Liverpool linked with Flamini
Liverpool are rumoured to have been linked with out of favour AC Milan midfielder, Mathieu Flamini. Flamini has officially joined the long list of players that were rumoured to replace the Inter Milan bound midfielder, Javier Mascherano. It was only obvious that more players would be linked to the club as the speculation regarding Mascherano’s departure grew.
The former Arsenal midfielders is the newest addition to the numerous central midfielders, that have been linked to the club over the past in hopes of someone being competent enough to replace the Argentinean captain. Other targets include, Scott Parker from West Ham, Christian Poulsen of Juventus and Steven Defour of Standard Liege. There are also countless others that have been linked to the team but these are the favourites so far.
The current speculation involving a takeover at Liverpool by Kenny Huang will result in even more players being linked to the club. However till that deal concludes, Roy Hodgson would still be looking to strengthen and re enforce the squad in order to launch a successful campaign this coming season.
Flamini looks like the best replacement to fill in for Mascherano as yet. He plays a very similar style of football and if anything has better passing then the Argentine. Flamini is also experienced at playing fast paced English style football. During his stay at Arsenal he was one of the stand out performers at the club. He provided some devastating defensive cover and constantly killed off the opposition every time they were looking to attack. He also managed to play the job of a holding defensive play maker. This was only possible due to the fact that he possesses great passing abilities as well. He has also managed to score a couple of wonder goals over the years.
The question however is whether or not Flamini would want to play at Anfield. He was recently reported to have said, “I’m happy to be in Italy, it’s a great championship and I’m having a lot of fun. But in football, you never know.”
This proves that he is happy playing the very limited football time that he gets, but has also caused some reason to speculate by saying that anything could happen. When players go public about stating that anything can happen that usually means that they are currently lining up a move out of their current club.
Mascherano was expected to leave the club last week. However with the new manager coming in and the new speculation about the take over at Anfield, his move has also been slowed down. Mascherano has already expressed his desire to leave the club. Now it’s only a matter of both the clubs agreeing a fee and a term to transfer the player on. Gerrard and Torres were also expected to be on their way out of the club along with Mascherano however, both those players managed to end all those speculations by agreeing to stay at the club for one more season at least.
Liverpool have a pretty decent squad considering Joe Cole was brought in to help in the attack and with Torres and Gerrard staying their attack has only been reinforced. If they don’t manage to find a suitable replacement for Mascherano who has been the heart of Liverpool’s defensive capabilities ever since he was brought in they would most definitely have a season well below their standards, considering they finished at the seventh spot last season, anything worse than that would just be abysmal for the club. Most fans will be hoping that Liverpool manage to get their act together for the coming season.
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