JULY 11
Crouch sale signals Reds' intent

By Ben Blackmore - Setanta Sports

Every manager has a signature signing. An unheralded player that comes out of left-field, a capture that attracts one suspicious glance for every seal of approval.

Some managers have more than one. Arsene Wenger had Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, Sir Alex Ferguson had Peter Schmeichel and Roy Keane. “The Big Breakfast” had Denise van Outen.

Rafa Benitez’s, in his short four-year reign, has arguably been Peter Crouch.

Granted, not for one moment can Crouch be compared to the legends mentioned above (you’d much rather wake up to Van Outen than big Pete) but he nevertheless represents Benitez’s biggest gamble – and it paid off.

The Liverpool manager has made bigger and better signings…Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Ryan Babel et al.

But never was he so questioned as when he decided to splash out £7 million on the most unfashionable man in football (football-wise, by the looks of his girlfriend Crouchie certainly has a way with the ladies).

It was a gamble that undoubtedly paid off for Benitez at a time when Liverpool needed a playing style. They needed a hold-up man, a focal point of attack. Crouch gave them that – and returned a £4 million profit at the end of it.

His arrival instantly landed the FA Cup - the nod down for Gerrard’s first equaliser in the final typical of the excellent relationship the duo shared.

The next season saw him finish as the club’s top scorer, netting 18 of the 42 goals he amassed at Anfield – scoring at a one-in-three ratio that would have been significantly better if he had not spent the majority of his final season on the bench.

Herein lies the point though.

Benitez, unlike his predecessor Gerard Houllier, leaves sentiment at the door. He knows a ‘very good’ player is no longer enough. Liverpool need ‘excellent’ or better to reclaim the title. Crouch’s departure sends out a huge statement.

This is a player who is deemed a massive signing for Portsmouth – a team who won the FA Cup and finished eighth last season. This is a player who has 14 international goals in 28 games for England.

It’s a big call to let somebody of that calibre go. But Liverpool fans should rejoice in Benitez’s show of ambition, and draw confidence from his intolerance of the merely satisfactory.

Houllier once took Liverpool to the point of a genuine title challenge half a decade ago, but then failed to realise when faithful servants – such as his own signature signing Emile Heskey - had to be moved on.

Benitez does not lack a cutting edge. Momo Sissoko lasted only two seasons, Josemi and Fernando Morientes one-and-a-half, Antonio Nunez and Jan Kromkamp just one.

There are those detractors that would argue he has a blind spot when it comes to Dirk Kuyt, but seven goals in 10 Champions League games is statistical fact to back up the fact that the Dutchman has a role to play within the squad.

Now Crouch, the signature signing, has gone after only three seasons – creating room for the signing that could prove to be Benitez’s legacy.

Robbie Keane has all the hallmarks of such a player, a man no top club in England has ever gambled on before.

Whether Keane dons Liverpool Red and writes his name into Anfield folklore remains to be seen. But for now, Liverpool fans should delight in the fact they have a manager who no longer considers ‘very good’ to be good enough.

JULY 11
Carson heads for Reds exit

By Tony Barrett - Liverpool Echo

Scott Carson is set to depart Anfield as Rafa Benitez attempts to raise the funds he needs to make an offer for top target Robbie Keane.

The England international keeper is likely to follow Danny Guthrie through the exit door after Liverpool accepted an offer from Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle for the midfielder, who spent last season on loan at Bolton.

Guthrie will now hold talks with Keegan and if personal terms can be agreed the deal will give the 21-year-old the first team football he craves but was unable to secure at Anfield.

Liverpool have two offers on the table from rival Premiership clubs for Carson, who is keen to quit the Reds after spending last season on loan at Aston Villa, and Benitez is happy to do business.

New £3m signing Diego Cavalieri will provide back- up to Pepe Reina in the coming season, making Carson surplus to requirements.

Carson joined Liverpool from Leeds for £750,000 in January 2005 after being earmarked as a potential England keeper of the future.

He has since gone on to win international honours for his country but has found his progress at Anfield thwarted by the presence of Reina, who has developed into one of Europe’s most highly rated keepers.

Villa paid a fee in the region of £2m to loan Carson last season, but Martin O’Neill has not followed up his initial interest in making the deal permanent and the 22-year-old will now move elsewhere.

Without having a substantial transfer kitty at his disposal, Benitez knows he must sell a number of fringe players if he is to be able to come up with the kind of offer which would tempt Spurs to do business for Keane.

Spurs boss Juande Ramos is not looking to sell his captain, who is a hero to the White Hart Lane fans, but with Keane looking to make a move to the club he supported as a boy he may have no option but to do a deal if Benitez makes a sizeable offer.

Benitez, though, is not willing to offer the £20m Ramos is believed to be holding out for and has other targets in mind should Keane’s price tag prove prohibitive.

The Reds boss is looking for a traditional “number seven” to provide a link between his midfield and front man Fernando Torres and believes Keane has the game intelligence to fill such a role.

“Keane is clearly a player that has game intelligence,” said Benitez.

“We're looking for players with the right quality and I think we'll find some in the next few days, although not necessarily the names that everybody knows.”

Peter Crouch, who partnered Torres on occasion last season, will today complete his £11m move to Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s reserve team ranks have been supplemented by the signing of another youngster from abroad.

Vincent Lucas Weijl, a 17-year-old forward who came through the academy at AZ Alkmaar, has signed a three year contract.

JULY 11
Reds capture keeper Cavalieri

TEAMtalk

Liverpool have clinched the signing of goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri from Palmeiras, with the Brazilian signing a four-year contract at Anfield.

The 25-year-old will begin life at Anfield as understudy to Jose Reina.

Cavalieri becomes the third Brazilian at the club alongside Lucas and Fabio Aurelio and is manager Rafael Benitez's third major signing of the summer following the arrivals of full-backs Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena.

Cavalieri, who also holds an Italian passport, fully accepted he would play second fiddle to Spain international Reina after joining the Reds.

"I know it won't be easy to get into the team," he told the club's website.

"I watched some Liverpool games in both the Premier League and Champions League last year and I know Pepe (Reina) is a very good goalkeeper. But everyone has to fight for their place and I'm sure we will have a healthy rivalry.

"I know I will have to be patient and work very hard to achieve my aims - but it is always like that when you come from another country.

"You have to adapt inside and outside of the pitch and get used to the way things work. But with hard work you get there.

"My confidence has got me where I am today and maybe people are aware of what I did at Palmeiras in Brazil.

"I am sure that one day I can get the number one position but that will only come with hard work."

Despite the prospect of spending much of the coming season on the bench, Cavalieri, who is thought to have cost the club around £3million, hailed a "dream" move to Merseyside.

"The name Liverpool is known all around the world. It's an honour to wear this shirt," he added.

"It was a dream for me to come to Europe, though I was taken aback by how quickly everything happened. It's all been sorted out in one week.

"But I have been given a very good welcome from my team-mates and the manager, so I'm very happy to be here. I just hope I can respond to all this.

"Rafa and I spoke for a long time on the day I arrived. He explained to me how the football is here and the differences from Brazil. He also talked to me about the responsibilities of representing a club like Liverpool."

JULY 11
Benitez adds a new
defensive dimension

By Tony Barrett - Liverpool Echo

Long before last season had come to a trophy-less end, Rafa Benitez had identified the two positions he wanted improving most urgently.

Despite having a defence which again kept the most Premiership clean sheets for the third successive season, the Reds boss was keen to bring in a new right back and a new left back.

The duo he wanted were Philipp Degen, a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund, and Andrea Dossena, a £6m acquisition from Udinese, and yesterday the fruits of Benitez’s labour in the transfer market were displayed at a Melwood press conference where both players were formally unveiled.

As far as the Spaniard is concerned, Degen and Dossena personify the next phase of his Anfield revolution as he looks to bring more attacking flair to a team which has built much of its success on defensive solidity.

If Euro 2008 showed anything, it was that attacking full backs are no longer just desirable, they are an absolute necessity and Benitez has moved swiftly to add a new dimension to his squad in keeping with that philosophy.

Degen and Dossena will both be given licence to get forward and the early indications from pre-season training are that the Swiss in particular does not need any second invitation to bomb on.

His Italian counterpart, meanwhile, arrives with a reputation of being a left back who loves to attack, but Benitez has already informed him that this must not be to the detriment of the balance of the team.

“The talks I have had with Benitez have mostly been about tactics,” he said. “He has explained that he wants a four-man defence but that the most important thing is that the balance on the pitch is never broken. There must be balance between the left and right-backs.”

There is certainly a ying and yang balance to Degen and Dossena in terms of personality, if early impressions are anything to go by.

While Degen is chatty, light hearted and effusive, Dossena is more taciturn and steely with a stare which will no doubt frighten any lily livered wingers who cross his path.

Liverpool’s scouting reports on both players were glowing but, as ever, the only test that matters will be how well they adapt to the unique rigours of English football.

Both are in no doubt they have what it takes, with Dossena even going as far as arguing that he is a “half Italian, half English” kind of player.

He said: “Even from training I realise English football is different. It's all about possession and the ball seems to move quicker.

“There is also a great determination among the players in training, but these are all qualities that are characteristic of me too. In this way, I feel half English, half Italian.”

Benitez is clearly delighted to have captured a pair of players for the two positions he believed needed so urgently and he firmly believes Degen and Dossena will add a new dimension to his team for the new season.

“I think everyone was thinking the same as us, that we needed to improve in the wide areas,” he said. “We have the spine of the team with Torres, Gerrard, Mascherano and all these players that we know.

“In the wide areas maybe we needed something different so we were looking for full-backs with an offensive mentality.

“Dossena likes to play football, and Degen is the same, he goes forward with quality.

“So we now have two players who can go forward and they will compete for their positions and hopefully it will be good for the team.

“Sometimes it is not about how much money you spend but getting the players you need.

“We needed full-backs with different qualities and these two players could be good for us.

“Afterwards maybe you can sign big names and maybe people will be happy, but the priority is to sign the players that you want and need – in this case two full-backs who can give something more to the team.”

“I think all foreign players need time to adjust and it depends on the mentality,” he continued. “Both players are very good professionals and that was one of the things we were looking for – a strong mentality and they can compete as well, so I think they will be okay.”

JULY 10
Rafa confirms: We’re skint

By Matt Ladson - This is Anfield

Speaking at the unveiling of new full backs Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen, Rafa Benitez has told the media what many Liverpool fans have long feared - that there is no money available to him this summer.

Instead, all purchases will have to be funded by player sales, something Benitez described as having to use a “little bit of imagination to progress in the market.”

It is a ridiculous situation that Benitez - and Liverpool as a club - finds themselves in, with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett firmly being the reason for the lack of funds to take Liverpool where they promised.

If Liverpool are to progress and make a serious challenge for the title, they need to be adding to the quality in the squad, rather than swapping the quality. For instance, keeping Alonso and adding Gareth Barry. Not funding one with another. That is not how we should be working.

Benitez said “We know the situation regarding what we can spend, and we are trying to find solutions if we do not have enough money.

“And we will still try to sign players that will make us better. But if you do not have too much money, and that is clear, we will have to have a little bit of imagination to progress in the market.”

The key quote being “and that is clear” - clear that our two American owners are not investing a dollar into the club, despite promises to do so earlier this summer.

Yesterday Benitez had been quoted as having an interest in signing David Villa, but today has told that isn’t an option, hinting the lack of funds as the reason there. Instead Benitez must look to sell players to raise money to bid for Robbie Keane.

The sale of Xabi Alonso would bring in around £15m, while Peter Crouch will join Portsmouth for £10m on Friday - but with Gareth Barry expected to cost £17m, Benitez is left short still and will need to offload Scott Carson and Jermaine Pennant at least to raise the money for Keane.

Benitez did offer some hope by promising a new striker, or two: “We will have another main striker before the season starts, maybe two. The fans must trust us, we are working hard during the summer with a lot of people in different countries working for us.”

He also confirmed the arrival of back-up goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri for £3m from Palmeiras.

With Hicks and Gillett introducing a controversial new membership scheme this summer, and a rather hypocritical slogan to advertise the new shirt (’It’s not a badge, it’s a family crest’), Liverpool fans’ strength of hatred towards them will long continue.

Thor Zakariassen ©