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Transfer Ticker: Liverpool to sign Downing, Modric wants transfer & more

Downing - Getty

By CALEB SONNELAND

Liverpool looks set to add yet another new face to its expanding roster this summer.

Stewart Downing appears to be on his way to the Anfield outfit after Aston Villa and Liverpool agreed a fee for the winger yesterday believed to be in the region of up to £20 million.  

Kenny Dalglish had initially had offers of £12 million and £15 million knocked back by the Villains, however the latest offer was simply too good to refuse for the club — despite Alex McLeish claiming the want-away winger wasn't for sale.

Downing submitted a transfer request which forced the hand of Villa and the player looks set to follow the likes of Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam to Anfield. 

Here are some other stories to get your Thursday rolling along:

MODRIC JOINS TOTTENHAM SUMMER TOUR

In what is turning out to be one of the bigger transfer sagas of the summer, Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric has traveled with the squad to South Africa for its pre-season tour.

Modric has continually stated his unhappiness at Spurs to the press and has attracted heavy interest from Chelsea, which has tabled offers of £22 million and £27 million for the Croatian playmaker.

While his future is still very much in the air, Modric has stuck to his word and continued on with Tottenham on its summer tour.  It remains to be seen where the player ends up, but if Chelsea make an appetizing bid for the player, club Chairman Daniel Levy just may have to budge.

With reports that Modric handed in a transfer request within the last 24 hours, it doesn't seem long before he is donning the Chelsea blue.

AGUERO DEFINITELY LEAVING ATLETICO

Speaking of protracted transfer sagas, Sergio Aguero has publicly stated his time with the Madrid-based club is at an end. 

The Argentine striker says his future will be determined after the Copa America, but one thing is clear: Aguero will not be returning to Atletico Madrid for the 2011-2012 season.

Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City have remain the most interested parties, and it is likely that the young striker will end up at one of those destinations.

However, a deal for Aguero would likely have to be in the range of £40 – £50 million in order to orchestrate a move.

BAYERN SIGNS BOATENG

Bayern Munich has landed German national team defender Jerome Boateng, signing the fullback away from Manchester City for a reported fee of 13.5 million euros.

Bayern has needed a fullback to partner with Phillip Lahm and lands a good one in Boateng, who struggled for minutes with City last season.

RIISE SEALS FULHAM SWITCH

Former Liverpool man, John Arne Riise has completed a transfer from Roma to Fulham.

Despite signing Carlos Salcido just last August, it was widely reported that the Mexican was homesick and wished for a return to his native country.

Riise's brother, Bjorn, currently plays for the Cottagers, and John Arne is eager to get his English Premiership career rebooted and running smoothly.

The 30-year-old has signed on for an undisclosed fee but addresses an immediate void following the imminent departure of current left-back Salcido.

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Do you think Downing is worth £20 million?  Think Modric is on his way to Chelsea or not?  Where do you think Aguero will end up?

Comments

  1. Ok, so maybe McLeish isn’t as bad as I thought, but it is still scary to replace your coach with one who got his last team relegated. Just ask West Ham and Avram Grant.

    I worry about N’Zogbia. For some reason he seems like a streaky player to me. And I’ve been more impressed with Albrighton than anyone else from last year. He is going to get a huge transfer fee in the future, mark my words. Like Downing, his value will be grossly inflated due to him being English. Financially, I think AV is coming out on top.

    What they do with that money is another question, and I think it will determine exactly how well they do this year.

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  2. We struggled a ton last season. For 6 months we went through a miserable run, including a set of injury problems so bad that were fielding academy players left and right. Yet, as bad as it was, we still managed to finish 9th.

    Losing Young? Yeah, bummer. But let’s be honest: He didn’t play well for us last season. I’d rather have him than not have him. But, when we have Marc Albrighton, I’ll take the 17 million and not feel devastated. (I read at least one United fan say that he’d prefer Albrighton. He’ll be an England regular.)

    Losing Dowing? Again, I’d rather have him than not have him. But do people really rate him more than N’Zogbia? I don’t. He isn’t worth 20 million for a second. Liverpool grossly overpaid because they were committed to getting Downing–who will suit their system well. Downing isn’t any better today than he was when we paid 12 million for him.

    McLeish worse than Houllier? He certainly doesn’t have the same skins on the wall. (That’s not surprising, either, because he hasn’t been at Liverpool and Lyon.) But Villa fans weren’t exactly enamored with Houller. Do you have any idea with what McLeish had to work with at Birmingham? And yet he still managed to win a cup and, in 2009-10, got Birminghand their highest finish in more than 50 years. Took a mediocre Rangers to the final 16 of the Champs League. He’s no mug.

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  3. Yeah, homesick because he got it on with a prostitute that turned out to be a man, although, in fairness to Carlos, he did think it was a woman.

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  4. Yeah, I kind of agree. Villa has the money to at least be a mid table club, but they struggled a lot last season. Now they have unloaded many of their better players and have a coach who is arguably worse than the last one.

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  5. Good Lord. Talk about a massive overreaction.

    We won’t be relegated. You think we’re going to sit on our hands and not spend the 37 million pounds that we received for Young and Downing? Please. We’ll likely wrap up a deal for N’Zogbia in the next few days. He played every bit as well last season as Downing.

    We won’t finish Top 6, OK, but we’re not going down.

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  6. Yes, haha. John Arne Riise played left back at Liverpool and again at Roma.

    Also, @Caleb. Aston Villa supporters are called “Villans” not “Villains”.

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  7. According to some Villa fans I know, with the loss of many of their better players and the new coach (who got his last team relegated), people are already starting to throw around the R word.

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  8. I thought Riise played more of a midfield role – I haven’t watched him since he left the premier league, so am I remembering incorrectly?

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  9. Aston Villa better start signing some people because without Downing and Young, the rest of their roster will struggle to avoid relegation…

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  10. Boateng is a great fit for Bayern. They desperately needed a CB. Plus this will only help Boateng as far as his role on German National team should he play well. I know he played outside back a bit but he looks a true CB to me.

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