*UPDATE 8/7/09*
Aquilani has officially signed a 5-year contract after passing a medical.

I don’t blame Xabi for wanting to leave after the unsuccessful attempt to offload him last summer. It has to be difficult to play for a manager that you know wants to get rid of you and must be bitter sweet to turn it around and have that same manager practically beg for you to stay. Unfortunately, Liverpool have not won anything lately and a player of Alonso’s caliber has a need to win trophies. And now, with this transfer, he can continue to have that need unfulfilled while playing alongside his new overpriced and overrated teammates.

Let’s see the good and bad sides of this:

Good: Money for the club
Bad: Not enough money to buy suitable replacement, Xavi.

Good: ???
Bad: No more long, laser guided passes.

Good: No one left to kiss Stevie if Liverpool win the Champions League this season.
Bad: No one left to Kiss Stevie if Liverpool win the Champions League this season.

Good: ???
Bad: “Best Midfield in the World” song getting harder to sing.

Okay, so obviously I’m a little bitter. When one of your best players who is critical to the club gets sold, it always hurts. The rumor is that we will land Alberto Aquilani from Roma after this, but even if we do, we do not know how he will fit into our system. Steven Defour is the other rumored possibility from Standard Liege. He’s younger and cheaper, but much less experienced.

Blech. I’m going drink and refuse to stop until we can win a friendly without losing by 3 goals.

Arbeloa was heavily rumored to be part of Real’s raid on Liverpool and this might be related to that. And with reports of Benitez telling Xabi to sort out his move by midnight, it seems all but inevitable. More than likely, the fee has been agreed on and they’re trying to sort through his personal terms before it all goes public. Of course, that’s just my opinion. I didn’t goto football transfer school.

I was just thinking today about how I thought we were done buying, but when Xabi goes, someone will obviously have to be brought in to replace him. Gerrard could go back to playing CM, but then who would pair up with Torres? We need either a proven striker or play making midfielder and the options right now seem pretty grim. Bah, I shouldn’t worry. Lucas will be our savior, right? Right?

I really hope Xabi doesn’t go anywhere because I see him as part of the spine that makes the team work. No one can match his passing ability. It would also be nice to see Arbeloa stick around. He was one of the most consistent players last season, but I do not know that he will want to play off the bench with Glen Johnson in the picture. Personally, I was happy with Carragher at right back now and then. The only player that might go would be Mascherano. I just don’t see a defensive midfielder working in the current setup. The only thing that could possibly change that is if Gerrard continues to play right behind Torres.

It was said today that Rafa has challenged the youngsters to show that they have what it takes to be in the first team. If players like Pacheco, Kelly, and Nemeth can step up and earn a place in the squad, then hell, maybe we won’t need to buy or sell anyone else. Keep your fingers crossed.

Oh, and my boy Yossi got an extension on his contract. Woot!

1) Was he a pawn in a power struggle between Rafa, Parry & the Owners?
2) He wasn’t performing well enough to fit his 20-million-pound price tag?
3) Insert your own ridiculous reason here

It is a known fact that Rafa’s 1st choice target during the summer was Barry. That boy will probably be counting his lucky stars it’s not him being pushed around like an unwanted baby.

Regardless of all the conspiracy theories, I am beginning to have certain concerns.

1) With Robbo gone, we have only Kuyt as a proper striker in the event that El Nino gets injured/suspended/overworked. Egg Nog just don’t cut it. Even then, Kuyt will never be as prolific as Nando, I feel.
2) We just lost about £5m on this deal.
3) What’s with Benitez saying things to the effect of Keane’s value will drop to about £10m at the end of the season when he just signed Keane for £20m at the start of the season? Doesn’t seem exactly like a great deal to have your purchase depreciate by half after just a year! (Someone please enlighten me on this!) Is this just some excuse cooked up when he was taking a crap that morning?
4) Benching Robbo after he scored 2 in a match just isn’t giving the boy a sporting chance, I feel.

All things said and done, somehow I feel relieved that Keane has moved back to a club where he is treated as he deserves. A class act and a hero. I haven’t heard any whining or complaints about the way he was treated by the Club. A true professional.

I trust I speak for most of us when we wish Robbie all the best in White Hart Lane.

Cheers, mate!

Like most, I trust Rafa and his judgment completely. While I’m fairly certain you’ll see him playing with the reserves next year, I’m glad to see that the goateed-one will give him a chance to shine before letting him get acclimated to the English game with the second team.

It’s also worth noting that he’s the cousin of former Newcastle United defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, so that’s a bit of interesting news since Boumsong was almost a done and dusted member of the club before he made his move to Rangers on a free transfer.

What I do know is that we did beat Tottenham and Barcelona to get his signature, so he must have some type of skill; I also found out that Rafa was beating down the door down at his local club, Herfolge, to make sure we were first in line. Rafa liked him so much that he apparently made the offer himself to Herfolge sports director Per Rud. Here’s how it went down….

“‘This is Rafa’ he said,” Rud told the club’s official website. “I almost thought it was a lie!

“We are pleased and proud that Nikola has gone to one of the world’s best football clubs. We would have liked to have earned more money from Nikola but his injury and the fact that his contract expired in the New Year made it difficult.

“Liverpool acted extremely well in all cases and knew all the details,” he added. “They have been fair in the process and could’ve waited until the New Year but they will have him over now.”

WARNING: Please don’t drool too much over the video I found of him. Yes, it is absolutely FANTASTIC, but please remember that he still has to get acclimated to the physical English game. Any idea who he looks like in that video? (he reminds me of a lad with the initials FT.) Who says I can’t get carried away with the comparisons!

So yeah, get ready Liverpool, because Nikola Saric is now part of our youth system!

To look back on the first couple of weeks of the transfer season takes all of a split second, and can be summed up with two words: Philipp Degen. Degen, of course, is Liverpool’s only transfer signing to date. I’ll be the first to admit that I was more excited about Voronin being our first transfer signing last season (yes, I feel like a total fool now) than I was of seeing Degen’s name being linked with Liverpool. But like most Rafa signings, it’s usually the names we don’t know much about (Martin Škrtel) that end up pleasantly surprising us when we least expect it.

I’ve come to the realization that after going into a transfer overdrive last season with the additions of Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, and Ryan Babel, there is probably a pretty good chance we won’t be breaking the bank this summer for another Torres. If you read the ECHO like I’m sure most of us do, you have to figure that the £20 million “squad enhancement” number that’s being thrown around is probably spot-on. Why else would we only be linked currently with Udinese left-back Andrea Dossena and Bristol City centre-back Liam Fontaine? In reality, the David Bentley’s and Gareth Barry’s of the world will probably only be making a move to Anfield if — and that’s a BIG if — Rafa is able to move Xabi Alonso, Peter Crouch, and a cast of other players this summer.

In a perfect world Rafa would be able to move every one of them, and would in turn be handed an extra £50 million to go after another Torres-like player. But honestly, that £50 million number is based on valuations that most teams probably won’t pay. If we could get about half that number, I believe we’d be in very good shape to see Rafa bring in some big name talent.

But until we’re able to start selling away some of our current team, I have to be honest with myself and know that the Dossena’s of the footballing world are probably going to remain linked with us going forward. Mind you, it’s not a bad thing to have squad talent, but when you’re trying to fight for a Premiership title, only top quality will do.

I’ll be the first to say that I haven’t seen Degen play much of this past year, however I do know that he was part of the 2005-06 Champions League squad for FC Basel that lost in the third round of qualification to Werder Bremen, and that he started 10 games last year for Dortmund. That might be the solid news on him. What I didn’t want to find out was that Dortmund conceded the most goals in the Bundesliga this season (62).

To be honest, I would have rather seen us get into the mix for a certain Brazilian right back that Chelski and the Mancs are chasing, but considering how quiet Hicks and Gillett have been on funds, who knows how much is really in the transfer kitty.

Regardless of my concern, I’ll just say that I’d like to welcome Degen to the squad, and like everyone else, I’ll always back Rafa and his signings until I have the chance to see them on the pitch for myself.

In a not-so-big surprise, we’ve sent Scott Carson out on loan to Aston Villa for somewhere around £2m apparently with an option for them to buy him at the end of next season for an additional £10.5m. Rafa has stated on numerous occasions that Carson is not for sale and at a total of around £13m, I doubt Villa will be looking to keep him.

To replace our resident super model and future England numero uno, we’ve plucked Charles Itandje from Lens of Ligue 1. All I know about him is that he has funky little dance for penalties. If I can find a video I’ll post it, but my searches have come up futile to this point. I’m still not sure we needed him, but it’s always nice to have five or six decent keeps around. Expect him to get a start as early as next week in the first leg of our Champions’ League qualifying ties with Toulouse.

Finally, Sebastian Leto is now an official member of the club, though has yet to gain international clearance and therefore will be ineligible to play in any official matches until then. I personally think he’s a very promising prospect and our future left winger. The fact that this deal has been officially completed and that he’s been given a number, 33, makes me believe that it’ll only be a matter of time before he’s approved. Cheers.