Id prefer get rid of sissoko and bring in Masch. This would be a big blow to our title aspirations I fear. Mascherano: Reportedly wanted by CityCity ponder £17m move for Masch Manchester City are reportedly set to make a £17million move for Argentina midfield terrier Javier Mascherano in January's transfer window. The Liverpool battler's long-term future at Anfield remains uncertain as the Reds continue to stall over making his deal permanent and according to Wednesday's papers, City are now in the picture. Rafael Benitez is reportedly urging Liverpool's American owners to make funds available to keep the Argentina international - but with no offer on the table, the door is now open for the Eastlands outfit to make a bold approach. The Daily Star claims a meeting took place between one of Mascherano's advisors and a close associate of City owner Thaksin Shinawatra last week. Mascherano is owned by a consortium headed by Kia Joorabchian and the deal which took him from West Ham to Liverpool is due to run out at the end of the season - at which point the Daily Star claims Liverpool would have to cough up £17million to keep him at the club. But City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has pinpointed the 23-year-old as one of his primary targets and the Eastlands outfit could even attempt to conclude a deal which would see him complete his move in January. According to The Independent Mascherano is also wanted in Italy, although he is thought to prefer a switch to Barcelona in Spain if he does leave the Premier League.
I'd prefer see Masch stay over Momo as well, but unless the board change their stance and cough up the £17m then its pretty inevitable that we won't be seeing Javier around for much longer. I don't think he'll be leaving in January though, Liverpool have an agreement to keep him until June before they need to pay anything for him and I don't see that changing.
think Masch is great player 4 us, but 17m will kill our budget i.e. if there is one!!! I would sell momo to part finance this deal. with lucas coming to the fore + xavi & stevie g think we are well sorted.
As far I read when he joined Mash was on a 18 month loan which would be made permanant at any time during that period once LFC pay the pre-agreed price of £17m which is formally in his loan contract. Based on this he cant be sold in the January window no matter what either of the Mancs do or offer for him nor can he sign a pre-contract contract for anyone else given the terms of the loan. Obviously his reps can negotiate with other teams for when his contract expires and sign the next day but once LFC stump up the £17m before the agreement runs out he will stay a LFC player.
really think he has to stay such a good player and still very young 17 million is alot of wedge but if he goes he ll have to be replaced and how much will that cost and will the player fit in masch is playing well in the team KEEP HIM!
Hi I fully agree with everyone else here, flog Momo and anything we get for him can go towards keeping Masch .... At GBP£17m, he's expensive, very expensive infact but I think he's still got more to show us ... eh, fingers crossed
€25 million is a lot of money, but he's worth it. Have to confess that I didn't know it was a loan deal until recently.
Quality footballer but Im not sure for 17million, its a bit steep. You'd get the same player from Spain or France for about 12million
First of all lets clear up the fact that no one from Man City has said anything abouth Maschereno as 1 there well stocked up on centre midfielders and 2 maschereno has stated on more than 1 occasion HE WILL NOT JOIN ANOTHER ENGLISH CLUB IF HE DOES'NT SIGN FOR LIVERPOOL PERMENATLY. Maschereno is worth every penny of what there asking if it is £17m (which i think it is not,remember the press claim we paid £26.5m for Torres when we only paid£20m) either way Masch is worth every penny and if we only make 2 signings in January Masch has to be 1 along with a centre half.
In relation to the price, as someone else pointed out here (can't remember who it was) if anyone says the price is too much for a defensive midfielder, what about Essien, Hargreaves, Carrick... the fact is that's what top notch players cost and at Masch's age, I don't think you could argue with the price. We could have him for ten years... Cough up Yanks
The 3 players you have mentioned are all first team regulars, under Rafa Masch is a squad player being rotated in and out along with Lucas, Sissoko and Alonso. Compared to shite players above he is worth the £17m but if Rafa is going to continue using him as a squad player I can understand why the yanks might be hesitant to shell out that much.
Fair shout mate ... Simple solution in my mind, flog Momo for a start - get some dosh in to subsidise the purchase of Masch, save on wages not having to pay Momo & give Masch more regular footie
As Rafa doesn't subscribe to the "first eleven" theory of a team, I don't think it's a case of him not being a first teamer and being a squad player, just that Rafa wants four central midfielders who he'll play as to who he feels is best suited. But given the way Lucas is coming on, I would agree that Momo could be sold on for a profit if we need cash to finance the deal. Alonso, Gerrard, Masch and Lucas ain't a bad central midfield at all...