Borini off? Liverpool should probably get rid of this lot too
It has been a busy summer already at Anfield as Liverpool have been working hard to get their squad ready for the upcoming campaign.
The transfer window has only just creaked open and manager Brendan Rodgers has already completed the bulk of his summer business by signing six first-team players. The Reds have now completed moves for Danny Ings, James Milner, Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, Adam Bogdan and Roberto Firmino, yet Rodgers is still on the hunt for more fresh talent.
Premier League sides are required to submit a squad of no more than 25 players for the campaign, and given the additions, Rodgers is going to need to offload a number of players before the season starts.
The first name out the door is likely to be striker Fabio Borini, who has been heavily linked with a move back to Italy to join Lazio. Borini has been a fringe player for Liverpool since his arrival back in 2012, failing to make any impact in the first-team, and although there are suggestions he may not have agreed terms with the Rome side yet, he’s clearly not wanted at Anfield.
One thing is for certain, though, the player is not likely to be the only one out the door on the red half of Merseyside, and here are FOUR more Liverpool need to move on before the season starts.
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Raheem Sterling
Enough is Enough with Sterling, the player’s contract saga has now spiralled out of control and his position with the Reds has become completely untenable.
Sterling has become a figure of hatred around Liverpool following the announcement earlier this summer of his intention to leave for Manchester City.
This week the situation has intensified with the player stating he does not want to take part in the upcoming pre-season tours of the Far East and Australia, while he also failed to turn up for training, citing illness as his excuse.
The situation has the potential to unsettle everyone at the club and needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later, and with Man City willing to pay more than £40m, judging by their last bid, for the youngster Liverpool need to jump at this opportunity.
Sterling is a good player, but not a world beater. He is rated so highly purely on the potential he has, but potential is not a guarantee of success and Liverpool should maximise the amount of money they can receive by selling this summer.
Ricky Lambert
It is hard not to feel sorry for Lambert, the player has worked himself up through the divisions Football League to the Premier League, and last summer he thought his dreams had come true when his boyhood club Liverpool came knocking, a move he couldn’t turn down.
Unfortunately he has spent the whole of the season as a bit part player. Lambert just hasn’t been given a proper chance at the club, he has fallen behind Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli and Raheem Sterling in the pecking order, picking up most of his minutes in minor fixtures.
Now following the arrival of Danny Ings, Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino the scouser is likely to find his minutes limited even further.
It was a bizarre transfer for Liverpool in the first place – the striker doesn’t fit the tactical set up at the club and you would think after Andy Carroll’s failure that Rodgers would have learnt not to have big target men in his squad.
Lambert needs to move on now for the sake of his international career and has been strongly linked with a move to West Brom this summer. The player would fit in well at The Hawthorns and it is unlikely Liverpool will stand in his way.
Mario Balotelli
When the news broke of the arrival of Balotelli last summer there was so much unhappiness at the deal with the majority of fans seeing the move as a waste of money. However it was a risk that had to be taken, especially at £16m – a low fee for a promising player.
When he wants to play Balotelli is incredible, but the major issue with the Italy international is most of the time he just doesn’t put the effort in. Rodgers believed he could change the troubled striker, but like all those before him, it didn’t work out and now is the time for Liverpool to cut their losses.
Unfortunately for Liverpool it is easier said than done offloading Balotelli, with not many teams willing to take a risk on a player that has often found the headlines for all the wrong reasons during his career.
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Balotelli has been linked with numerous moves already this summer, but whether any speculation actually materialises remains to be seen.
Jose Enrique
Enrique is another player that has been unlucky not to have made more appearances for Liverpool.
When he first moved to Anfield from Newcastle, the left-back established himself as the first choice at the club and made the role his own.
However a number of serious knee injuries have led to the player spending the majority of his time on the treatment table of late, while the arrival of now first choice Alberto Moreno has all but ended his Anfield tenure.
The injuries have clearly had an effect on the Spaniard, both psychologically and on the field, with the player looking half the man he was when he first joined the club.
Rodgers needs to bring in a new understudy to Moreno to replace Enrique, as he isn’t up to the required standard but it could prove difficult finding a new club for the left-back. The player’s contract at Anfield runs out next summer and Rodgers may be forced to keep hold of the defender until then.