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Football: Brendan has the last laugh


Iskaral Pust

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2 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

 

It seems absolutely unfair that we can sign a player like this for only 7.25m.  He looked very good in both games against us — I think Michael Edwards has unlocked some FM cheat codes. And it would be great to have a higher quality back-up to our front three.

I know you have to be wary of buying players just because they looked great when playing against you, but this guy seems to have been a key part of Salzburg’s success.  And just like Ajax last year, it is a pity to see Salzburg losing their players already. 

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Melissa Reddy confirming the Minamino transfer too :)

 

 

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For all the understandable headlines and hype around Erling Haaland, Minamino is considered the standout star at Salzburg.

Liverpool have fended off competition from Manchester United to agree a January deal in principle with Red Bull Salzburg for Takumi Minamino, who has a paltry release clause of just £7.25million.

Christoph Freund, sporting director of the Austrian champions, told The Independent this week that the 24-year-old is ready to accelerate his development at one of Europe’s elite clubs after five years of service. 

Liverpool’s excellent off-field relationship with Salzburg - their new £50million training base was inspired by their Champions League group opponents - has helped them push past a queue of interest in Minamino, which includes United and several Bundesliga sides.

Described as modest, warm and engaging, he initially was homesick in Austria, but it never showed in his performances. He would often treat his translator, Yuki, to days out in Munich so they could sample the Japanese cuisine there.

Minamino is extremely popular with the dressing room and staff at Salzburg for his excellence on the pitch and his humility off it. In almost 200 appearances for the club, he has produced 64 goals and 44 assists, with 18 of those contributions coming in Europe.

Minamino is able to operate as a playmaker, as a progressive No 8, off either flank or as the focal point of the attack. To add to his versatility, he possesses an incredible engine and has hardly suffered injury in his career. His lengthiest sideline spell was an absence of 10 games in 2017 due to an intra-articular ligament issue. 

 

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9 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

It seems absolutely unfair that we can sign a player like this for only 7.25m.  He looked very good in both games against us — I think Michael Edwards has unlocked some FM cheat codes. And it would be great to have a higher quality back-up to our front three.

It does seem like a great deal for Liverpool. He looked good in both the games against us, I haven't watched a huge amount of Austrian football so I don't really have much of an opinion of his actual quality but there's clearly at least some potential there to be a decent player. At £7.25 million in the current market even if he doesn't turn out to be good enough to play for Liverpool so long as he's a mid table in the Premier League level forward we should make a profit.

It is a bit of a shame if both him and Haaland are leaving in January though. Ok selling players on is Salzburg's model but they could have had a decent run in the Europa League with their current side.

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13 minutes ago, The Winged Shadow said:

Minamino coming in probably means no contract extension for Lallana and Milner for next season. With Milner replacement being a fullback hopefully!

I think Milner will want to go to Leeds to finish off his career if they get promoted anyway. 

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The first half of our game yesterday was a crime against football. Much, much better second half though. AZ's gameplan backfired - looked like they planned to go balls to the wall with their pressing in the 1st half with the hope of taking a lead into halftime but overextended themselves which led to a loss of intensity in the 2nd half. Once the intensity fell off, Mata had time and space on the ball to dictate play - Mata still has the technical ability but not the legs anymore to cope with highly mobile opposition who press well. Greenwood and Williams were the standout performers. The Matic-Garner midfield pivot was decent enough - they didn't do much in terms of progressing play but didn't make any mistakes either. 

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7 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Jurgen Klopp has extended his contract to 2024.  Fantastic news for the club and fans.

I just came here to post that. I didn’t think he was going to sign an extension beyond his current deal to be honest after finishing he previous two stints at Dortmund and Mainz after 7 years it seemed likely he’d do the same at Liverpool. Great news.

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6 hours ago, The Winged Shadow said:

Minamino coming in probably means no contract extension for Lallana and Milner for next season. With Milner replacement being a fullback hopefully!

Wasn't Lallana supposed to be on his way out before the start of this season anyway? Anyway, I think the short term idea is probably Brewster out on loan in January, and potentially Shaq out end of the season. Milner could leave after this season, I could however also see Klopp offering him an extension with the prospect of joining the coaching staff in the future.

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55 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

Not keen on Milner extending. I'm sure he's a positive presence in the dressing room, but he's mostly been poor when he's played for the last year.

People get distracted by his great pre-season shape, but he's like that because all the fucker does is jog. He spends his whole summer jogging.

Stick him in a game though and it's clear to all that too much stuff passes him by now.

Yeah I just don’t really want him starting games in midfield anymore. He’s decent fullback depth though

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I think Milner signed knowing he won't play as much (like this season) and he might get to do his badges in the mean time so he can be Leeds' OSG!

Kinda glad he signed as it means hopefully more of Milner and Robbo lfctv shows lol

I guess Klopp still values him as a senior and role model for youngins. Which is fair enough. Hard to buy that these days.

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On 12/12/2019 at 5:50 AM, Iskaral Pust said:

It seems absolutely unfair that we can sign a player like this for only 7.25m.  He looked very good in both games against us — I think Michael Edwards has unlocked some FM cheat codes. And it would be great to have a higher quality back-up to our front three.

I know you have to be wary of buying players just because they looked great when playing against you, but this guy seems to have been a key part of Salzburg’s success.  And just like Ajax last year, it is a pity to see Salzburg losing their players already. 

Press Association are saying that ManUnited had been tracking him long term with an eye on a summer 2020 transfer, but they weren't aware of his 7.5mil transfer clause.

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