Category: Transfer news

Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool are unlikely to bring in any new recruits in January unless circumstances change in the coming weeks.

The Reds boss revealed at his Friday news conference how he previously had no plans to be active in the next window, only to then see defenders Joe Gomez and Joel Matip pick up injuries.

While the duo are not expected to be sidelined for too long, the sudden absence of two first-team squad members has highlighted the need to be flexible in terms of transfer plans.

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Klopp addressed the subject when answering a question over the future of Harry Wilson, who has a recall option in his season-long loan deal with Derby County.

The Wales forward has impressed at the Championship club, scoring eight goals in all competitions, and seems set to stay put for the rest of 2018-19, unless Liverpool are beset by injury problems up front.

“I am really happy with what Harry is doing – it is fantastic,” Klopp said. “It is the perfect example of being able to leave home and show up somewhere else.

“I really think Harry left in the right moment. Since I arrived everyone said Harry Wilson needs to go out on loan. I really thought he was too young and he scored a lot of goals for the Under-23s.

“Then he went to Hull City last season and was already good, he came back and then had pre-season and went to Derby and it is an outstanding job what Frank [Lampard] is doing, England finally has a lot of good, young managers. That’s cool.

“Our situation is like this; if you would have asked me two weeks before if we were doing anything in the transfer window I would have said probably not.

Next up, @ManUtd at Anfield.

UP THE REDS.  pic.twitter.com/NlisDJwNau
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 14, 2018

“Now, though, we have two centre-halves left. Will we do something? Not really likely, because they are not out for [long].

“That’s exactly the same with Harry. If now something happens in an offensive wing position, why should I say today 100 per cent we would not do it? Derby accepted when they signed the contract, they have to wait until the last second before we decide.

“We don’t want to take him away. Only if we really need him, then we would trigger that option.”

Meanwhile, Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock has made clear his interest in signing Nathaniel Clyne from Liverpool, though he does not expect the full-back to be allowed to leave Anfield.

“He would be one on our list definitely, yes,” Warnock said. “But at the moment they have other problems. I don’t think they would bother about us at the moment, they have to look after themselves.”

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Boca Juniors president Daniel Angelici has confirmed that the Copa Libertadores final defeat against River Plate was coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s last game in charge of the Buenos Aires giants. 

Having drawn the first leg of the much-hyped ‘Superfinal’ 2-2 at the Bombonera, Boca and River were then forced to play the return leg in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu due to violent incidents at the Monumental, River’s home. 

On Sunday, Boca once more took the lead through Dario Benedetto, only to see Lucas Pratto, Juan Quintero and Gonzalo Martinez seal a 3-1 comeback victory for the Millonario after extra time. 

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Barros Schelotto’s departure was widely expected, and was sealed on Friday in a press conference attended by both Angelici and the outgoing coach. 

“The club had to make a decision and we understood that the best for Boca was to start the year with a change, that we had to look for a new coaching staff,” the president explained.

“In no way am I here to fire him, I have no doubt that this is a ‘see you soon’.”

Angelici added that Barros Schelotto’s, whose contract comes to an end in December, “has left the bar very high.” 

He also stated that no talks are currently underway with a potential successor, with the likes of Gabriel Heinze, currently at Velez Sarsfield, former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and Huracan’s Gustavo Alfaro rumoured among the early candidates. 

Barros Schelotto, meanwhile, who worked alongside twin brother Gustavo at the Bombonera, cut a diplomatic tone as he said goodbye to the club he has worked for as both player and coach. 

“I wish to thank the directors, Boca’s employees and the players, because your work comes through the footballers but it has to have the support of the directors and everyone at Boca,” he said. 

“I want to avoid any questions you have, today I want to leave peacefully. I gave everything, I’m leaving in peace with the fans, I don’t want to be right, at some point we will see each other again.”

The coach took up the Boca post in 2016 having started his career on the bench with a successful spell at Lanus, after seeing a job with Palermo in Italy fall through due to a lack of coaching qualifications. 

He delivered back-to-back Primera titles in 2016-17 and 2017-18, while also guiding Boca to the semi-finals of the 2016 Libertadores. 

A failure to deliver continental success, however, saw Barros Schelotto come under fire from the famously demanding Boca faithful, desperate for their first Copa title since 2007. 

And Superclasico defeats to River in 2018 in the Supercopa and Superliga, as well as the Libertadores, ultimately made his exit inevitable midway through the current league season, with Boca currently sixth in the standings, 12 points behind leaders Racing Club with two games in hand due to the fixture upheaval caused by repeated final reschedulings.

And while his next move is still uncertain, the Argentine has been linked to a move to MLS as the successor to Gerardo Martino at Atlanta United, having starred state-side as a player with Columbus Crew.

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Interest in Andre Gomes will not have any affect on Everton’s plans for the midfielder as it a normal part of the game, according to Toffees manager Marco Silva.

The midfielder, on-loan from Barcelona, has gotten past a slow start to make a very positive impression on his coach and team-mates for Everton, who sit seventh in the Premier League table.

His performances left Silva hoping that the club could eventually secure Andre Gomes from Barcelona on a permanent basis.

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However, there have been reports of other teams potentially being interested in poaching the midfielder in the future, including Premier League rivals Tottenham.

But when asked about how this affected the club’s plans, Silva downplayed it, noting nothing has changed

“Nothing, zero. Why would it affect us?,” Silva said.

“I understand maybe some clubs are linked with him, I don’t know really. But nothing changes in our way, what’s in our mind.”

“When you have good players in your squad that means other clubs are looking to them as well. For me, it is a normal situation in football.”

But while he did not give an answer now, Silva did not rule out addressing the situation in the future, again seeming to signal his desire to make the midfielder’s loan permanent.

“At the right moment we have time to talk about the situation, and let’s see what we can do to keep him or not,” Silva added.

Everton face a Manchester City side on Saturday that sit one point off Liverpool at the top of the league, but will be missing David Silva, and may be without Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Fernandinho.

But Silva is not expecting things to be any easier even if the reigning Premier League champions are shorthanded for the contest.

“Just because there are different players, nothing changes in their style of play, in their quality,” Silva said.

“It’s easy to understand how they want to do the things, but in the end they do the things really well. They have a lot of individual quality in their attack line to create chances to score.

“For sure it will be a strong side we play against.”

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With player transfer fees in Europe seeming to increase exponentially every single transfer season, things aren’t quite the same in Major League Soccer – where clubs are given only three Designated Players whose wages are allowed to be greater than the league average.

So what is the Designated Player, what is the average salary cap for the MLS and why was the rule implemented? Goal takes a look.

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What is the Designated Player rule in MLS?

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The Designated Player Rule in the MLS was implemented alongside the salary cap regulations ahead of the 2007 season.

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The rule allows each club participating in the MLS to sign up to three players who will not be considered under the team’s salary cap (either through wages or the transfer fee), which enables MLS sides to sign and compete for high-profile players from the wider overseas international market.

MLS player salaries are limited by a salary cap which has been in place since the league’s inception in 1996, which was introduced to prohibit team owners from excessive spending on player series and to ensure a fairer balance among teams who weren’t as financially well-off.

The MLS has since also introduced a wide range of initiatives to improve the quality of players purchased while still considering the salary cap – such as rules relating to Designated Players and allocation money that allow for additional wage spending that is exempt from the salary cap – but these have led to an increase in on-field competition.

The Designated Player (DP) rule in the MLS allows for teams to sign a limited number of players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap, as each DP player counts for $480,625 (£381,000) against the cap in 2017.

Following the implementation of the rule, the income inequality in the MLS has fluctuated negatively, however, with Designated Players earning as much as 180 times than a player earning the league minimum.

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When was the Designated Player rule introduced?

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The Designated Player rule was introduced in anticipation of LA Galaxy’s signing of former Real Madrid and England star David Beckham in 2007.

Beckham was the first high-profile and internationally recognised player to sign for an MLS side and the Designated Player Rule has since been unofficially dubbed the ‘Beckham Rule’.

The ex-England midfielder signed a lucrative deal worth $250 million (£200m) over the course of five years at the Galaxy, and his signing started a trend for big-name stars in Europe to follow in his steps and finish or further their careers in the MLS.

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What are current MLS salary caps?

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The current annual salary cap, which has been in place since 2017, is set at $3.85m (£3.06m) per team.

Prior to 2017, however, the  salary cap set in 2006 was estimated to be around $1.9m (£1.51m), then rising to $2.1m (£1.67m) in 2007, and then $2.3m (£1.83m). for the 2008 season.

At an $373,094 (£296,755), the average salary for MLS players is lower than average league salaries in the Championship (typically $420,000 or £334,064), which is England’s second tier.

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Who are current MLS Designated Players?

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LA Galaxy’s current three Designated Players are Giovani dos Santos, Romain Alessandrini and Jonathan dos Santos.

Prior to the present trio, however, past Designated Players were Steven Gerrard, who previously captained Liverpool; ex-Tottenham forward Robbie Keane; Landon Donovan, who arrived from Bayer Leverkusen; and of course Beckham.

Wayne Rooney is a recent transfer and is D.C. United’s Designated Player after leaving boyhood side Everton to join the MLS in the summer of 2018.

New York City FC, who are owned by the same parent company of Manchester City, have also signed high-profile Designated Players in the past, their first being David Villa from Atletico Madrid. The former Spain international was followed by Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo, and currently Maximiliano Moralez and Jesus Medina.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was a Designated Player for New York Red Bulls from 2010-14, having signed for the side from Barcelona, and was followed by Rafael Marquez (also Barcelona), Tim Cahill (Everton) and Bradley-Wright Phillips (Charlton Athletic).

Ex-Brazil and Real Madrid star Kaka was Orlando City’s first-ever Designated Player when he signed for the side in 2014 from Milan, while Freddie Ljungberg was Seattle Sounders’ first DP when he transferred from West Ham in 2009.

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Perhaps in the end Cristiano Ronaldo was actually underrated. In the corridors of power at Real Madrid there was a lack of urgency and desire to replace the Portuguese star when he left to join Juventus in July.

By the time Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer walked away from the Santiago Bernabeu, it was too late. Over the past few years president Florentino Perez and Ronaldo had not seen eye-to-eye, certainly on the striker’s worth to Madrid.

The relationship deteriorated and Ronaldo eventually decided the time had come to depart, ending a nine-year spell at the club. Now the second top goalscorer in Italy with 10 goals, he is thriving in Serie A.

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Madrid, meanwhile, are languishing without him. Since Ronaldo left Los Blancos have sacked a coach, Julen Lopetegui, been hammered 5-1 by rivals Barcelona in La Liga and are fourth in the Spanish top flight.

Even though new coach Santiago Solari has got some wins under his belt, all is not well at Madrid as their latest humiliation indicated on Wednesday, with CSKA Moscow winning 3-0 at a raging Bernabeu.

That was Madrid’s worst home defeat in a European game and supporters were left whistling their own players, with former fan-favourite Isco Alarcon taking the brunt of the criticism.

“Madrid are always in the running, but Ronaldo is gone and the quality of their players is not the same,” said CSKA coach Viktor Goncharenko in a damning comment after his side’s historic victory in the Spanish capital.

With the January transfer window drawing closer, the obvious temptation will be for Madrid to put right the wrong of losing Ronaldo by splashing the cash at the turn of the year.

In the summer they brought back Mariano Diaz from Olympique Lyon.

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, PSG duo Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and even Valencia striker Rodrigo Moreno were all discussed, but Madrid turned their nose up at the asking prices quoted to them.

Mariano has potential but he is not ready to take Ronaldo’s place, despite inheriting the hallowed No 7 shirt. Vinicius Junior arrived too, and has been bright in flashes but also is too raw to lead Madrid to glory.

Now Mauro Icardi, whose goal against PSV Eindhoven nearly sent Inter Milan through into the Champions League knock-out phase at the expense of Tottenham, before the Dutch side equalised late on, is the main target according to Spanish newspaper AS .

The Argentina striker has a €110 million release clause and would help to replace some of the goals that disappeared with Ronaldo.

Karim Benzema is Madrid’s top scorer in La Liga and he has a paltry five, the same as Leganes’s Guido Carrillo, Eibar’s Charles, Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal and Levante’s Jose Luis Morales.

Handy players at their respective mid-table clubs, but not the kind of company an elite striker for Real Madrid should be keeping.

Icardi is a penalty box goalscorer who will be in the right place at the right time to make the difference, and could be the type of player Madrid need to put teams to bed, with Benzema and Gareth Bale too wasteful.

But Zinedine Zidane walked away earlier this year before Ronaldo left – the French coach knows the problems at Madrid are extensive, despite his record treble Champions League triumph.

Signing Icardi might just prove to be an expensive band-aid for a cut that runs much deeper.

“You cannot just replace a player who scores 40 to 50 goals per season, and, of course, Real miss Ronaldo,” former Madrid playmaker Rafael van der Vaart told Goal .

“What he did at Real is totally crazy. The quality in the squad is still there. They don’t need any winter signings. It’s always difficult to find suitable players in the winter to really help a team in this class.

“The team has to grow together again to compensate for the departure of Ronaldo. Santiago Solari is doing a very good job, but he needs some time.”

Van der Vaart’s words may prove wise. Madrid have built themselves around the Portuguese forward for the best part of a decade and it takes time to adapt.

Signing new players might just increase the problems in the side as they try to regroup. Instead, perhaps it is time for a new era to begin.

It would require president Perez to accept this might be a transition stage in the club’s history and not be too hasty with the axe if Madrid don’t win anything this season.

But if Vinicius and Mariano are given regular football, they might start to develop and become the forward that Bale would thrive playing off and feeding crosses.

Over the past few weeks Solari has handed midfielder Marcos Llorente chances and he has impressed. There are some green shoots amid the gloom. 

Maybe Madrid can grow into a side that doesn’t replace Ronaldo directly but makes up for his absence in other ways. But to do that Solari may need a degree of patience, which president Perez has never shown an abundance of.

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