Saturday, May 24, 2008
Transfer Talk Time! Haha...
It seems Rafa Benitez is sick of the La Liga market, and he seems to be wanting to raid the Italian window now. News reports are pointing that he is eyeing Italian left-back Andrea Dossena, from Udinese, and defensive midfielder, Marek Hamsik, from Napoli, as probably an alternative to Gareth Barry should Xabi Alonso leave to Italian giants Juventus.
I really think that Rafa is doing a good job so far, in keeping the prices for some players high, and doesn't seem in a rush to sell them. It should be a good strategy, as teams might start being too rushy and bid high. He needs to sell to buy, so that could by why. But on the other hand, he's quite satisfied with his squad so far, adding one or two, and isn't in a rush to buy either.
Philippe Degen and Steve Finnan are sure to compete to occupy the right-back spot. Fabio Aurelio and probably Dossena will fill the left-back spot, with Alvaro Arbeloa capable of going anywhere in defence. Emiliano Insua is also in the wings for the left-back spot, so there are more than enough, except for maybe if Finnan slowly fades out in the season, or maybe Degen and the possible signing Dossena don't live up to expectations, only then Arbeloa and Aurelio look capable of being consistent first choice should they be injury-free.
Rafa prices Peter Crouch at £15 million, but I feel he realistically knows that Crouch is at most £12 million, really at £10 million; Xabi Alonso at £16 million, but a million less should be reasonable, I feel; goalkeeper Scott Carson at £10 million, however the price is really only around £6 million, at most £8 million if Martin O'Neill is desperate; lefty John Arne Riise at £6 million I think, and it is quite reasonable for the likes of Newcastle or Aston Villa. If he manages to sell all of the above, he should get around less than £40 million in sales, pretty fine to me.
Liverpool's current targets are veteran goalkeeper Maik Taylor, presumably to sit on the bench and to train David Martin. Andrea Dossena and Marek Hamsik. Gareth Barry to give Liverpool versatility on the left flank. They also really need a better winger, or two, and one more striker will do it, should Crouch and Andriy Voronin leave. I also feel the players that can step up are Kristian Nemeth, Damien Plessis, Insua, but sparingly, not too often though.
my thoughts at 10:52 pm