robbo_11

Can see why we didn't go for Madueke. Poor defensively and don't think he would fit well with Eddie's patterns.

The agent is just trying to keep the noise up - nothing in any of the updates. Isak has behaved terribly in the hope we soften our stance, but we shouldn't accept anything under £150m and with a replacement/s. This looks unlikely to happen so he either writes his season off or knuckles down by taking the flak. We shouldn't be offering him a new deal and I questioned if that was true or spin by Romano. Personally if I was a fan of another club not sure I'd want him with the baggage he will come with. His agent is 60 and looking for a big pay out, but realistically he will want another before he is 65 so Liverpool might as well enjoy him for 2-3 seasons then watch him go to Real Madrid or PSG.

'Table for Thiaw' Wetherspoons announcement incoming

Not that I'm aware of, same agency as Isak so we might have decided to dump him rather than work with them to get him loaned out.

I think they'll do a thank you communications about Eales since he isn't with the club anymore ahead of introducing the new CEO which clears that situation up. It has been 'imminent' for weeks now.

I agree - I think we see the new CEO announced before the start of the season as well. They'll do all the media work and then gives them a chance to be at the first home match on the 25th.

If you look at it from the other side, say he signs for Liverpool at the £150m mark we want, they'll be happy and rightly so. However once he has won a title with them and Real Madrid, Barcelona or another super club come calling his agent will do the same thing to Liverpool. He is the main player on the roster for the agency, the meal ticket, so he would effectively get them 2-3 seasons and be turning 28 or 29 and then its another big move. It is down to morals, values and character traits which won't change whichever shirt he is wearing. We signed him, developed him into what he currently is and now he wants to move. It doesn't have anything to do with Mitchell or a new contract promise, but this is going to get fed through as a narrative. I'll see you in 2029 when he only wanted <insert super club>.

That update doesn't include anything more. Craig mentioned on a recent podcast that when he broke the Isak not going on Asia trip it resulted in 30 million engagements for the Daily Mail - he likely now has to maintain something similar to this with 'exclusives'. The entire market is now about engagement farming to generate £.

It would seem if this comes off then we let Isak go to Liverpool this summer.

I'd imagine the rule changes also play a part regarding gambling sponsorships and more brands moving towards low or no alcohol sponsorship or totally away from it.

Perhaps the LIV Golf v PGA when that first happened?

There is going to be fatigue until the beginning of September with this one. Whilst it offers new information about him being in Spain it also draws upon the news from Sky Germany where he has a verbal agreement on the same terms of Ekitike until 2031. Something isn't adding up as it suggests we value him at £170m, but the first offer from Liverpool was £115m due to a transfer request on the 24th. Real Sociedad apparently due 10% of the transfer. I think his agent is a **** like, the news is all adding up. We've been embarrassing this summer, the ownership are none existent and if they sanction him to leave without a replacement or two you'll see the squad capitulate. We still hold the cards regarding value, the media pressure is designed to get us to drop our demands. The current climate also means that any news is deemed worthy of getting reported as draws engagement. You'd love if it created some siege mentality, but I'd write off needing a 70,000 stadium if this is how we're going to operate.

Jorrel Hato to Chelsea confirmed. Deal is in excess of £35m with contract until 2032. It is making transfers pointless now.

He is from the same agency that looks after Isak, don't fancy doing a deal with them at the moment.

In the latest article on Wissa it states Andy Howe is the current acting Sporting Director. Safe to say he is out of his depth? It is some going to surpass a Vurnon Anita or Lee Bowyer window but we're currently on course for it.

I'm fairly sure Nickson's role is to find the players i.e. a Scalvini and then it is up to someone else to do the negotiating aka Paul Mitchell previously? If that person is Andy Howe currently fulfilling the role then when new CEO or Sporting Director comes in he could be shifted based on this last window.

When you look who is agent is it makes sense. Isak is the biggest profile on their roster and the biggest cut they're going to get as the drop off in quality is huge. He also has Buendia and Martinez at Aston Villa on the books and I'm sure they were both floated for interest this summer as well. Granted he could be earning more, but the leaks have came from somewhere - Liverpool will have spoken to the agency and this guy is going to be working overtime with the likes of Romano to push the narrative. I'm resigned to him leaving, but it shouldn't be for less than £150m base with some add ons included (and a sell on clause). In now way should Isak get a loyalty payment from us as with three years on his deal he has probably went a season too early than expected. When he is sold the club need to use this moment to invest in quality as it's a sign of weakness so you'll see Tonali and Gordon go next.

Good post. With it leading the appointment of Mitchell apparently you can understand some stick, but with what he will likely be going through you'd have to think his head won't be in it 100% and ultimately the club should be supporting him by focusing attention on a replacement. With the lack of information you could think that for health reasons by now he has actually relinquished his role despite announcing this almost 12 months ago the club should be doing better. I know they said short term in the statement back in September, but is a year short term in football?

When you read this, we've not had the best of luck or royally messed it up. The concern highlighted would be we've not got a CEO or Sporting Director and yet still having to make decisions that the incoming people are going to have to pick up and either stick or twist. It is all pointing to a long term plan with the role, but yet we've not had anyone stick around.

Not a player in public, but just saw Steve Nickson about 30 minutes ago at the stadium. I'm not sure who he was with, but must be important enough to be heading into the executive areas this evening.

There should be a bingo card for these sort of posts... "EXCLUSIVE" "Personal terms not expected to be an issue" "Club X are considering/monitoring/watching/preparing/pushing..." thesaurus in overdrive "Player Y only wants Club Z" "Player A says yes to Club B project, club to club talks here we go" They're all designed to create traffic linked to advertising or brand deals they'll already have agreed. You would think when they're naming the agency behind a player they've been given the nod as a journalist and advised to mention in the hope it increases players on their agency. Either way this summer has been painful!

They do including Jacobo Solis who appeared in the Amazon documentary. It was January 2025 when it was announced he would be on the club board of directors. You would think given his role with PIF related to investment that side of the club would have improved... All three members aside from YAR are related to finance and investment (the other two appointed in March 2023) so perhaps questions need asked what value these directors are bringing alongside Roger Thornton who was a Reuben appointment and assumed related to stadium development given his background.

It looks like they've tried to copy or adapt a trending style and it just doesn't work. Neither does Trippier giving the thumbs up to being 0-2 down. I've noticed in a few other threads Silverstone getting some stick now. I'm sure they were suggesting we'd had a 30% increase in commercial activity, but since the post season the sense has we've just drifted through the summer and it is a bit apathetic. If you had to choose one priority, at this moment in time, related to backroom operations what would it be?

It's a moving market, but they've got a sell on clause which reduces overall cost of the deal for Trafford already. They're financially huge so £5m won't make as much difference as it would to them as it does to us. Expectation and hindsight all come into play here. A month ago some on the board thought £30m was too much as last season it was £16-20m, but due to how the window has gone rightly fans are concerned. Let's hope for a breakthrough next week.

With the Club World Cup this summer (double window) and a PSR deadline it seems to have been a bit distorted the reality regarding doing the business early. Man City in the winter window and the early summer window dropped a serious amount of money in response to poor performances. Liverpool have kept their business to this summer as opposed to last season due to a change in Sporting Director and likely a title boosting their financials. You also have some players that had specific release clauses, obligations to buy or contract decisions to be made i.e. Delap, Danso and Cunha. Whilst I'm not currently worried, I think the comments at the end of last season from staff and players reflect a need for incomings ahead of a multiple competition campaign. We know the areas we need to strengthen and while it looks like we're missing out on targets such as Mbeumo it partly feels like fans expected him to sign and therefore disappointed. If we ended up in September having signed Trafford, Antonio Silva, Xavi Simons, DCL and Ederson (randomly picked linked players) you'd likely have a mixed reaction of overjoyed we've made signings to those that were a "wait and see how they perform". We've got money to spend from 1st July, let's see what happens.