Liverpool Transfer Target Ibrahim Afellay to Stay at Barcelona
By
(Featured Columnist) on June 6, 2012
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Liverpool can rule out the possible purchase of Dutch winger Ibrahim Afellay.
Mohamed Moallim, who covers Dutch football for FourFourTwo, tweeted the following today:
Good news for Afellay: Tito Vilanova wants him to stay part of his plans. Agent Rob Jansen has stopped looking for a new club for him
The winger arrived at the Nou Camp in January 2011 from PSV for a paltry €3 million.
Afellay struggled this season with injuries at Barcelona and has failed to nail down a first-team spot. For the second reason, many wondered if Afellay would be looking to move elsewhere.
Despite his failure to hold down a place in the Barça first team, Afellay had been coveted by many clubs, Liverpool included, who have been watching him for the past couple of years.
And chances are, with the departure of Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool will be looking to bring in another winger.
Afellay can play on either wing and has great creativity with the ball at his feet to go along with a very good shot from outside the box.
The Euros present a good opportunity for Afellay to show what he is capable of, which is something he hasn't been able to do at Barcelona.
Coach Bert van Marwijk may opt for Afellay over Kuyt, who has also failed to get many first-team opportunities, and Robin van Persie, who is a natural striker rather than winger.
If there was the opportune summer for the winger to make a move, it would have been this one.
The odds of the Reds landing Afellay were slim already, but recent developments have put to bed any of the speculation regarding a move to Anfield.
No comments:
Post a Comment