The Liverpool Offside - Full Coverage: Liverpool’s Summer 2017 Transfer Deadline DayZeppeline, Trinken, & Pink Badeshortshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/51345/ltos-fav.png2017-09-01T02:03:26+01:00http://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/rss/stream/159917352017-09-01T02:03:26+01:002017-09-01T02:03:26+01:00Official: Crystal Palace Sign Mamadou Sakho
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<p>The out of favour Liverpool defender has finally gotten his move.</p> <p id="v0dwot">It’s taken a year longer than it should have, a spell in the reserves and six months out on loan and an entire summer needlessly spent training on his own. But today, finally, <span>Mamadou Sakho</span> is officially no longer a <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> player.</p>
<p id="vp1Jz7">His move to Crystal Palace almost didn’t happen, with Liverpool rejecting a £25M bid from the London club on Wednesday, at which point they looked to <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/">Manchester City</a> reject <span>Eliaquim Mangala</span> at a more reasonable £18M.</p>
<p id="2iBd3U">Somewhat surprisingly, though, Palace didn’t ever really stop looking at Sakho—and with Mangala blocking a move to Palace despite their offer of £120k per week for the player, in the end that worked out in Palace and Sakho’s favour.</p>
<p id="9gs5QT">While Mangala’s long-term future is now uncertain, Sakho’s no longer is. An improved offer of £26M with around £24M of the fee paid up front was enough to convince Liverpool to sell with time on the window quickly running out.</p>
<p id="FjNYCP">Sakho, now 27 years of age, arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2013 in an £18M deal after falling down the pecking order at Paris Saint-Germain, and the awkward looking defender quickly endeared himself to Liverpool fans.</p>
<p id="17vAj7">In total, he made 80 appearances in all competitions across three seasons for the club before a subsequently overturned doping charge became the rather unfortunate beginning of the end for his time at Anfield.</p>
<p id="efe0xY">Pre-season injury and a falling out with manager Jürgen Klopp soon followed, after which the player refused a transfer, spent time in the reserves, and eventually headed to Crystal Palace on loan in the spring of 2017.</p>
<p id="2opjOP">Now he’s heading there again, only this time it’s in a permanent deal that’s been a long, long time in coming. Hopefully the former French international can take the chance and get his career back on track.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/9/1/16235364/official-crystal-palace-sign-mamadou-sakho-liverpool-fc-transfer-newsNoel Chomyn2017-08-31T22:57:05+01:002017-08-31T22:57:05+01:00Official: Academy Defender Moves to Blackburn Rovers
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<p>Left-back Sam Hart made a permanent switch on deadline day.</p> <p id="IQwI8M">Finally, the big move we’ve been waiting for this transfer deadline day. As we’ve franticly refreshed Twitter and our live transfer blog of choice hoping for some last minute action, moving out an Academy defender was not the news we were all hoping for. But it’s the news we’ve got.</p>
<p id="ua4gUd">21-year-old Academy defender Sam Hart has made a permanent switch to Blackburn Rovers in League One. The English player spent four years with the club. He plays at left-back.</p>
<p id="N4LEJI">Hart spent last year on loan with League Two side Port Vale, where he made 11 appearances and scored one goal. The move to Blackburn Rovers should be a good one for the player, and we certainly wish him the best in this new endeavor.</p>
<p id="nL5Z83">With only minutes left of the transfer window, this should be the end of <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a>’s business, with the exception of an official announcement of Mamadou Sakho’s move to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/crystal-palace">Crystal Palace</a>.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16236718/official-academy-defender-sam-hart-moves-to-blackburn-rovers-liverpoolepicskyline2017-08-31T20:42:59+01:002017-08-31T20:42:59+01:00Official: Liverpool Winger Joins SC Freiburg On Loan
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<p>Youngster Ryan Kent is heading to the Bundesliga for the 2017-18 season.</p> <p id="i9C76r"><a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> fans entered the final day of the summer transfer window with high hopes after being told by club-connected journalists that there was a £175M war chest and a determination by the club to make a statement—to take the next step and push for domestic and European honours.</p>
<p id="75rxAZ">Instead, nothing much of substance has happened following the official confirmation of Wednesday’s signing of <span>Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain</span>, and as the day winds down the focus turns to outgoings, with new homes expected to be found for some of the club’s youth and fringe players.</p>
<p id="OHTes3">One of the more notable departures in that class is Ryan Kent, the promising 20year-old winger who did well enough in pre-season to convince some he would have a role to play with the first team this season. And he will, just not with Liverpool’s first team, it will be <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liverpoolfc.com%2Fnews%2Ffirst-team%2F273896-ryan-kent-joins-sc-freiburg-on-season-long-loan&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fliverpooloffside.sbnation.com%2Fliverpool-fc-transfer-news%2F2017%2F8%2F31%2F16236030%2Fofficial-liverpool-winger-ryan-kent-sc-freiburg-loan" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">with SC Freiburg</a>.</p>
<p id="A0qQpN">The Bundesliga side have this evening completed Kent’s signing on a season-long loan despite speculation at the start of the day that he would only depart if the club could bring in further first team signings. That hasn’t happened but the young player will need minutes.</p>
<p id="cJnBUF">The bottom-half Bundesliga side will hopefully give him those minutes while providing a high level of competition that will benefit his long-term development.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16236030/official-liverpool-winger-ryan-kent-sc-freiburg-loanNoel Chomyn2017-08-31T18:55:01+01:002017-08-31T18:55:01+01:00Sakho to Crystal Palace Back On The Cards
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<p>What is dead may never die, and this particular move seems to have been resurrected.</p> <p id="Uf5X84"><span>Mamadou Sakho</span> to <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/crystal-palace">Crystal Palace</a> had long seemed the mostly likely final chapter in the bizarre saga of the French defender’s <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> career. Earlier on deadline day, there looked to be a twist in the tale, with reports that Crystal Palace had acquired Eliqauim Mangala from <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/">Manchester City</a> - a development that in turn signaled the end of any interest in Sakho.</p>
<p id="jSsVNo">Or so it seemed.</p>
<p id="Np0LdL">Now, it appears Sakho may indeed be headed to join the Eagles. A number of sources close to the club have indicated on Twitter that a deal in the region of £26 million has been agreed upon, and that a medical is the next step. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LFC?src=hash">#LFC</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CPFC?src=hash">#CPFC</a> agree fee of £26 million for Mamadou Sakho, who will undergo a medical.</p>— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelissaReddy_/status/903310870838640640">August 31, 2017</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LFC?src=hash">#LFC</a> and Palace close to agreeing deal for Mamadou Sakho. Defender set to undergo medical this evening.</p>— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesPearceEcho/status/903310485260513281">August 31, 2017</a>
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<p id="lt5zB8"> If the transfer does go through, it will hardly be a huge surprise for Liverpool supporters. This was a move that made sense for pretty much everyone, given that Palace were prepared to pay something close to what Liverpool wanted, and that the player acquitted himself reasonably well while out on loan. </p>
<p id="xqdEFr">What will be a greater surprise is if the Reds don’t add to their depth at the central defender position, given that, however unlikely a return was for Sakho, their options just got even fewer. </p>
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https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2017/8/31/16234668/liverpool-transfer-mamadou-sakho-crystal-palace-back-deadline-daysaintgrobian2017-08-31T17:36:05+01:002017-08-31T17:36:05+01:00Liverpool’s Summer 2017 Transfer Window Looks Set to End with a Whimper
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<p>Fans were promised a statement of intent. It appears unlikely they will get it.</p> <p id="LiUsq6"><a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> promised their fans a statement summer all the way back at the start of it. The club promised a net spend well in excess of £100M, key reinforcements, and the kind of recruitment that would ensure their top four survival and give them legitimate title credentials.</p>
<p id="ij6uND">For a while, it looked like they might even fully deliver on that promise. Then, the stumbles. The Van Dijk apology. The failure to land Naby Keïta. The seeming refusal to turn to any Plan B targets. Barcelona lurching towards <span>Philippe Coutinho</span> and that player’s heel turn.</p>
<p id="OFbBSG">But then, somewhat unexpectedly, came recovery. Coutinho would stay. Keïta was signed—albeit for next year. The club were still working on Virgil van Dijk and now were after Thomas Lemar as well. There were, again, promises. Promises of a statement summer and a deadline day spend eclipsing £175M.</p>
<p id="jGOEA6">Now, it appears those promises will in the final tally come to naught. The original promises and the later ones. Coutinho will stay and Keïta will join next summer and both of those are commendable achievements. Mohamed Salah signing is worth celebrating, too.</p>
<p id="NUqxhe">But if things end the way they now look set to—the way club-connected journalists like <a href="http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/liverpool-unlikely-land-thomas-lemar-13556607">The Liverpool Echo’s</a> James Pearce say they are almost certainly going to—there isn’t a great deal positive to say about it beyond that Liverpool will have had an alright summer.</p>
<p id="v5SeYP">Not terrible or disastrous, but certainly not one that measures up to expectation. Certainly not the one that was promised. The club needed to sign Virgil van Dijk to go from alright to great. Van Dijk along with Salah and Oxlade-Chamberlain and keeping Coutinho would be a great summer.</p>
<p id="ilg8G0">Adding Lemar to the mix would have stood it as the club’s greatest ever recruitment drive—a statement of intent that would have made Liverpool solid title favourites this season. Without them, the window won’t have been a disaster, but it won’t be what fans were promised.</p>
<p id="F3br6z">That’s inevitably disappointing, and no talk of Naby Keïta arriving next summer or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s valuable versatility can really overcome that. Not entirely. Not when the fans were promised a summer that would once and for all put Liverpool back on their perch.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16234208/liverpools-summer-2017-transfer-window-review-disappointment-no-van-dijkNoel Chomyn2017-08-31T16:54:03+01:002017-08-31T16:54:03+01:00Arsenal Withdraw £92M Thomas Lemar Bid Minutes After Making It
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<img alt="AS Monaco v Juventus - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: First Leg" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xQfNks3o-ojnDP4XQ0XGlocgqbk=/0x187:1574x1236/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56455579/678329502.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>In a shock reversal, the London club are backing out after agreeing a fee with Monaco.</p> <p id="4VFu8R">An already wild deadline day took an unexpected turn as, minutes after they submitted a £92M bid for Monaco’s 21-year-old star attacker Thomas Lemar, <a href="https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/">Arsenal</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2017/aug/31/transfer-deadline-day-alexis-sanchez-thomas-lemar-alex-oxlade-chamberlain-latest-live?page=with:block-59a82d20e4b0246be47496a6#block-59a82d20e4b0246be47496a6">reportedly withdrew</a> the offer citing a lack of time to agree personal terms with the player and complete a deal.</p>
<p id="OcMzVV"><a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a>’s earlier offer of £75M is once again the highest standing bid for the player, and Jürgen Klopp’s side are believed to have a deal in place with the player and a medical team standing by to push the deal through before the deadline should a fee be agreed.</p>
<p id="JsXZWg">However, there is little certainty or clarity when it comes to the question of whether a fee <em>can</em> be agreed. There is also little certainty over whether Arsenal pulled out of the deal due to actually not having time to complete the deal or if it was because of Lemar signalling he was not open to the move.</p>
<p id="ljBiGF">Earlier reports claimed the player was set on moving to a club with Champions League football—or of staying at Monaco, who are currently in the Champions League. Yet for Arsenal to have got to the point of putting in a £92M bid only to minutes later withdraw it is bizarre.</p>
<p id="hCcDAt">Perhaps the only thing clear at this moment is that Thomas Lemar will not transfer to Arsenal today and that the London club will now hold on to Alexis Sanchez—and given how things have gone today, it would be a brave person willing to bet on even that still being a certainty in another hour.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16233900/arsenal-withdraw-92m-thomas-lemar-bid-shock-monaco-liverpool-deadline-dayNoel Chomyn2017-08-31T16:48:09+01:002017-08-31T16:48:09+01:00Official: Allan Joins Apollon Limassol On Loan
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<img alt="Hertha BSC v VfL Wolfsburg - Bundesliga" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5Sd-eHVU9_EKZOFTwATWeH2Vmmc=/0x0:2370x1580/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56455389/671588228.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Boris Streubel/Bongarts/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The traveling midfielder has found another club to be loaned to. </p> <p id="dUaCuk">Brazilian midfielder Allan Rodrigues De Souza has officially joined Cyrpiot club Apollon Limassol on loan this afternoon for the remainder of the 2017-18 season, <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liverpoolfc.com%2Fnews%2Ffirst-team%2F273923-allan-joins-apollon-limassol-on-loan&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fliverpooloffside.sbnation.com%2F2017%2F8%2F31%2F16233610%2Fliverpool-fc-transfer-news-allan-loan-apollon-limassol" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Liverpool FC have announced.</a></p>
<p id="MMChSO">Apollon finished third in their league last season and will play in the Europa League group stages. Allan himself signed for the Reds in September 2015 and has previously spent time on loan with SJK, Sint-Truidense, and Hertha BSC. </p>
<p id="LKp49Q">As the player still needs to secure a work permit to play in England, heading out on loan again is Allan’s only chance of getting the minutes—the playing time and the goals—that might allow him to have a future with the Reds.</p>
<p id="G3l13n">To date, those work permit issues mean that Allan has not made a first team appearance for the reds, with the now 20-year-old having embarked on a series of loan spells to varying degrees of success.</p>
<p id="OBFskf">Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled on TLO for more Deadline Day madness, with the club’s attempts to sign Virgil van Dijk and Thomas Lemar in a constant state of flux and at the least more outgoings expected in the coming hours. </p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/2017/8/31/16233610/liverpool-fc-transfer-news-allan-loan-apollon-limassolJordan J. Keeble2017-08-31T16:27:06+01:002017-08-31T16:27:06+01:00Confirmed: Arsenal and Monaco Agree £92M Thomas Lemar Transfer Fee
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<img alt="AS Monaco v Juventus - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: First Leg" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/boziJqz6LdyW_a9l1XO60_OMIPE=/623x11:4036x2286/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56454773/678329802.0.jpg" />
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<p>Despite earlier reports, Arsenal are pushing ahead in an effort to sign Lemar.</p> <p id="uXktHm">It’s real this time. <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16232524/arsenal-fc-transfer-news-bid-90m-liverpool-target-thomas-lemar-monaco">Earlier reports of an Arsenal bid</a> for Thomas Lemar in excess of £90M hung in the air until they ran up against <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16232878/liverpool-fc-transfer-news-arsenal-90m-thomas-lemar-resist-move-monaco-deadline-day">reports the player wasn’t interested</a> in moving to a club without Champions League football and, for a time, that seemed the end of it.</p>
<p id="y5zH5V">Now, though, multiple journalists with ties to the London club along with Sky Sports are claiming that a bid in excess of £90M has gone in. Officially this time. For real this time. A bid, in fact, of £92M, or €100M—the fee Monaco have signalled all along that they are seeking.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm told that Monaco and Arsenal have agreed a fee for Lemar but that it's now down to the player to decide if he will go <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AFC?src=hash">#AFC</a></p>— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) <a href="https://twitter.com/TelegraphDucker/status/903274272826814464">August 31, 2017</a>
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<p id="hkcRDi">The Ligue 1 side have reportedly accepted it and the player will now be free to discuss terms with Arsenal if he is willing to move to the London club, though given earlier reports it isn’t entirely clear that he is interested in moving to them. It shouldn’t, though, take long to find out.</p>
<p id="0nS6OI">With the bid accepted, it’s also possible now that <a href="https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/">Liverpool</a> will match the £92M fee. Liverpool fans were promised a deadline day when the club would spend £175M or more; they were promised a statement of intent now that the club was in the Champions League.</p>
<p id="JJ8fQR">Matching Arsenal’s bid would do that. It would also stop a top four rival from bringing in a player they desperately need and—more than that even perhaps—would likely stop Alexis Sanchez’ transfer to <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com/">Manchester City</a> from going through.</p>
https://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/liverpool-fc-transfer-news/2017/8/31/16233520/arsenal-fc-transfer-news-monaco-agree-92m-thomas-lemar-fee-liverpoolNoel Chomyn