The 2012 Summer Transfer Window thread

[Colly]

Because of the way our national team works, it seems the move will be bad for his starting opportunities but he'll now almost certainly be a regular call up to the England squad. But hey, he's young and he'll still have time to recover from this if it doesn't work out for him so you can't blame him for taking the chance to break through there. From City's point of view I think it's a good signing - they've got a very strong base and now they should build upon that with sensible moves for talented youngsters. Though it is hard to see this not being another Adam Johnson/Scott Parker/SWP situation...

Or worse, Steve Sidwell, the weirdest of all rich club signings.

[therockbox]

Joe Allen to Liverpool confirmed.

[Hobo]

At last!

[Fudge]

Because of the way our national team works, it seems the move will be bad for his starting opportunities but he'll now almost certainly be a regular call up to the England squad. But hey, he's young and he'll still have time to recover from this if it doesn't work out for him so you can't blame him for taking the chance to break through there. From City's point of view I think it's a good signing - they've got a very strong base and now they should build upon that with sensible moves for talented youngsters. Though it is hard to see this not being another Adam Johnson/Scott Parker/SWP situation...

Or worse, Steve Sidwell, the weirdest of all rich club signings.

I never even knew Sidwell went to Chelsea!

I find it even more shocking that he managed to get 24 games for them in one season.

[9 to 5]

Do you guys know if there is any chance of Guidetti being loaned out again to Feyenoord?

I heard he may be coming to us.

[If_You_Wanna_Be_The_Man]

Interesting move for Lukaku, didn't even hear rumours about that

[IAceI]

Has Rodgers been in charge a year already?

[Matt]

Blackburn have a £2m bid for Rhodes turned down... didn't they turn down an offer of around £6m from someone in January, why would Blackburn think his valuation has fallen that drastically?

[Sam]

Maybe they chucked in a couple of chickens as well.

[Jimmy]

Higher the better, Ipswich get a percentage (I think it's quite high actually) - which is almost definitely why they'll hold out for quite a big fee. £7 million at the very least, I'd have thought.

[Adam]

Blackburn have a £2m bid for Rhodes turned down... didn't they turn down an offer of around £6m from someone in January, why would Blackburn think his valuation has fallen that drastically?

Because of this:

I really hope Joe Allen proves me wrong, but £15 million for him is arguably the dumbest of all the 'Liverpool overspending' transfers. Surely as soon as Rodgers realised it would cost that much money to take him from Swansea, he should have said "no thanks, I'm going to look elsewhere". I'm severely worried for them this season if they go in with the squad they currently have, which obviously is far from certain with three weeks left of the window.

[Nerf]

I don't know, if we consistently play like we did on Thursday, then I can't see a problem. Jonjo Shelvey was really the only weak link in that squad, and Joe Allen is obviously going to cover that role ahead of him. Even Stewart Downing looked competent. I realise that Gomel aren't exactly world class opposition, but the way we played would work against any team. I still think it's silly we went in for Allen, though, when we're rumoured to be favourites to take Nuri Sahin on loan because of Rodgers' relationship with Mourinho. I'd much rather see Sahin come in, but heh, the man has a vision and knows who he needs to execute his plans, so I'm just gonna let him do his job and see where it goes.

[Colly]

We put 5 past Hartlepool the other night. The league is ours!

[Hobo]

I'm less bothered by the price tag since its a player Rodgers knows and I'm guessing he wouldn't have signed him if he didn't think the club could benefit.

It's not quite the same as Dalglish and Comoli throwing money at players just because

[Pesci]

I really hope Joe Allen proves me wrong, but £15 million for him is arguably the dumbest of all the 'Liverpool overspending' transfers. Surely as soon as Rodgers realised it would cost that much money to take him from Swansea, he should have said "no thanks, I'm going to look elsewhere". I'm severely worried for them this season if they go in with the squad they currently have, which obviously is far from certain with three weeks left of the window.

The thing with his style of play is that it will be hard to justify to ignorant people his price tag too. I said before that I think 15m is too high, but even if he does start playing well it will be hard to convince neutrals that it was a fair price.

I'm massively worried about our squad. Relying on Gerrard and Agger with their recent injury records is a bit unnerving. Borini's unproven iin the Prem (though I'm optimistic), I think the quality of chances Downing created last season left a lot to be desired, Shelvey and Henderson are a bit wet behind the ears, Spearing and Adam are gash, I'm only confident in Skrtel when he's got Agger next to him, Reina's been prone to errors for a couple of seasons now, Enrique was looking out of his depth in the second half of last season and Johnson does get too much flack but unless he has sturdy centre backs next to him the whole time, I do get nervous.

The way I see it, Downing's almost certain to improve. If he's worse I'll eat my left bollock. If we can keep Gerrard fit, he will produce. If we can keep Agger fit, him and Skrtel will form a formidable back line once again. Lucas is a beast and will play well. If Reina is his old self again we've got one of the best goalies in the world. With a good spine in Reina, Agger, Skrtel and Lucas, our full backs can push on and have a decent season confident of the protection they're getting. If Allen settles, then we've got a fantastic midfield triumvirate of him, Lucas and Gerrard. I feel like Borini will get at least ten goals for us, and I've already got Suarez to kick on and score more than last season. So there's plenty of reasons to be optimistic. We have a pretty good first team now with the Borini and Allen signings and Lucas coming back. If we'll be let down by anything it's the lack of any real squad depth.

Essentially it really could go either way.

[Hobo]

From the looks of things I'd say Suarez and Borini could be a hell of a duo.

[Jimmy]

I really hope Carroll ends up your top scorer with like twenty or something. Just as a big "fuck you" to everyone . Allen's a good signing, though. Fee's inflated, but if he performs for you for the next 6/7 years he'll be worth every penny. I'd worry for him though if Rodgers doesn't make it to the end of the season, though I'd put good money on that he will.

[Berober]

I'm less bothered by the price tag since its a player Rodgers knows and I'm guessing he wouldn't have signed him if he didn't think the club could benefit.

It's not quite the same as Dalglish and Comoli throwing money at players just because

But... Dalglish and Adam are both Scottish... They're practically best friends!

And don't get me started on how him and Downing share the same first letter in their surname...

[SeanDMan]

Essentially it really could go either way.

Depends on whether it hits the woodwork and goes out, or whether it goes in?

[therockbox]

Allen will be the key.