Liverpool banter 7

11 Jun 2026 09:33:40
Just to put footballers wages into context, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs has just signed a contract that will see him earn around £920k per week (plus bonuses) in a sport that sees you play a maximum of 21 games across a season that only lasts 6 months.

11 Jun 2026 09:47:40
Interesting comparison across sports, I know nothing about NFL, but is this chap the equivalent of a Galactico?

I guess you could say that with the popularity of NFL in the US, and the fact they tend to have much larger stadia and a population that's multiples of our own, the broadcasting rights alone would probably be multiples higher than our deals with Sky/TNT etc?

They are crazy numbers, but it's entertainment for billions of people.



Interesting discussion.

11 Jun 2026 09:52:03
Mahomes is absolutely a galactico.

11 Jun 2026 10:09:48
Have a look at baseball. The salaries and transfer prices are even higher. In a sport where you are considered world class or a galactico when you successfully hit the ball only around 30% of the time.

11 Jun 2026 10:22:59
At least you can get a bit more value for money in baseball with up to 184 games per season!

11 Jun 2026 10:28:51
I consider baseball differently to NFL because they play about 150 games over the course of 6 months, so on a per game basis their salary is probably lower than NFL.

Then again, baseball players don't get consistently hammered by giant men in both training and games, so it's difficult to make the comparison.



At the end of the day, if the money wasn't there, the salaries would be lower in all sports. TV money, and the increased costs of being a supporter, mean they'll only ever go up.

11 Jun 2026 10:52:09
Yeah, if you have the right QB and the right head coach you can win with decent players in other positions.

Mahomes is one of the most valuable QBs.

11 Jun 2026 11:05:14
Injury risk in NFL is obscene in comparison to football. NFL play a lot less games, but the risk of injury is a big part of what pumps the prices up.

11 Jun 2026 11:19:43
Pfft. American Football is just catching for joggers wearing crash helmets.

11 Jun 2026 11:52:21
Never got into any of the American sports. They always seem a bit on the silly side or incredibly boring.

11 Jun 2026 12:35:25
And he's only on the pitch for half the time as well.

11 Jun 2026 12:37:55
Don't forget the ball is only in play for about 10 minutes of the 60-minute game, which actually takes more than 3 hours to complete.

11 Jun 2026 12:42:53
Kermit the Frog has always had large wages, hasn't he? Could this be the new name for a new wonder dog, Sparky? Miss that puppy.

11 Jun 2026 12:48:33
NFL games only take that long because of all the advertising. Which is the reason the media rights are so expensive. Last year the highest rated TV "programs" were all NFL. But you are right, Chewy. I love the Pittsburgh Steelers. I can't sit down and just watch a game any longer. Have to be doing something else as well.

11 Jun 2026 13:07:28
Don't forget that NFL don't pay transfer fees. They make trades for other players and draft picks, plus I believe the television rights are huge. Mahomes is the big name these days, so will always be one of the highest earners.

Also, the first 5 years of a player's career they are on a rookie contract which I broke means they never earn more than $1,000,000 a season, then after that, they can earn the really big money.

11 Jun 2026 13:10:38
American sports viewing is awful.

Adverts all over the place, even during the game, they will cut the screen in half to show some god awful medical advert.

Disgusting.

11 Jun 2026 14:27:31
420FL, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys, for me.

11 Jun 2026 16:37:49
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals for me. Lived in Cincinnati for 15 years.

11 Jun 2026 08:18:16
Ed1, who would you say is on top of the list for midfielder that we are interested as of right now after managerial change? Its crazy market for midfielder right now if the likes of Elliot Anderson going for more than 120M and both Alex Scott and Mateus Fernandes are price at 80M.

{Ed001's Note - I thought it was Camara, but not sure now as not heard anything about it since Iraola came in.}

11 Jun 2026 08:53:27
Camara looks the right fit for what we need for a midfielder who can rotate with Grav in different games, and I would think Wharton would be a no-brainer for the other profile to play the other side in the pivot. I love Scott as a player, but to me he feels too similar in function to Szoboszlai. They are both all action, running and carrying midfielders who are well rounded on and off the ball, but who love running with the ball.

David Lynch did an excellent video on Scott yesterday where he made the case, clearly illustrated through stats, that at the present moment Curtis Jones is a far superior player, though Scott might have a higher ceiling because of his age.

For all the folks slating Curtis and saying he isn't worth 30 mill, while salivating at the prospect of signing Scott for 80, it's definitely worth a watch.

We don't need more box to box players who love marauding with the ball, we need a physical presence who can win the ball and win his duels (though Scott is good at both on the ground and aerial duels), and a specialist passer who can spray the ball quickly and efficiently.

11 Jun 2026 09:39:53
Curtis Jones being a far superior player is such hyperbole, especially if it's based on stats, a player playing at RB for 70% of the season with almost no meaningful stats from his natural position is, in my opinion, another proof that stats are a bunch of nonsense for the most part.

The only attribute Curtis excels at is his ball control & dribbling, but he almost never uses it for the benefit of the team, dribbling into blind allies and passing backwards after taking on 2 players for no reason!

11 Jun 2026 10:49:20
Those datamb stats can be highly misleading. Just looking at that alone could lead you to think Jones was as good as Vitinha, for example, which he plainly is not, nor will he ever be. The eye test also matters, and this is one of the places where Jones fails.

As ASB says, Jones makes poor decisions on the pitch; most of his passes are just five/ten yard passes, and on far too many occasions he makes a poor choice with his pass selection and puts a team mate in trouble (the back pass to Ali against Wolves across the face of goal, which then directly led to Wolves scoring, when clearing it up the line would have been a far better choice, being a good example).

He also switches off far too often; his positional sense and defensive awareness are almost non-existent (I lost count of the number of times Jones stood and watched runners from midfield go past him), and he is as tackle shy as it gets (ironic given that guff he came out with about getting stuck in).

There's a reason why he's overlooked compared to the likes of Anderson & Scott; they are actually effective in their position. Jones is not. Whether anyone wants to admit that is up to them, but the facts don't care about your feelings.

11 Jun 2026 12:02:17
Does every midfielder need to be able to make a piercing through pass or a raking ball out to the wings? Jones is a player who keeps possession in tight spaces (are there many players in the league who are better than him at this?) and carrying it forward or playing a simple pass to someone else, he always shows for the ball all over the field and is comfortable receiving the ball on either foot.

I don't think he often makes a poor choice with his pass selection. It's just that when something goes wrong with one of his passes it sticks in the memory. I also think he is a very capable presser and is very mobile, covering ground.

11 Jun 2026 12:52:55
The problem is Patrick, all too often he makes the wrong choice and he never learns from those mistakes. No one is expecting him to be peak Gerrard or De Bruyne with his passing, but being aware of your team mates being closed down before passing to them feels like a minimum expectation.

The whole schtick about him keeping possession in tight spaces is pointless because of his tendency to use the ball so badly, either because more often than not he then holds on to the ball far too long or chooses the wrong pass. By comparison, Wijnaldum was far better at that because he did think quickly and moved the ball on intelligently, Jones doesn't do that, he's clearly not a quick thinker and needs far too much time on the ball.



And it has to be repeated that he's defensively all over the place, he has all the worst traits a midfielder can have, he ball watches, lacks concentration, doesn't track runners, never takes responsibility, has poor situational awareness, and for a bloke standing at six foot he's very weak in the tackle. At coming up 26, these deficiencies should be ironed out of his game if he's as good as some would have us believe, but they're all still there and that's why he's not good enough to be a starter at a club challenging for the league, but also why his comparative value is so low compared to the likes of Anderson, Scott or even Wharton. If he ends up at Inter, I can see him occupying the bench.

11 Jun 2026 13:15:38
Ed, is it true that we were interested in Van Hecke when Slot is still in charge? There is also another Dutch midfielder that we were rumored to be interested in when Slot was in charge. I just can't seem to remember his name.

{Ed001's Note - not that I am aware of, Slot might have liked him but I don't believe he was being targeted at all.}

11 Jun 2026 16:38:47
Ed01, one of the reasons i'm glad Slot is gone.

Van Hecke is absolutely dreadful.

11 Jun 2026 08:03:17
With the World Cup kicking off tonight, who are your under the radar players to watch? Showing my bias here, keep an eye on Ibrahim Maza, the 20-year-old kid at Leverkusen, and Feyenoord RW Anis Hadj Moussa - he reminds me of Mahrez before he won the league with Leicester.

11 Jun 2026 08:57:00
Maybe Nico Paz? Maybe not so under the radar now, I think he's a great player. Bouaddi, maybe? Not the most under the radar either haha.

11 Jun 2026 10:34:22
BBC did a good article on this the other day, 30 young potential breakout stars of the World Cup.

Lots of African players on the list, and given the conditions over the course of the tournament, I think a few will show out. Looking forward to seeing the Ivory Coast wingers running at knackered European defenders!

11 Jun 2026 06:43:05
With Diomandé playing on Monday in the World Cup, it doesn't leave a lot of time to get the deal done. I'd guess we would send out staff to him to do all the necessary checks.

11 Jun 2026 08:08:28
Why would Leipsig do a deal now, when they have said all along that they wish to keep him and offer him a contract with a release clause.

They will sit it out and wait till after the World Cup.

If he has a barnstorming tournament, the club, the agents and the player make more money.

If he doesn't shine, he is still the same 19 year old with a similar value as before.

11 Jun 2026 09:12:05
Forgettherest, I thought the player had said he wanted any deal sorting before the World Cup starts.

11 Jun 2026 09:22:55
Lots of time for things to happen, Longthing76.

11 Jun 2026 09:27:33
Longthing, that is what Diomande wants or prefers. It doesn't mean it is gonna happen, cos he doesn't have all the cards here.

Sit back. Relax and enjoy the WC. If the deal will be done, it will be done regardless of when the WC starts and ends.

10 Jun 2026 20:24:03
Not LFC related but City have bid 120 million including add-ons for Anderson, not worth that amount!!

10 Jun 2026 21:41:05
I think we are going to be some crazy prices this summer. Bang average players will be going for 50-60m and top players for 100m+.
Can't blame Forest for asking City for as much as they can get.

10 Jun 2026 21:50:36
Wharton for 100
Fernandes for 100
Scott for 80

This is getting out of hand. Need to tap the French market and go for Sangare and Camara.

10 Jun 2026 21:58:58
Yet, we have stuck 35 mill on a 25 year old international player !!!!

10 Jun 2026 22:25:39
Football has gone crazy and we are fully subscribed to the madness having spent a fortune in fees last summer. It's a catch 22, as fans, we want instant success and that requires the best players, the biggest prospects etc, but that comes at a hefty cost. As much as we love an Andy Robertson story, they are few and far between, and with the cost of missing out on CL football so high, clubs really have to gamble large sums on success.

I still don't see a midfielder being worth that level of money, and can just about tolerate such sums being spent on match winners.

10 Jun 2026 22:34:02
I would rather pay £125m for Anderson.
Over Wharton or any of the others at £100m.

10 Jun 2026 22:39:56
We spent 100+ million on Wirtz and Isak, so we can't exactly talk :P

10 Jun 2026 22:41:05
Citeh should have bid £115m just to continue to troll the Premier League.

10 Jun 2026 22:56:45
We will always pay over the odds while Hughes is in negotiation. The fella is useless.

10 Jun 2026 23:20:50
Hughes is as much of a skilled negotiator as the Trump. The art of the deal, my a**.

10 Jun 2026 23:47:13
Klopp4pm, are you seriously comparing Jones, an ineffective player at best, who has one year left on his contract, with Elliott, who literally dog walked him at Anfield and has 3 years left on his contract. £25m is about right for a player of his level and his contract left.

11 Jun 2026 00:36:55
I'm no Hughes sympathiser but he negotiated deals for Leverkusen's star man and Newcastle's star man. Both players were literally the shining lights of their respected teams and thought of as 2 of the very best players in the world. Both were at teams that didn't need or want to sell them.

Did you expect him to negotiate them for lower than £100m each? Maybe throw in a packet of Space Raiders? He literally got the very best attacking midfielder out there and, apart from Haaland, who was unattainable, the very best striker out there.



I'm sorry but if you think we could've got either of those players any cheaper, you live in cloud cuckoo land.

11 Jun 2026 01:33:44
Anderson's worth every penny. How many English players can you name that are good enough to start every week for a Champions League side, 23 yrs old too.

I would sooner pay 125M for Anderson than buy 2x 60M Non-Homegrown midfielders with no Prem experience.

11 Jun 2026 02:47:26
With recent transfer fees, massive revenue for Premier League clubs, it can only be expected that transfer fees are going to be like this now.

This would have been the good thing about the Super League. Then a club like Ajax could smash transfer fee records on these players hahahah.

11 Jun 2026 07:52:42
I know Wirtz didn't have a great season, but he had the potential to be something special. Anderson is a very good team player, but will never be special.
We're obviously a season on and prices inflate, but still Anderson feels overpriced relative to Wirtz.


Re Isak, that was just a mistake. A lot of money for an injury-prone player was not good business. Hopefully he has an injury-free season next season and starts to repay some of that fee.

11 Jun 2026 09:10:44
@Klopp4pm, where did you hear that we have priced Johnie's at £35m? Was it social media, by any chance?

11 Jun 2026 09:29:21
"How many English players can you name that are good enough to start every week for a Champions League side, 23 yrs old too."


Was Forrest in the CL this or last season? Cos I must have missed it.

11 Jun 2026 10:36:48
Man City or United aren't paying £125m and then not playing him every week, including in the Champions League.

10 Jun 2026
New image uploaded to the
Liverpool Player Sightings page entitled, If this is true then surely it’s classed as tapping up?

Click picture for larger image

10 Jun 2026 19:07:36
HTH is called Half Time Hoax.

In their description, they say they blur the lines between reality and satire.

10 Jun 2026 19:09:40
I'm pretty sure that is Michael Olise in the pic.

10 Jun 2026 19:14:37
Don't believe everything you see on the internet!

Was true 30 years ago, and even more true now, especially with AI!

10 Jun 2026 19:36:54
1. That's not Rio.
2. Apparently this photo was taken at a hotel in Manchester. It was uploaded 4 days ago. Rio was in Florida 4 days ago playing for England.
3. The name of the account is literally HalfTimeHoax.

10 Jun 2026 19:39:05
I was looking at it & thought that don't look nothing like them. 🤣

10 Jun 2026 19:39:29
Rio doesn't have a back that big nor dreadlocks that long. This is disinformation at its best.

10 Jun 2026 21:46:00
It's not Kompany either.

10 Jun 2026 22:31:41
Looks more like Prince Naseem Hameed than Vincent Kompany. 😂

10 Jun 2026 22:56:18
A bit thin to be Nas these days! 😂

10 Jun 2026 22:57:28
Regardless of the picture, did Rio's representatives approach/ be approached and agree terms with Bayern?
If yes, then what's the difference between him, Owen, TAA et al.

10 Jun 2026 22:17:10
looks like a fat Kyle Walker

11 Jun 2026 08:27:02
Exactly Mcgoveb, I see him being a Stirling type, will leave as soon as he gets a better offer or does a Rooney a demands a pay rise to stay, his agents and family will push for this, I think he will be no different to any of these kids who want it all now.

11 Jun 2026 08:46:50
Slagging the kid off based on a dodgy photo on a rumours site.
Comedy gold.

11 Jun 2026 09:15:19
What if it is really Rio and Kompany but they were in disguise?

@Fatwallet, stop making crass assumptions about people and their character that you know nothing about. I'm sure it's your opinion but honestly you are making yourself lookk foolish with made up gibberish.

11 Jun 2026 09:31:02
Flash, you ain't never lied. Pathetic.

10 Jun 2026 14:37:59
Sancho on a free lads?

I'll get my coat.

10 Jun 2026 15:56:07
6 years ago? With the potential and raw materials he had?

Yeah!

Now?

Get your coat, call a cab and getdahelloutahere!

10 Jun 2026 18:08:44
Thought someone mentioning Rashford was bad enough.

10 Jun 2026 18:16:03
Rashford, Raul Jimenez and Sancho as our new front 3? 🤣

10 Jun 2026 18:42:24
I'd take the version of Rashford that scored all those goals in a season from a few years ago. I actually think he would do well under the new man's guidance, playing his kind of football.

10 Jun 2026 18:45:01
Them 3 would never get in ahead of next season's front 3 of Chiesa, Nunez, and Elliot.

10 Jun 2026 19:40:35
Okay, now, this is getting outta hand.

10 Jun 2026 19:50:33
To Tranmere maybe.

10 Jun 2026 19:52:57
I'd rather get Simao out of retirement or Iago Aspas.

10 Jun 2026 20:53:41
Shipperley, Windass and Andy Reid. Boom. 💥

10 Jun 2026 20:59:52
Something red you need to get more than your coat with that question, think you might be kept in the hospital 😉 for more than 1 night.

11 Jun 2026 08:28:03
Is Ricky Lambert still available? Just asking.

11 Jun 2026 09:16:54
Frankie Jeffers, the People's Fox in the Box.

11 Jun 2026 09:31:39
What people?

10 Jun 2026 14:06:23
Lamine Camara on Scout Nation on YouTube

Yes, I know - highlight reels etc, but Omg he looks s***-hot. ❤️

10 Jun 2026 14:35:30
Not sure if you're watching a football video, porn or both?

10 Jun 2026 15:18:51
You'd better quit that Pompey or you'll go blind.

10 Jun 2026 17:26:38
Lads, YouTube ( not the other site)

Ed01, have you seen enough of Lamine Camara at Monaco to have any opinion?

{Ed001's Note - not really.}

10 Jun 2026 19:21:59
He's been touted as the next Kante. Monaco didn't get Europe, so he's available for 40-50m. Newcastle after him.

10 Jun 2026 14:06:23
Lamine Camara on Scout Nation on YouTube

Yes, I know - highlight reels etc, but Omg he looks s***-hot. ❤️

10 Jun 2026 19:42:25
Pompey, such a good post, you posted it twice.

And I still don't know what "s***-hot. ❤️" means.

10 Jun 2026 20:44:13
Sounds like 'chit' hot, must be a Pompey thing, Oli. 🤷🏼‍♂️