Mascherano Signed!!!!

[Diego]

How much did Carrick and Hargreaves cost ?

17 i think each...

[Nicey]

I'm chuffed ... Mascherano and Torres signed this campaign ... truly outstanding work in the transfer market by any teams standards .. a couple more signings of this stature and we are there. Just goes to show quality counts ...

[Gazmo1]

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...80131-1956.htm

Still not signed. Despite speculation! They must have read this thread.

[Barnyard]

I cant believe Pompey are wanting to sell Benjani...

It'd be funny if they completed the defoe move and the benjani one didnt make the deadline

You called it!

[Barnyard]

From the offal:

Meanwhile, contrary to reports elsewhere, the deal to complete Javier Mascherano's permanent move to Liverpool has yet to be finalised.

[RoadEnd]

From the offal:

Meanwhile, contrary to reports elsewhere, the deal to complete Javier Mascherano's permanent move to Liverpool has yet to be finalised.

That's been there since last night. They haven't bothered to update the site - lazy feckers.

[Jennings]

Alonso > Lucas

Class > form

[AFII]

Liverpool verbally agree deal for Javier Mascherano
Feb 1 2008
by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

JAVIER MASCHERANO’S permanent transfer moved a step nearer yesterday when Liverpool verbally agreed a deal to sign the Argentina international.

Club officials met with representatives of the player to thrash out the terms over a package for the 23-year-old midfielder.

The player’s agent Kia Joorabchian, whose Media Sports Investment company own the rights for Mascherano, was on Merseyside to negotiate an £18.6m transfer.

That valuation includes the £1.6m Liverpool have already paid to take Mascherano on an initial 18-month loan, which is due to expire at the end of the season.

The deal, which will see Mascherano commit his future to Anfield until 2012, did not have to be completed before last night’s transfer window closed and is expected to be signed next week.

The overall fee matches the £18.6m Manchester United splashed out to sign another defensive midfielder, Michael Carrick, from West Ham United in 2006.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0...name_page.html

[Morten_nogamst_Pedersen]

So it is actually the £17M quoted before then.

[Slim]

I will believe it when it becomes official news, but still it's a good boost after the week we've had.

Mascher

[badpiggy]

if someone can point out exactly what masher does that enables us to win games then i'll begin to feel some excitement at this bizarre overspend.

sorry to be a miseryguts about it, but this obsession with holding midfielders is starting to do my head in particularly when i see how effective masher can be for argentina and the certainty that rafa does not want him to do the same for us.

[Neil Young]

Seriously though, I don't buy all this 'net' spend argument. We've spent almost 60 million quid on players in the last 6 months. That's massive for any club in Europe.

What do you mean, you don't "buy" it?

Of course net spend is relevant - at one extreme you could spend £60m without recouping anything while at the other you could spend £60m and end up with a net profit. Net spend therefore potentially says something about whether the owners are putting money into the team (either from their own pockets or at least investing out of profits) or are simply taking any operating profit for themselves.

[BFG]

if someone can point out exactly what masher does that enables us to win games then i'll begin to feel some excitement at this bizarre overspend.

sorry to be a miseryguts about it, but this obsession with holding midfielders is starting to do my head in particularly when i see how effective masher can be for argentina and the certainty that rafa does not want him to do the same for us.

So you don't understand the role that a defensive midfielder can play in a team in other words?

To win games you must score more than the opposition so if you don't concede many it won't take as many goals to win the game. Mascher is a vital cog in our machinery, we just need to find the right balance between attack and defence, something I'm sure Rafa is trying desperately to do.

[Guest]

What do you mean, you don't "buy" it?

Of course net spend is relevant - at one extreme you could spend £60m without recouping anything while at the other you could spend £60m and end up with a net profit. Net spend therefore potentially says something about whether the owners are putting money into the team (either from their own pockets or at least investing out of profits) or are simply taking any operating profit for themselves.

[badpiggy]

So you don't understand the role that a defensive midfielder can play in a team in other words?

To win games you must score more than the opposition so if you don't concede many it won't take as many goals to win the game. Mascher is a vital cog in our machinery, we just need to find the right balance between attack and defence, something I'm sure Rafa is trying desperately to do.

what i don't understand is the idea of a midfielder who's only duties are defensive. i get the idea of a defensive midfielder - after all did seemed to do a great job but he did actually get forward and he did actually use the ball constructively in midfield - but in principle i'm against the extremly negative way that rafa uses him as opposed to the way he plays for argentina.