárez and Andy Carroll will convince Wickham that his future lies at Anfield rather than White Hart Lane.

Damien Comolli, Liverpool’s director of football, watched Wickham on several occasions last season and is understood to have been impressed by his all-round game, regarding the England Under-21 international as a potential star of the future.

Although their opening offer is likely to be rejected by Ipswich, Liverpool are hopeful that a compromise fee can be reached that will suit both clubs.

Liverpool’s transfer strategy this summer is built on a determination to sign players for the future who can also play an immediate part in Kenny Dalglish’s squad. The desire to lower the average age of the club’s playing staff is derived from the ambition of John W. Henry, Liverpool’s principal owner, to oversee the creation of a team who can challenge for leading honours for years to come, rather than just in the coming season.

The Merseyside club’s transfer targets will be predominantly drawn from players under the age of 26. There will be exceptions to the rule under certain circumstances, but the long-term strategy is built around constructing a young, vibrant squad that is capable of playing fast flowing, attacking football.

No deal has yet been struck between Liverpool and Sunderland for Henderson, but the Anfield club are looking for a fee to be agreed before the 20-year-old goes to Denmark with the England Under-21 squad next Wednesday for the European Championship.

Neither Liverpool nor Sunderland would confirm whether an offer has been made for the player, but talks have taken place in which the North East club have made it clear that they would not accept the £15 million offer that Comolli was hoping would be sufficient to secure the transfer.

It is thought that Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, is holding out for about £18 million for Henderson, who has attracted interest from Manchester United and Manchester City over the past 12 months. Liverpool are unlikely to meet that price, but are believed to be ready to return with a bid in the region of £16 million as they continue with their recruitment plans for the coming season.

As revealed in April, Phil Jones, the Blackburn Rovers central defender, is another target for Liverpool, who are expecting a busy summer in the transfer market, according to Comolli.

Steve Kean, the Blackburn manager, warned Jones this week that he may struggle to secure a first-team place at a top Barclays Premier League club, but the defender is thought to have set his heart on a move away from Ewood Park.

Liverpool face competition from Arsenal for Jones, with Arsène Wenger, the North London club’s manager, eager to build his defence around the 19-year-old England Under-21 international and Thomas Vermaelen, the Belgium centre back whose long-term absence with an Achilles tendon injury was keenly felt last season.

Blackburn also face a battle to keep Christopher Samba, with Tottenham interested in the defender..

I will be absolutely livid if he's worked his socks off to spend our money on Downing and Henderson. I am tired of quite frankly sh!t players (relative to where we want our club to be) coming to our club, and for supposedly massive fees! I thought this was a new dawn and yet this dross is what I have to wake up and read about. If we go for 3rd rate players just cause they're young and british we will turn into the tottenham from a few years ago.

Adding to my last little rant, one of those articles said N'zogbia is our primary target for the wing? Are you kidding me??? We took a giant step forward in January and if reports are to be believed we're taking 3 much bigger steps back!

i agree with most of yr last two post but unlike you i think ngogbia would be a good signing, i rate him. the only thing is his attitude but i reckon his matured over the last year or so. i havent heard anything new abt his attitude

I would quite like Downing myself. Don't really understand why people don't rate him. In my opinion he has more trick in his bag then Young, plus he's a more intelligent player too. He had a bad few months because he came back from injury, but since he has fully recovered, he's been really good.

As for Henderson, I think it's going to come down to what the owners, KK and DC want to do. Maybe they want to invest quite heavily on potential now, so they won't have to invest so much in the future. They might bring in 7 or 8 players, with around half of them being young up and comers and the rest having proved themselves more.

For example we could get:
Downing (proven perm player)
Mata (proven quality)
Enrique (proven prem player)
Perotti (decent player)

And then they might get:
Henderson, Jones and Wickham. These players can be used as squad members, slowly getting more game time as they gain experience of the likes of Gerrard, Carra etc who will slowly over time get less time.

Henderson, Jones, Dann, Wickham, MacCarthy etc all have loads of potential, so it could be a smart move to get in there, so we're not left paying even more for quality when they're more recognized.

i rather have nzogbia then young. i think his a better player and he will be cheaper and wages would be lower too. i dont know why soo many pple dont like him as a player, i guess its coz it not very fashionable playing for wigan

Agree mate, Nzogbia is a better out and out winger and could be cheaper than Young who prefers a more cental role. I certainly rate him higher as well, he seems to be underated. I must say am starting to worry if we are targeting the likes of Hendersen for 16m, but atleast the interest in Mata is still serious.

nzogbia, downing and mata i'd deffo take them as our attacking mids next season

I get worried when we are being linked with the next "type player name" but we have made an 8m offer for the next shearer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footb...am-2292772.html

if ipswich only want 10 mill we should match that and get him ASAP. i like a lot of the player we've been linked with but wickham and mata are the only 2 that have got me really excited