Early bird transfer speculation worms (pt 4): Sulley Muntari, Steven Taylor, Boubacar Sanogo, Nihat, & Nikola Žigić

I was going to use this part to talk of players that I think should and/or will be sold, but I've decided to do one more installment of possible acquisitions. Some have been rumored, while others I've just thrown in there just in case, you know, Rafa is reading.

Sulley Muntari, CM, Portsmouth - Supposedly a replacement for Mascherano if we fail to sign the Argentine on a permanent. It makes absolute no sense to pay a rumored £15m for the 23-year-old Ghanaian, when for £2m more we can retain Masche. Both Harry Redknapp and Rafa have rubbished such rumblings, so I'm assuming it's highly ulikely. Masche is the superior player anyhow, though Muntari is very talented and has appeared to mature past the temperament displayed in Italy.

Steven Taylor, CB/LB, Newcastle - Saying I'm not sold on the soon-to-be 22-year-old is an understatement to say the least. I have to admit though, the only times I've actually seen him play was against us. Apparently we were pursuing him in the summer, before Sam Allardyce told us to piss off. I'm not sure what the situation is now and I'm also not sure if we either need or want him. He was in a tiff with Allardyce, but apparently that's been resolved. I just don't believe he'll want to come here and be a scarcely used squad player for a couple of years before getting 'regular' time. Unlikely.

Boubacar Sanogo, FW, Werder Bremen - This is speculation at it's worst since Sanogo has not been linked with our club whatsoever, but I think he's a good player, so I thought I'd include him. The Côte d'Ivoire forward would provide us with muscle in the Heskey fashion and his poacher radar is finely tuned. He's also very athletically and somewhat, if not raw, skilled. He would also come on the cheap at around £4m, though I'm not sure Werder would sell him. He is somewhat inconsistent as well, though with Gerrard and Torres being just the opposite, maybe a player of the goals-in-bunches persuasion would be good for our side. Unlikely anyhow. Here's a compilation of him while he was with Kaiserslautern.


Nihat, FW, Villareal - Nihat Kahveci is a goal-scoring machine. The Turk has scored 169 league goals in 282 matches in the Turkish Super League and La Liga. He has scored 19 in 25 league matches for Villareal so far and 57 in 115 appearances for Real Sociedad, when he was there. The thing is, a lot of his goals are wholly unimpressive, yet deceiving as well. He just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, a poacher extraordinairre, and his finishing is impeccable. I like him a lot, but he is 28, and he did join El Submarino Amarillo on a Bosman, plus I'm unsure they'd be willing to sell nor he'd want to come. Anyhow, if so, more than £6m would be mental. Unlikely.


Nikola Žigić, FW, Valencia CF - Apparently Žigić, who just joined Los Che this past summer, is on his way out with Koeman's housecleaning project at the club. He's tall at 2.02 meters, but has struggled to maintain the same scoring rate in Spain as he did in Serbia. Honestly, he'd be more expensive at around £10m than Nihat or Sanogo, and really hasn't proven to be much better than those two, so if we are in need of striker in January, he'd be pretty far down the list. Somewhat likely.


Next up should be the chopping list. Cheers.

Early bird transfer speculation worms (pt 1): David Albelda, David Villa, Nicolas Anelka, Jérôme Rothen, & Ezequiel Garay

Since this is my first official January transfer window post, I thought I'd might as well get the delirium tremens out of my system. Whether we have funds or not, it's always fun to dream.

Nicolas Anelka, FW, Bolton - Laugh all you want, but Anelka would be an incredible re-addition to the club. Why we never kept him, I'll never know, the guy just scores goals and according to Steven Gerrard, was never a problem at the club. The issue is Bolton, are they willing to sell and for how much? Not sure we'd be willing to pay an absurd price, but I don't see £10m + Danny Guthrie being too much to ask. Man City is said to be interested as well, but Anelka has said in the past that he regrets not being able to stay at Liverpool, so I think we have the edge when it comes to player preference. A big plus is that, unlike a player like David Villa, he isn't cup-tied when it comes to Champions League. Unlikely.

David Villa, FW, Valencia - I can only imagine and drool over the thought of having Villa and Torres lining up together. Where Torres is the power and the pace, Villa would be the cunning and conniving. Don't get me wrong, as he has displayed on more than one occasion this season, Torres has quite a few tricks up his sleeves, but Villa is just a more refined product. He is three years older after all. The issue, as with most prospects, is price and availability. Though he pledged his future to Valencia this past summer, things down in the Estadio Mestalla aren't looking too bright at the moment. If he wants to come, I don't see how we can pass on him, transfer funds or no transfer funds, a talent of his level is a rarity and if we have to give Valencia Dirk Kuyt, John Arne Riise, and an I.O.U. for £10m, we should. We should do whatever we have to. It's true he's Champions League cup-tied, but ultimately I think we could use him to give Torres some Premiership matches off, so El Niño would be fresh for CL. Still, highly unlikely.

David Albelda, CM/CB, Valencia - Speaking of chaos at Estadio Mestalla, Valencia manager announced today that team captain Albelda and regular starting keeper Santiago Cañizares have been given an early Christmas vacation and might not be welcomed back into the squad for the rest of the season. Albelda, a defensive-minded midfielder who has played centre back at times in his career, would certainly be a welcomed addition to our side, easing up some defensive issues. Unlike Villa, Albelda was at Valencia when Benitez was manager, so if there's any possibility of him going elsewhere, it looks as if we may have a leg-up. Like Villa though, he's CL cup-tied, but he'd get sufficient time in the Premiership and hopefully Carling and FA Cup ties. Another plus is that he'd probably be a bargain, seeing that he's basically collecting dust and a paycheck for Los Che. Somewhat likely.

Jérôme Rothen, LW, PSG - The 29-year-old Frenchman would certainly solve all our left-wing issues, at least temporarily or until we can pry Valencia's hands from David Silva. The biggest plus, other than he's pretty damn good, is that he's Champions League ready which would also be a lure as he has mentioned his desire to return to the elite competition in the past. He was part of the Monaco side that lost to José Mourinho and FC Porto in the 2004 final. I'm not sure what his valuation is set at, but paying more than £6m would seem a waste. Sure, he's a left winger and all, but he is 29. Somewhat likely. Another negative is that he, like Harry Kewell, has been cursed with fans who make videos with questionable music. I have nothing against the Pet Shop Boys nor the Village People, but putting them together just doesn't 'do it' for me. Exhibit A:


Ezequiel Garay, CB/RB, Racing de Santander - I wrote a post on this kid a while back and if we move Riise in January, it's looking more and more likely that he's coming. With Arbeloa and Garay, Benitez will be able to rotate more like the mad man he now appears to be just a shadow of. Likely.

Part 2: Daniel Alves, Fernando Amorebieta, Kakha Kaladze, Jonathan Zebina, Francesco Modesto, & more

Today's Banter: Bellamy named Welsh FOY, BBC half-ass apologizes, Injury update, & more

Congratulations to Craig Bellamy who was named Footballer of the Year for Wales, beating out the likes of Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale. Anytime a Liverpool player, former or not, beats out a Man U player for something, the sun seems to shine a little brighter. It was the first time the 28-year-old striker has won the award. The always humble Bells was surprised to win, but thought he was more deserving in previous years. I sometimes wonder if he was still with our side, what kind of contribution he'd make. Outside of leading the club in offside calls that is.

The BBC just doesn't get it. In their apology for an Eastenders character making remarks about Heysel, Hillsborough, and hooliganism, they claim it was 'misinterpreted.' Any chance of such a notion should be avoided when referencing such a sensitive subject. The causes and the consequences of those events are much too complicated for a television show to handle in just a matter of a couple of lines. Stick to the lame-ass imaginary story lines and stop trying to mix in reality where real people were/are killed and other real people were/are traumatized because of it. Moving on...

There's a good chance that Daniel Agger will be back for the Newcastle match at St. James Park. The 22-year-old Dane is expected to return to full training next week. Since Hyypiä will probably play for Finland next Tuesday, the young centre back's return couldn't come at a better time. Yossi Benayoun could be back in action for the Tyneside tie as well, but Xabi Alonso will be at least an additional week if not more.

In transfer market news, Rafa is ready to sell Scott Carson to Villa if the club are prepared to meet his valuation. It is thought that Benitez wants at least £9m for him. I wonder if we waited until the summer, we could get a bit more for him, especially since Arsene Wenger is an admirer and is in need of a better goalie. Of course, if we could use that money to sign Masche on a permanent, there's no question we should sell.

Sticking to transfers, we are apparently interested in Juventus defender Jonathan Zebina. The 29-year-old Frenchman has apparently fallen out of favor with Claudio Reyna at the Old Lady and could be available in the January transfer window. He can play both right-back and central defense. I say if the price is right, why not? The more the merrier, as long as he doesn't mind not playing every match.

In the laughable news category, apparently Hamburg SV stole the next greatest striker in the world, Macauley Chrisantus, out from under us and every other big club in the world. Let's see here, a youth player has a great U17 World Cup, gets hyped up and apparently everyone wants him. Well, that always works out... *cough* Anthony LeTallec *cough* *cough* Florent Sinama-Pongolle *cough*... We've learned our lesson there.

Finally, in the pot -> kettle -> black category, Real Madrid youth coach Michel took a cheap shot at us for 'stealing' 16-year-old Argentine Gerardo Bruna after the young forward had spent the three previous seasons with the Spanish club. Michel goes on to say, “How many young players taken by Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have played for their first team? They sign the boy to a contract, make all sorts of promises and then put him in their reserves and never give him a competitive game.” Ha ha ha... is he kidding? Two words: Alvaro Arbeloa. Cheers.