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With Liverpool likely looking to step up their search for a goalkeeper signing this summer, links with Fiorentina stopper Neto have re-emerged.
Stefano Castagna, speaking to Italian television channel Gazzetta TV, speculated on the future of the Brazilian goalkeeper, who sees his contract with Fiorentina expire at the end of the season.
“The only thing that is official is that Neto will not be staying in Florence,” Castagna claimed.
“Since February 1st, when it became possible to talk to other clubs, we’ve been evaluating offers that are interesting for the lad, in England, Germany and Spain in addition to Italy.
“One of those in England is Liverpool, and then there is a top Spanish club interested in him. Right now, the lad has to make a well pondered decision for his career.”
Naturally, Castagna has high hopes for Neto, and sought to fluff up his feathers somewhat, declaring: “He’s young and he’s grown a great deal, but even when he was 18 he was one of the best in Brazil.”
However, he did remain realistic about Neto’s first-team hopes at some of the clubs he has been linked with—Juventus are speculated as a potential destination for the goalkeeper, but he would likely find himself behind Italy No. 1 Gianluigi Buffon in Turin.
“If you decide to join a top club then it’s obvious you’re competing with other good goalkeepers.
“But if you join one of the top 10 clubs in Europe, then it’s an opportunity you’ve obviously got to fight for.”
Neto would be challenging Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper Simon Mignolet if he were to move to Merseyside in the summer, and there is cause to debate whether he would be much of an upgrade.
The Brazilian has kept eight clean sheets in 20 Serie A games this season, while Mignolet has kept 12 in 28 Premier League appearances.
Neto’s rate of games per clean sheet (2.5) is slightly worse than Mignolet’s (2.3), and the Belgian has also conceded marginally less goals per game (0.96) than his Florence counterpart (1).
Linked with a move to Liverpool earlier this season, Neto received a rather unflattering appraisal from The Times writer Rory Smith:
With Mignolet improving in form, it would suggest that Neto’s signing would more placate the expected departure of current No. 2 goalkeeper, Brad Jones.
If Liverpool are to sign a goalkeeper able to compete productively with Mignolet, Club Brugge’s Mathew Ryan, linked back in January, may be a wiser target than Neto.
Should Liverpool target Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto in January? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments are retrospectively moderated. Some could be subject to delays before publication. They must obey the
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With Liverpool likely looking to step up their search for a goalkeeper signing this summer, links with Fiorentina stopper Neto have re-emerged.
Stefano Castagna, speaking to Italian television channel Gazzetta TV, speculated on the future of the Brazilian goalkeeper, who sees his contract with Fiorentina expire at the end of the season.
“The only thing that is official is that Neto will not be staying in Florence,” Castagna claimed.
“Since February 1st, when it became possible to talk to other clubs, we’ve been evaluating offers that are interesting for the lad, in England, Germany and Spain in addition to Italy.
“One of those in England is Liverpool, and then there is a top Spanish club interested in him. Right now, the lad has to make a well pondered decision for his career.”
Naturally, Castagna has high hopes for Neto, and sought to fluff up his feathers somewhat, declaring: “He’s young and he’s grown a great deal, but even when he was 18 he was one of the best in Brazil.”
However, he did remain realistic about Neto’s first-team hopes at some of the clubs he has been linked with—Juventus are speculated as a potential destination for the goalkeeper, but he would likely find himself behind Italy No. 1 Gianluigi Buffon in Turin.
“If you decide to join a top club then it’s obvious you’re competing with other good goalkeepers.
“But if you join one of the top 10 clubs in Europe, then it’s an opportunity you’ve obviously got to fight for.”
Neto would be challenging Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper Simon Mignolet if he were to move to Merseyside in the summer, and there is cause to debate whether he would be much of an upgrade.
The Brazilian has kept eight clean sheets in 20 Serie A games this season, while Mignolet has kept 12 in 28 Premier League appearances.
Neto’s rate of games per clean sheet (2.5) is slightly worse than Mignolet’s (2.3), and the Belgian has also conceded marginally less goals per game (0.96) than his Florence counterpart (1).
Linked with a move to Liverpool earlier this season, Neto received a rather unflattering appraisal from The Times writer Rory Smith:
With Mignolet improving in form, it would suggest that Neto’s signing would more placate the expected departure of current No. 2 goalkeeper, Brad Jones.
If Liverpool are to sign a goalkeeper able to compete productively with Mignolet, Club Brugge’s Mathew Ryan, linked back in January, may be a wiser target than Neto.
Should Liverpool target Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto in January? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments are retrospectively moderated. Some could be subject to delays before publication. They must obey the
. Comments load below.
As the Raheem Sterling contract furore rumbles on, the Liverpool forward would be wise to stay at Anfield, says Danny Gallagher.
I’m approximately 22 months Raheem Sterling’s senior and, were I to be offered the £30,000 per week which the forward currently pockets, I’d be politely enquiring as to where the hot coals were located that I could walk across – over and over again, and quite willingly at that.
But then again there is the small fact that I haven’t made 120 appearances for Liverpool before my 21st birthday and been capped 14 times by my country in the process.
I’m quietly confident most of you haven’t either.
Secondly, I’ll make it clear from the outset that the theme here is Sterling holding out for a reported £150,000 a week, not the incredibly tenuous and almost nonsensical reports recently emanating from the Daily Mail that the winger is poised to reject a staggering offer in the region of £180,000.
Sterling has made headlines consistently this season, whether deserved or not. A vast majority of the time he has warranted them undoubtedly with some quite splendid performances, but recently the media appear transfixed in blotting his name in ink for even donning a pair of boots.
So let’s talk in football terms – football in 2015.
It’s quite a modern phenomenon for fans of Premier League clubs to hear reports of their teams’ spending habits and greet the news with utter outrage, as though the money splurged is their own.
I suppose in some slightly unhinged way it is, as fans pump millions into clubs by following them all over the globe.
But any player asking for a pay-rise or conversely taking a pay-cut will have no bearing upon the extortionate and ever growing ticket prices across the country.
The sad indictment of football today decrees that the same Kopites who are now priced out of attending home games will still have to resort to watching the Reds in a pub somewhere, over the same sticky bar coated in lager residue and debris of dry-roasted peanuts, whether players like Sterling take home £30,000 or £250,000 per week.
In many aspects it’s disgusting, but that is the nature of Premier League football today, a booming global business where the players are no longer mere athletes but worldwide celebrities.
Figures
Sterling arrived on Merseyside for a meagre £600,000 – pocket money considering the value he would fetch in the current market.
Here the figures are important; those of a statistical kind, not monetary. Of his 2421 minutes played this season, Sterling has found the back of the net ten times and provided assists on seven occasions.
This, coming in a season which has seen his flexibility tried and tested – as a false nine, in the hole, out wide or indeed as a conventional wing-back.
At 20 years old and the second youngest debutant in the club’s history, the frightening potential of Sterling is Europe’s worst-kept secret.
Acclaim
The meteoric rise of the Jamaican-born forward led manager Brendan Rodgers to label him “the best young player in European football” back in April 2014.
Here an awkward dilemma reared its ugly head. Like it or not, branding an individual the finest in their category in the world raises serious status-related questions.
Unfortunately, today’s football is just as much about egos as it is astronomical wages, and sadly these two elements are becoming increasingly entwined.
You only have to look at Cristiano Ronaldo demanding a pay increase following the arrival of Gareth Bale at Real Madrid to see prime evidence of this.
Sterling’s – or more likely his agent’s – reported demands of £150,000 are no doubt loaded with implicit reference to the earnings of Daniel Sturridge, who alongside Sterling is seen as the core foundations of Rodgers’ architectural project of pacey, pressing attack.
Judgment Time
The logic thrown around by Sterling’s people behind the scenes at Anfield likely followed the plot of: ‘if you think the boy’s the best youngster in Europe pay him accordingly, put your money where your mouth is.’
Sterling will perhaps be the first to admit that his rapid development would not have come about at such a ferocious speed anywhere other than Liverpool, after the meticulous detail and time invested in him by Rodgers.
It is easy to see why a pay increase of £70,000 allegedly being rebuffed is being greeted with hostility and viewed on the Kop as audacious.
The old chestnut ‘no player is bigger than the club’ has already begun to do the rounds, and rightly so – but considering the implications of his sale, losing Sterling makes no apparent sense for any of the parties involved.
The grass isn’t always greener, as Messrs Owen and Torres came to realise. Following the same negative suit at such a precarious developmental stage in his career would be suicidal for Sterling’s ambitions.
Transfer Policy
“He doesn’t deserve 150K a week, let him walk,” may be the held view of some, but whichever way you look at it, Sterling’s exponential growth over the past two seasons warrants a hefty increase, and cashing in on the trickster wouldn’t offer any immediate benefit to a developing Liverpool side.
Young, potential-laden and extremely tactically flexible – three core qualities Liverpool lose should Sterling ply his trade elsewhere. More importantly, three of the most valued traits which Fenway Sports Group search for when considering transfer investment.
Were he not already sporting the iconic red shirt, Sterling would be dream acquisition for FSG. Sterling’s already high European profile dictates that, should he leave Anfield, his successor would have to be of a similar ilk.
With all reasonable thought therefore, what sort of players are we considering here? Julian Draxler? Memphis Depay? Juan Iturbe?
All said players would command a considerable transfer fee, such is the norm with the ‘wonderkid’ brand. These kids are like the shiny collector stickers everyone wanted in a Panini pack – given exclusive status, sometimes before thoroughly earning it.
Transfer fee aside, surely their hypothetical big move then commands a big wage – somewhere in the region of Sterling’s purported £100,000 perhaps? Who knows?
Is it quite ironic that said developments would probably receive less attention than a new contract. Suddenly sceptics are more preoccupied cycling through the exciting motions of welcoming a new superstar; monetary concerns numbed by hysteria and swept under the carpet.
The current situation is untimely and far from ideal, a striking representation of player power and agent muscle-flexing.
Given his progression and unlimited potential, Raheem is certainly worth the Sterling, but he needs to clear the fog, sign on the dotted line and prove indefinitely that he merits every penny.
Would Raheem Sterling be best served staying at Liverpool for the long-term? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments are retrospectively moderated. Some could be subject to delays before publication. They must obey the
. Comments load below.
As the Raheem Sterling contract furore rumbles on, the Liverpool forward would be wise to stay at Anfield, says Danny Gallagher.
I’m approximately 22 months Raheem Sterling’s senior and, were I to be offered the £30,000 per week which the forward currently pockets, I’d be politely enquiring as to where the hot coals were located that I could walk across – over and over again, and quite willingly at that.
But then again there is the small fact that I haven’t made 120 appearances for Liverpool before my 21st birthday and been capped 14 times by my country in the process.
I’m quietly confident most of you haven’t either.
Secondly, I’ll make it clear from the outset that the theme here is Sterling holding out for a reported £150,000 a week, not the incredibly tenuous and almost nonsensical reports recently emanating from the Daily Mail that the winger is poised to reject a staggering offer in the region of £180,000.
Sterling has made headlines consistently this season, whether deserved or not. A vast majority of the time he has warranted them undoubtedly with some quite splendid performances, but recently the media appear transfixed in blotting his name in ink for even donning a pair of boots.
So let’s talk in football terms – football in 2015.
It’s quite a modern phenomenon for fans of Premier League clubs to hear reports of their teams’ spending habits and greet the news with utter outrage, as though the money splurged is their own.
I suppose in some slightly unhinged way it is, as fans pump millions into clubs by following them all over the globe.
But any player asking for a pay-rise or conversely taking a pay-cut will have no bearing upon the extortionate and ever growing ticket prices across the country.
The sad indictment of football today decrees that the same Kopites who are now priced out of attending home games will still have to resort to watching the Reds in a pub somewhere, over the same sticky bar coated in lager residue and debris of dry-roasted peanuts, whether players like Sterling take home £30,000 or £250,000 per week.
In many aspects it’s disgusting, but that is the nature of Premier League football today, a booming global business where the players are no longer mere athletes but worldwide celebrities.
Figures
Sterling arrived on Merseyside for a meagre £600,000 – pocket money considering the value he would fetch in the current market.
Here the figures are important; those of a statistical kind, not monetary. Of his 2421 minutes played this season, Sterling has found the back of the net ten times and provided assists on seven occasions.
This, coming in a season which has seen his flexibility tried and tested – as a false nine, in the hole, out wide or indeed as a conventional wing-back.
At 20 years old and the second youngest debutant in the club’s history, the frightening potential of Sterling is Europe’s worst-kept secret.
Acclaim
The meteoric rise of the Jamaican-born forward led manager Brendan Rodgers to label him “the best young player in European football” back in April 2014.
Here an awkward dilemma reared its ugly head. Like it or not, branding an individual the finest in their category in the world raises serious status-related questions.
Unfortunately, today’s football is just as much about egos as it is astronomical wages, and sadly these two elements are becoming increasingly entwined.
You only have to look at Cristiano Ronaldo demanding a pay increase following the arrival of Gareth Bale at Real Madrid to see prime evidence of this.
Sterling’s – or more likely his agent’s – reported demands of £150,000 are no doubt loaded with implicit reference to the earnings of Daniel Sturridge, who alongside Sterling is seen as the core foundations of Rodgers’ architectural project of pacey, pressing attack.
Judgment Time
The logic thrown around by Sterling’s people behind the scenes at Anfield likely followed the plot of: ‘if you think the boy’s the best youngster in Europe pay him accordingly, put your money where your mouth is.’
Sterling will perhaps be the first to admit that his rapid development would not have come about at such a ferocious speed anywhere other than Liverpool, after the meticulous detail and time invested in him by Rodgers.
It is easy to see why a pay increase of £70,000 allegedly being rebuffed is being greeted with hostility and viewed on the Kop as audacious.
The old chestnut ‘no player is bigger than the club’ has already begun to do the rounds, and rightly so – but considering the implications of his sale, losing Sterling makes no apparent sense for any of the parties involved.
The grass isn’t always greener, as Messrs Owen and Torres came to realise. Following the same negative suit at such a precarious developmental stage in his career would be suicidal for Sterling’s ambitions.
Transfer Policy
“He doesn’t deserve 150K a week, let him walk,” may be the held view of some, but whichever way you look at it, Sterling’s exponential growth over the past two seasons warrants a hefty increase, and cashing in on the trickster wouldn’t offer any immediate benefit to a developing Liverpool side.
Young, potential-laden and extremely tactically flexible – three core qualities Liverpool lose should Sterling ply his trade elsewhere. More importantly, three of the most valued traits which Fenway Sports Group search for when considering transfer investment.
Were he not already sporting the iconic red shirt, Sterling would be dream acquisition for FSG. Sterling’s already high European profile dictates that, should he leave Anfield, his successor would have to be of a similar ilk.
With all reasonable thought therefore, what sort of players are we considering here? Julian Draxler? Memphis Depay? Juan Iturbe?
All said players would command a considerable transfer fee, such is the norm with the ‘wonderkid’ brand. These kids are like the shiny collector stickers everyone wanted in a Panini pack – given exclusive status, sometimes before thoroughly earning it.
Transfer fee aside, surely their hypothetical big move then commands a big wage – somewhere in the region of Sterling’s purported £100,000 perhaps? Who knows?
Is it quite ironic that said developments would probably receive less attention than a new contract. Suddenly sceptics are more preoccupied cycling through the exciting motions of welcoming a new superstar; monetary concerns numbed by hysteria and swept under the carpet.
The current situation is untimely and far from ideal, a striking representation of player power and agent muscle-flexing.
Given his progression and unlimited potential, Raheem is certainly worth the Sterling, but he needs to clear the fog, sign on the dotted line and prove indefinitely that he merits every penny.
Would Raheem Sterling be best served staying at Liverpool for the long-term? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments are retrospectively moderated. Some could be subject to delays before publication. They must obey the
. Comments load below.
Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva is looking to recapture what he considers his best form in two years after recovering from injury.
He was an unused substitute in the defeat by Manchester United immediately before the international break, their first in the league since mid-December, but played 90 minutes in Sunday’s All-Star Charity game at Anfield.
Lucas’ return to fitness could not have come at a more opportune moment, with captain Steven Gerrard suspended for three matches for his sending off against United, and the Brazilian is hoping to slot back in seamlessly after injury halted what was turning into a good season personally.
“I was in a very good moment, probably the best moment in the last couple of years, and I had a good run of games,” he said.
“The beginning of the season wasn’t good for me because I couldn’t play much, but as soon as I got back in the team I think I helped a lot.
“I don’t know if Stevie’s suspension will change things because the team were playing well, but I need to be ready and there are a lot of games to play and the FA Cup as well, so everyone will be needed.
“I need to be ready and if I get a chance again I need to be at the same level I was before I was injured.”
Fifth-placed Liverpool head to Arsenal on Saturday knowing they cannot realistically afford to lose if they are to keep pace with the top four, but in addition to Gerrard’s absence they will also be missing centre-back Martin Skrtel, a virtual ever-present this season, after he was retrospectively banned for standing on United goalkeeper David de Gea.
“Martin is having a fantastic season again. He has been a very consistent player for us and losing him and Stevie is hard to take, but if you want to be successful you can’t rely on one or two players,” Lucas told liverpoolfc.com.
“Both are very important players for us as one can change a game and the other gives us stability at the back, but we have other players as well who can step in.
“It’s always been the case for the group that if someone gets injured then someone will step in and do the job.
“That’s how it should be and we shouldn’t be afraid we don’t have them.
“Of course it’s going to be a big miss not having Stevie and Skrts, but we have to show we can cope for the three games and then we have them back ready to go again.”
Lucas rejected the chance to have some time off during the international break in order to make sure he was fully fit for the resumption of the Premier League.
“I feel great. Leading up to the Manchester United game I had a full week of training as well, so it’s been two weeks of full training,” he said. “I was available for the Manchester United game, but probably wasn’t able to play the whole game. Now I feel 100 per cent.
“Of course it’s good to have a few days off, but I was away in Brazil while I was having my treatment so it was the right decision to stay here and keep working during the international break.
“If you get too many days off you don’t get the sharpness and the rhythm of the training session and that’s what I was missing.
“I spoke with the staff and they prepared everything for me as well to make me feel as though I’m in good condition, so it’s looking good and hopefully it will only get better.
“Now it’s just a question of getting some minutes and training sessions, so that’s what I need and what I’m having.
“Leading into the Arsenal game that’s going to be good, because I will have had three full weeks of training and I’m looking forward to it.”
PA
Comments are retrospectively moderated. Some could be subject to delays before publication. They must obey the
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Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva is looking to recapture what he considers his best form in two years after recovering from injury.
He was an unused substitute in the defeat by Manchester United immediately before the international break, their first in the league since mid-December, but played 90 minutes in Sunday’s All-Star Charity game at Anfield.
Lucas’ return to fitness could not have come at a more opportune moment, with captain Steven Gerrard suspended for three matches for his sending off against United, and the Brazilian is hoping to slot back in seamlessly after injury halted what was turning into a good season personally.
“I was in a very good moment, probably the best moment in the last couple of years, and I had a good run of games,” he said.
“The beginning of the season wasn’t good for me because I couldn’t play much, but as soon as I got back in the team I think I helped a lot.
“I don’t know if Stevie’s suspension will change things because the team were playing well, but I need to be ready and there are a lot of games to play and the FA Cup as well, so everyone will be needed.
“I need to be ready and if I get a chance again I need to be at the same level I was before I was injured.”
Fifth-placed Liverpool head to Arsenal on Saturday knowing they cannot realistically afford to lose if they are to keep pace with the top four, but in addition to Gerrard’s absence they will also be missing centre-back Martin Skrtel, a virtual ever-present this season, after he was retrospectively banned for standing on United goalkeeper David de Gea.
“Martin is having a fantastic season again. He has been a very consistent player for us and losing him and Stevie is hard to take, but if you want to be successful you can’t rely on one or two players,” Lucas told liverpoolfc.com.
“Both are very important players for us as one can change a game and the other gives us stability at the back, but we have other players as well who can step in.
“It’s always been the case for the group that if someone gets injured then someone will step in and do the job.
“That’s how it should be and we shouldn’t be afraid we don’t have them.
“Of course it’s going to be a big miss not having Stevie and Skrts, but we have to show we can cope for the three games and then we have them back ready to go again.”
Lucas rejected the chance to have some time off during the international break in order to make sure he was fully fit for the resumption of the Premier League.
“I feel great. Leading up to the Manchester United game I had a full week of training as well, so it’s been two weeks of full training,” he said. “I was available for the Manchester United game, but probably wasn’t able to play the whole game. Now I feel 100 per cent.
“Of course it’s good to have a few days off, but I was away in Brazil while I was having my treatment so it was the right decision to stay here and keep working during the international break.
“If you get too many days off you don’t get the sharpness and the rhythm of the training session and that’s what I was missing.
“I spoke with the staff and they prepared everything for me as well to make me feel as though I’m in good condition, so it’s looking good and hopefully it will only get better.
“Now it’s just a question of getting some minutes and training sessions, so that’s what I need and what I’m having.
“Leading into the Arsenal game that’s going to be good, because I will have had three full weeks of training and I’m looking forward to it.”
PA
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