Liverpool FC Forum

by **The Manhattan Project** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:14 pm

If I was Rafa and Pompey offered 9M for Crouch, Harry Rednapp would be a double amputee with two stumps at the ends of his wrists.

by **Scottbot** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:33 am

Spurs plan to thwart Pompey with £15m deal for Crouch and Benayoun

By John Edwards
Last updated at 11:44 PM on 25th June 2008

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Juande Ramos has joined the bidding for Peter Crouch and is ready to launch a £15million double offer for the unsettled Liverpool striker and his team-mate Yossi Benayoun.

Still fearful he may lose Dimitar Berbatov before the start of next season, the Tottenham manager has earmarked Crouch as a ready-made replacement and put together a package he believes will give him the edge over Portsmouth counterpart Harry Redknapp.

While Portsmouth offered an initial £7million, with £2m worth of extras to follow, Tottenham are prepared to pay the full £9m asking price for Crouch and a further £6m for former West Ham midfielder Benayoun.

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Peter Crouch

Target man: Peter Crouch

Tottenham’s proposal carries the greater appeal for Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, who is eager not only to do business with his fellow-Spaniard and close friend Ramos but rake in desperately needed funds to finance his own transfer plans.

Redknapp still feels he is in pole position, though, after a clear signal from Crouch that Fratton Park remains his preferred destination.

The England striker has even indicated he would sooner see out the 12 months left on his contract than be forced into a move against his will and Benitez may have to wait while Portsmouth raise the additional cash to match Tottenham’s bid.

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* Pompey will not increase their £9m offer for Crouch they'll just change it a bit
* Robinson set for Aston Villa move: Spurs keeper ready to open negotiations with O¿Neill

With goalkeeper Scott Carson a target for Middlesbrough and Xabi Alonso edging closer to a move to Juventus, Benitez could soon have the financial muscle to follow up his long-running pursuit of Gareth Barry and more recent interest in David Silva.

The bidding for Aston Villa midfielder Barry looks like topping £15m, while Valencia winger Silva will cost almost as much after his emergence for Spain sent his value soaring.

Redknapp has persistently refused to be hurried into meeting an opening valuation on Crouch of around £12m and is confident he is now close to landing the out-of-favour Liverpool marksman for £9m at the most.

As he attempts to build on last season’s FA Cup success, Redknapp is also considering trying to hijack Roma’s negotiations with freed Liverpool winger Harry Kewell and has been linked with a move for Strasbourg midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, as well as confirming his interest in Reading left-back Nicky Shorey.

Kewell was thought to be close to reaching an agreement with the Serie A club but is sure to consider any opportunity to extend his injury-blighted career in the Barclays Premier League.While Crouch’s arrival would be seen as further evidence of Portsmouth’s growing ambition, it may not be welcomed by Nwankwo Kanu.

The Nigerian has held off agreeing new terms since January because he believes he deserves another two years. But the presence of Crouch would strengthen Pompey’s hand in negotiations.

‘I cannot sign for just one year when I have done so much for the club,’ said Kanu. ‘Winning the FA Cup and playing well during the season should qualify me for more than a one-year extension.’

by **dawson99** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:36 am

15mill for crouch and yossi? yes fecking please!

by **NiftyNeil** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:54 am

dawson99 wrote:15mill for crouch and yossi? yes fecking please!

indeed!

by **Owzat** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:30 pm

NiftyNeil wrote:
dawson99 wrote:15mill for crouch and yossi? yes fecking please!

indeed!

Yossi cost £5m so if we ask what we paid then Crouch would be worth £10m, I've seen somewhere Rafa wants £12m which would make Yossi £3m.

Personally I think Yossi could play the Gerrard role off Torres well, freeing Gerrard to play on the right or in the middle. His goalscoring record is not great, but he has played as a striker before at previous clubs. He looked good against Besiktas.

I'd be surprised if spudz want Crouch, where he started out in his career don't forget (before he went to QPR) Unless there's a radical change the preferred pairing should remain Keane and Berbatov, to split that pairing would be risky given they got 15 each in the Premiership last season. Has Crouch managed 15 Premiership goals ever in one season?

by **Emerald Red** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:40 pm

I think Crouch has it in him to score goals no matter who he goes to. He's scoring for England also. People's valuation of him as £8m is a bit of a joke. It's time we stopped f*cking about and letting other clubs dictate how much we sell players for. If someone wants Crouch, then they should be paying at least 12 million for him if small fries like Villa are dictating to us that Barry is 20 million pounds worth and he isn't even a forward. Accepting 8 million for Crouch would just be a sign of desperation for cash on our behalf. Pathetic really.

by **bigmick** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:47 pm

Owzat wrote:Personally I think Yossi could play the Gerrard role off Torres well,

He could play it well in the sense that he could stand in the same position as Gerrard prior to kick-off, and after that the glaring inadequacy of Benayoun as the pivot of a 4-5-1 would become very quickly apparent.

4-5-1 in the Premiership only really works IMHO if your pivotal midfielder scores and creates an unusually high amount of goals and in essence fills in for the fact you've only got one striker. Gerrard does it for us, Lampard does it for Chelsea, Fabregas was doing it for Arsenal last season when they only had one fit striker, and on the occasions Man Utd decided to play with one up top last season Ronaldo did it for them.

Unfortunately for him and us though, with the best will in the World Yossi Benayoun is not in the same universe, the same stratosphere as any of those players.

Had he ever played there for us Owz, you would be able to pull up some stats to demonstrate the point. Fortunately though to the best of my knowledge he hasn't, so on this occasion you'll have to just believe your own eyes which will confirm that on this occasion at least, I am right.

by **bigmick** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:50 pm

Emerald Red wrote:I think Crouch has it in him to score goals no matter who he goes to. He's scoring for England also. People's valuation of him as £8m is a bit of a joke. It's time we stopped f*cking about and letting other clubs dictate how much we sell players for. If someone wants Crouch, then they should be paying at least 12 million for him if small fries like Villa are dictating to us that Barry is 20 million pounds worth and he isn't even a forward. Accepting 8 million for Crouch would just be a sign of desperation for cash on our behalf. Pathetic really.

I agree Emerald with your valuation of Crouch, and in your appreciation of his attributes as a player. Unfortunately though, he is now inside his last year of his contract which has a huge effect on his prospective transfer value. In todays market, Rafa may even be right that Crouch is worth fifteen million. Unfortunately however, given the fact that his contract has been allowed to erode to the point where it is almost over, he is worth two thirds at best of that valuation IMHO and no amount of posturing and pouting on the clubs part is going to change that over much.

by **Owzat** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:51 pm

He played 400 mins in the last 19 games of last season, he is not a starter for England and he isn't that young. All in all, anything around £10m is a good price for a player who was used sparingly in the last third of the season. If we want benchmarks of values then why use Barry, why not Torres or DEFOE who was bargain price. Defoe went for a reasonable price as he was surplus to requirements, spudz wanted the cash and arguing the toss over fees just wastes everyone's time.

As for £8m being a joke, BS. It depends on your viewpoint, mine is he isn't worth more than £8m-£10m, your's is different. I could equally say your evaluation is a joke, wouldn't mean diddly same as you saying it didn't

by **account deleted by request** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:03 pm

At the end of the day a player is only worth as much as another club is willing to pay for him. Be it Kuyt, Crouch or Barry. Obviously some players are worth more to their current club than they would be to any other....... Barry is probably one who helps O'Neill to argue that they are a big club and who's players can and do play for England.

I think rather than spend all our time arguing about what they are worth in the transfer market we would be better off arguing if they are worth their place in the squad or should be replaced. I would argue that both Crouch and Kuyt are worth their place in the squad until we sign bigger and better players. Unfortunately has we seem to be struggling for funds, and seemingly need to sell before we buy, some players will need to be offloaded, which means that market forces not our valuations will take precidence.

by **ConnO'var** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:37 pm

Redknapp: Reds' Crouch valuation too high - Soccernet

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp insists Liverpool's valuation of striker Peter Crouch remains too high.

Reports on Tuesday claimed the Reds have turned down a £9million bid for the England international. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has indicated a willingness to sell but with transfer targets of his own to pursue, he wants full value for the 27-year-old.

Redknapp told the Portsmouth News: 'I'd love to bring Crouchie back here. We are trying to do deals to bring in players and (chief executive) Peter Storrie is working on trying to get things done. But the fee seems a bit too high, and at the end of the day it comes down to the price. It seems like things are getting a bit too expensive. Crouchie is a player who is on our list, but if nothing can be done then we will just move on to the next player.'

Crouch joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2005 having previously played for Pompey under Redknapp from 2001-02. Any deal to take him back to Fratton Park is likely to break the record of £7.5million the south coast club paid for Jermain Defoe.

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9 million seems to be a fair price, IMO, for a player we got for 7 and who Rafa apparently doesn't rate enough to use consistently. Hope we don't regret this decison.

by **taff** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:04 pm

the BBC reckon wenger is after him :oh:

I must admit I find that hard to believe but a good rumour if it pressures Arry to come up with the cash.

It is his last season under contract but instead of us letting him get to this position surely some fingers have to point at Crouch himself for not signing a new contract

by **Sabre** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:18 pm

He scored a hat trick against Arsenal after all!

by **dawson99** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:37 pm

just some media cr@p to try to raise the valuation a bit methinks

by **andy_g** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:50 pm

maybe wenger got bitten by the lanky striker bug last season and is looking for a replacement for adebeyor. to be honest, i don't see much that adebeyor has that crouch doesn't, and i'd even go as far to say that if you put crouchy at the top of that arsenal team he'd bang a few in.

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