Quote ="Saddened!"So, this Markovic then? Liverpool have paid £20m+ for him and seem genuinely excited at the signing. A few LFC fans I know reckon it's a bigger deal than losing Suarez and that it's a better signing than United's of C. Ronaldo. Having not really heard of him outside of Football Manager, I did some research on him and there is a genuine buzz about him on the internet. A lot of people guaranteeing that he'll be 'the next Messi/Ronaldo' level player and that he's going to be the best player in the Premier League with a couple of seasons.
So, why then, were Liverpool the only side that seemed to be interested in him? I found transfer rumours linking him to LFC going back to this time last year and there were no real mentions of other clubs. It's being discussed that Chelsea had a first option deal on Markovic as part of a partnership deal they have with Benfica, but were happy to waive it to allow him to join Liverpool. Why would they do that if the boy was so special?
Either way, looking forward to seeing him in action. Is he one to pick in Fantasy Football while he'll be relatively cheap and unknown this season? Will he be starting for LFC this season?'"
Couldn't you say that about loads of signings, though? Didn't Liverpool have the chance to sign C. Ronaldo before United, but didn't. Did that make people think any less of him?
There are so many things to consider with a transfer, so let's start listing them off:
- Was the player actually after a move, or was he actually pretty settled?
- Does he have an agent that aggressively 'flogs' his players through the media?
- How many teams out there, looking for a winger, could afford £20m on 'potential'? Or would want to spend £20m on potential when they can probably buy something a little more certain for a bit more money.
- Did the player play in the world cup, putting himself in the window for potential suitors?
- His ownership status wasn't clear cut, it involved third parties and you throw in him being a Serb, it also means work permits/foreign quota spots for certain countries.
- How good was his last season? Benfica clearly had a good year, but did he convince enough people he's the real deal, or is a large chunk of it still potential?
I believe that most clubs know about near enough every talent that's out there, sometimes the clubs that have the greater success are those that take the big risk before others. If you look at pretty much every top player in Europe, they've usually had to work their way to a top club. Aguero was one of the great South American talents, but he ended up going to Atletico Madrid instead; why? Because they took the risk. I could give examples all day, but I don't think the 'well nobody else seemed interested so he can't be that good' argument really fits, especially when we're talking about really young players.
If I was to have a wild guess, I wouldn't go for him in the fantasy team yet. He's young and pretty raw, he'll have to adjust and I can't see him nailing a first team spot straight away. I doubt he'll be cheap either, £20m signing for the side that finished second generally hits me as a pretty expensive FF player. From all I've read, his biggest issue seems to be the end product part of his game, which doesn't bode well for FF.
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