Albert Riera sold to Olympiacos

It has been announced Olympiacos have purchased left midfielder Albert Riera for £3.3 million with a possibility of another £1.7 million of they win the Greek League this coming season. This is atleast a £3 million loss from the original £8 million Rafa Benitez paid Espanyol.

While Riera was never a spectacular player, I enjoyed watching him in a Liverpool shirt. He had technical ability and a good left foot. He was the one left sided player that actually gave the team the team some width. The problem with Albert was always his lack of pace in a very speed oriented English league. For me, I would have rather watched him play over the very average Maxi Rodriguez.

His time with Liverpool was a very up and down ride. He went from not on the Spanish team radar, to a starter in last year’s Confederation’s Cup, then not even being on the World Cup team. I understand his frustration with Rafa Benitez for not playing him this past season, but he did not need to come out publicly.

Good luck Albert in Greece, for your sake and for Liverpool. The club could use that extra £1.7.

Danny Wilson confirmed to Anfield

Liverpool lost one young defender in Emiliano Insua and have quickly signed another in 18 year old Scottish starlet Danny Wilson. The initial fee is £2 million, but can reach £5 million based on games played and future value.

With Danny Wilson, Liverpool have signed one of the best defensive prospects in Europe and reigning Scottish FWA and PFA Young Player of the Year. His natural position is left center back and while he can play wide left, he is much more suited centrally. Wilson is a very good aerial threat and has a very good positional sense. He sounds like a young Sami Hyypiä tome.

I don’t see this as a signing for the present. Hodgson is still going to have to find replacements for Insua and Aurelio, but it is exciting to see Liverpool purchase another young player with the potential to be world class.

Here is a nice goal he scored against Hearts

Liverpool win Joe Cole race

Much speculation went on over the past few weeks about where Joe Cole would sign. On Monday, it was announced that he signed a 4 year contract with Liverpool worth just under £100k per week.

It has turned out to be a straight swap of Yossi Benayoun for Joe Cole. Both players play the same position, and while Cole will be making 30k more per week or so, the sale of Yossi will be enough to cover the difference.

So what will Liverpool have with this swap? In reality, both are very similar players that the difference will be minimal while on the field. About all of Joe Cole’s qualities (tidy dribbler, quick, good control) are the same as Benayoun’s. This move will prove important for the culture of the team. With a big name like Cole, the other stars on the squad will believe the organization is committed to winning.

The question for Cole has always been his health. He made over 14 starts just one time in the past 3 seasons because of recurring injuries. For this reason, he cannot be counted on to be more than what Yossi was: a bit starter and the occasional sub appearance. I hope that Roy takes great care with how Cole is handled. I’d prefer he only start 20 or so games with some substitute appearances than go 5-10 games in a row and suffer a serious injury. On the positive, Cole is an English player and is two years younger so he should still have plenty left in him.

Cole is adept with both of his feet and can play on either flank. However, it has been noted that he wants to play in a more central position. I can see him playing behind Torres with Gerrard moving back into the midfield. He also could play as the inverted winger I wrote about when Hodgson signed on with the team.

I see this move as a plus for Liverpool. I feel under Rafa’s watch, Yossi would have been replaced by a £3-5 million flop. This is a high quality replacement and the team just needs to keep him healthy.

Liverpool agree to sell Emiliano Insua to Fiorentina

Liverpool have agreed a fee with Fiorentina to send Emiliano Insua to the Italian side. The player just has to come to personal terms for the deal to be final.

Earlier this offseason, I was not completely against this rumor, but I have changed my tune. I do not see the purpose of this sale. It has been reported that the deal was being worked on before Roy Hogdson arrived to the club so this cannot exactly be pinned on him. This is on Christian Purslow and Rafa Benitez. With the selling of Dossena and not offering a contract to Fabio Aurelio, the team has now lost three left backs in the past 6 months. What is the point of selling a 21 year old player that had shown promise for £5 million?

Sure Insua wore down last year, but he was not meant to be the starter for the majority of the season. The team had Aurelio and Dossena who were supposed to be ahead of him. Now Roy is going to have to promote Chris Mavinga to the senior roster, play Agger at LB where he is much less effective plus purchase another LB…or 2 more if he doesn’t look in house. Chances are any player with the potential of Insua or a proven player is going to cost more than the £5 million received. I’m afraid that this move is going to hinder the club in its search for attacking depth because they will be looking for another player that was already covered last year.

Note regarding transfer rumors:

I’m going to start doing a weekly transfer rumor report instead of every day. Hopefully this will work more efficiently and weed out some of the crazier rumors.

Friday Transfer Rumors

Here are some of Friday's Liverpool rumors:

-Liverpool interested in bringing back Peter Crouch?

-David N’gog isn’t opposed to a loan move

-Roy Hodgson delaying a possible Insua sale

-Dirk Kuyt wants to stay at Anfield

-Alou Diarra return to Liverpool?

Who is Jonjo Shelvey?

One move that has flown under the radar this offseason for many Liverpool fans was the £1.7 million signing of Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton Athletic in April. This was a bit of a surprise with Rafa Benitez’s transfer history as he seemed distrusting of young players. Liverpool has not graduated many players from the academy under his watch and to sign a legitimately talented youngster instead of squad filler is pleasing. I am ecstatic about this deviation from Rafa’s normal philosophy and I believe this will turn out to be a very positive move.

In April of 2008, 16 year old Jonjo Shelvey took the field to become Charlton’s youngest player to make a first team appearance at the age of 16 years and 59 days. The next January, he became the youngest goal scorer for the club. At the same time, Shelvey has been climbing the ranks of the English National team system. He captained the U16 team when they won the Victory Shield and is now regarded as one of the top talents of this generation.

The first thing you notice about Jonjo is that he is completely bald. I have seen much confusion over this, but no, it is not a fashion statement. He has suffered from alopecia since he was very young. You’ll also immediately recognize similarities in play style between Jonjo and Steven Gerrard. This is no coincidence.

'I've mirrored my game on Steven Gerrard - I love him to bits, everything about him, from the way he walks to the way he plays,' says Shelvey. 'I want to have played with him and against him by the time I've finished my career. That's my dream.'

For his age, Jonjo has excellent composure. He does not panic when pressured and can find the open man. While he may lack the pace of an ideal box to box midfielder, he makes up for hit with physicality. At 6 foot, he has the strength to hold off a challenge as well as make them himself. All signs point towards Jonjo Shelvey being a future star and I’m very excited to see it happen in a Liverpool shirt.

Here is a video put together of Jonjo vs Brentford last season. Yes it is just League 1, but I love how he is always directing the play and making himself available for a pass.

Liverpool confirm Jovanovic and Thursday Rumors

On Saturday I gave my opinion and reported that Milan Jovanovic confirmed he would be a Liverpool player. The club confirmed today that he signed a 3 year contract.

Here are some other rumors from today:

-Roy Hodgson expects Steven Gerrard to stay with the club

-Liverpool departures unlikely without new signings first

-David N’gog linked to West Brom and Blackburn on loan

-Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are battling for Shaun Wright-Phillps

-Roy will bid on Maynor Figueroa if he can sell Insua

-Mascherano wants to join Rafa in Milan

-Hodgson to bid for Slovenian starlet Rene Krhin

-Liverpool put German Stefan Kieβling at the top of target list

-also are considering shock move for David Trezeguet

-Inter want Dirk Kuyt if Balotelli is sold