The writing had been on the wall for quite a while now, as Finnan had clearly been out of favour with Rafa. I'd hoped beyond hope that he would stay with us, but alas that's not to be. The really surprising thing though, is that he is signing for Espanyol. I'd figured another Premiership club would win his signature instead. Click to continue reading...

I remember thinking Voronin would make quite an astute free signing for us and was also even impressed with his early displays for us (link). Unfortunately he never really built on that early promise and faded into obscurity. Most people will probably remember him for his lacklustre displays, or worse by his criticising Liverpool (link) which ended up being blown out of all proportion by the media. Click to continue reading...

Our Brazilian contingent at Anfield continues to grow with the free signing of 18 year old striker Vitor Flora from Botafogo FC. He's a skillful, clever and left footed striker, but Youtube clip (link) aside, I don't know much about him. With the sheer attacking quality we have at youth level, I'm not sure where Flora is going to fit in. Click to continue reading...

....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). Click to continue reading...

....but not the one we were all hoping for. There's quite a few surprising things about the signing of David Ngog, we're getting him for a mere £1.5m, he's French (and Wenger wasn't chasing him), and at just 19 years of age he's walking into the first team squad (LINK).
He's got a pretty cool reputation at international youth level for being extremely fast and a natural goalscorer, definitely highly desired traits in a striker. Click to continue reading...

Surprise, surprise, we've signed yet another Spanish Starlet on a free (from Murcia Deportivo). It's interesting that the official Liverpool site describes Emmanuel Mendy as being 'petit' (LINK).
WTF ? How often do you hear footballers being described as 'petit' (Arsenal might beg to differ) ? Still at least they also describe him as being 'powerful' which is considerably more reassuring, although at 18 years of age, it's not like he's got much 'growing' left to do. Click to continue reading...

Well it's finally been confirmed that Scott Carson has signed for West Bromwich Albion. I'm sure we all knew his recent loss of form would hurt his resale value, but it still kinda sucks to see his value drop from £10 million last year to a mere £3.25 million (at least it covers the cost of Cavalieri). Click to continue reading...

I think it's safe to say that the signing of Diego Cavalieri for about £3 million, finally signals the end of Scott Carsons career with Liverpool. I also think it's safe to say, that Cavalieri will likely play second fiddle to Reina. If he somehow manages to displace Reina, then I reckon we'll have ourselves the best keeper in the world. Click to continue reading...

Well the writing had been on the wall all season long, so it's of little surprise that Crouchie has finally left Liverpool. Despite only having one season left on his contract, we made a tidy profit and the £11m we got for his transfer to Portsmouth should help when [if] trying to land Robbie Keane. Click to continue reading...

I was curious enough about our latest unknown youth signing (Vincent Lucas Weijl) to do a little research and was disappointed to find he was only the 40th top scorer (LINK) in the Nike A-junior Eredivisie last season.
As far as I'm aware, strikers who go on to really make it as pros are usually very prolific at youth level, so this doesn't bode too well. Click to continue reading...

.... are something which Liverpool needs. With Dossena putting pen to paper yesterday and Degen the day before that, we now have 2 full backs who [one way or the other] could bring an added dimension to our play.
My gut instinct is that Dossena will be the better of the two, with Degen showing some early promise before fading in similar fashion to Voronin. Click to continue reading...

We're at it again with the signing of yet another highly rated youngster who was also chased by Barcelona. This time it's for a 17 year old Danish striker/attacking midfielder who has some sweet skills. Not sure if anyone reading speaks Danish and might provide some further insight into this article (LINK). Click to continue reading...

I got an email tonight from someone who had checked out both the 'Transfer Zone' and 'search box' on My Anfield but couldn't find any reference to Riise signing for Roma. At first I thought they were mistaken but lo and behold the post still shows in draft status (should've clicked publish post). My bad. Click to continue reading...

A precedent was set when we signed Torres and Mascherano for huge amounts of money (worth every penny), but both are very young world class players and represent solid investments for the future.
Gareth Barry who is much older, seemed like reasonable value at £10m but Aston Villa rejected a bid of £15m, insisting they want more, which wouldn't represent as good an investment. Click to continue reading...

How is it that a player at just 25 years of age makes it through to the end of his contract [at Borussia Dortmund] without being a transfer target for anyone significant ? If Philipp Degen was really all that good how come he wasn't a target last summer for the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United (never mind the likes of Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur). Click to continue reading...

The transfer window is finally open, exciting times indeed. But for all the rumours doing the rounds about who we're going to sign this summer, there's one name which hasn't sprouted up yet.
It's well known that Liverpool has been scouting Seydou Keita who plays for Sevilla, surely they must have noticed Diego Capel who also plays for them. Click to continue reading...

It's great that LFC has started chasing players for next season, but not so great that top of the list so far is Gareth Barry (£10m bid made). We've got a crowded midfield as it is with Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Alonso and the emerging Plessis (really hope this kid makes it). Unless Alonso is being shipped out this summer, where are we going to fit Barry ? Click to continue reading...

Scott Carson has made it clear that he doesn't want any more loan moves and wants a permanent move from Liverpool. He says he'd rather play in the Championship than sit on the bench in the Champions League.
Fair enough, I can respect an attitude like that, it's so much better than many players who will happily pick up a pay check and not play any football (I'll refrain from mentioning any names! Click to continue reading...

Rafa has confirmed that Liverpool have agreements with 2 young players and also a senior player who can walk in to the Liverpool first team (LINK).
With all the constant media speculation about possible new signings, the most pragmatic I've heard yet is regarding the brazilian Rafinha (aka "Little Rafa") who plays at right back for FC Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga. Click to continue reading...

With all the recent upheavals in our club, I was beginning to doubt we'd be making any significant signings until a new manager was appointed. Fortunately that hasn't been the case as we look to have secured a winner in Skrtel and now in particular the long drawn out saga of trying to sign Mascherano has finnally come to an end and he has put pen to a 4 year contract :-)
While we won't be seeing Hicks or Gillet using their own cash, hopefully they'll borrow some more money to give us a more complete squad in the summer. Click to continue reading...

He already had a trial with us last August and his club Jaro have confirmed that he will be visiting Liverpool 2 or 3 times a year prior to a possible permanent transfer further down the road.
At just 13 years of age, the attacking midfielder is rated as yet another of Finlands most promising youngsters and if he turns out to be anywhere near as good as Lauri Dalla Valle (who was also bestowed with that tag when we signed him) then we could be in for a real treat further down the line :-) Click to continue reading...

On the final day of the transfer window, 2 more youngsters have left LFC. Besian Idrizaj who was hailed as a very promising talent when we signed him (Austrian Young Player of the Year) never really settled in Liverpool, he has returned to Austria to play with Wacker Tirol. As for 'home grown' Lee Peltier, the impressive defender has made his loan move with League One side Yeovil Town permanent. Click to continue reading...

If there's one thing which was completely obvious last summer, it's that Momo Sissoko was living on borrowed time. With the sheer quality we already had in midfield and the arrival of Lucas Leiva (who is surely destined for world class status), there was little room left for Sissoko.
I know Sissoko has taken a fair amount of stick over the years for his wayward passing, but to be fair he has been a tremendous signing for us, a true destroyer with so much energy and passion and I loved watching him play when he was on form. Click to continue reading...

Crikey, we've started signing babies now, our latest youngster to sign up is but a mere 14 years old. LFC have paid an undisclosed sum with additional payments based on his progress over the years.
While there's plenty of talk on the net about how talented the highly promising boy is, I've yet to find out what position he plays! Click to continue reading...

Despite being only 15 years old he has already impressed in Rochdales academy & reserve teams. The defender is extremely highly rated, possessing excellent leadership qualities & fantastic all round attitude.
One of the things I really like about Rafa is his determination to chase down top youth talent and build something akin to what Wenger has done with Arsenal. Click to continue reading...