Transfers - Gossip Shop: Forlan to Liverpool

Eurosport - Sun, 17 May 23:37:00 2009

Liverpool fans might have to make their peace with a Manchester United cult hero if Rafa Benitez goes ahead with a move for Diego Forlan.

2008-2009 Atletico Madrid Diego Forlan - 0

Despite never really being very good at Old Trafford, Forlan stole a piece of every United fan's heart when he was gifted two goals by Liverpool's Jerzy Dudek in 2002, an occasion commemorated by the chant: "He comes from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry."

That match helped Forlan make the leap from dismal to mediocre, but he was let go at the start of the 2004/05 season and now plays like Gerd Muller in a blond wig.

Since leaving United, Forlan has embarked on an epic goals binge at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, notching up seasonal Liga tallies of 25, 10, 19, 16 and 27.

His prolific form has all but erased memories of his respective goals totals at United of none, six, four and none, and Rafa Benitez is readying himself to make Forlan, who turns 30 on Tuesday, this summer's Robbie Keane.

Sebastien Bassong's lack of basic coordination earned him a red card against Fulham which might yet send Newcastle down.

Yet Alan Shearer is keen to secure the long-term services of a man who has spent the entire season getting damned with the faint praise of being 'Newcastle's best defender'.

Aston Villa are on the lookout for a new centre back following the disappointing news of Martin Laursen's retirement.

They might just have found their man in the shape of Ajax skipper Thomas Vermaelen, who will cost a whacking great £8m even though you have never heard of him.

No mention of Carlos Tevez from Gossip Shop today. Not because there is no speculation, but because he is shortly to be given his own section on this website to accommodate all the rumour, hearsay and outright lies.

Tevez is a strong frontrunner to provide the summer's most life-sapping saga, but Emmanuel Adebayor could run him close.

The mysterious 'slight groin strain' that meant the Arsenal striker did not even travel to Old Trafford on Saturday has intensified rumours he is on his way to Chelsea.

Atletico Madrid right-back Georgios Seitaridis is a very Sam Allardyce signing; he is unglamorous, he is good and he is free.

The Greek Euro 2004 winner could be joined at Blackburn by Derby's Tyrone Mears, who has been an unlikely success on loan at Marseille, while Rovers are expected to take up their £4m option to sign Gael Givet.

Wigan's Paul Scharner is a very Roy Hodgson signing. He is hard-working, he is versatile and he used to play in Scandinavia. He will cost Fulham £5m.

Stewart Downing is a very Martin O'Neill signing. He is young(ish), he is English, and he is probably not quite good enough to turn Aston Villa into a top-four outfit. Tottenham and Liverpool are also interested, with doomed Middlesbrough ready to sell to the highest bidder.

Manchester City have their eyes on everybody, as we know. Today we are focussing on Benfica duo Luisao, a centre-back and Oscar Cardozo, a striker. Benfica want £15m for the pair.

Sunderland want Slaven Bilic to be their manager. GS doesn't know how the Croatia boss will react to this news but there may be laughter.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 30 - 49 of 49

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  1. I want David Silva for Liverpool.

    From Dhritiman, on Tue 19 May 12:35PM

  2. GOOD MOVE RAFA BENITEZ!!! TO BEAT MANCHESTER­ UNITED,DON'T JUST BUY THEIR EX PLAYERS..BUY ALL­ THEIR CURRENT PLAYERS!!! SO ALL THE STARS IN MAN UNITED­ WILL CHANGE TO LIVERPOOL OUTFITS!!! WELL DONE RAFA!!

    From elmarciano, on Mon 18 May 4:03PM

  3. this will be ok but he may not be able to play up with­ torres but he has had a good goal tallies of 25, 10,­ 19, 16 and 27 so he is a good

    From essexredscooby, on Mon 18 May 12:36PM

  4. Hi All;

    I think another Legend Team just emerge.. just­ like Ferrari in F1, Valentino in Motorbike, Loeb in­ Rally etc etc.. i hope EPL wont change any of their­ rules like other sports did to kill their own Legend­ Team !! hahaha... and i think its like playing Football­ Manager for almost 20 years !! hehe... if they win­ again next year, EPL really need to do something­ because it will make people boring to watch EPL just­ like F1 before... hahahahahaha

    So next season.. Man­ U.. please give away a few more trophies, so others can­ stop moaning (for a while)
    ^_^

    From Shahrul A, on Mon 18 May 10:51AM

  5. Forlan is old and more to that we do not want someone­ who has stained his body with a fake red shirt.Rafa­ please look somewhere else

    From Michael, on Mon 18 May 10:45AM

  6. Diego who? dont spend money on players discarded by MAN­ UNITED. sack your under-
    performing, under-achieving­ spanish waiter and employ a proper coach.. thats­ the
    answer to your blues.. ahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    BEL pa­ zed

    From Brian, on Mon 18 May 10:02AM

  7. If Rafa is thinking to play 2 strikers instead of one­ next season, we could be in for a surprise. Other than­ Forlan who is the other striker with A.Madrid? Fingers­ crossed

    From c, on Mon 18 May 9:56AM

  8. Torres plays better alone upfront with support from­ Gerrard and the club do not have a lot of money to­ spend. Furthermore, there are other positions like wing­ & fullback that needs improvement. Why in the world­ would Rafa want to spend money on a 30year-old striker.­ Forlan wouldn't want to move club and sit on the­ bench when he's playing week in week out.

    From c, on Mon 18 May 9:51AM

  9. i hope this is a joke, big deal he scored a few goals­ in spain. morientes was top scorer in spain when he­ left anfield. FFs freddie kanoute has also been one of­ the leagues top scorers. some players just arent suited­ to the premiership. big mistake to bring that clown in.­ with liverpools current formation it'll be very­ hard 2 lure a big name striker to anfield who knows­ he'll mainly warm the bench.

    From THOMAS, on Mon 18 May 8:58AM

  10. Can't really see Forlan choosing to play for the­ Mersey-sliders but he's hardly going to set the­ world on fire even if he does.

    From howard.stringer, on Mon 18 May 7:37AM

  11. 5 european cups--manure 1-liverpool4.
    The best team­ didn't win this year.
    Look out for next season­ .
    Manure fans enjoy the moment but you have peaked-the­ reds will march on next season and you will and you­ will have to bow again to England's best and MOST­ successsful team.
    Whistling in the dark will not save­ you next season.

    From John O, on Mon 18 May 6:54AM

  12. People who want to off load Alonso don't understand­ football. FACT!!

    From Sahladine L, on Mon 18 May 2:41AM

  13. whats this rafa trying to buy utd rejects again old fat­ boys definitly lost it !

    From cdix509, on Mon 18 May 2:05AM

  14. . . . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . . . ­ . . . . . ­ . . . . ­ .

    Will you thick Scouse muppets get it right.­ Manchester­ United have been trying to match­ Liverpool's 18­ League wins for 36 years, not 20­ years as most of you­ dimwits are saying. United have­ been playing catch up­ since Liverpool won their 8th in­ 1973 - that's 36­ years ago! Got it! God, call­ yourselves football fans!­ you don't even know your­ own clubs history!!! but­ the truth is this is an end­ of an era, start of a new­ era. Liverpool FC's­­­­ 36 year reign as english­ football's most­­­ successful­ club has come to an­ end. They now share­­­ that claim with­ Manchester­ United who yesterday­ equalled­ Liverpool's total of­ winning the­ league­­­ championship 18 times, if you­ include the­ F.A. Cup­ & the Football League Cup­ then­ Manchester United­ are now the most successful­ team in­ english football AND THAT'S A FACT! This is­­ Manchester United's 11th­­ premier league­ title­­ and with the dazzling array of­­ youthful talent­ at­­ Old Trafford there are many more­­ titles to come.­­­ Indeed a new era has begun with a­ fresh­ and­ youthful­­ team ready to challenge for honours­ for­­ years to­­ come. As for their main challengers this­­­ season;­­ Liverpool, Rafael Benitez (their manager)­ will­­ have­­ to dismantle his team and start again­ next season­­ as­­ his current squad is simply not good­ enough . . . AND­­ THAT'S A FACT TOO! BELIEVE.
    . ­ . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . ­ . . .

    From Mmmm000se, on Mon 18 May 1:23AM

  15. . . . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . . . ­ . . . . . ­ . . . . ­ .

    Will you thick Scouse muppets get it right.­ Manchester­ United have been trying to match­ Liverpool's 18­ League wins for 36 years, not 20­ years as most of you­ dimwits are saying. United have­ been playing catch up­ since Liverpool won their 8th in­ 1973 - that's 36­ years ago! Got it! God, call­ yourselves football fans!­ you don't even know your­ own clubs history!!! but­ the truth is this is an end­ of an era, start of a new­ era. Liverpool FC's­­­­ 36 year reign as english­ football's most­­­ successful­ club has come to an­ end. They now share­­­ that claim with­ Manchester­ United who yesterday­ equalled­ Liverpool's total of­ winning the­ league­­­ championship 18 times, if you­ include the­ F.A. Cup­ & the Football League Cup­ then­ Manchester United­ are now the most successful­ team in­ english football AND THAT'S A FACT! This is­­ Manchester United's 11th­­ premier league­ title­­ and with the dazzling array of­­ youthful talent­ at­­ Old Trafford there are many more­­ titles to come.­­­ Indeed a new era has begun with a­ fresh­ and­ youthful­­ team ready to challenge for honours­ for­­ years to­­ come. As for their main challengers this­­­ season;­­ Liverpool, Rafael Benitez (their manager)­ will­­ have­­ to dismantle his team and start again­ next season­­ as­­ his current squad is simply not good­ enough . . . AND­­ THAT'S A FACT TOO! BELIEVE.
    . ­ . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . . ­ . . . ­ . . .

    From Mmmm000se, on Mon 18 May 1:22AM

  16. Forlan is a quality player in la Liga where defense is­ second best and notably soft. In the EPL he's more­ in the mold of a Dirk Kuyt who runs his socks off, does­ his best, but doesn't have the scoring touch.­ Forlan couldn't stay at Man U with that goal tally.

    From bigbrother09447, on Mon 18 May 1:21AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Man United have made a big mistake losing Tevez, he­ chases everything, and is a big part of Man U. Alex­ Ferguson should've concentated on keeping players­ like Tevez instead of concentrating on bringing players­ in like the numpty Berbatov!

    From mjos27_09_96, on Mon 18 May 12:16AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I am a ManUnited fan & i truly believe that Diego­ Forlan is a top quality player. Alex Ferguson should­ have never sold him! Liverpool fans should be­ privaliged to get a decent player like Forlan, unlike­ all those other so called 'heros' gerard and­ torres.

    From mjos27_09_96, on Mon 18 May 12:11AM

  19. do not sell alonso, big mistake. no forlan please. not­ good enuff and a bit old now. sell babel, leiva,­ riera, ngog, insua, not too sure we need barry either.­ a proven goalscorer is top of the list. come on Rafa,­ think mate. Owen on a one year contract. he will still­ score if the team put them there.

    From Chris, on Sun 17 May 10:45PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    we need a world class striker. forlan isnt good enough­ for liverpool; he wasn't even good enough for man­ utd. i hope rafa isn't still thinking of selling­ alonso, being that he's possibly the best passer of­ the ball in england. sell dirk kuyt, he works hard but­ doesn't bring anything special to the team. riera­ and babel show flashes of genius, maybe give them one­ more season.

    From AkA, on Sun 17 May 10:05PM
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