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Don't know if it's been mentioned, but we are reportedly interested in Sarr from Watford. I quite like the kid. If we get him for like 7m, he might not be the worst option to have on the bench. Especially if we sell one of our attacking options.
Etiam si omnes, ego non
It may not be where we are at as fans - as fans we want to secure our place as a title-winning or title-challenging team on a regular basis. Whole-heartedly. But for the business model to work, Champion's League attendance is the financial differential that drives how we operate. Naturally we hope that's 1st/2nd rather than 3rd/4th. Thankfully 1st and 2nd are within the Champion's League spots.
As for your "water to wine" analogy, yes, we didn't spend on rubbish players. But can we say that we turned "milk into milkshake" as an alternative? We purchased Coutinho, who was under-valued by his club, for £8.5m, sold him for £142m and used him to purchase Alisson (£65m or so) and Van Dijk (£75m or so) for prices that, whilst undoubtedly expensive still represented good value for money - both players would for for £90m or more in a non-Covid market - I keep saying this, but under-valued doesn't always have to mean "cheap" and yet people (in general) seem to miss that point. We "won" the transfer market there in a big, big way. If we go out and spend £80m on a player (a new record for us) and signs quickly show that the player is worth £140m, that is still a perfect representation of our Modus Operandi.
Also who cares who was laughing? Rival fans? Pundits? Armchair experts? Let them laugh - who's laughing now? Us.
Mane and Salah may not have been "no-hopers" as you put it, but they certainly weren't QUITE super-stars yet either - it's precisely why we went for them - we got £100+ players for less than half of their value - that's incredible business! Partly due to data analytics, partly down to the World-class manager, partly down to scouting - particularly with temperament being something we notoriously look out for, as we want driven players.
Staying at the top is undeniably hard - that's why we have been upgrading the contracts of our best players, whilst getting an improved training facility sorted and a bigger stand sorted so as to improve revenue, both of which will facilitate player recruitment, be it from within or via transfers.
We seek squad improvement at a fraction of the cost of other teams - and we get it. It's to be applauded. If we can continue to "recruit from within" that's the next step - imagine (again, Covid changed things, but bear with) we sold Shaqiri, Lovren, Grujic, Origi and Karius while promoting Williams, Jones, Elliot, Brewster (who don't have transfer fees and where the wages are cheaper) - the squad quality doesn't drop off a cliff, we replace older assets with younger ones that have bigger growth potential on the market should we choose to sell due to their age demographic and with the money made from the sales, we can (if needed at the time) invest big money (but still at good value) into a first-team player that will lift the quality and possibly a "bargain" from a relegated club.
I fail to see the "problem" with this Modus Operandi. If it starts to show signs of really failing, then naturally we'll all talk about it to Death, but so far, so good!
Your hobbies are rollerblading and you're also a bit of a rat-hound? Steel Wool
Sid knows he's crazy and he likes it. Balinkay
We're finding value where others don't, which saves money that we can then use creatively to create more money - be it sponsorship deals, under-valued transfer acquisitions, Academy investment, stadium expansion to improve revenue - whatever. Whether or not "small" clubs operate this way or not is irrelevant to me - getting more than the sum of our parts is something that will yield more positives than negatives - helps to prevent putting the club in debt for one thing. As for whether it's the "best" - I don't know - but it's better than being owned by the Saudis, or the Chinese Government, that's for sure.
I think you're downplaying how we operate a bit there, in fairness. Klopp is the Jewel in the Crown, unquestionably - and he'll have been recruited using metrics - Fallows (Recruitment), Barry Hunter (Chief Scout), Ian Graham (Research), Alex Inglethorpe (Academy) and Julian Ward (Loan and Pathway manager) all play a part, as does of course Edwards (who heads the transfer committee and has a great relationship with Klopp) are working with great synergy and the results show. Whether or not we can be AS good without Klopp is something we won't know until 24/25 and beyond, but the chances are that we will recruit the best available Manager for the job - that is, the best "fit" - that could be Nagelsmann, that could be someone else, but we won't recruit an idiot - and we will see how the successor does in time and if needs-be, bring up discussions such as this one.
We are working on funding. That's what Stadium expansion plans are about, that's what Academy improvements are about, that's what sponsorship deals are about. By creating more players in the Academy, we either save money (which can be spent later) via not having paid a transfer fee, or we can generate money via Acamdemy-developed player sales, money which can in turn fund the progression of the squad.
Your hobbies are rollerblading and you're also a bit of a rat-hound? Steel Wool
Sid knows he's crazy and he likes it. Balinkay
As much as his reputation is utterly ruined, that's actually excellent value for Karius if you're, say, a lower-mid table club.
His save percentage when he's in form is generally between 70% and 75% - Everton (not that it would ever happen) would be upgrading on Pickford if they went after Karius, but the Muppets at Sky and red-top newspapers would obviously publicly blow up every time Karius made an error, even though he'd probably make less errors than Pickford - they'd just be higher profile - and he'd likely save a bigger percentage of shots.
We can probably get a club from the French League or Serie A to pay that.
Your hobbies are rollerblading and you're also a bit of a rat-hound? Steel Wool
Sid knows he's crazy and he likes it. Balinkay
Wonder what Odsonne Edouard would cost.
Your hobbies are rollerblading and you're also a bit of a rat-hound? Steel Wool
Sid knows he's crazy and he likes it. Balinkay
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