Roy Hodgson's first move as Liverpool boss may be to bring a CONCACAF star to Anfield after all.
Reports suggest that Liverpool is lining up a £12.5 million bid for Costa Rica and FC Twente striker Bryan Ruiz.
While Clint Dempsey is prohibited from following Hodgson from Fulham to Liverpool, Ruiz may be as good of a fit for the Reds. With rumors of Fernando Torres' departure circulating, the 24-year-old Costa Rican would be a solid replacement, considering his strike-rate. He scored 24 goals in leading Twente to the Eredivisie championship this past season.
Should Ruiz transfer to Liverpool, he would join Javier Hernandez (Mexico, Manchester United) as CONCACAF players to sign with "Big Four" Premier League teams this offseason.
Do you like a potential Ruiz-to-Liverpool move? Who else do you think Liverpool should go after in the transfer market? Do you think that CONCACAF is getting a better reputation overseas?
Share your thoughts below.
Thanks for letting me know that Costa Rica didn’t make it into the World Cup, smartass. I guess I wasn’t paying attention when I was at RFK stadium watching Jonathan Bornstein score the goal that knocked them out of the automatic qualification spot.
If you’re not smart enough to understand what I was saying then I’m not going to bother taking the time to explain it to you.
Dempsey won a starting spot in his first year with Fulham and was their leading scorer that year and Spector played in all but one game this year. Boca started immediately when he got to Fulham and didn’t fall out of favor until the end of his term there.
Hernandez will be loaned.
there is none.
sbi,
Scoring goals in Holland doesn’t necessarily make you “proven”. Just ask Middlesborough about Afonso Alves. The guy scored 30+ goals for Heerenveen and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn the premiership.
What is it with Mexican, really, CONCACAF players in general, going to England and sitting on the bench? Vela, Dos Santos, Dempsey for a few years couldn’t start, Spector, Simek, Boca was sittnig a lot before he left. Hope Ruiz and Hernandez don’t sit. Hernandez could play just because Berbatov is…Berbatov
Hey Ives, I’ve noticed that the World Cup frenzy in America is boosting your site too. The advertisers are big companies now like Consumer Reports and All State. I hope they are paying you good. However, I do miss my Cougar advertisement. She was there to greet me everyday I read your page for my Football Fix.
He was amazing at Wolves last year, he was highly rated, but i guess since he was playing at Wolves he wasn’t considered the best by the media because it isn’t an attractive big club, playing european football.
Personally I think the keepers that are playing really good, but playing for the weaker teams in the best leagues should be considered the best in the world. Who cares if you play for Barca, Man U, etc. If you are getting it done without world class defenders in front of you yet stopping world class forwards consistently, then in my book you are the best. The only argument I would accept otherwise is that Marcus didn’t play European football, but again, he did play against EPL giants all year, close enough for me.
And of course having a 3rd, 4th, 5th strong team in the region makes those 3.5 spots a lot more secure.
When the rest of CONCACAF is better we’ll be better to, right now it’s only Mexico and the United States, thats not cool when there are only two good teams and the rest a crap shoot.
Good for him. I for one consider CONCACAF news American news. Stronger Ticos are good for us, so long us we don’t lose a spot or 1/2, of course, and I have some regional pride mixed in there somewhere, too.
As our qualifying campaigns and regional tourneys become more competitive not just for brutal home field advantage but also because of higher quality players, we will be a better team for it.
why do people think that Hodgson would have wanted to take Dempsey to Liverpool even if he could?
I echo the sentiment and all, but you do know that Costa Rica and himself did not play in the World Cup right? The comparison makes no sense.
hahaha agreed! at least babel isn’t short of self-confidence. I’d really like liverpool to move from second tier offensive help (they can’t afford top players like silva or villa). people like eljero elia or lucas barrios would at least help
I hope he goes plays well. He is big, strong, has an amazing shot. I am all for CONCACAF growing and becoming stronger and deeper.
Whatever happened to american soccer news.
Debbie Downer
I really hope Hodgson does well at Liverpool. There was something special about that team he put together with Fulham. They went about things the right way, sum is greater than the parts team concept, fair play(very few cards), etc. I’d like to think bringing a really classy approach like that can work at a big club.
Any chance we could see Jozy Altidore make a move to FC Twente? A club like that would be a perfect fit for him.
I think this will be a great move for Ruiz, assuming he actually gets playing time. Many people thought that Jozy’s move to Villareal was a good move and he never got any playing time. Too often players from CONCACAF make moves to bigger clubs an sit on the bench when they would be better served staying with their smaller club and getting consistent playing time. Ruiz would have certainly seen action in the Champions League when FC Twente starts their new campaign.
Speaking of CONCACAF–I didn’t know where to put this and I am sure that someone else has already mentioned this, but according to the Castrol rankings Marcus Hahnemann was the number one goalkeeper in the world last year.
http://www.castrolfootball.com/rankings/rankings/?position=4&nation=&team=&comp=#label
sad but true…
now he will have to impress during club ball to get a move
not many stages like a world cup to get a transfer
european players get two big stages: euros (ask arshavin) and the world cup
i don’t think liverpool scouts the gold cup
can we stop calling liverpool a “big 4” team now?
I like Ruiz. He’s class. This would be a good pickup for them.
12.5 million? Is that really what Liverpool need to be spending for an unproven at the EPL level striker?
They could buy two solid field players for that or 3 bench players. Liverpool doesn’t have much of a second squad so don’t know is that is good money spent.
Torres needs to go though – he is always hurt.
(SBI-How in the world is Ruiz “unproven”? And what stiffs are you planning to sign for 7-8 million who are going to help Liverpool back into the Top Four? Ruiz was easily one of the best players in the Dutch League and would be a great signing. Not sure if he’s enough to help solve all the problems the team has, but that would be a very good price for him. Now, if we were talking a team like Bolton or Birmingham, you could say a pair of 7-8 million signings would be a boost. For Liverpool, you’re talking band-aids.)
All I can think about after reading is that this story could be about Charlie Davies had he been healthy enough to play in the World Cup.
they dont need wing talent, they have the great ryan babel!
A lot of people are suggesting Hodgson had a clause in his release from Fulham saying he couldn’t raid Fulham for players for a year. Not sure if it’s been confirmed anywhere.
Part of Hodgson’s severance deal was that he would not take any Fulham players with him to Liverpool.
i like the ruiz signing but i don’t see him, a winger, as a solid replacement for torres. liverpool do desperately need wing talent so ruiz would be an excellent pick up. i’m actually okay with liverpool selling torres if it’s the supposed 55 mil that chelsea offered. he’s incredibly talented but constantly injured. liverpool’s roster is thin enough that they can’t afford to depend on one player. if the board would let hodgson spend all the money from a torres sale, he should look for a good offer.
Dempsey is “prohibited” from following Hodgson. Is there some rule I don’t know about?