6. Burak Yilmaz
A player who has been sporadically linked with Liverpool already this summer is
Galatasary striker Burak Yilmaz. The 28-year-old is somewhat of a late bloomer, much like Didier Drogba, as his prolific nature has only developed in the last couple of years. He had many unsuccessful spells at a number of Turkish clubs including at Fenerbahce where he failed to score a single goal in 16 appearances. This all changed when he signed for Trabzonspor in February 2010. He went on to score 58 goals in 93 games. This included 33 goals in 34 league appearances during the 2011-12 season. Last summer he signed for Galatasary and his scoring continued as he notched 32 goals in 39 appearances. He also finished the group stages of last years Champions League as top scorer with six goals in 501 minutes. Despite only being a Galatasary player for a year,
Galatasary president Unal Aysal admitted they would be willing to sell Yilmaz for the right price. He said:
We have set a price for Burak Yilmaz. We will only consider an offer which is in the best interests of the club and player," "If Burak wants to leave and our transfer demands are matched, we could accept a deal."
Yilmaz would be a different kind of signing for Liverpool. They usually sign younger players with a potential resale value. But at 28 Yilmaz would not offer that. The resale value for Liverpool in this deal would be if Yilmaz scores the goals which take them to the Champions League. Much like when Manchester United signed
a 29-year-old Robin Van Persie for £20 plus million. They were never going to make any money on him but he was signed to have an instant impact and he did. His fee, despite his age, was justified when he helped them regain the Premier League title last season.