Liverpool are off to Amsterdam for tomorrow’s Champions League game, while Tuesday’s news also looks at injuries, loans and more.
PBP is dead, long live the European Premier League
Are we bored of the talk to reform football yet? It seems rather crazy timing, considering we don’t even have every aspect back of ‘normal’ football yet.
But the Reds, and United predictably, have been cited as involved in talks for a brand new, super shiny, massively expensive, FIFA-approved European Premier League.
Sky Sports say there could be up to 30 games a season in a league-style format, with the competition worth over £4billion all told and the winners earning hundreds of millions.
The usual questions are ignored, such as which fans actually want this, what does it come at the expense of and how on earth is adding 30 games to the calendar good for players.
No doubt these stories will continue to revolve and grow for the next year or so.
Mane alternative talks were held
An interesting story from Portugal has emerged, suggesting Liverpool held “three meetings” with Sporting winger Joelson Fernandes this summer.
The plan was to bring him in as cover for Sadio Mane on the left, with the youngster one of the most in-demand talents outside the big five leagues right now.
But Sporting CP have turned down big bids already for him and O Democrata say the Reds’ bid was lower than those, so the talks went nowhere.
In the end, of course, we signed Diogo Jota – another left-sided, Portuguese, primarily back-up for Mane option.
The timing of the talks isn’t made clear, so it could be that Jota, like Tsimikas, was the secondary target if we couldn’t get the slightly cheaper alternative. Or maybe we’ll just go for him again next time!
All about Ajax
Early team news and looking ahead…
- The Reds will be without Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara for our first group game
- The view from the opposition explains why the Reds’ left flank will be so key in both halves of the pitch
- And captain Jordan Henderson wants to make sure the Reds have plenty to play for when Virgil gets back to full fitness after injury
Quickfire LFC news
- Divock Origi has explained the importance and brilliance of diversity within the Liverpool squad (TIA)
- Harvey Elliott has given a run-down of the research undertaken to choose a loan switch to Blackburn (TIA)
- VAR farce master David Coote has been demoted to fourth official for this weekend’s round of games (TS)
- And you can check out the pre-Ajax training photos, with the likes of Shaqiri, Keita and Rhys Williams all involved (LFC)
Around the Prem
- Spurs want Son to sign a new deal for £150k a week, after realising they pay peanuts to a player better than most of the £200k-plus players in the league (Mail)
- UEFA are considering expanding the Champions League to 36 teams from 2024, because we just can’t wait for the big Hvidovre vs Zalgiris group encounter any longer (Telegraph)
- Danny Ings is to sign a new deal at Saints and we’re delighted he’s found a spot to fare so well (Athletic)
- And Man City are to offer Pablo Zabaleta a non-playing role at the club, which is probably just as well as he announced his retirement last week (Mail)
Stupid rumour of the day
If you’re ever looking for a way to look stupid and completely out of touch with football, feel free to just disagree with a manager who has just won the Champions League and Premier League in successive seasons.
Here’s coaching legend Tony Cascarino saying Roberto Firmino is becoming a “burden” to the Reds’ attack. Course he is, Tony.
Tweet of the day
The wider point is when the super clubs will ever think they have enough. They just seem to move in ever decreasing circles of greed.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) October 20, 2020
Worth watching tonight
Regular, garden-variety UEFA Champions League. Kyiv v Juve at 5:55pm, then take your pick of the 8pm kick-offs. Personally, the recommendation is PSG v United for hilarity, or Lazio v Dortmund for tactical intrigue – neither club has started the season as well as they might have done.
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