Still 9 days to go in the transfer market and all the Liverpool fans have been left with nothing but frustration and question marks on their club's stale predicament in the transfer market. This was supposed to be THE Season. A Final Push for the title and that needs backing - especially from the owners. Failure - is the only word that springs to mind ever since the American owners - George Gillet & Tom Hicks have taken over the club from the Moores family. It wasn't long ago when Benitez signed a new 5-year deal with Liverpool and was subsequently promised a significant transfer budget for the following season.
From the outside it might look as if Liverpool have spent a great deal considering the following two deals:
Glen Johnson : £17.5m
Alberto Aquilani : £17m*
However people fail to realise how Benitez has used his options:
1. Portsmouth still had to pay significant amount of the Crouch deal in installments.
2. Liverpool have only paid around £3.5m upfront for Aquilani, the complete deal being in 4 part installments till June 2011.
*For those who still feel the deal was worth £20m and that I'm bluffing, here's the details of the deal from AS Roma's official website: http://www.asroma.it/UserFiles/988.pdf
AND if you have some problems with your Italian lingo here's the translated version: http://liverpoolfc.co.za/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1126051643/m/472106714
Squad players who have left Liverpool are
Paul Anderson £250k
Sebastian Leto £3m
Sami Hyypia free agent
Alvaro Arbeloa £3.5m
Jermaine Pennant free agent
Jack Hobbs £400k
Adam Hammil £1m
Add to this the biggest factor of all - Xabi Alonso to Madrid for £30m.
From the outside it might look as if Liverpool have spent a great deal considering the following two deals:
Glen Johnson : £17.5m
Alberto Aquilani : £17m*
However people fail to realise how Benitez has used his options:
1. Portsmouth still had to pay significant amount of the Crouch deal in installments.
2. Liverpool have only paid around £3.5m upfront for Aquilani, the complete deal being in 4 part installments till June 2011.
*For those who still feel the deal was worth £20m and that I'm bluffing, here's the details of the deal from AS Roma's official website: http://www.asroma.it/UserFiles/988.pdf
AND if you have some problems with your Italian lingo here's the translated version: http://liverpoolfc.co.za/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1126051643/m/472106714
Squad players who have left Liverpool are
Paul Anderson £250k
Sebastian Leto £3m
Sami Hyypia free agent
Alvaro Arbeloa £3.5m
Jermaine Pennant free agent
Jack Hobbs £400k
Adam Hammil £1m
Add to this the biggest factor of all - Xabi Alonso to Madrid for £30m.
It draws only one definite conclusion - the American owners haven't even supplied a penny in this transfer market for LFC. Benitez has worked efficiently with whatever he has (or nothing that is! ). And according to the current deals Benitez has actually made a profit by his sales and yet is unable to use the amount he raised. Reports claimed that Liverpool had actually agreed to a deal with David Silva for about £17m but the Americans refused to sanction the deal. Some claim that the Americans are using the money to fill in the debt they've mounted on the club. Benitez refused to answer any question regarding his transfer budget in yesterday's press conference. If the Americans have indeed supplied cash then we may see one more vital signing in the following week.
One More Signing...
One More Signing...
Amidst reports that Benitez has only £1.5m left in his kitty, Liverpool have their latest acquisition in Sotirios Kyrgiakos - worth £2m. I for one wouldn't be shocked to see another signing for the Reds. It does seem that Benitez does have more money then the press seems to have been unfazed by...
First, as soon as you say "transfer kitty", you lose a lot of credibility. A transfer kitty is a football management game construct that doesn't exist in the real world. In any club run like a real business, if a manager wants to buy a player he has to make a business case to the CEO. Estimated gains and losses over time - not just prize money: shirt sales, potential sponsorship, so on and so forth. Sales also have to be justified, you wouldn't just let the Liverpool manager go off and sell your biggest financial asset for a song.
You certainly don't just put together a kitty of £20 million and say to your manager: ok, go buy whoever you like, and if you sell some players then you can have x% of the value of the sale.
Second, to say that the only conclusion you can draw is that the Americans have supplied no money is missing a vital and obvious piece of evidence: they supplied £17 million for Johnson before anyone had been sold.
And no, that wasn't £10 million because Pompey owed Liverpool money. That £7 million, while not directly available in cash, was an asset against which the club could borrow money. Given that they hadn't refinanced the loan by that point, the £7 million was definitely a loss to them. Johnson cost £17 million (give or take), don't kid yourself otherwise. Likewise, Aquilani cost €20 million Euro, no matter how they choose to pay it. You can bet Liverpool fans wouldn't be happy to think that their mythical transfer kitty for the next four years has been reduced by this purchase.
Finally, even if Liverpool don't buy anyone in the next couple of days, that does not mean that the Americans weren't willing. This has been a crazy summer, mostly thanks to Man City and Madrid. Smaller clubs with big players are holding out for a big pay day (and some will be disappointed). It may be as simple as the right player not being available at the right price. Remember that if Liverpool are going to make that "final push", they're only going to be looking at very good players. As much as some Liverpool fans seem to think a trick was missed, Tuncay just isn't good enough to push the team over that line.
Notice that Man United, who don't have claims in the media about their financial problems, who indeed seem to have a good chunk of the £80 million from the Ronaldo sale, have also been very quiet in the transfer market this summer.
Do not dispair, fellow Liverpool fans. Yes, this was meant to be "our year", and no it probably won't be now. But would you rather wait another year or would you rather bankrupt the club for the sake of one premier league win?