Divock Origi and Lazar Markovic

Drifter

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Liverpool have agreed a deal with Lille for Belgium striker Divock Origi and are in advanced talks to sign Serbia winger Lazar Markovic from Benfica.

The Reds will pay a fee that could reach £10m for 19-year-old Origi, who is set to discuss terms this week.

And they are hoping to conclude a deal for 20-year-old Markovic, who it is understood will cost about £25m.

Both moves are taking place as Liverpool prepare to sell striker Luis Suarez, 27, to Barcelona for £75m.


Barca have indicated they are willing to meet the Uruguayan's buyout clause but talks continue about how the deal will be structured.

Liverpool are also waiting to hear from the Spanish club's winger Alexis Sanchez, a target for Arsenal and Juventus.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has not yet given up hope of signing the 25-year-old Chilean but is still awaiting a response from him.

The Reds, who will return to the Champions League next season, are also keen to sign Southampton defender Dejan Lovren, but have had a £20m bid rejected.

Origi was part of the Belgium squad that reached the World Cup quarter-finals, scoring their winning goal against Russia.

Markovic helped Benfica win the Portuguese title last summer after moving from Partizan Belgrade in the summer of 2013.

Liverpool have already signed striker Rickie Lambert, 32, and midfielder Adam Lallana, 26, from Southampton for a combined fee of £29m.

Germany Under-21 midfielder Emre Can, 20, has also moved to Anfield, joining from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth £10m.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28188589
 
I was really impressed with Origi at the WC. Looked a real talent.

Unsure about Markovic.
 
Origi reminded me of Welbeck. The way Markovic is being described by those who have seen him, I'm very excited.
 
Don't know much about either but Liverpool are certainly splashing money around. For the first time, Rodgers will be under pressure...let's see how that goes.
 
Yeah Origi didn't impress me that much at the WC, think he got slightly overrated because of how badly Lukaku was playing. Still 19 though so he certainly can be a good signing as you can see there is potential there.
 
Is now really the time for Liverpool to be splashing out on young players? They have only just made it back into the top 4 and they could very easily fall back out of it.
 
Decent options for Pool. A bit like our signings under SAF - young talented players, with high potential.

Don't know how much it's going to improve Pool though - goal scoring and creativity wasn't their issue last season.

I suppose Suarez is going to leave a massive hole and they needed squad depth (away from Aspas etc. :lol:).

Could be decent business.
 
Markovic scored 5 goals last season in the same league Bebe scored 12 in. And he's meant to replace Suarez. I'm not worried. Riera, Babel, Downing, Aspas, Assaidi, etc. Another in Liverpool's long line of wing flops.
 
forevrared said:
Markovic scored 5 goals last season in the same league Bebe scored 12 in. And he's meant to replace Suarez. I'm not worried. Riera, Babel, Downing, Aspas, Assaidi, etc. Another in Liverpool's long line of wing flops.
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Di Maria's best goal scoring season in Portugal was 09-10 when he scored 5 league goals, he was 2 years older than Markovic as well. Markovic is a very talented player but it might be a couple years too soon for him to make a real impact in the Premier League.
 
They seem to be spending substantial sums of money on attacking players with little being spent on defence (Lovren apart). There should be goals aplenty at Anfield next season.
 
Nanook said:
Di Maria's best goal scoring season in Portugal was 09-10 when he scored 5 league goals, he was 2 years older than Markovic as well. Markovic is a very talented player but it might be a couple years too soon for him to make a real impact in the Premier League.
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Right, the point is for being a big money signing, he's not the ready-made replacement they need for Suarez. They know Sanchez is, but he doesn't seem to be interested in them.
 
I think Liverpool's starting 11 was quite strong last year with not a great deal in reserve, so for me, it makes sense for them to sign young players with potential as they probably shouldn't be expecting to start every week.

Sterling is a player who whilst there are better players they could sign, you want him playing week in week out as you dont want to halt his development. Coutinho and Lallana can fight it out for the number 10 spot. Not sure about Sturridge being the main man uptop so they probably need a new world class forward.

They should be looking at a CB, a LB and a CM seeing as Gerrard is finished.
 
saivet said:
Yeah Origi didn't impress me that much at the WC, think he got slightly overrated because of how badly Lukaku was playing. Still 19 though so he certainly can be a good signing as you can see there is potential there.
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He looked good against tiring defences when his pace and skill looked amplified, but since he started for Belgium he looked more like I expected. He's obviously got good potential but is no way ready to start leading the line for Liverpool.
 
I can't say I've seen much of either, but Origi hasn't massively impressed me at the world cup. On the other hand, when I watched Benefica in Europe last year, Markovic looked excellent.
 
Adam-Utd said:
He looked good against tiring defences when his pace and skill looked amplified, but since he started for Belgium he looked more like I expected. He's obviously got good potential but is no way ready to start leading the line for Liverpool.
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Agree with this. But worth taking a punt I guess. Even with Suarez out, they have Sturridge who has done well recently. They also have a different option in Lambert who is also proven. Origi has potential, but that is all it is at the moment. Worth taking a punt though because if he develops well, he could come into play in a couple years when Lambert ages out.

Decent signings, but nothing that makes me really worry yet. Sanchez on the other hand...
 
I've only seen Origi at the WC, but he's not been that impressive IMO. I think he's being overrated due to how poorly Lukaku has played and people are using that as a benchmark. He's only scored 5 goals for Lille I think and that's a poor return for a striker. He does have age on his side though, so who knows.

Markovic on the other hand, would be a great buy for 25m. From what I've seen of him in the Europa League last season, he has the potential to be brilliant. He might struggle a bit with the physicality of the prem, but even that isn't a given. If Liverpool do manage to get him, they'll have a really pacy attack with Sterling, Sturridge and Markovic.
 
SiRed said:
I think Liverpool's starting 11 was quite strong last year with not a great deal in reserve, so for me, it makes sense for them to sign young players with potential as they probably shouldn't be expecting to start every week.

Sterling is a player who whilst there are better players they could sign, you want him playing week in week out as you dont want to halt his development. Coutinho and Lallana can fight it out for the number 10 spot. Not sure about Sturridge being the main man uptop so they probably need a new world class forward.

They should be looking at a CB, a LB and a CM seeing as Gerrard is finished.
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He really isn't. He's just come off his best season in 5 years. Rodgers used him brilliantly last season. A focus on a small number of errors appears to have clouded judgement here. But then the Caf has regarded Gerrard as a self-indulgent ineffective show off for about 10 years now so it's not a surprise that such an exaggeration as to his current abilities appears here.
 
Angelinho said:
They seem to be spending substantial sums of money on attacking players with little being spent on defence (Lovren apart). There should be goals aplenty at Anfield next season.
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The attacking targets have clearly been easier to get hold of at this stage but I would expect more defensive acquisitions come the end of August.
 
Adam-Utd said:
He looked good against tiring defences when his pace and skill looked amplified, but since he started for Belgium he looked more like I expected. He's obviously got good potential but is no way ready to start leading the line for Liverpool.
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I believe he's being loaned back to Lille for the season.
 
Liverpool taking the Spurs route of selling their best player and hoping to replace him by young talents. Not convinced personally it'll work.
 
Another great piece of business for Liverpool should they indeed land Origi - very young & raw player obviously but there's clearly talent in abundance
 
KM said:
Liverpool taking the Spurs route of selling their best player and hoping to replace him by young talents. Not convinced personally it'll work.
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I think we'd be in for all the players we've been linked with so far excluding Sanchez had Suarez stayed. We needed depth and we're adding it.
 
BarneyLFC said:
I think we'd be in for all the players we've been linked with so far excluding Sanchez had Suarez stayed. We needed depth and we're adding it.
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Agreed. Based on the funds we had allocated for buys it seems that these would have happened had Suarez stayed. Once Suarez leaves for big money (£70m+ ?) I think Rodgers will look for a single replacement of high quality with Sanchez being the number 1 choice.
 
Is Markovic a better talent than Lamela? Heard similar praise before Spurs signed him but he hasn't settled in England at all.

I liked the look of Origi from the games I seen. Looks raw but plenty of potential.
 
PickledRed said:
He really isn't. He's just come off his best season in 5 years. Rodgers used him brilliantly last season. A focus on a small number of errors appears to have clouded judgement here. But then the Caf has regarded Gerrard as a self-indulgent ineffective show off for about 10 years now so it's not a surprise that such an exaggeration as to his current abilities appears here.
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Just my opinion. I always thought of him as being a tad over-rated. Great player dont get me wrong but for me, never in that top tier of midfielder that the English Journo's make/made him out to be.
Anyway my point about him being finished relates to his deeper role in a midfield 2. I don't think he has the engine to do this anymore. Henderson does most of Gerrards running about. If he was paired with a less energetic midfielder then his decline would be so much more obvious. He owes a lot to Henderson for that. 5 years ago this deeper role would have suited him much more than the advanced midfield role which he spent his peak years.
 
PickledRed said:
I believe he's being loaned back to Lille for the season.
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Yeah that will be for the best. Another season for a decent team as the main man, and he should be all better for it. Here's hoping not though ;)
 
MDFC Manager said:
Don't know much about either but Liverpool are certainly splashing money around. For the first time, Rodgers will be under pressure...let's see how that goes.
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Liverpool have splashed money around for as long as I can remember. Mostly on shite.
 
PickledRed said:
He really isn't. He's just come off his best season in 5 years. Rodgers used him brilliantly last season. A focus on a small number of errors appears to have clouded judgement here. But then the Caf has regarded Gerrard as a self-indulgent ineffective show off for about 10 years now so it's not a surprise that such an exaggeration as to his current abilities appears here.
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The only exaggeration is your analysis of how brilliant he is. Gerrard WAS an exceptionally good player, one of the best in the world. He isn't like Scholes, or Xavi, or Pirlo, who has a deadly passing range both short and long, with great technique and control. He doesn't have the killer footballing intelligence these players have. What he has, though, which these guys didn't is a fierce determination and a passion. He's technically good and has a good passing range (just not at their level). His game was perfect when he was more attacking in midfield and he'd run into the box late. Dictating play is not his strength. He looked better last year because he's capable of playing that role, just not on the level you seem to describe him, and in previous seasons he was crap because he didn't have the legs to play his old role which the previous managers still wanted him to.

Gerrard might not be completely finished, but he isn't the amazing player you still incorrectly want to try and convince everyone he is.
 
SiRed said:
Just my opinion. I always thought of him as being a tad over-rated. Great player dont get me wrong but for me, never in that top tier of midfielder that the English Journo's make/made him out to be.
Anyway my point about him being finished relates to his deeper role in a midfield 2. I don't think he has the engine to do this anymore. Henderson does most of Gerrards running about. If he was paired with a less energetic midfielder then his decline would be so much more obvious. He owes a lot to Henderson for that. 5 years ago this deeper role would have suited him much more than the advanced midfield role which he spent his peak years.
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He doesn't play in a midfield two for us. He plays as the deepest midfielder woth two lads in front of him, usually Henderson and Allen/Coutinho. I'd expect Lallana to be added in to compete for a spot here, as will Can.
 
Thisistheone said:
Is Markovic a better talent than Lamela? Heard similar praise before Spurs signed him but he hasn't settled in England at all.

I liked the look of Origi from the games I seen. Looks raw but plenty of potential.
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I think I heard a hell of a lot more praise about Lamela. Can't remember who but one journalist from Italy was saying he can become better than Bale. Lamela had his injury problems but when he did play truly looked terrible.
 
MDFC Manager said:
Don't know much about either but Liverpool are certainly splashing money around. For the first time, Rodgers will be under pressure...let's see how that goes.
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Liverpool aren't exactly slouches when it comes to spending. Just take a look at all the signings Rodgers made last year and the total it came to:

Sakho - 17m
Mignolet - 10m
Aspas - 8m
Ilori - 7m
Alberto - 7m

Then you also have Sturridge and Coutinho in the winter before (totalling 21m)

Then Assaidi 3.5m
Allen - 17m
Borini - 12m

Year before that:

Downing 20m
Henderson 16m
Adam 7.5m
Enrique 7m
Coates 7m

Year before that:

Carroll 35m
Suarez 24m
Meireles 12m
Poulson 5m
Konchesky 4m

That's not exactly little spending for a club that wasn't in CL or even Europe for some of that time.
 
Liverpool burning through this money, not convinced they've spent it in the best way. Pretty pleased with their transfer business so far. Reckon they'll really struggle to make 4th next season.
 
BarneyLFC said:
He doesn't play in a midfield two for us. He plays as the deepest midfielder woth two lads in front of him, usually Henderson and Allen/Coutinho. I'd expect Lallana to be added in to compete for a spot here, as will Can.
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I dont count a number 10 (Coutinho) as a midfielder, which is why i said a midfield 2.
 
Both good potential signings.

Thing is like with Spurs these young players won't replace Suarez in the short term but are more medium to long term prospects.
 
FromTheBench said:
Both good potential signings.

Thing is like with Spurs these young players won't replace Suarez in the short term but are more medium to long term prospects.
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Except it isn't quite like Spurs who tried to stick all these young players into the first team.

I think the issue here is that they are POTENTIAL good signings. Don't get me wrong, signing young players with huge potential and only buying top class current talent for a position when we desperately need it is my favored strategy. However, for Liverpool, they really need top quality now. They're going to have many more fixtures than last year, and they'll need a big squad. Also they need to improve if they want to maintain their position. Right now they should probably look for top class, and when they start to stabilize into the top 4, that's when they should go for young potentials.
 
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