Liverpool couldn’t meet Wijnaldum’s increased wage demands so I doubt they’ll be spending silly money on someone like Bowen, not like Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea have/will do.
The rumours we want Flores off the books permanently just reinforce the piss-poor understanding the club had of the EFL embargo.
We ‘could’ve’ met Burke’s wages but didn’t because we’re working on a shoe-string budget. Argue semantics all you want, the point still stands. Liverpool likely won’t be spending ridiculous amounts on an individual transfer.
Burke went to Luton for less than we offered. So no need to meet the offer. What he wanted, we couldn't give him. Football in the South East....
It's not semantics.... Couldn't pay and wouldn't/didn't want to pay are totally different. That situation also has zero to do with the potential Bowen transfer.
So far, Liverpool have bought one player for £36 million and their outgoings are just over £33 million, and that one player they bought is likelyI think it’s right to assume Liverpool are working within a much stricter budget than the other Premier League big boys. I think it’s very unlikely they’ll spend the rumoured £35 million minimum price tag West Ham want. I personally think West Ham are low-balling if that figure is true. He’s English, young, highly-rated and was involved in every league game the season just gone. They should be looking for at least £50 million to even consider an offer. Look how much Leicester got for Maguire. In any case, Bowen, despite his talent, would be behind Mané and Salah in the pecking order. Liverpool probably feel they can get a young player from abroad for cheaper who won’t mind playing second fiddle for a while before getting a chance. We need to sort out this embargo sooner rather than later if we want to be competitive this season. We still need improvements.
If Slater comes in, we can get Huddlestone and I think that's us set until January. Obviously we'll have to offload Flores. I still think paying back the loan is best for all concerned, there's little point in having these restrictions on us. If injury bites, having only 5 seniors as back up isn't a lot.
That's good news. I'm hoping Slater can make the step up, but I've liked the look of Cannon in pre season.
If Slater doesn't come for whatever reason, there's some decent youngsters at Prem teams we could potentially get on loan. Conor Coventry at West Ham, Tommy Doyle at Man City, James Garner at Man Utd etc. All defensive midfielders who will likely go on loan to Championship teams this year.
I was under the impression Garner was Sheff Utd's replacement for Berge, who's rumoured to go to Arsenal. All three I mentioned look promising players. Just about every club in the Championship has been linked with a loan deal for Doyle and Peterborough are after Coventry. Hopefully we can sort something out for Slater, though there are options available on loan.