Why Liverpool FC Should Target Asamoah Gyan & Ruiz If Remy Deal Fails ?

Liverpool are reportedly very desperate for a (Loic) Remy-dy (deal) to their striker crisis and their efforts are subject to some serious challenge from elsewhere . The reason for desperacy is quite apparent though, now with the Europa clash versus FK Rabotnicki which begins with an away fixture on the 29^th of this month, and only N’gog and the reserve team players in sight Liverpool look desperately short of strikers for first team football.

The respite for Hodgson is however that Dalle Valle and Co. from the reserves look to be in some sort of form and the Macedonian outfit should really not still be a major obstacle, something like Unirea Urziceni last season.

With no established star in the squad Liverpool though is certainly a little weakened and may well go about the first Europa fixture a little cautiously.

However what really looks to be a mounting problem for the club is the fact that if the reported latest swap deal is not agreed by Nice, and Arsenal along with the other London-rivals waiting in the wings also join the race to sign Remy, the Reds could end up fighting for a lost cause. Considering that Liverpool are able to do away with Riera soon enough  it would still not give them adequate cash to challenge in the inflating price of Remy.

Liverpool would therefore be forced to look elsewhere because even if they come through the Macedonian challenge successfully, a lot of major problems will stare them in the face.

Firstly Torres is yet to announce his commitment which I think will come once a striker is signed by the club. Even if Torres stays at the club, his injury-prone status would mean Liverpool should seriously look for a cover for the Spaniard or even his partner upfront.

Here I discuss two names which were already linked with the club and why Liverpool should really focus on getting at least one of them, if not both. They are Bryan Ruiz from FC Twente , the first real Hodgson’s find to hit the transfer rumour.

The second being Asamoah Gyan, the highly rated Ghanaian striker who had earlier attracted interests from clubs like Manchester United, AC Milan among others.

There were also rumors linking Huntelaar and Kiessling to the Reds, but if not for a big swap deal, it is tough to see the Reds would be able to finance such deals.

Bryan Ruiz, Country : Costa Rica , Club: FC Twente

Bryan Ruiz has had a fabulous season with the Dutch outfit who went on to win their first ever Eredivisie title after inception. Ruiz has been shown great qualities of a striker whilst playing for both club and country.

With a wonderful display of skill and power, Ruiz nearly took Costa Rica to the World Cup in south Africa scoring a brace versus the USA in a crucial encounter, however the  Americans fought back to draw level and Costa Rica failed to go through as Honduras proceeded.
The Eredivisie has been looked down upon lately by a whole lot of fans and experts and the general notion is that it is very easy to be counted as a high goal scorer there. The Truth still remains that all of Cryuff, Sneijder, Bergkamp, Robben, Van Persie, Kluivert  along with a host of others were all products of the same Eredivisie and all of them have acquired huge fame even outside the Netherlands.

From what has been on display here and there, Ruiz seems to be an intelligent striker and certainly a genuine goal-scorer much unlike the young French N’gog who has a lot to work upon in that area.

Ruiz is the type of finisher that Liverpool really needs and he seems to be perfectly capable of being a perfect partner to Torres or on some days even his replacement. Thus getting Ruiz for Remy may not be that bad a choice anyway.

Asamoah Gyan. Club : Rennes, Country : Ghana

Barring that controversial penalty Asamoah Gyan who played the role of a solitary striker for Ghana in the recently concluded World Cup had a good tournament. Luck has been flirtatious with this much famed African Striker though, when it has come to the World Cups.

It has given him instant fame of being the fastest goal scorer in 2006, when he found the net in only 68 seconds into the match against the Czech and his Cup run ended after he was given a Red card in the match against Brazil in the Round of 16. In 2010 it has taken him from being a hero for Ghana against Serbia and USA in the World Cup to a nightmarish penalty kick that effectively unsettled Ghana and marked their exit.

However as soon as the World Cup ended, rumours of clubs vying for his services started doing rounds and although Liverpool has till date been the biggest club linked with him, he had also been a matter of interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and AC Milan.

Although Gyan was initially rumoured to be a replacement if Torres were to leave the club. Now with the Loic Remy deal on the the rocks and a host of deadwood to leave in the coming few weeks before the league starts Gyan may well be worth a gamble.

Reports were initially that Gyan’s has been valued at about 20m Euro, and that may be a stumbling block to Liverpool’s attempt of prizing away the striker, however, Remy swap fails players like El-Zhar , Plessis , Degen or even N’gog may be available still to sweeten the transfer deal in a way beneficial to both parties.

Latest reports suggest Turkish giants and even West Ham are interested in going for the striker and bids in the same spectrum as those asked for Remy are demanded.

It can be taken for Granted that if West Ham do indeed get the Remy deal done, they’d with draw from the race for Gyan as they already have Carlton Cole, Benni McCarthy and new boy Fredrick Piquionne in the squad.

In such circumstances it should only be a matter of how interested Liverpool really are for the striker who has already scored 50 goals at senior club level at almost the same rate of Remy. To add to this Gyan also has an impressive record playing for his country, scoring 22 times in his 44 appearances.

Gyan also has a good physical presence on the pitch and good eye for goal. An ability which might just give him the edge in the Premier League.

Incidentally in the last 6-7 years some African strikers have made a lot of impact the premier league. Both Emmanuel Adebayor and Didier Drogba’s influence on their respective team’s performance has been pretty massive. Looking at the records, Adebayor had scored 43 goals in his senior club football before joining Arsenal at the age of 21 (he turned 22 a month later), and Drogba had scored 51 in his Senior club level football when he joined Chelsea at the age of 26! The really big failure at a Top club during this run was El Hadji Diouf at Liverpool and he joined Liverpool at the age of 21 and had scored a mere 19 goals in his brief senior club football career which spanned across three clubs though!

Taking all of the above into account Gyan’s record of 50 goals at 24 is impressive.

Thus, should Liverpool FC miss out on the Loic Remy deal and if the Reds’ were really interested in Bryan Ruiz and Asamoah Gyan. Liverpool should still have at least a good player to choose from. It would still be a bargain though with their present financial status, that is all the Reds must do and do it cleverly.

With both Bryan Ruiz and Asamoah Gyan Liverpool should also have a little more time in their hands, whereby they can sell the player they want to and improve on their transfer budget.