Liverpool to raid relegated Premier League club for star assets
The Express reports that Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hasn’t wasted any time in targeting relegated Wigan’s prized assets.
The Lancashire club were finally and almost mercifully put out of their annual misery of scraping around at the bottom of the table for points, to ensure another year of scraping around the bottom of the table for points.
The defeat against Arsenal on Tuesday night that sealed their fate was notable for a distinct lack of any defensive cohesion on Wigan’s part and also for the attendance of a certain Irishman in the crowd.
According to the Express the objects of Rodgers desire were apparently Callum McManaman and James McArthur.
Now I could be wrong but I think the paper might have committed the schoolboy error of confusing James McArthur with James McCarthy, no disrespect to McArthur but of the two it’s more likely McCarthy slotting in at Anfield alongside Gerrard and Lucas in midfield than himself.
It’s probable that Liverpool will not be the only club at the higher end of the Premier League assessing both players.
McManaman after some unwarranted headlines following his clumsy attempt to snap a fellow player’s leg in half on live television, has been a revelation.
His wing play has harked back to the days when more winger’s played and his performance against Man City in the Fa Cup final earned him the deserved accolade of man of the match.
While McCarthy’s consistent displays have marked him out as one to watch since he joined Wigan from Hamilton in 2009.
So Rodgers will know that he has to move quickly if he wishes to secure both 22-year-olds. The task of persuading McManaman to join him at Anfield may not prove too difficult, like his namesake Steve, McManaman is from Merseyside.
McCarthy maybe more challenging particularly as there is likely to be more competition for his signature.
Rodgers may well have to pull out the big guns and send the young Irish international a DVD of an episode of the now legendary Being Liverpool TV series, just to give him a little taste what uplifting, motivational delights he can expect in his team talks.
Allen Whyte
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