I really hope we can keep hold of Doucouré, he was such a good player for us last season and now he is settled in the Premier League and with Lerma alongside him he will be even better for us this year.

I just want us to retain a settled squad and enjoy a season or two where we can add to the quality and not the revolving door where we are losing our best players and having to start again.

This season has a lot of promise if we can keep hold of Andersen, Guehi, Eze, Johnstone & Doucouré, alongside Olisé who extended his contract with us yesterday.

If we can add a fullback or two and a decent striker to França then it could be our most enjoyable season for quite some time.

They're for sale at the prices they should be - that's life. But nobody's meeting those valuations at present. If Chelsea want to pay 55-65 mil, they can have an injured Olise. We've quoted 75 mil for Doucoure - not looking like Liverpool will pay and they've moved on. The Eze offers seem laughable so can't see that happening.
Andersen is the quiet one - around 45-55 and he can talk to Newcastle - which is a bit of a worry when we let O'Brien go. However, we have looked at some centre backs and it's one that might surprise us with that one in Germany. It could be our deadline day surprise signing. Personally, would rather keep Andersen but I believe Newcastle looks better to players than we are. However, Newcastle want young and Andersen isn't young - although not exactly old either. They want to have decent sell on values on players and Howe likes one or two leaders and mainly young, English speaking talent. When they want a load of trendy foreign players, that's when we'll see Howe go - plus results obviously. While it's working his way, they'll back him.

Agreed, Howe said in his presser that Hall would be the last one in & on loan, not sale.

This operation, will make the 'Charge Of The Light Brigade' seem like a simple military exercise.

Given their unlimited resources, Newcastle have been surprisingly prudent.

I'm probably in the minority here but I'd say Doucoure is a good player who we would miss, but not a great one we couldn't replace.

Thinking only in financial terms, I would be prepared to reject good but not great offers for Eze (for example) because his value will only increase over the coming year, injuries notwithstanding. I wouldn't say the same about Doucoure.

The Doucoure situation is not dissimilar to the sale of Wan-Bissaka in that, if, Liverpool really are going to offer very big money, it might be a one-off opportunity to make such a profit. AWB has apparently done enough to make United offer him a new contract when 12 months ago he was unwanted, but even so I doubt they consider him £50m well spent. If we'd have held on to AWB in the face of the United bid, we'd never have got that size of offer again. Some trains only come through town once.

Liverpool are desperate for a holding midfielder, they didn't plan to lose both Henderson and Fabinho in the same summer, and they've lost out to Chelsea in signing either of their preferred replacements. If ever we could name our (inflated) price for Doucoure, it's now. In fact, it's probably now only.

The idea that we could build a team by developing young players who we keep together was always nonsense. We have always been a selling club, we just didn't have many players other clubs wanted to buy before. If we are going to develop and sell then getting over the odds for a player, even when you didn't plan to sell him yet, is a significant consideration.