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After a rather dull start, the transfer window has turned into quite the circus for your average Liverpool fan. And today could be somewhat interesting, to put it mildly.
In "News that has unfortunately been overshadowed by the Torres situation" news, new record signing Luis Suarez has passed his medical, and having already agreed to personal terms it's the last obstacle before officially signing on as the newest member of Liverpool Football Club. Which is, you know, good. Though that part about "record signing" is also a reminder of just how odd it is that Torres would put up with the last 18 months only to try and bolt once owners willing to prove their ambition had arrived, as well as being a real shame in that what should be one of the happiest times for a Liverpool fan in those past 18 months has suddenly been turned on its head.
Elsewhere, the most common rumours have Liverpool making a run at Ashley Young and one last try for Charlie Adam before the day ends, regardless of what happens on the Torres front. Just how developments--if any--regarding the striker will affect those or any other deals that may or may not be in the works remains to be seen, though rest assured a lot of people will say a lot of things today
, and even the most reliable and well meaning will probably be wrong at least as often as not. Then there will be the less reliable and less well meaning sorts to sort through, too. Heck, this seems like the sort of sorting thing the Guardian will probably start a liveblog for at some point, though not having Ryan Babel's helicopter to track this time around might take some fun out of proceedings.
In other outgoings news, the reports that Paul Konchesky was on his way back to Fulham and Stephen Warnock would be arriving in his place have largely gone quiet after everybody thought it was a done deal, and though there have been occasional quiet whispers about finding a new home for Cole, nothing serious has seemed to develop on that front. Though of course all should recall just how quiet things got on the Suarez front right before good news broke, and also that with the Boston Red Sox, FSG are somewhat notorious for making major moves at the last possible second.
In any case, in any other season landing by far the biggest name to date in the always difficult January window would be reason for celebration. This year, it's turned out to be rather more complicated than that, which might well be entertaining if it was some other club being robbed of their momentum, but there you go. Whatever happens over the next little bit, do try to play somewhat nice, though as that's usually not a problem around these parts I suspect that shouldn't be a problem today. Also, Ed and I won't be able to be around every minute of the day, particularly early on, so if you do see some reliable and genuinely new breaking news you think everybody needs to know, please pass it along in the comments section.
Otherwise, consider this an open thread for talking about the day's early developments. You might want to have both your celebratory and misery alcohol at hand. Or, you know, just some sort of crazy and magical drink that would work for either situation, if you want to keep things simple. Here's hoping we all manage to get through today in one piece.
Update: Ben Smith of The Times says Torres will only be sold today "if their valuation is met AND Dalglish can sign replacements in time." Well, if it has to be, then that's about the best that could be hoped for. Hopefully it either is that, or he's here until at least the summer.
Update (by Ed): Just sabotaging Noel's post to confirm that Paul Konchesky has been loaned to Nottingham Forest and Daniel Ayala's headed to Derby, as reported by Kenny Dalglish in his presser. Comments on Suarez and Torres also included via the above link, and as expected, they're absolute class from the manager. Back to drinking. Er, off to work.
Update (by Ed): Nothing concrete to report as of yet, but talk about Fernando Torres heading to Chelsea has ramped up, as has the talk of Liverpool trying to pry Andy Carroll away from Newcastle. News of Alan Pardew's scheduled presser this afternoon being canceled has obviously confirmed that the signing is imminent. Or other stuff.
In the meantime, here's a video of that ominous BWWWAAAAHHHHing noise from Inception set to various mundane events. Seems appropriate for the inevitable horrors we're about to witness.
Update (by Ed): The Twitter just exploded with news that Liverpool have agreed a £35m fee for Andy Carroll. Or they matched Newcastle's valuation. Or that's the cost of the helicopter ride from Newcastle to Liverpool. The Times/Guardian/Mirror all simultaneously releasing the news, and LFC.tv has crashed. That's big bucks.
Update (by Ed): Right, an update---seems to be quite a bit of outrage about the amount of cash Liverpool are willing to splash on Andy Carroll, given that he's currently injured and doesn't necessarily have the most illustrious career. Given that nobody really knows the specifics of the structure of the offer, I guess we wait to see.
And as has been the case over the last few days, Luis Suarez takes a backseat unfortunately. Reports have him taking the number 7 shirt, though, which is actual news that we can get behind. Hopefully he fares better than the last inhabitant...
Update (by Ed): Now there's news that the latest offer for Andy Carroll has been rejected by Newcastle. Turns out that his rumored visit to Liverpool is now a sightseeing trip, I suppose.
Nothing new on Torres, Ashely Young, Charlie Adam, so the unrelenting assault on your blood pressure continues.
Anyone else looking forward to today being over?