Liverpool Transfer Rumours: 6 Playmakers Who'd Be Great Alongside Steven Gerrard
It is glory time at Merseyside as the Reds downed a valiant Cardiff side on penalties to win their first trophy in 6 years.
Cardiff City proved they were no pushovers as they took the fight to the champions.
However, there was an issue of concern in Jordan Henderson for Kenny Dalglish. Now choosing him for the RM position was a glaring error on Kenny’s part.
But the bloke hasn’t exactly managed to influence Liverpool’s attack from the centre midfield either. As a result, Liverpool face an uphill task to achieve the fourth position in the Premier League standings.
Whether or not Liverpool will make it is unknown but what is for sure is that the mighty Reds can’t mount a decent title challenge or make a run for the CL places with Jordan Henderson in charge.
The onus will be on Kenny Dalglish as he looks to build an attacking side that can deliver results on a consistent basis.
And that is why Liverpool need to splash cash on an influential playmaker in the summer transfer window.
Let’s take a look at a few players who’d fit in perfectly…
Christian Eriksen
1 of 7Dutch sensations are all what the media talks about these days.
There just isn’t a muzzle to limit the number of exciting talents who come out of the brilliant youth academies in Holland, especially from Ajax.
Christian Eriksen is no exception. One word should describe him well—prodigy.
The 19-year old Dane has already racked up 100 appearances for his club in just two years after he made the step up to the senior side.
This season he has 33 appearances against his name in all competitions with a haul of six goals and 16 assists to show for.
Post the Carling Cup victory, Damien Comolli remarked that there were top players who’d expressed interest in joining the project under Kenny Dalglish.
Let’s just hope that Eriksen is one of them because he is the playmaker that Liverpool need so badly.
Sure, we’d love to see him alongside Steven Gerrard and possibly take over from him once his career comes to a close.
Lucas Da Silva
2 of 7Lucas da Silva is one of the hottest prospects of World Football plying his trade with Sao Paulo in the Brazilian league.
The 19-year old has managed to stave off interest from big clubs and stayed put with his parent club.
But the summer window may just change it.
With clubs increasingly on the hunt for his signature, Sao Paulo may find it hard to resist a tempting offer from one of the European heavy weights.
If Liverpool manage to pluck the Brazilian teenager then they’d have a Lucas on either side of the midfield guiding them!
A perfect fit to replace Joe Cole in the No. 10 shirt, the addition of Lucas da Silva will add flair to Liverpool’s attack.
So definitely, we’d like to see him playing alongside Steven Gerrard.
Gaston Ramirez
3 of 7The 21-year old Bologna midfielder was rumoured to be a Liverpool transfer target late last year.
But, as it stands now, there hasn’t been much of a development from either party which has led the media to drop the ball on this topic for a while.
Anyway, Ramirez adds pace to the midfield and Kenny could certainly use some in his line-up.
Also Ramirez’s pace allows him to fit seamlessly on the wings and hence could provide with some competition for Stewart Downing.
If Liverpool bids for him, he may be interested in the switch because of the fact that he gets to link up with his international team mates Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates.
Stevan Jovetic
4 of 7Staying with Italy, this 22-year old Montenegrin attacking midfielder who plays for Fiorentina in the Serie A is another perfect fit for the trequartista-role alongside Steven Gerrard.
Some of you folks know him as a forward but few know that he is equally capable of executing his duties from a central attacking midfield position which apparently is his favoured position.
His close control dribbling skills and a wide range of passing abilities along with his pace makes him a deadly threat to opposition defence.
Not many Liverpool supporters would have forgotten the face of this man who, as a 19-year old, raced through the heart of Liverpool defence on his way to scoring two goals in a Champions League group stage fixture in 2009—the last time the Reds played in the competition.
He has scored 12 and assisted five in 20 appearances this season.
There is a bit of a bad news about him in that he only recently signed a contract extension to stay at his club till 2016.
That would mean he isn’t going to come cheap.
But then again, FSG’s pockets are really deep!
Shinji Kagawa
5 of 7The 22-year old Japanese international, playing for Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga, is another playmaker whom Liverpool supporters would love to see alongside Steven Gerrard.
He is equally proficient in scoring those important goals as he is at setting it up for his team mates.
Transfer rumours linked him with Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, Juventus and a host of other top clubs.
It doesn’t come as a surprise given how well he’s been performing for his club.
He was a major player in BvB’s title winning campaign last season.
And he has continued his excellent run of form into the current season as well scoring 10 goals in 29 appearances for the club.
But BvB signing Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach for the next season has cast doubts over Kagawa’s future.
If anything, he’d be a great buy and would certainly be an awesome upgrade over Jordan Henderson.
Younes Belhanda
6 of 7Some of my regular readers would probably identify this name.
Younes Belhanda is an attacking midfielder who plays for Montpellier HSC in the Ligue 1 of France.
He is one of the major players, along with Oliver Giroud, responsible for the club’s shift of fortunes in the title chase this season.
I’m not exactly sure how Montpellier have managed to keep him out of the spotlight for so long despite him being on level terms with the more popular Eden Hazard with respect to skill and talent.
The 22-year old Moroccan international is very influential when it comes to dictating the midfield.
His dribbling skills and passing abilities are just as good as any other playmaker listed on here.
If Damien Comolli was any smart, he should work on wrapping up a deal for this kid who in just one season helped transform Montpellier from also-rans into genuine title contenders currently sitting atop the Ligue 1 charts.
For the folks who haven’t heard much about him, here is Goal.com profiling this talented player in a well-written article.
Afterthoughts
7 of 7The afterthought is pretty simple.
One final is over and the first trophy is safe and secure in the kitty.
Now the focus should shift towards achieving that fourth spot without which bringing in any of these players (apart from Ramirez) would stay a distant dream.
So regardless of what Comolli has to say, the team has got a lot of work to do and beating Arsenal in this weekend’s action tops the list of short term targets.
Then, maybe the FA Cup...
Thanks for reading.
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