The summer of 2011 promises to be an intriguing one for all Liverpool fans. Ever since New England Sports Ventures (NESV) took over from the almost criminal and ultimately degrading ownership of previous occupants Tom Hicks and George Gillett, it has been a transfer window Reds fans have waited for.
In January of this year Liverpool Director of Football Damian Comolli was in Amsterdam finalising a move for talented Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez, news broke of Fernando Torres’ desire to move to Chelsea. It was an awkward situation for the Reds hierarchy. The decision had to be made: do they stick or twist? They decided to twist. Ultimately selling Torres for £50 million and deciding to sign Newcastle United forward Andy Carroll for a club record fee of £35 million.
It has become common knowledge that Andy Carroll was one of Liverpool’s top transfer targets for this upcoming summer. With Comolli and Manager Kenny Dalglish already tying up one of their top targets months earlier than expected, the question on everybody’s lips is:
Who is next?
One position that Liverpool have needed to fill since the days of John Barnes is on both flanks. Recent seasons has seen players like Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera etc play on the wing for Liverpool. Kuyt and Benayoun are both players who refuse to hug the touchline and come inside to link the play or to try an get into the penalty box to score a goal whilst Riera could hug the touchline but his distinct lack of pace meant he struggled to make an impact.
Recent newspaper stories has seen Aston Villa winger Ashley Young become a firm favourite to join the Liverpool revolution in the upcoming summer, and sources in the city has confirmed the deal has already been done. (This is not an official line from Liverpool Football Club). Young certainly would be an ideal player to come into this ever evolving Liverpool side as he could provide the ammunition from wide left or wide right for towering forward Andy Carroll. Young is also an excellent set piece taker, regularly assisting goals for Villa and even getting on the score sheet from direct free kicks. Possibly the main attribute Young has that excites the Liverpool supporters is his pace. Talk of Liverpool breaking at breakneck speed next season with the link up of Young and Suarez is a frightening possibility.
Whilst Young could already be a done deal, other wingers have also been linked. Eden Hazard. The 19 year old Belgian prodigy, currently on the cusp of Ligue 1 success with modest northern French Club Lille, is attracting massive interest across Europe with his talent and consistent performances. It is common knowledge that Damien Comolli has asked Lille to keep him informed on any movement for the youngster.
Valencia inside forward/ winger Juan Mata has also been linked with a big money move to Anfield. Mata, a World Cup Winner with Spain, has long been linked with a move to the Premier League and a move to Liverpool could be on the radar.
Liverpool will also be looking at a marquee signing during the summer months. Liverpool fans may dream of players like Karim Benzema or Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero but the necessity at Anfield currently is flying wingers.
The question is: When the flying wingers are in place, will Liverpool start to take off?
