....well maybe not just yet, but the nerves which had been building over the weekend with the transfer window rapidly closing have now subsided. Terms have been agreed with Espanyol for the highly talented left winger Albert Riera.
He possesses a vast array of skills on the ball and is quite an exciting player to watch (at times). His prior Premiership experience should count him in good stead when it comes to adapting to life with Liverpool.
Given that he has been stating for a while now that he would only consider signing for Liverpool, I think his agreeing personal terms is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Fingers crossed his medical is also a matter of mere formality, that way he'll be our player within a few days.
16 comments:
His signing to be, makes our prospects this season far more appealing. Number 19 could be just around the corner for us now. However, with Finnan being out of favour at right back and possibly leaving LFC we will be very weak in that area. Everywhere else on the pitch, we've got various options but need those same players to find their form.
Well he looks good on youtube - hope he looks good at Anfield too.
Thank god we didnt blow a fortune on him. £10m seems reasonable. Unlike the crazy money asked for Barry and Downing. English players are over hyped and a waste of space anyway.
I don't agree that the right-back position could be a problem. Stephen Darby looks ready. And there is always Carra who can operate there.
Left-back maybe more of an issue. Dossena is yet to settle and Aurelio is always injured although when fit, he is excellent. Far better than Riise was with interacting with the forwards.
Riera is a strange one. Not really rated except by some dubious Barcelona official who says on his day he is the best winger in Europe!!
Fingers crossed.
Ha ha, the blue shite must be pissed at having to miss out on another target to us :-)
Man City fans used to call him no pace buzz lightyear lookalike. It dont say much for him.
Downing a much better player for the prem and he's younger.This fella is 26 and unproven in the league I know he played for city but he did not do anything special there.Hope i am proved wrong and he is'nt a flop.
It is pointless for anyone to criticise him for when he played for Manchester City. That was 2 years ago, he has obviously improved greatly since then.
It does bother me that he was not our first choice. Silva seemed the preferred option but unfortunately too expensive for us.
All in all you have to say that Parry and the yanks have totally screwed up our transfer activities this summer...i vividly recall Rafa stating in late June that he wanted wrap up the transfer deals as earlier as possible in order to get the players he wanted bought and settled in a quickly as possible...and look whats happened..it's left to the last minute before anything is done..i hope to god Riera settles in quick and lives up to the hype, otherwise its another waste of millions...as for the full backs and Keano, well i'm yet to be convinced that they're the quality that's been missing..
If LFC are willing to pay £10m for Riera then why not buy Wright Philips too for the same price. He would definitely make an excellent winger for us.
He doesn't excite me at all, especially as we have Babel in that position. I hope this leads to Babel being used more on the right.
@dummy - I agree with you completely there.
@jessica - He does and I hope he does too ;-)
@si - i like the look of Darby but is he really ready for a full season, especially with some of the quality wingers he'll be up against. I'd love to see him break through but maybe a loan deal could do him some good first.
@danny - i definitely hope he won't be a flop. As for Downing, they were looking for a huge amount of money for him. Not sure he's worth it.
@roberto - well we all certainly hope he has improved since then ;-)
@roders25 - i'd high hopes we'd get all of our signings out of the way at the start of the season. It was a bit of joke alright. Dossena looks like a huge improvement on Riise. I'd be amazed, shocked and saddened if Keane weren't to make it. But i firmly believe he will :-)
mascherano was a major premiership flop...UNTIL he came to anfeild...u never know if it is the same case with Riera...maybe he din click at City because he had language problems like mascherano had at west ham....trust Rafa guys....he knows how to take the best out of spanish players...look what he has done with the likes of Arbeloa Reina and even Torres...YNWA
@siddharth - i think Mascherano, Reina & Torres were all destined for greatness. Rafa has a pretty darn good track record with the signings he makes and does his homework.
No manager can ever get them all right but i'll not begrudge him any flops. Hopefully Riera won't join the illustrious list of flops though.
Would welcome him and give him a chance...even if he is apparently slow...Pennent and Gonzalez had some pace and they did wonderfully for LFC rite.
@sa lfc fan - agreed, he doesn't have to be a speed demon to make it. He has a little pace, but bags of skill, am looking forward to seeing how he settles with us :-)
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