Full version of the LiverpoolWorld Q&A.
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00:00 So, Will, good to catch up again on Liverpool and Everton.
00:03 Just starting with Liverpool, Mo Salah's a player we've spoke about all summer,
00:08 and there's been bids and there's been rejected bids as well.
00:12 What's the sort of situation you can tell us?
00:14 Will they lose him in the next windows to come, maybe?
00:18 Yes, obviously Liverpool would step faster in their approach that Mo Salah wasn't for sale.
00:23 I think we said maybe if the bid might come a little bit early in the window,
00:26 maybe Liverpool might have looked in for us.
00:28 We might have a figure where we'll accept it because we can get someone in.
00:32 But obviously, with the English window shut, Liverpool didn't have that chance
00:37 and they didn't want to leave themselves short.
00:39 So, given that it seems Sardi Arabia, you know,
00:44 that the Sardi probably were quite aggressive in how they wanted to get Mo Salah in,
00:49 you would be surprised if they don't come back in for him,
00:52 given he's an icon in the Middle East, etc, that we've discussed before.
00:56 The question is whether the test with Liverpool is resolved again in January
01:00 or they wait until next summer.
01:04 I can't see Liverpool wanting to allow Mo Salah to leave in January.
01:09 You know, they let Philippe Coutinho leave a few years ago.
01:13 Obviously, they went and got Virgil van Dijk then,
01:15 but Liverpool were crying out for a centre back then
01:17 and at that point they already had Salah, Firmino and Sadio Mane.
01:22 Liverpool aren't exactly desperate for a centre-half or a right-back
01:28 or a centre midfielder now.
01:30 So, there seems no reason why they'd sell him,
01:32 especially if they're in a position where, say,
01:35 they're into the next round of the Europa League,
01:38 pushing for maybe not even the top four, but maybe going for the title.
01:41 Certainly the top four, if they're in the mix for the top four,
01:44 they wouldn't let him go.
01:45 Maybe they'd sit in 10th or 11th, they might think,
01:47 "Right, we've got this money, let's cash in."
01:50 But next summer will be an interesting one.
01:51 He'll have one year remaining on his contract.
01:54 Can you see Liverpool keeping him for another year
01:58 and then letting him go for free?
01:59 I can't really.
02:00 I think there'll still be a substantial amount of money on the table.
02:04 You would have to think, "OK, it's not going to be 150 million
02:08 that was put in, but maybe it might be closer to 50, 60 million."
02:13 But it's still 50, 60 million.
02:15 That's a lot of money for a player who will be, what,
02:17 32 at that point a year left on his contract.
02:20 I personally think Liverpool are already planning for Mo Salah.
02:24 They'll definitely be looking at who can replace him.
02:27 In terms of a left-footers winger who can play on the right,
02:31 or maybe they'll look for a right-footers winger,
02:32 maybe they'll change the style a little bit.
02:34 But, yeah, I think a lot of Liverpool fans have braced
02:38 that this might be Mo Salah's final season at Anfield
02:41 and they'll be hoping that it's a good one.
02:43 And on Liverpool's Europa League aims,
02:46 obviously they've had the group drawn.
02:48 It's quite a nice group.
02:49 They're certainly the biggest name in there.
02:51 What are the aims for this tournament?
02:54 Because, as you've touched on, they should maybe be pressing
02:57 for Champions League by the top four positions.
03:01 Surely they go on and reach the latter stages of this.
03:05 What is Klopp thinking going into it?
03:08 Yeah, obviously, Liverpool's Europa League campaign
03:10 kicks off next week, a trip to Austria.
03:12 And as you say, they've been handed a favourable group,
03:15 not only with the teams that they're facing,
03:17 but in terms of travel as well.
03:19 Austria, France, Belgium.
03:21 I mean, you can go to the back end of nowhere, really, can't you?
03:25 In the Europa League, sometimes Liverpool could be going on to,
03:29 you think of some of the clubs you see that you've never even heard of,
03:32 and they're all doing Moldova or et cetera.
03:34 And Liverpool have got three easy trips,
03:36 so I think that enhances Liverpool as well.
03:38 Look, I think this is a good chance for Liverpool
03:42 to utilise the whole squad in the Champions League,
03:45 in the group stage.
03:47 They wouldn't have done that if they'd have played the best team,
03:49 because it's the Champions League,
03:51 it's the best club competition in the world.
03:53 You want to win it, it's difficult enough to get out of the group,
03:56 never mind going far in it.
03:57 And the money that comes with it, pay and win,
04:00 in a group match and then obviously getting to the next round,
04:04 it's absolutely significant.
04:05 The finances are different for Liverpool,
04:07 they're going to be earning nowhere near as much in the Europa League.
04:10 I think if they actually go and win the Europa League,
04:12 they wouldn't even earn as much as getting out of the group stage
04:14 in the Champions League,
04:15 there's that much difference between it.
04:18 So Liverpool are obviously playing less competition,
04:21 they can utilise the squad better,
04:23 and they're not exactly going to be playing bad players, are they?
04:26 They're going to be playing maybe Joe Gomez and Joe Mata,
04:28 centre-back, Kostas Simakas, left-back.
04:32 Chance for Ryan Gravenberg to get minutes,
04:36 because this might be a bit of a transitional season for him.
04:38 Harvey Elliott, another one, Stefan Persetic.
04:41 Thiago might play quite a lot,
04:42 he hasn't played yet this season with his injury,
04:44 Ben's open and the forwards will rotate themselves.
04:48 So you look at that squad and the potential second 11,
04:52 Kovin Kelemen in goal as well,
04:54 a lot of people think he could be a number one elsewhere,
04:56 you look at a potential second 11
04:58 and you think that it's got more than enough
05:01 to go to the quarter-finals maybe of the competition,
05:06 then from there you probably play your strongest team.
05:09 But, yeah, I think it's the only major trophy Klopp
05:12 hasn't got his hands on at Liverpool.
05:14 Probably the one you want to win the least, to be honest with you,
05:17 because you want to be in the Champions League every season.
05:19 But he'll still feel a little bit of...
05:21 He maybe wants a bit of redemption from that first year, 2016,
05:25 when they got beat in the final by Seville.
05:27 And, you know, a place, a win in the Europa League
05:32 guarantees you a spot in the Champions League as well,
05:34 and we all know how competitive the top four race is going to be this season,
05:37 and the finals in Dublin, so it's a very easy one for Liverpool fans to get to.
05:41 So there's another facet that goes with it.
05:44 But, yeah, kicking off next week,
05:46 we should see some of the fringe players playing,
05:49 look to get a chance and impress for the Premier League games then.
05:53 So, Will, breaking news out of Everton
05:56 after the 7-7-7 partners' takeover.
06:00 What can you tell us about this?
06:02 Surely we've spoken a long time about the possible
06:07 sort of thing of a takeover at the club, it was seemingly needed.
06:12 Is this a good thing for Everton? Surely it must be.
06:16 Yes, it's very interesting what's been happening.
06:19 Everton have known for a while that Farhad Moshidi wanted investment,
06:24 but maybe stopped short of saying he wanted a full takeover.
06:27 But now, obviously Everton will be in talks with MSP Sports Capital.
06:31 That exclusivity agreement expires,
06:36 and they've walked away from the deal, and 7-7-7, who've been linked,
06:40 come back to the table now, and, yeah, they've agreed to buy Farhad Moshidi.
06:44 He's 94.1% stake in the club,
06:47 so they'll be very much the majority owners.
06:51 First of all, I've got to say it's got to pass the owners and directors' test
06:54 of the Premier League, and other stipulations has got to get passed as well,
06:57 because there have been some allegations against 7-7-7,
07:01 and Josh Wander, the co-founder, was charged with drug trafficking 20 years ago,
07:08 which he'll probably say he was a young lads, and it was a silly mistake,
07:11 if he's asked about that.
07:14 But the facts are there, they're going to have to pass the test.
07:17 They already own a lot of clubs, the likes of Standard Liège,
07:21 Hafer Berlin, Genoa, they've got stakes in Seville,
07:25 and Melbourne Victory as well.
07:28 A couple of other clubs they own, including Red Star in Paris.
07:32 They own a lot of clubs, so certainly there are some fans
07:36 who've protested against them before.
07:39 Standard Liège fans in their last home game,
07:43 certainly has unfurled banners wanting them out.
07:46 Red Star fans when they arrived did as well.
07:48 I think maybe it's a little bit too early with Hafer Berlin.
07:53 They went down last season, but they only came in in March,
07:56 so they haven't had a chance to really do anything.
07:59 But it comes down to the fact that they're going to have the funds
08:02 to buy the club, or if they've agreed a deal, and it seems like they will.
08:06 But then you see Genoa trying to raise €5 million through a fan bond scheme.
08:12 So €5 million, the grand scheme of things, isn't an awful lot of money
08:16 for a group who own multiple football clubs.
08:23 Everton fans want to see change, undoubtedly.
08:26 They want to see Marc Macheries plough hundreds of millions of pounds
08:31 into the club. It just hasn't worked.
08:34 At least he started off the Bramley Mall, Dock Stadium.
08:38 At least that maybe is one crumb of comfort he can take from his seven-year spell.
08:45 Otherwise, it's been pretty...
08:48 Let's face it, Everton have regressed since he's arrived.
08:50 You can't make any bones about them. David Moyes, they were always challenged
08:55 with Europe, finished fourth on one occasion, got to an FA Cup final.
09:01 Roberto Martinez, he finished fifth with the highest ever Premier League points tally.
09:07 Got to two semi-finals, and it's been regressing since
09:10 because of the constant chop and change of the managers,
09:13 change in the sporting directors, or the director of footballs.
09:17 There's been no continuity.
09:20 It has almost been like guacamole times with managers.
09:24 Let's get rid of him, let's get him.
09:27 There's been different styles of play from Ronald Koeman to Sam Allen's ice,
09:31 then Michael Silva, Karl Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Frank Lampard,
09:35 and then you go to Sean's ice.
09:40 Everton have suffered with all these players who have been brought in
09:43 from different managers. It's caught up with them now.
09:46 There's making no bones about it. They've got a thin squad,
09:49 so the financial ramifications have hit them hard.
09:53 Combined losses of £400 million in 2019, as we've seen this summer.
09:57 We've seen Anthony Gordon leave in January, this summer Alex Owobi leaves.
10:01 Young players like Tom Cannon, Ellis Sims, he chased Samuel Smith's souls
10:08 because it was good for profit and sustainability rules.
10:11 He had Damari Gray's souls as well.
10:14 Sean's ice was saying they were having to go about the business,
10:18 they were considering everything to get players in on transfer deadlines,
10:24 and the deals didn't work out for Everton.
10:27 What Everton fans want now, whether that's 7-7-7, if they do pass all the tests,
10:33 or whether it is anyone else, is someone who can run the club sustainably,
10:37 run the club properly, not put it into any financial difficulties again,
10:45 get it back on the up, slowly but surely start moving towards where Everton fans
10:49 think they deserve to be. That's at least challenging for Europe every season,
10:54 at an absolute minimum. It's coming up to 30 years now since Everton last won
10:59 a major trophy, and certainly that's what they want to see as well.
11:03 On Everton's next Premier League game, Arsenal at home was a very important part
11:10 of their season last season, this fixture, with a fantastic win in Sean Dierdre's
11:15 first game. How have things changed since then? Can we expect something similar?
11:21 Or will Arteta have seen the last situation and maybe change for this upcoming game?
11:28 They've got the records, Everton, to be fair against Arsenal.
11:31 They've got a very good record against them.
11:34 As you say, that first game of the Shorns' Ice was a superb display of two-a-man.
11:40 The midfield was immense that day, Seamus Corman was superb as well.
11:45 But you have that proverbial manager bounce, don't you, coming in when everyone's
11:51 up for it, and that fades away a little bit now. I'm not saying that Shorns' Ice
11:56 is no star completely, because performances by the Attenbiller game have been
12:01 positive for them the most part this season. Sheffield United should have got
12:04 something there. I think they'd be disappointed they didn't.
12:08 Obviously, it sort of reverts to type a little bit, the way they were winning
12:12 the game and let the opposition back into it.
12:17 They need to build some momentum, though, soon, Everton, because one point in 12,
12:21 albeit performances might look good, but points tallied doesn't.
12:25 One point from four games where, let's be frank, free and unwinnable.
12:30 Fulham are home, should have won that, Wolves are home, should have won that,
12:33 Wolves in difficulties themselves, and Sheffield United away.
12:37 It's a game that Sheffield United, a lot of people will be surprised and fair play
12:41 if they do, if they manage to stay up this season.
12:46 They should have at least six points on the board, maybe, two wins, maybe nine
12:51 points, maybe seven points, two wins and a draw.
12:56 The injury list is looking a little bit better. Jack Harris was in training,
13:01 so whether he's available to feature, not sure, but things are starting to clear up.
13:06 Don McAlbert-Lewis looks like he's probably recovered from a facial injury,
13:11 so he should be able to. Beto has a couple of weeks to settle down.
13:16 Dan Dumer again will only improve as well. It's going to be tall orders in Arsenal.
13:22 Again, we'll have designs on challenging Manchester City for the title.
13:26 Think of everything, if they manage to get a draw, then a lot of people will be happy,
13:30 and then they can go into that Brentford game the week after feeling a little bit more confident
13:34 and feeling like they might be able to get a victory.