Babel offer presents a real conundrum for Rafa
Liverpool look set to complete an 18 month deal for Atletico Madrid right winger/attacking midfielder Maxi Rodriguez over the weekend. The reds are expected to pay around £1.5M for the player who will be out of contract in the summer.
The Argentine is keen to cement a place in the national squad ahead of the World Cup and has been re-assured about first team football. He is believed to be taking a significant pay cut to join Liverpool.
Meanwhile, debt-ridden Liverpool are waiting on the funds to be released as Andrea Dossena moves to Napoli. The Italian left back had a medical with the Italian club yesterday and the deal is set to be completed imminently. Liverpool will receive €5M for the player (£4.5M). Dossena failed to hold down a place at Liverpool after arriving for £7M in the summer of 2008.
Andriy Voronin has almost completed a £2M transfer to Dinamo Moscow. The player arrived at Liverpool on a free transfer but spent last season away on loan in the Bundesliga. He hasn’t featured for the reds since an extra-ordinarily poor appearance against Lyon away.
As we know Ryan Babel has been targeted by Birmingham in a £9M move. Liverpool are believed to be giving serious consideration over the deal.
The state of the reds finances is such that Benitez is concerned that all the transfer income will once again disappear in to the club’s financial black hole and he is reluctant to let Babel leave without being allowed to bring in a new striker.
That player could be Marouane Chamakh, the Bordeaux striker who is out of contract in the summer. and is also being chased by Arsenal. The reds hope to land the player on a pre-contract agreement but a move would not occur until July.
With no money available, and the owners yet again likely to take profit from the club, what do you think Rafa should do with Ryan Babel? Cash in now or hope someone buys in the summer?
We will continue to update the latest deals as and when they come through both on Anfield Online and via our twitter page which can be found here.
The Babel situation is tricky, the lad definatley has potential and is still young.
The problem is he is not hard working enough for Rafa and thats why Kuyt and Benayoun have been playing regularly. If he played for Arsenal i think we would be seeing the real Babel. He has been left frustrated by Benitez and it is Benitez’s duty to either sell him or make sure Babel mind and heart is in the right place.
I think Caragher has been a legend for us but his days may be over. We need a new centre back ,Captain material someone Roy Keanesqu.
My concern is the fact that we can’t seem to do the simple things like control the ball, move into space and pass again like all previous Liverpool teams.
well i say we need a striker so bad if torres gets injured we or stuck to replace him on babel i think a run of 7 games we wud see best out of him hes fast strong and skillfull id play babel as a striker wen torres is out
Rafa should go, he is LFC’s problem. Apart from Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher n d other few, d names making up both d starting eleven as well as d bench are players bought by Rafa yet not 1 trophy in 5-years to show for it. I don’t blame the Directors, why on earth will I give u more funds when u have nothing 2 show 4 d 1s given 2 u. Why will I spend 5years buying high quality-costly players without a trophy 2 show for it, I can as well go to LFC youth team, pick out my players & start training them. In 5yrs time I will have a great team. Rafa must go he has lost it, but that concept he came to Anfield with and the drive to move the team forward. Thank God we have d likes of Carra, Gerard, Reina, Torres and Masch lets get another coach
Our problems, do they come from lack of motivation from the coaching crew or is it a scouting problem? Is it from lack of a tactician or is it the lack of quality players . I say our problems are not lack of quality players and definitely not lack of a quality bench cos we have the caliber of players that can not only win the Champions league but the Premiership, Carling and FA Cup together. Coming to the bench we have a wonderful bench, a bench that can beat any bench the world over. Our problem is from the coaching crew, Rafa should go, he has nothing to offer Anfield again. Why is it that players deplete in our hands. Why do we buy higher only to sell lower(Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch). Why on earth are buying only to sell in six months.
WTF Kuyt lazy!! have a word…Kuyt is not lazy – just has the touch of a rapist!
I agree with an earlier post. Babel has shown signs of excellence and raw talent. Remember the premiership is a tough league.
lets face it – we are not going to get any funds from the Yanks – so lets keep him and keep plugging away. He is young, energetic and really wants to perform at the World Cup – now is the time to say to the lad – go out and impress.
Voronin gone, 1 down many more to follow.
I can’t see how people can call Kuyt, Lazy coz when he does play he works hard for his place, not like other donkeys.
Is Rafa gonna start Maxi and Aquillani or are they gonna be bench players.
I still think Rafa should go, followed by the Yanks and have a true football FAN in charge with a bit, not Billions of money, Get Jose or even better King Kenny at the helm then watch LFC soar once again.
YNWA
Veronin gone – good. Did we get £2m for him? If so, incredible business. I recklon 2/3 more players need to be shipped out as well. When you are Stevie or Torres and you see the line up against Stoke, they must be thinking nothing but bad things about the team. Degen must be the worst player to wear a red shirt for decades, and we’ve had some tosh the same as everyone else, but Degen, come on. He was so out of his league against Stoke, I mean Stoke! Come on people I’ll say it again with a higher voice – DEGEN!! Sweet baby Jebus deliver us from evil, DEGEN. Players to go, Degen, Lucas and Babel, but only if we see the money first
Sell him think we can get a bit more than 9 for him ,Get chamakh deal done for the summer and maybe bring in rvn on loan until the end of the season or maybe zaki who was at wigan last year bit of a co ck but talk of 1m for him or loan
i think we need to but ruud van nistelrooy and play him up front with torres which means the formation will be 4-4-2 but as we know benitez plays 4-5-1 so i t wont happen and he has to think about changing it
Only issue of selling Babel is if Rafa would get that money for buying another striker. No-not sell, yes- sell.
Liverpool can only compete with the big guns in the premiership if they buy big name players. I cant see this happening with the current owners. They should just sell the team to the Saudis. With their endless reserves of cash Liverpool can build a formiddable team and then only win the premiership.The best buy ever was Torres and if he doesnt get enough help from the midfield he cant score goals. End result will be him leaving the club. Liverpool cant only rely on Gerrard. We need big name players in defense and midfield. Lucas must go. And if ever we are going to buy another striker the only name Liverpool should look at is David Villa. Who betta to support Torres.
Bottom line: no star signings- no silverware
From Shaun
Liverpool 4 eva
I agree with John. 9Mill for Babel is a great price but Rafa doesn’t want to miss out on him incase he becomes a Thierry Henry or a Nicolas Anelka.
Rafa should keep Babel unless he can use the cash to buy a much, much,much, much better replacement.
Fed up, pissed off Red man ,thats me.
in reply daniel,i know kuyt isnt having the greatest of seasons,but to call him lazy???? hes gotta be the most hard working player in the prem!! you can label him many thing,but lazy aint one of them.
How is kuyt lazy????!!!!
Babel is a frustrating player,the Lyon away game said it all,a very good goal then puts a free kick straight out of play for a throw in with no contact with any player when a shot at the top corner of goal would have been better in that position.Last season goal against man u good,the missed balls in front of goal againat Pompy last season and Arsenal this season in the carling cup very bad.Bring in Rodriguez on the wing and play Babel as striker .
Well i hope that Rodriguez doesn’t turn out to be another Babel,Riera or dare i say even Aquilani as Anfield seems to be a graveyard for promising young footballers!
Babel should be allowed to leave providing the funds go on improving the squad instead of paying of this never ending debt.Rafa’s success in the transfer market still gives me great reason for concern but at least two of his flop signings have moved on!.
RAFA certainly does not rate Babel – he virtually never plays him. Can’t see that changing when he has chosen to play left backs on the wing in important games rather than give Babel the nod. That being so, Babel will continue to be a “spare part” on the bench and may as well go.
However, rather than sell Babel and have the money “stolen” by the yanks, IMO RAFA should offer him in part exchange for some other player he fancies – so the club does not actually receive any money.
Off the subject of Babel, I see that, if we really need a striker, brazil’s Fred is available for £1M! He scores a lot and is only 26! A bargain.
Ye considering the way the owners have been with sucking up any transfer money for the debt rather than put money in themselves i would have to agree in keeping babel because rafa would not be given the funds for a replacement . That is annoying when you consider the price of 9-10mil floating around which is respectable for babel .
I just hope some quality loan deals get done , maxi being one deal close but id love a few more the likes of mata / van nistelrooy on loan but i know im dreaming …………………
……….But dreams do come true …..sometimes..
we need rodriguez and van der vaart and even though i think he works hard, which is the least u expect from a player, kuyt should be sold but for no less than 8 million.
babel is a very good player when he plays well but i think our best young star is striker david n’gog. hes the next henry. but n’gog made the right decision to come to anfield.
we also need an out-and-out striker like torres, obviously they will never be another like el nino but we need a striker. peter crouch would partner brilliantly with torres
What has N’gog done to be referred to as our ‘best young player’?? and if he is our best young player, why do we need another striker? No way is he good enough. We have far too many average players. And I said that before the tv pundits!
bring on rodriguez hes quick and we need someone like that as kuyt has to take two touche’s and is lazy we need someone well built he must be good if he is in argentina’s startin 11 he may be good but expensive dosent always buy you quality.
kuyt lazy?!?!?!?!?!?! since when?!?! i think we’ve been watching different players my friend, he runs himself into the ground for that shirt, granted he’s not in form atm, but effort is and never has been lacking.
Kuyt, lazy? I don’t think so!!! He is a headless chicken. He may lack quality, but to say he is lazy is way off the mark. Our hardest working player I would say…
How can you say Kuyt is lazy? (very confused with that one). As for Argentina’s starting eleven, it has changed every single game under Maradonna. He has giving caps out for fun, even Insua got one!!
Agree totally, Kuyt is a workhorse, superfit and runs himself into the ground everytime he dons the red shirt. That is the main, and possibly the only reason he is in the team. Sadly, and i dont want to burst anyones bubble here, Maxi is not quick by Premier League standards, granted he is gifted, but this is our problem, we have oodles of gifted players, ( Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Carragher, Johnson, Masch, Babel, N’Gog, Aurelio ), our problem is we CAN NOT get them to play well, and when we do, its not at the same time,
Rafa shouldn’t let babel go as the americans will just take it. He is quick not excellent but ok but if he goes then we are a player down and then we are a side that has no quality young player’s. Dont be harsh on him i will follow him all the way he playes better than kuyt and hes in the startin 11 and i would love to see him become one of our best players
Agree with you here Daniel, why sell Babel when we havent got a replacement, this would undemine an already depleted squad during a time of troubles. And its true, he may well be better than Kuyt, its just that he hardly ever, if ever, proves that, to me, you, the rest of the fans and most importaantly of all, the gaffer. He may well go if we can get a pre contract agreement for Chamkah, and yes your right again here, RAfa wont see the cash, Chamkah would only cost 1-2mil as he is about to leave on a free anyway. Memories of Gareth Barry leave me with a taste of scepticism with this ine though, I wont believe it until I see him in the shirt
9Million for Babel is a great price, I say we get rid of him however we need to replace him with someone decent, not another lightweight like el Zahr or Voronin !