2024 January transfer window - hopes, needs, expectations and rumours.

[pauliewalnuts]

I wouldn't mind Firmino, but for a few things. The fact he checked out of top flight football by going to that revolting, civil rights abusing hell hole raises real questions about the sort of person he is, I don't like that. The fact he doesn't really seem an Emery type of player. The fact we'd have to put up with the truly stomach churning attention of Liverpool fans going on about "Bobby" in much the way they did about Carpethead when he was here.

[coreyfeldman]

I think players trying to return from Saudi are going to find it incredibly difficult to adjust back to the Premier league, both physically and due to the fact that a move there is professionally giving up. I'd be amazed if emery touches any of them with a barge pole

[Dave]

I wouldn't mind Firmino, but for a few things. The fact he checked out of top flight football by going to that revolting, civil rights abusing hell hole...

...when he left Hoffenheim for Liverpool

[VillaTim]

Firmino is finished at top level. I can't believe we are in any way interested in him

[VILLA MOLE]

Firmino is finished at top level. I can't believe we are in any way interested in him

poor Bobby 

[Smithy]

Heard Firmino was looking for a quick return to PL, so I think he could be rather useful for us from the bench for the rest of the season.

Danny Ings type vibes off Firmino. He couldn't do that pressing from the front in his later years at Liverpool so wouldn't be able to remotely replicate what Watkins does. Clever player though that would have his uses in games like Sheff United that we might see more of. Whether we would pay the wages he would be looking for a bit part role is unlikely.

I'd be getting Heskey vibes I reckon.

He seems to have followed the same career trajectory into "selfless, non-scoring forward". He wasn't actually prolific in his last few years at Liverpool and three in nineteen in Saudi Arabia doesn't suggest he'd be coming in to score goals.

Without looking, what were his assists stats like at Liverpool?
Salah and Mane were the goal scorers, so he didn’t need o be prolific.
Was he the one the laid them on a plate?

He wasn't prolific, but he was still just over 1 in 3 last season for Liverpool.  He's always played second (well, third) fiddle to Salah and Mane in the goal-scoring stakes, but he did a lot of work in that front three that allowed the other two to be more prolific.

I'm never normally in favour of buying ageing journeymen, but given our current league position, I think he could be an excellent squad addition for the next 6 months. I'd prefer a younger, long-term option - but I recognise that such a player could be difficult in January.  I wouldn't want him bought for anything remotely significant, and certainly not put on a long contract.  But I think he has the sort of profile that might be helpful as we chase Champions League qualification (or higher) in the second half of the season.  He knows the league, he knows how to win.  He also seems popular with the people he's played with, and with the fans who've watched him every week. 

If the finances are right, it feels like quite a low-risk option for adding attacking depth during the run-in?

It could go terribly, but it feels like the sort of gamble worth taking, if better options aren't available.

[OCD]

I always liked the Liverpool Firmino and felt that towards the end of his stay there, he wasn't valued as much as he should have been. I was worried when I saw him come off the bench against us last April and then they got their late equaliser. There is a question as to whether he's still the same player now though.

[dicedlam]

Probably mentioned before, but if we are looking at a short term solution why not go and get Welbeck from Brighton? He sits on the bench mostly, so why not sit on ours? Always good for a goal or two when he plays and works his socks off when he is on the pitch.
I understand that he's been plagued with injuries most of his career, but I reckon he would cost us very little for a player with an abundance of premier league experience and great cover for Ollie.

[paul_e]

Without looking, what were his assists stats like at Liverpool?
Salah and Mane were the goal scorers, so he didn’t need o be prolific.
Was he the one the laid them on a plate?

111 goals and 79 assists at Liverpool (in 362 games) so a pretty even split and all in that's a goal involvement in a little under every other game, not a bad record at all.

Similar record for Brazil as well.

I do worry that his legs have gone a bit though, he wasn't the same player last year as he had been, maybe that was down to him having decided to move away though.

[Risso]

The three of Firmino, Salah and Mane worked brilliantly together. He's only 32, but by the end of his Liverpool days you could see his legs weren't what they were as Paul says, and a few months mucking about in Saudi Arabia isn't going to have helped. Also at 32, he's not going to play regularly, and so he's not going to build up the same rapport that he had with Salah and everybody else at Liverpool.

[London Villan]

Another vote for Wellbeck from me.

[Clampy]

I've always liked Welbeck. He's similar to Ollie with his work rate and running off the ball.

[nigel]

Without looking, what were his assists stats like at Liverpool?
Salah and Mane were the goal scorers, so he didn’t need o be prolific.
Was he the one the laid them on a plate?

111 goals and 79 assists at Liverpool (in 362 games) so a pretty even split and all in that's a goal involvement in a little under every other game, not a bad record at all.

Similar record for Brazil as well.

I do worry that his legs have gone a bit though, he wasn't the same player last year as he had been, maybe that was down to him having decided to move away though.

Thanks, mate 👍
I was advocating us buying, but just interested in what he offered back then.

[Steve67]

I've always liked Welbeck. He's similar to Ollie with his work rate and running off the ball.

Classy player, underrated. Could do with scoring more goals but Brighton’s style might not really suit him.

[nick harper]

I like that Broja at Chelsea. He’s had a really bad injury but is now getting up to speed fitness wise. Quick, strong and can lead the line. With the constant churn at Chelsea and Nkunku back for them, there might be an opportunity there.