The American Gerrard-Transfer News and Rumors
“The name’s Gerrard, Jordan Gerrard,” also known as “The American Gerrard!” You know about the “Welsh Pirlo”, you’ve seen the “Egyptian Messi”, but you never knew about the American Gerrard! When the American Scouser needed a transfer expert I was there to smash it in from long range with an absolute belter. What a hit son, what a hit!
This week I have a few Transfer updates on some past stories as well as a potential destination for Harry Wilson. We discuss Liverpool’s preseason plans and the chance to step up for a Liverpool striker. But first…
FIFA Dreams
The season is over and technically this will be one of the shortest preseasons, with minimal downtime before next season’s matches begin. This week, like so many Liverpool fans, I started having major LFC withdraw symptoms. To satisfy this massive void in our lives, myself and some other American Scouser Staff have turned to one of football’s greatest evils, [EA Sports’] FIFA [20]…
A small group of us decided to organize a FIFA tournament on PlayStation 4 for a laugh. But how exactly do you organize a competitive and interesting tournament when every competitor wants to play as Liverpool? We ended up selecting international squads and playing a World Cup-style group stage.
I selected England. I thought I was set using some familiar players like Hendo, Trent, and Joe Gomez. Having some pace from Raheem “the snake” and Jadon Sancho on the wings, I could have attempted to play in the Liverpool style if Harry Kane wasn’t so damn slow and a crap false 9. Well, I guess I brain farted and forget we have [Jordan Pickford the] T-Rex in goal. And of course having to use United players as part of my England squad, part of me died a little inside (and potential hampered my playing abilities – winkwink).
In the end, we could all see who the real winner was going to be after the first day, and sadly to say it was not me. Timucin Uras, the main man over here at A.S. is a beast at FIFA, and showed his prowess by giving the rest of us the business. It certainly did not hurt that he selected France, one of the best international teams in the game. I was on the wrong side of a 6-0 thrashing vs Timucin where I managed not a single shot on goal.
Upon the start of the new season and the release of the new FIFA 21, American Scouser plans to organize regular FIFA tournaments open to our readers and followers. There will be cool prizes from our Boot Room Shop. Winners may also get the chance to be appear on the American Scouser Podcast. I am putting out an open call to all FIFA players: we need someone who can beat Timucin!
You Snooze, You Lewis
This week, According to the Metro, Liverpool Football club made a bid for Norwich City defender Jamal Lewis. Liverpool’s bid was believed to be in the region of $13 million, which Norwich rejected. Although the player is believed to be keen on the move and wants to stay in the Premier League. Norwich are supposedly holding out for at least $26 million, which may be more then Liverpool want to spend. Despite their poor season Norwich have quite a few players who are wanted by other teams in the market. My belief is they will be able to pick and choose which offers they want to accept.
Worth the Kosta?
With Norwich refusing to accept Liverpool’s initial bid, Liverpool have moved on to signing another Left back target in Kosta Tsimikas. According to Paul Joyce, Tsimikas is heading to Liverpool for a medical next week. The fee is believed to be $15 million, with personal terms still to be negotiated.
According to reports, Liverpool decided to pursue a deal for Tsimikas after scouts watched his performance for Olympiacos against Wolverhampton in the Europa league on Thursday. Brendan Rodgers was believed to be considering Tsimikas as a replacement for Ben Chilwell at Leicester before Liverpool swooped in. While there has been no official confirmation as of the writing of this article, we will keep our eyes open.
I briefly discussed Tsimikas last week; however I thought I would gather some more information as the story picks up steam. Reported by the Liverpool Echo, Tsimikas was seen as a better value by Michael Edwards and his moneyball-inspired recruitment team than primary left back target Jamal Lewis.
Last season Tsimikas featured for Olympiacos 46 times and notched seven assists. He played a part in all six of Olympiacos’ Champions League group stage matches, where he featured against Bayern and Tottenham, before the Greek team was eventually knocked out into the Europa League. Tsimikas then started in the match where they defeated Arsenal.
It sounds like Tsimikas has a good deal of experience playing in European competitions, even against Premier League opposition. FIFA 20 has actually had the audacity of giving him a higher pace rating then Andy Robertson… and with his decent crossing and dribbling skills, he could be a valuable backup for the left back position [Ed. – and possibly even challenge our dear Andy?].
Thiagonator 3: Rise of the Munich
I never really knew a half-Terminator half-Thiago Alcantara looked like Cyborg from D.C. comics. But for a few months now I have been discussing the rumors surrounding a potential Thiago transfer. Everyone circulating the rumors has been expecting an announcement of some kind of break through any day: many fans were expecting this to be a deal to be completed quickly.
However, it seems no one really considered the Champions League. If you have watched Bayern Munich in the UCL this season you know why they are one of, if not the favorites to win it all. They rampaged through the group stage, beating Tottenham 7-2 in London. They just as easily swept aside Chelsea in a match Thiago played 71 minutes in. This is a reminder that Thiago is still an important first team member in what could be a season where Bayern win the Champions League.
I still do not believe we are signing Thiago. However, if Liverpool are really interested in him, I believe they will wait and watch to see how Bayern’s Champions League progression unfolds. I am certain that at the very least, Liverpool want reassurances on Thiago’s fitness before they make a move. They don’t want to make the mistake of signing him and then having him get injured playing for Bayern. There is also the possibility that Thiago wants to remain focused on the Champions League before committing to any transfers. I think we will have a clearer vision of Liverpool’s intentions once Bayern’s adventures in Europe’s top tournament end, but as long as Bayern still have a chance at securing European glory and Thiago remains fit, this saga will ramble on.
St. Mary’s Likes Harrys
This week Liverpool supposedly clarified their stances on Harry Wilson and Marko Gruijic stating both players would only be allowed to leave on permanent deals and no loan offers would be accepted. According to Football Insider, Southampton are preparing a bid for Harry Wilson. The 23-year-old Wales international is seen as an attacking target for the Saints.
Personally I would love to have seen Harry Wilson get a chance in a backup role at Liverpool, but with the Premier League voting to go back to only three substitutes per match, it looked unlikely Wilson would get much playing time. As of now he has only made one senior appearance for Liverpool, and has spent the majority of his career on loan. With all the players we have bought off Southampton, it almost feels rewarding to be able to send players to them and watch them succeed like Danny Ings.
However, Southampton are reportedly facing competition from Premier League returnees Leeds United. There is also talk of interest from Newcastle. Prior to the pandemic, Liverpool had hoped to receive in the region of $40 million for a young talent like Harry Wilson. Unfortunately the current financial situation has thrown many player valuations out the window, and Transfermarkt now values Wilson slightly less than $20 million.
Tell me about Talles
Originally reported by Yahoo Esportes, Liverpool Football Club have contacted Brazilian side Vasco da Gama over the possibility of signing Talles Magno. The 18-year-old wunderkind plays across the front three, and as I reported before he is already being described as “the new Neymar.” Magno made his first team breakthrough in 2019, and though he has only made a handful of senior appearances, he is already considered one of Brazil brightest young stars. Magno tallied two goals in Brazil’s successful U17 World Cup campaign; since then he was promoted on to the U19s, scoring three goals in six appearances.
Originally Magno had a release clause of around $60 million, but recently Vasco da Gama revealed their finances had been impacted by the global pandemic and they may be required to sell players to avoid going under. It has been reported that Vasco may accept as little as $23 million for Magno, but they are hoping that interest from PSG, Sevilla and Bayer Leverkusen will lead to a bidding war.
There isn’t a ton of information online about this kid, but a $60 million release clause and being compared to Neymar definitely got my attention. Klopp has repeatedly said that Liverpool will need to be clever in the transfer market; getting Magnos for almost a third of his release clause would represent some shrewd business. Liverpool already have some of the world’s best Brazilian footballers among the squad, which hopefully would entice Magno to choose Liverpool.
Preseason in France
The new Premier League season kicks off on September 12. Following the completion of their title winning season the Liverpool squad were given two weeks of well-earned vacation. The boys will be expected to return later this month on August 15 for a preseason camp in Evian, France. Liverpool have used Evian as a location for training camps in the past – it is believed Jurgen Klopp prefers Evian due to its remote location and highly-rated facilities.
Over the past two summers it has become a tradition that players ride bicycles to and from training every day. I am sure if you are a fan who follows preseason activities, you have witnessed the goofy pictures of the lads equipped with matching helmets and bikes in the past. Due to COVID-19, there will be no sponsored activities or player appearances allowing the team to focus strictly on getting in shape [as a group].
When they return to Merseyside, Liverpool will take part in several warm-up friendly matches behind closed doors. Their opponents are believed to be local teams. Hopefully, Klopp can get the boys fit and firing before the Community Shield at Wembley against Arsenal on August 29.
This could be a make-or-break period, as several fringe players will be given their chance to stake their claims on more first team opportunities. After a very successful loan spell at Swansea City where he scored 11 goals in 22 appearances, Rhian Brewster will be given his shot to move up the pecking order.
It has also been rumored that Harry Wilson may even get a chance to prove his ability to stay with the Reds and fight for a place. Hopefully LFCTV will broadcast some of these matches so that we as fans can get a good luck at our younger stars (and of course satisfy our insatiable need for constant new Liverpool Football Club activity).
I’m Jordan Gerrard, and as always I thank you for reading.