yeah zagadou is my favorite thing going right now. i hope he secures a place at BVB because the kid is both awesome and hilarious to watch.

how is a liverpool lemar bid not coutinho related? i know they're telling all the local journalists that it isnt, but theyre lying, right?

Think so, how could they answer any other way at this point?

BBC reporting Dembele done to Barca for £96.8m fee, potentially rising to £135.5m.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/41075084

Liverpool have signed Keita but he doesn't join until 2018. Having his medical today.

Keita in phil out a likely scenario next summer then.

Paul Joyce is the source btw so it's 95% accurate.

Is there a lot of precedent for a deal like that? Seems like a lot of risk to take on for Liverpool without knowing specifics obv

so red bull are valuing one more season of keita at something like €20m or maybe even more?

Great player for Liverpool that much is certain.

Can and Wijnaldum already fit in well in their midfield roles which currently get the best out of them, but Keita could actually be the ultimate player in this role (Mane in a way is that further ahead on the field - their common Red Bull background, the Klopp ties even, tells a story), within that style and tactics.

I'm looking forward to see him in the CL also this year. Outside the Bundesliga context. I think there are still things to be learned about him even though his numbers have been making waves for a long time and more recently watching him in the well oiled Leipzig machine also.

I recall Werder Bremen doing something like that for Thomas Delaney

http://www.espnfc.com/story/3031247/...-werder-bremen

As for Keita, to me it's interesting that RB Leipzig "bought" him from RB Salzburg previously for peanuts compared to this transfer fee. Yet allegedly the two teams are competitors. hmmmm

So Pool are paying a premium to lock it up right now and not have to compete with others next summer for 48m?

Exactly this, yes.

Don't hate it. Pool and Spurs are stepping up late.

Yep it's done. As is the Yarmolenko transfer. Pretty happy with what we did. Yarmolenko wasn't mentioned until Dembele was pretty much a lock to leave, 25 million is good business. Well done management

So looks like we'll be standing at roughly +84,5 million - 20 to Rennes = +64,5 million and an additional up to +42, I think 30 are close to a lock so about +94,5 million for the transfer window with a team that is pretty competitive as of now (imo) and a coach that looks good and wants a play style that will be fun to watch. Good offseason so far I'd say.

Loan out some players (Passlack, Durm maybe), possibly sell Subotic/Rode and in the perfect world bring in a silver bullet RB superstar in the making and it was an elite window. I guess Mor gets sold but maybe we can loan him out.

-Dembele but for a nice amount of €€€, I'm fine with the other players we sold (Ginter etc.)
Toprak=great transfer for the price, gives us a very solid 1,2,3 punch at CB and Zhagadou who looks decent as LB as well (for free)
Dahoud=great transfer (imo), we'll have to see
Götze=great addition for free
Philipp has looked good so far as well, love his unspectacular but efficient playstyle, looked very good defending as well so he'll be a nice fit
Yarmolenko=I think a good depth buy at worst
+kept Auba

If Auba gets injured it'll be interesting to see. I feel like the main plan is to try Schürrle (alas injured) but vs most teams I wouldn't be worried if we'd have to give Isak a shot. RB/LB is a weak spot. I think Guerreiro/Schmelzer will be fine for LB but Piszczek has me worried especially if he has to play a lot. I like goalkeeper, I like CB, I like the 6/8s, I like the wingers and 10s and the striker (except for depth maybe). Overall: pretty happy and optimistic for the season especially if we get some WEAPONZ back

I'm assuming it's the RB Keita? Seems like a really smart move. No way RB was selling him this season and it's a smart move to add some money to gurantee you get him. Very well done by Pool if true. The player is sick good.

Interested to see what happens if he does his ACL next week.

Keita's clearly been Pools number 1 target for over a year now so I'm fine with paying more for the guarantee.

Weirdly structured deal, but the only downside is injury I guess.

Then he'll still be back for next season (minus playing time and with more risk). The dangerous scenario is a late season injury. Alas there's insurances you can buy etc.
It's obviously a risk but it's the only way to lock him up and I'm fairly confident that there would have been a lot of suitors next season.

It's a win win imo. Leipzig get him for one more year and pool lock him in and don't have to get into the muck with a half dozen teams next year.

Strong move. Lol countinho.

Patrik Schick to AS Roma in a PSG-like deal (a year loan for 5m with a mandatory 33m buy obligation next summer)

If it's actually 35m, is this actually the most we've ever sold a player for?

Not a bad deal after that shocker yesterday. Absolutely baffling that Wenger started him out of position knowing full well he was off, though.

So that's what...a £10m profit in the most expensive transfer window of all time? NET SPEND CHAMPS!

And still potential Chambers and Perez departures too, the good times keep rolling