welcome ryan babel

[disco]

I wouldn't ever jump to such an imulsive comparrison, but the way he hlds himself, and holds the ball certainly reminded me of the big man himself.

It was uncanny.

However, I agree that a 5 minute YouTube video is probably not enough to decide this

[JPK]

I would be one of the fans that would look at this signing with a degree of trepidation, £11.5 is a hell of alot of money for a youngster who isn't tried and tested in the Premier League. I guess we have to take chances sometimes though. Would agree with the article where it says neither Babel or Benyaoun operate as out and out wide men. I am guessing that Rafa wants to add goal scoring wide players into the team, especially ones who like to come inside and play a bit, may help Torres.

11.5 is'nt much for a Dutch International who has a very good reputation and is definitely on the way up.Villa spent 10m on Ashley Young after half a season in the top flight and he is a long way off an England cap and not in the same league as Babel.I think we got a very good deal.They market is ****ed and proves you have to go foreign.Not having a go

[disco]

11.5 is'nt much for a Dutch International who has a very good reputation and is definitely on the way up.Villa spent 10m on Ashley Young after half a season in the top flight and he is a long way off an England cap and not in the same league as Babel.I think we got a very good deal.They market is ****ed and proves you have to go foreign.Not having a go

About the same as Kuyt though

[Maestro]

11.5 is'nt much for a Dutch International who has a very good reputation and is definitely on the way up.Villa spent 10m on Ashley Young after half a season in the top flight and he is a long way off an England cap and not in the same league as Babel.I think we got a very good deal.They market is ****ed and proves you have to go foreign.Not having a go

A good point - imagine if Babel was English and had 14 caps and 4 goals for England - what price would he be then??

[disco]

The more I think about it, this price is a big gamble! (although, I'm fairly sure 11.5m is with add-ons, it's probably more like 7m)

Isn't he potentially our 3rd biggest purchase ever?! (based on the higher amount )

Let's hope he's as good as people think he is, and will adapt quickly to the Premiership.

[JPK]

About the same as Kuyt though

I'm a Kuyt fan.He did'nt have a bad first year.He will only get better.Good competition and better players around him will ensure that

[JPK]

A good point - imagine if Babel was English and had 14 caps and 4 goals for England - what price would he be then??

20m easily

[Reece]

11.5 is'nt much for a Dutch International who has a very good reputation and is definitely on the way up.Villa spent 10m on Ashley Young after half a season in the top flight and he is a long way off an England cap and not in the same league as Babel.I think we got a very good deal.They market is ****ed and proves you have to go foreign.Not having a go

The comparison with Ash Young is a great point

[golly99]

Anybody seen this? Scouting report on Ryan Babel from the Guardian by Steve Claridge!

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/07/03/scouting_report_ryan_babel_aja.html

Sounds good but I was a little worried when I read "in the mould of a young Kevin Campbell"!!!

[slimbimjim]

Because he's dutch also?

No because he's black of course :whatever:

[Neil Young]

11.5 is'nt much for a Dutch International who has a very good reputation and is definitely on the way up.Villa spent 10m on Ashley Young after half a season in the top flight and he is a long way off an England cap and not in the same league as Babel.I think we got a very good deal.They market is ****ed and proves you have to go foreign.Not having a go

Why have you changed your avatar?

[BubbaZanetti]

So Rafa stakes his reputation when signing a very talented young player, where as Fergiescum is just savvy and a genious for signing Anderson, Nani and the like...that seems to be the tune in the papers.

This is the slant of the UK media - they announce Man Ure as being interested / having signed players before any official cont(r)acts. Sky Sports have been pimping Tevez to Man Ure solidly for about two weeks now.

They probably do it to keep the old tramp onside, he's still refusing to speak to the BBC (since the Veron tantrum I believe).

[Jayesh87]

Rafa Benitez delighted to finally land Ryan Babel

Jul 13 2007

by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

RAFA BENITEZ completes a four year quest to sign Ryan Babel when the youngster finalises his £11m move to Anfield today.

The Liverpool boss says he’s been monitoring the progress of the Dutch forward since he broke into the Ajax side aged 16.

And now Benitez believes he’s secured the services of a talent who has the ability to become one of the game’s top players.

“I’m really pleased to have signed Ryan because he is a player of great potential,” said Benitez.

“He was one of the best players in the European Championships, but we’ve been watching him for a very long time. We first saw him when he was 16 when I was still at Valencia. We remember a game he played against Barcelona when he broke into the Ajax side and we’ve followed him ever since. There were a lot of big clubs interested in him. He is a very good player now, and in the future he could be fantastic.

“It’s too soon when people start trying to make comparisons between him and Thierry Henry. Henry is a fantastic, experienced player who has shown his quality for a long time, but Ryan has all the assets you need to be a top player, although he is young and in England you always need time to settle down. He’s played at a good level in the national team, not just the Under 21s, and for Ajax.

“He can also play in different positions, either on the left, the right or as a second striker. For Ajax he played a lot on the left last season. Just like Benayoun, he gives us a lot of options.”

Benitez now feels a much stronger, better equipped Liverpool is in place to challenge on all fronts next season.

“When I spoke to the new owners I spoke about needing a balance of young and experienced players,” said Benitez.

”I’ve thanked them for their support. We have done a lot of hard work in the last few weeks. We have signed most of the players we want and everything has been positive. The club is going in the right direction. Always things can be better in football, but I’m happy because we are signing good players.

“We are building a team for the present and future, and now the balance is very good. What pleases me is that we have not only spent money, but we also have a lot of players who have a higher value now than when we brought them to the club.

“We’ve done a lot of good business. Three years ago we couldn’t sell some players because they had no value.”

Liverpool’s star players will make their first pre-season appearance at Crewe tomorrow. Most will play 45 minutes each, but Fernando Torres won’t be involved.

Angelina Jolie Naked

[JPK]

Why have you changed your avatar?

It's only a trial.They will be back

[Neil Young]

This is the slant of the UK media - they announce Man Ure as being interested / having signed players before any official cont(r)acts. Sky Sports have been pimping Tevez to Man Ure solidly for about two weeks now.

They probably do it to keep the old tramp onside, he's still refusing to speak to the BBC (since the Veron tantrum I believe).

That may well more likely be because of Man United rather than bias in the media. They may well brief sources off the record knowing that publicity is likely to be in their favour since they can afford higher fees than almost everyone (especially in the UK now that Chelsea seem to be tightening their purse strings). So they leak their interest since it tends to act as a deterrent to other potential bidders.

They also seem to be happy to release unofficially details of how much they might end up paying since it enhances the perception that they are the best payers. I wonder though whether details of deals are in fact generally pretty well-known within football circles.