Liverpool squad two days ago:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140819082152/http://www.liverpoolfc.com/team/first-team

Liverpool squad today:

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/team/first-team

Notice any difference?

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Handy that, it's freed up #45

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

My 45 Phillips shirt is going to look ridiculous now

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

RAP

Fwiw, I think Technicolor's a trademark so it has to be spelled that way.


On a different note, I spent a couple of days at Melwood at the end of last week. Great experience and lovely people all round at the club.

That's quality its, what were you doing there?

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Sheer coincidence Didi. Turns out my sister-in-law's boyfired is Alberto Moreno's agent, and he doesn't speak English. He's been using me on and off as an interpreter ever since the first PL clubs started enquiring, so when all sides had agreed the deal he flew me in to go through the player contracts for him.

Also had a great 2-hour chat over lunch with Ian Ayre in the interval between the talks between the clubs in Madrid. Really nice bloke as far as I could tell.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Christ on a bike, ITK or what?!

Did you blab about it anonymously anywhere?

ITK indeed It was painful to come on here and not be able to say anything, but I more or less managed. I remember making a couple of loose comments during the negotiations when people were speculating on the price, said something like "so and so is closer to the mark" or "Ayre is handling this really well"...

In the months prior to the agreement I did try to sound out the fans' feelings here. Like this article back in April: http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/261872
Notice me trying to steer the discussion towards the LB position? I mainly just posted questions on a few transfer related articles and a couple of articles of my own about LBs on a couple of other boards to sound out the situation. Sneaky me.

My nan is balotelli's estate agent...

They'll be taking him round to that estate in Woolton to see a couple of the houses left vacant recently...

Cheeky bastárd.

Anything you can divulge about the actual transfer fee. I'm always fascinated to know how the papers get their figures and whether everything that's quoted about transfer fees and wages is correct.

Did you see his contract?

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

What figures have they published? I've seen 12M mostly, which is close but doesn't cover add-ons.

I don't know what they've published about wages, but I had to go through his entire contract from start to finish. I have to keep schtum about that though.

I remember seeing a Chelsea contract from 5 or 6 years ago, was very interesting. A huge range of clauses in it to protect the club. Do the add-ons add up to quite a lot then?

<fishing>

"I categorically know that this transfer wasn't even within £350k of the amount quoted - because I authorised the payment."

"He's been using me on and off as an interpreter ever since the first PL clubs started enquiring, so when all sides had agreed the deal he flew me in to go through the player contracts for him."

=================================

I saw Pepe Reina in San Carlo once

Crafty. I can't say much and didn't see the final agreement between clubs, but it could be a fair amount if they all come in. Some of them seem very doable providing Moreno's successful at L'pool, but others will be hard to achieve and don't entirely depend on him.

Re the player contract, it seemed pretty straightforward to me, I'd imagined something a lot more complicated. I can't really go into detail, sorry.

Balotelli's settling on a 2 bed semi detached bungalow on the outskirts of bootle

That wouldn't even cost him a week's wages. Not sure it would cost more than a few days actually

its, I can imagine the sort of thing. I'm guessing football manager is right in a lot of ways regarding usual add-ons in a contract.

I'm sure if he and Sevilla end up getting all of these add-ons I'll be a very happy Liverpool fan.

That's exactly it; activate the add-ons and everyone's happy. Haven't seen FM, but FIFA includes a number of things a player will actually get wage perks for.

The money involved in football transfers is insane. We talk about it a lot, but with me it only really hit home after this time spent in the midst of it and going through the contracts. Put it this way, if my only wage was a quarter of what a player might expect over the course of an average season on performance bonuses alone, I'd be taking all the rounds at my local and still be laughing all the way to the bank.

Evenin all, all evenin