What do you think of Rafas spending so far this summer?

[enema of the state]

truth is...its too early to say yet

[homer1]

Torres - absolutely delighted, I think apart from his obvious skills he seems to be a fighter, think he'll prove an excellent signing

Babel - too early to say and not sure of his best position but looks to have pace, power and ability in abundance - just looks a little too dis-interested to me at times

Benayoun - he'll prove a lot of people wrong. Not a winger but very, very creative and will provide a lot of assists this year

Lucas - one for the future, have read a lot of good things about him and looked good against that Chinese sub standard side but cannot see him playing much this year

Voronin - surprise of the year, like most didn't expect much but he has really impressed with his work rate and ability. Kind of guy I'd like to see playing in the tough games as not afraid to get stuck in

As for possible outs, I was surprised that Sissoko didn't go and would have been happy to take £10m for effectively our 4th choice central midfielder and if we get Heinze in I would not be surprised to see Hyppia & possibly even Riise go but all in all very happy with our transfer dealings this summer. Happy to see most of the players go that went with the exception of Fowler, but that is for sentimental reasons only and agree the decision to release him was the right one. Would have preferred to see a genuine winger come in but if the right player for us isn't available then why settle for others, we've seen how much that can come back to bite us in the ass in the past

Whether this is enough to bridge the gap or not only time will tell as our competitors have all strenghtened also - very optimistic about the season ahead for the first time in a long time, roll on Sunday

[fred_plasticine]

the new issue of four-four-two rates all the premier league newcomers and guess who gets 9 out of 10? yup, babel. not torres, nani or malouda. the lad's gonna be excellent we just need a bit of patience.

[Skillz]

It isn't exactly like Rafa hasn't tried to sign a quality wide player.

Malouda, Simao, Mancini, Alves, Cicinho and Quaresma is players that we have made a bid for or asked if they are available.

Sometimes the asking club is asking for to much but at the same time, proven quality costs a lot of money and you can't expect to get them on the cheap.

I'm at least happy that we don't do our business in the dirty way that Real or Chelsea do when they tell players to miss training and skip games so they can get a move.

I'm not convinced we were in for these two. TBH i really hope we weren't in for Cicinho cos i do not rate him and doubt he will ever be what we call LFC class.

As for the thread topic, i am quite happy, particularly if we get Heinze as i believe we will have strong squad. I fully expect us to strengthen again next year when we see who can and cannot handle the pressure of playing for their spot.

We are not Title winners yet IMO, although i certainly have not ruled out the possibility of us winning this year, i just feel Rafa will use this season to see how people react and make some big signings next year.

Mascherano will be very interesting at the end of the season. I hope we have agreed a figure, otherwise i expect all the top clubs to bid. In that i mean Barca, Real Madrid, Chelsea and ManU, if no figure is agreed and we want him we will be paying a fortune. This will mean (IMO) us selling Alonso who tbf would attract a large fee himself.

[John_Gotti]

How do I rate our spending this summer?

Spent bloody way too much for every player!!!

Sack Parry, Rafa G&H!!!!!!!!!!

[cled the red]

Hicks or Gillette did say "Whoever Rafa wants we we get for him" which to me means, Villa, Alves and a world class winger be it Simao or Quasimodo, not Yossi, Babbel or The Crow. Torres and the youngsters were fine buys but wont close the gap enough. Our strike force will again be our downfall.

To you it may mean Villa, Alves and a world class winger, but it obviously didn't to Rafa and with respect it is his opinion that counts.

[fred_plasticine]

Villa, Alves and a world class winger be it Simao or Quasimodo

Villa was never gonna leave valencia,
alves commands too high a fee and isn't worth it cause we've got an excellent right back already and the lad's not a winger.

as for simao or quaresma - neither of these two can be considered world class even though their transfer fees suggest they are.
simao in particular is a waste of space imho.

[StevieG08]

I'm happy with the signings we've made, i think Babel will be a class player once he's found his feet. Ditto for Torres, Voronin and Benayoun will provide extra quality to the squad ( replacements for Zenden/Gonazales and the ageing Fowler ).

As for the cover at CB i really think young Hobbs should get a chance in the event of a run of injuries to senior players in that position. The couple of games i've seen him play for the ressies he seemed very calm and assured, just IMO.

[Leo-pool]

Voronin is proving to be a good Bargain ... Torres looking Sharp! Think he is ready for the Premiership already, as for babel and benayoun need a bit more time to adjust, but im sure they'll come up with the goods.

[cobain]

Rafa spent big time this summer. Actually, I'm still shocked with amount of money we have spent on players. But unlike other summers, I think we actually did it right this year.

I went on lfchistory site and dig up this piece about our transfers this summer:

IN:
11.05.2007 Lucas Pezzini Leiva Gremio £5,000,000
01.07.2007 Sebastian Leto Club Atlético Lanús £1,800,000
04.07.2007 Fernando Torres Atletico Madrid £20,200,000
06.07.2007 Andriy Voronin Leverkusen Free
12.07.2007 Yossi Benayoun West Ham £5,000,000
13.07.2007 Ryan Babel Ajax £11,500,000
09.08.2007 Charles Itandje Lens Undisclosed

OUT:
08.06.2007 Daniele Padelli Sampdoria Returns from loan
13.06.2007 Danny O' Donnell Crewe £100,000
01.07.2007 Robbie Fowler Cardiff Free
01.07.2007 Boudewijn Zenden Marseille Free
01.07.2007 Jerzy Dudek Real Madrid Free
03.07.2007 Luis Garcia Atletico Madrid £4,000,000
09.07.2007 Djibril Cissé Marseille £6,000,000
10.07.2007 Craig Bellamy West Ham £7,500,000
17.07.2007 Mark Gonzalez Real Betis £3,500,000

I was absolutely shocked with the amount of money we paid for Lucas Leiva ... But then again, I heard he is the hottest prospect in South America, so we probably didn't commit a horrible mistake. It's just that we thought Cheyrou was the new Zidane and stuff ... I don't know. I hope I'm wrong this time.

This summer, transfers happened out of the blue for me. I knew we were going to bring Torres and splash big for him and I actually thought this was going to be our main signing and then tons of young, unproven players from Hungary etc. Then Yossi and Babel came and I thought okay, they aren't so bad. In fact, they're great. We have spent 16MIL on them. Jesus Christ!

I'm still not used to big spending! We have spent almost more than 40 MIL on three players this year and I'm still a bit shell-shocked, cause I'm not used to this and am always thinking that we're kind of broke (like we were the last xyz years).

But Rafa has got it right, I just know that! If we beat Chavs on Sunday, we are in great position to escape them and the ****!

[enema of the state]

Rafa spent big time this summer. Actually, I'm still shocked with amount of money we have spent on players. But unlike other summers, I think we actually did it right this year.

I went on lfchistory site and dig up this piece about our transfers this summer:



I was absolutely shocked with the amount of money we paid for Lucas Leiva ... But then again, I heard he is the hottest prospect in South America, so we probably didn't commit a horrible mistake. It's just that we thought Cheyrou was the new Zidane and stuff ... I don't know. I hope I'm wrong this time.

This summer, transfers happened out of the blue for me. I knew we were going to bring Torres and splash big for him and I actually thought this was going to be our main signing and then tons of young, unproven players from Hungary etc. Then Yossi and Babel came and I thought okay, they aren't so bad. In fact, they're great. We have spent 16MIL on them. Jesus Christ!

I'm still not used to big spending! We have spent almost more than 40 MIL on three players this year and I'm still a bit shell-shocked, cause I'm not used to this and am always thinking that we're kind of broke (like we were the last xyz years).

But Rafa has got it right, I just know that! If we beat Chavs on Sunday, we are in great position to escape them and the ****!

do the math on those lists mate

the net spendings in the £20m bracket

not hugely more than our outlay on alonso and garcia

or kuyt and crouch

or finnan and kewell and ciise

im actually NOT very impressed by the cash outlay - especially when our new owners were waving wads of notes around like harry effing enfield - but im really impressed with the net improvement of the squad since august 2004 when owen left.

bottom line is that we are by far best equipped for a shot at the title - in squad terms - than weve been since 1990. we may not win because the last 5% is psychological and rests in factors like influencing referees and getting the media on your side but we should be able to last the pace and at least have a realistic chance.

i think theres still plenty of room for improvement in the squad particularly in either fullback and wide positions and we also BADLY need a covering centre half as samii - great though he has been - is probably over the hill as regards the very top level

[Rich]

I think about 50% of the posters on here are crazy...

We've had a very good summer on the transfer front - we've brought in good money for players that are surplus to requirements, and spent good money on the players that Rafa wanted for HIS squad. Enough said really.

Add probably one further defensive signing - more than likely Heinze and Rafa will be chuffed, as I am.

[inijjer]

People were moaning about Malouda when we were linked with him. People will moan about us being linked with anyone and then moan if we get them. People just like to moan.

Unless we buy ronaldinho, giggs, and a cloned pele then our signings are never enough.

> Proven world class wingers in world class teams don't want to come to us.

That leaves us with the 2nd tier, the players that may not have as high a profile but can become world class when slotted into our improving team.

[cobain]

People were moaning about Malouda when we were linked with him. People will moan about us being linked with anyone and then moan if we get them. People just like to moan.

Unless we buy ronaldinho, giggs, and a cloned pele then our signings are never enough.

> Proven world class wingers in world class teams don't want to come to us.

That leaves us with the 2nd tier, the players that may not have as high a profile but can become world class when slotted into our improving team.

[inijjer]

lol @ you being shocked at giggs but not a cloned pele.