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Bleacher Report
July 6 2013
Liverpool: What Missing Out on Henrikh Mkhitaryan Says About Current Reds Setup
By Richard Morgan
The outcome of Liverpool's long-running pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk
midfield player Henrikh Mkhitaryan will tell us a lot about the state
of health the Merseysiders are in going into the new season and
beyond.
At this exact moment in time, it is still too hard to ascertain
exactly what the conclusion will be to the Reds' reported interest in
the Armenia international. Wayne Veysey at Goal.com and the Daily
Mail's Sami Mokbel say the likes of UEFA Champions League runners-up
Borussia Dortmund and Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur are keen
on landing the player this summer as well.
In fact, Jim Daly of the Daily Mirror even claims that Jurgen Klopp
and Co. have already beaten Liverpool to the punch by lodging an
official bid worth around $30 million for the attacking midfield
player, but the Ukrainian champions value him at nearer the 30
million mark.
However, were Liverpool able to successfully see off competition for
Mkhitaryan's signature from Dortmund and Tottenham, then the message
that would send out to both the club's supporters, as well as the
watching world at large, would be a powerful one indeed.
Conversely, were the 24-year-old to spurn the Reds' advances this
summer and opt for a different challenge elsewhere, then equally that
would also resonate powerfully with all those associated with the
famous old club.
The former would indicate that the continued absence of UEFA Champions
League football from Anfield was not having a negative impact on
Liverpool's prospects of still being able to attract world-class
footballers to Merseyside, as was the case when they managed to
persuade Luis Suarez to join the club from Ajax in January 2011.
And yet the latter scenario would be the clearest sign yet that four
straight years without competing in Europe's premier club competition
was now starting to have an effect after all on the Reds being able to
sign top-level talent from across Planet Football.
After all, this is a Champions League-quality footballer we are
talking about here, as we saw with some of Mkhitaryan's eye-catching
displays for his club in last season's competition against the likes
of the then holders Chelsea and Serie A champions Juventus in the
group stage.
Meanwhile on the domestic front, the three-time Armenian Footballer of
the Year scored a quite remarkable 25 goals in just 28 league matches
for Shakhtar, and he created a new Ukrainian record in the process,
which explains just why his employers are currently insisting that any
interested suitor meets their full 30 million valuation of their star
man.
But while Liverpool may be able to offer more financially attractive
personal terms to Mkhitaryan, Dortmund can give the player a realistic
chance to compete for next season's UEFA Champions League.
Additionally, Spurs can make a strong argument for suggesting that
they are more likely to finish in the Top Four at the end season than
Brendan Rodgers' team .
Consequently, while the recent words of wily Shakhtar boss Mircea
Lucescu may have stung the ears of Liverpool fans throughout the
world, when read in the cold light of day the experienced Romanian
coach's remarks actually carry a lot of truth to them. Speaking to
Ukrainian publication Terrikon, Lucescu said:
It is his [Mkhitaryan's] decision, his desire, but there is still time
for him to change his mind, because I think he is making a big
mistake.
I can understand the urge to leave if he has a chance to go to a club
that surpasses Shakhtar, like Barcelona or Real Madrid, but not many
clubs are beyond our level - not clubs like Liverpool or Tottenham.
We are a strong club with 50,000 passionate supporters every week, and
every year we are fighting for the league, the cups and the Champions
League. This place is good for him, and he is making a mistake if he
thinks there are many teams above this level.
That, unfortunately for Liverpool and their loyal supporters, is the
reality of the situation that the club find themselves in four years
on from their last appearance in the UEFA Champions League.
And the worrying thing for Rodgers and Co. is that it is now only
going to get much harder to return to Europe's top table, at least
until the full impact of UEFA'S Financial Fair Play regulations really
start to kick in further down the line.
The Reds are no longer seen as being a `Champions League' club on the
Continent due to their continued absence from the competition, and as
the Merseysiders are slowly beginning to find out, they are stuck in a
vicious circle at present in trying to make their long-awaited return
to the European Cup.
As, with no guaranteed Champions League income which to rely upon, not
only are the club unable to attract the stars to Anfield to help them
bridge that gap to the Top Four again, but they also continue to
financially fall behind the likes of mega-rich top-flight rivals
Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and, now to a
certain extent, even Spurs as a result.
And so which club Mkhitaryan ends up at next season will be
illuminating for many reasons, but none more so than for what it will
reveal about Liverpool's continued status, or otherwise, as a genuine
European football superpower.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1693921-conclusion-to-liverpools-chase-for-mkhitaryan-will-reveal-reds-true-well-being
From: Baghdasarian
July 6 2013
Liverpool: What Missing Out on Henrikh Mkhitaryan Says About Current Reds Setup
By Richard Morgan
The outcome of Liverpool's long-running pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk
midfield player Henrikh Mkhitaryan will tell us a lot about the state
of health the Merseysiders are in going into the new season and
beyond.
At this exact moment in time, it is still too hard to ascertain
exactly what the conclusion will be to the Reds' reported interest in
the Armenia international. Wayne Veysey at Goal.com and the Daily
Mail's Sami Mokbel say the likes of UEFA Champions League runners-up
Borussia Dortmund and Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur are keen
on landing the player this summer as well.
In fact, Jim Daly of the Daily Mirror even claims that Jurgen Klopp
and Co. have already beaten Liverpool to the punch by lodging an
official bid worth around $30 million for the attacking midfield
player, but the Ukrainian champions value him at nearer the 30
million mark.
However, were Liverpool able to successfully see off competition for
Mkhitaryan's signature from Dortmund and Tottenham, then the message
that would send out to both the club's supporters, as well as the
watching world at large, would be a powerful one indeed.
Conversely, were the 24-year-old to spurn the Reds' advances this
summer and opt for a different challenge elsewhere, then equally that
would also resonate powerfully with all those associated with the
famous old club.
The former would indicate that the continued absence of UEFA Champions
League football from Anfield was not having a negative impact on
Liverpool's prospects of still being able to attract world-class
footballers to Merseyside, as was the case when they managed to
persuade Luis Suarez to join the club from Ajax in January 2011.
And yet the latter scenario would be the clearest sign yet that four
straight years without competing in Europe's premier club competition
was now starting to have an effect after all on the Reds being able to
sign top-level talent from across Planet Football.
After all, this is a Champions League-quality footballer we are
talking about here, as we saw with some of Mkhitaryan's eye-catching
displays for his club in last season's competition against the likes
of the then holders Chelsea and Serie A champions Juventus in the
group stage.
Meanwhile on the domestic front, the three-time Armenian Footballer of
the Year scored a quite remarkable 25 goals in just 28 league matches
for Shakhtar, and he created a new Ukrainian record in the process,
which explains just why his employers are currently insisting that any
interested suitor meets their full 30 million valuation of their star
man.
But while Liverpool may be able to offer more financially attractive
personal terms to Mkhitaryan, Dortmund can give the player a realistic
chance to compete for next season's UEFA Champions League.
Additionally, Spurs can make a strong argument for suggesting that
they are more likely to finish in the Top Four at the end season than
Brendan Rodgers' team .
Consequently, while the recent words of wily Shakhtar boss Mircea
Lucescu may have stung the ears of Liverpool fans throughout the
world, when read in the cold light of day the experienced Romanian
coach's remarks actually carry a lot of truth to them. Speaking to
Ukrainian publication Terrikon, Lucescu said:
It is his [Mkhitaryan's] decision, his desire, but there is still time
for him to change his mind, because I think he is making a big
mistake.
I can understand the urge to leave if he has a chance to go to a club
that surpasses Shakhtar, like Barcelona or Real Madrid, but not many
clubs are beyond our level - not clubs like Liverpool or Tottenham.
We are a strong club with 50,000 passionate supporters every week, and
every year we are fighting for the league, the cups and the Champions
League. This place is good for him, and he is making a mistake if he
thinks there are many teams above this level.
That, unfortunately for Liverpool and their loyal supporters, is the
reality of the situation that the club find themselves in four years
on from their last appearance in the UEFA Champions League.
And the worrying thing for Rodgers and Co. is that it is now only
going to get much harder to return to Europe's top table, at least
until the full impact of UEFA'S Financial Fair Play regulations really
start to kick in further down the line.
The Reds are no longer seen as being a `Champions League' club on the
Continent due to their continued absence from the competition, and as
the Merseysiders are slowly beginning to find out, they are stuck in a
vicious circle at present in trying to make their long-awaited return
to the European Cup.
As, with no guaranteed Champions League income which to rely upon, not
only are the club unable to attract the stars to Anfield to help them
bridge that gap to the Top Four again, but they also continue to
financially fall behind the likes of mega-rich top-flight rivals
Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and, now to a
certain extent, even Spurs as a result.
And so which club Mkhitaryan ends up at next season will be
illuminating for many reasons, but none more so than for what it will
reveal about Liverpool's continued status, or otherwise, as a genuine
European football superpower.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1693921-conclusion-to-liverpools-chase-for-mkhitaryan-will-reveal-reds-true-well-being
From: Baghdasarian