TTT: Symposium#14 – Who’s For Sale This Summer?

By Chris Rowland. I put ‘Who’s for ale this summer?’ at first. Subliminal. On to this week’s question, which was ‘which players would you look to sell in the summer, and how much money do you think they could bring in?’ Answers are below, starting with mine: Let’s start with the obvious – Andy Carroll. He has no part to play in a Rodgers team – unless it’s as an impact sub, according to the Daily Mirror. Can’t see why Carroll would find that alluring at the age of 24, unless he had no alternative. If he keeps scoring goals like the two against Albion, his value will increase towards something like the £17m sell-on fee allegedly agreed with West Ham. If they don’t take up the option and Newcastle are still interested then I’d take £15m. No point crying over spilt milk, as they say, we’re not going to recoup what we paid but then Chelsea paid that for us anyway. Martin Skrtel –  I’d take anything over £10m, and nothing below it. Then there’s Assaidi, Jay Spearing and Dani Pacheco – maybe £6m the lot. Maybe Coates, for £4-5m. Carra and Wilson will go for nowt, so we’re looking for at least two central defenders. We need more from Borini too, but maybe this summer would be too early to sell him when he’s hardly played (and that’s another thing …). Then we need to talk about Stewart. He’s improved, yes, and credit to him and Rodgers for that, but has he improved enough? Partly depends on who we buy in the summer too. If we got £8m for him I’d be OK with that. That’s about £35m without Downing, £43m with. Then I’d hope we had at least £20m net to spend, or £55-63m gross. By Martin McLaughlin: I would sell every player currently not being utilised and I’d gladly accept transfermarkt valuations ONO. Namely, Carroll (£10m – just bite the bullet), Spearing (£2.5m), Assaidi (£4.5m), Skrtel (£13m), Shelvey (£5m + sell on clause) and Coates (£4m + sell on clause). That’s £39m, more than enough to add to the transfer kitty and create head room in the wage bill. With 31(14) appearances in total, that is a lot of idle money making little tangible contribution. There are a few players that I would put in the ambiguous bracket, they could stay, or they could go next summer. I would put Downing, Enrique and Borini into this bracket. Downing is a £10m 20-game per season squad player, but selling him for £10m and replacing him with someone who will more than likely be the same or potentially worse is a distraction that can be left for another time. Jose Enrique is 27 and somehow valued at£12.5m on transfermarkt. When he’s good he’s very good, when he’s bad he’s horrific. Borini may not have played enough to assess his ability and he is only 22, but his almost annual injury layoff is starting to look concerning. By Krishen Bhautoo: Assaidi has made 12 appearances since his £4m transfer. Looked like a tricky winger who could add to our attack but isn’t fancied and therefore should go. His record in 2011/12 in Holland means his stock there should still be high so would look for £3m for him. Shelvey. With 5 goals (4 in Europa) and 4 assists in 33 games, he was Rodgers’ golden boy. Initially a starter, he now rarely gets a chance to put his shin pads on. There is talent there, but I’d loan him to a Prem club and hope he develops. At a push I’d take £5m for him. Flanagan is another who initially looked promising. With Ryan McLaughlin snapping at his heels he may drop down the pecking order another place. I’d bite your hand off for £1m. Dani Pacheco was loaned out by his loan club last season and hasn’t been fancied by four successive managers. I’d take £2m. Spearing has done well at Bolton (by most accounts). Good battler but not LFC quality. Like the guy and wished it worked out, but leaving (like Danny Guthrie) would be the best for him. £3m and he’s yours. Coates needs football. I’ve felt he has done well when he’s played (obviously some mistakes) but he has quality and you can see it, he just needs football. Loan to a Prem team or sell for £7m. He is a young Copa America winner. Carroll is the typical English forward. I’d want £15m for him (but that is only because of what we paid for him. Transfermarkt values him at £9.7m) but how many teams would pay that? Part of a swap deal with Newcastle could be interesting. Tiote? Cabaye? Ben Arfa? Santon? Skrtel is as good as gone (unless Rodgers goes first ;o)). £15m from Zenit is a figure I’ve heard a couple of times, but knowing we want rid, we may take a bit of a hit on him. I think he would be a very good player at the right club, so hopefully a bidding war will commence. If all goes to ‘plan’, that’s a possible £49m for players that don’t really figure for us. Add any transfer kitty and we could have a big summer, but I feel we still need a lot of players. The rest of this article is for subscribers only. Member-only content – you need to subscribe to read it ! A subscription costs only £3.50 per month. Find out what you get with your subscription, or Subscribe now.

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A news article on 2013-04-08 09:42:00 from: The Tomkins Times

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