JUNE 24
Parry confident of Gerrard solution

Daily Mail

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry is confident Steven Gerrard will lead the side out when they begin the defence of their Champions League title at Welsh side TNS.

UEFA's decision to allow the holders into the competition despite finishing fifth in the Barclays Premiership was tempered by the fact they had to begin in the first qualifying round.

That is just over a fortnight away but with speculation still circulating about Gerrard's future Parry was keen to stress he believed the England midfielder would commit himself to the club by signing a new contract.

"We want Steven to stay, there is no cause for concern on our part. There is no delay [on his contract]," the Reds chief, who was at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, for today's Champions League draw. "We have always said we hope Steven will be with us. We want to win trophies,

Steven wants to win trophies and I think captaining us to the European Cup was a pretty good step in the right direction and nothing has changed since then."

Liverpool have also been linked with a number of close-season signings and although none have materialised yet, Parry said there was no panic about rushing things through to meet Champions League deadlines.

"We are quite happy and we will be making announcements in good time for the season," he said.

"There is no immediate pressure, the announcements will be made when we're good and ready."

JUNE 22
Why Gerrard gossip is all hot air... or is it?

By Len Capeling - Daily Post

These are desperate times for soccer writers in urgent need of a page lead. Sitting before a gaudy computer screen contemplating plenty of nothing is hardly conducive to good digestion, or staying in the sports editor's good books.

Which is probably why so many stories about Steven Gerrard continue to flow, all of them linked in one way or another by a glaring lack of credible facts.

One, this week, under the heading 'Gerrard the bait as Rafa tempts Real', was a classic of its kind.

Appearing in the Daily Mail, it offered a whole gravyboat of sources but hardly anything approaching real meat.

One source said this. Another said that.

A third said something else. But like the ubiquitous Beirut taxi driver, beloved of frantic foreign correspondents, not one of the deep throats possessed a name.

The article's thrust was that Real were being asked by Rafael Benitez to part with three unknown, untried youth-team players plus £32million - a strange figure - in exchange for Anfield's inspirational skipper.

A claim by an insider that the Liverpool manager and his star turn didn't get on very well was intended to be taken as evidence that both were seeking a way to end the association as speedily as possible.

Having wrapped all of this in a messy parcel of loose ends, the writer then delivered the clinching argument.

Forgetting the swap deal and all that had gone before, he let one further mysterious source suggest a possible end-game scenario.

This saw contract talks breaking down amid accusations that Gerrard was demanding too much money, before then being sold either to Real Madrid or Chelsea.

Known as the Michael Owen option, it was probably the sanest sentence in a hot-air balloon of a story. Like a hot-air balloon, it is likely to drift, inflated by more rumours, or until both parties come together for talks.

Fans will pray for a speedy conclusion. But if the starting point is £100,000-a-week, negotiations could drag on.

Gerrard insists he wants to stay, and, in the glorious wake of the Champions League triumph, that looked a reasonable bet.

Not any more. Money, not sentiment, is now the issue. As it is with all outstanding soccer players.

If Chelsea are prepared to pay Gerrard £120,000-a-week, why would anyone expect him to settle for what could be £40,000-a-week less at his present salary level?

The Scott Parker deal - discussed elsewhere on this page - is now the rule rather than the exception. Think Rio Ferdinand, think Ashley Cole.

Agents are entitled to say to employers 'how much do you value my client?'

And if the answer isn't backed up by lots of cash, the next step is out the door and on to a new home.

When Steven Gerrard said the ball was in Liverpool's court, he not only gave sports writers an invitation to do their worst, he also told his paymasters at Anfield that any delay in agreeing a new deal would not be in their interests.

And the clock is loudly ticking...

JUNE 15
The Carragher clone factory

By David Prentice - Liverpool Echo

Rafa Benitez is aiming to put the passion back into Anfield - by signing a team of Jamie Carraghers!

The Reds' boss has adopted the Kop chant as his policy in the transfer marker this summer.

Throughout last season's Champions League winning campaign, the Anfield faithful sang: "We all dream of a team of Carraghers!"

And Benitez has said: "I want to go to the market thinking about players with passion as well as ability, then I know that we will do better things in the future.

"My plan is to improve the reserve team for next season and to have some more players ready for the first team.

"As a big club you need to increase your level to look for the best players in the world, and we are trying to find some players for different positions. But the most important thing is to find skilful players and players with character.

"If we want to increase our level away from home we need that type of player to suit our style of play.

"You need players like Jamie Carragher, for example, with passion. We are trying to find, if possible, both.

"I have said many times Carragher has been the best defender in England this season - he is maybe more important than John Terry at Chelsea."

Carragher's place in Benitez's plans is assured, but Liverpool's player of the season is taking nothing for granted.

"Playing for Liverpool always puts you under pressure because you realise the club is always going to be linked with good players," he explained.

"They're one of the top clubs in Europe and always looking to improve the team. But you only have to look at the Treble team.

"The players had great success, but a season after that, half the team was gone and now the club is looking to improve again. My motivation is just to make sure I am always in the team whoever they bring in.

"We want to qualify for the Champions League group stages, but we also want to challenge for the league next time."

Boss Benitez hopes that aim can be achieved, by improving the output from a number of key figures next season.

The Spanish conquistador went on: "Cisse is a quick player. We need to see that when he is fit and that, hopefully, will be next season.

"Morientes has not really been fit because he went six months without playing at Real Madrid. But we have confidence in him because he is a skilful player who is good in the air.

"Here in England it is more physical, and he needs to improve his physical level, but we will see the best of Fernando next season.

"Luis Garcia scored good goals in Spain. He scored 16 goals for me when I managed Tenerife in the second division, and he likes to score more.

"Steven Gerrard is a key player for us. He's the captain, but although he's so good, he can play better.

"I am sure he is not very happy with his season because he knows that he can play better.

"We lost Gerrard and Xabi for three months and it was difficult for Steve with all the rumours circulating about his future. But next season will be different for both of them."

JUNE 13
Liverpool face fight for Reina

Sporting Life

Villarreal goalkeeper Jose Reina has firmly declared his desire to play for Champions League winners Liverpool and their "legendary" coach,
Rafael Benitez.

Reina's transfer to the Merseyside club has long been anticipated but his agent said on Monday Liverpool are just one of several teams vying for his services.

Reina explained: "The move is not sure yet as we are still negotiating and nothing will be definite until the end of June.

"Of course it would be amazing to go there and work with Rafa Benitez because he is a legend but at the moment it is better not to consider being a 'Red' until it actually happens."

The Spaniard, whose performances helped Villarreal reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 2003-04 campaign, signed an eight-year contract with the club last summer.

But Reina said goodbye to Villarreal fans in the final game of the season after helping the side from near Valencia into the Champions League.

His performances appear to have caught the eye of other clubs, too.

Reina's agent, Manuel Garcia Quilon, insists Reina and his club are mulling over different options.

"We are listening to the offers," said Garcia Quilon to PA International.

"Liverpool is one of the possibilities but the player also has other offers from England, Spain and Italy."

Reina, 22, is wanted by Benitez to take over the goalkeeping duties from Jerzy Dudek, whose time at Liverpool has been blighted by inconsistent displays.

"It's difficult to know at this time where Reina will play next season, we just have to wait and see what the club (Villarreal) decides," added Garcia Quilon, who is also the agent of Liverpool coach Benitez.

Benitez discovered last week that Liverpool would be allowed the chance to defend their Champions League title despite finishing out of the top four in England's Premiership.

He has brought Spaniards Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia, Josemi, Fernando Morientes and Antonio Nunez to Merseyside.

JUNE 10
Gerrard deal urgent after UEFA verdict

Sporting Life

Liverpool will look to hurry through negotiations on captain Steven Gerrard's future before their next Champions League campaign begins
in mid July.

If Gerrard has not signed the £100,000-a-week two-year contract extension by the time Liverpool play their European opener on July 12 or 13, they could face a re-run on the embarrassing Michael Owen saga from last season.

Owen sat on the bench throughout Liverpool's opening third qualifying round match against Graz in Austria last August.

Had he set foot on the pitch it would have ruined his impending transfer to Real Madrid, leaving Owen cup-tied for European competition and thus slashing his value.

Gerrard has told Liverpool he will sign a new deal after captaining them to Champions League final glory in Istanbul last month.

But negotiations are unlikely to be concluded for a few weeks yet and that will put pressure on everybody concerned.

Liverpool have already reacted to speculation that Gerrard could still leave this summer by stating that talks are due to coincide with the start of pre-season training, and the timing is no longer an issue because of the player's assurances.

Chief executive Rick Parry has only just returned from holiday, Rafael Benitez is back in Madrid, Gerrard is still away, and his agent Struan Marshall is on honeymoon.

Pre-season training for Liverpool starts on June 27 and Gerrard's contract had not been considered a problem until today, with UEFA clearing the European champions to enter next season's competition at the first qualifying round stage - despite them finishing only fifth in the Barclays Premiership last season.

Former Liverpool assistant manager Phil Thompson said: "I would like to think he has already made up his mind, he said as much after Istanbul.

"I spoke to him the day after and he was in 'la-la land'.

"To be able to lift the trophy as a Liverpool fan was beyond his wildest dreams and I believe he has already made his decision to stay."

Another former Anfield star, Alan Kennedy, added: "Steven will want to play in every game possible.

"If there is a big enough squad you should be able to rotate and that may well be the case for Liverpool this coming season.

"It is a massive incentive now for Steven to stay.

"He was tremendous in the Champions League final and a lot of clubs would like to buy him. He has just about everything, he's the captain and maybe in the future even England's captain.

"He has everything as a player and I hope he signs an extension to his contract. He has two years left anyway, so we must wait and see.

"But it's not just about Steven, it's about everyone else.

"They all turned in great performances in the final and now have to confirm that next season in the league."

JUNE 9
Hamann agrees deal

By Chris Bascombe - Liverpool Echo

Didi Hamann today extended his Liverpool career for a possible two years and vowed: "Now I want to complete my Anfield medal collection."

Hamann has agreed a one-year deal which gives the club an option of keeping him for an additional season in 2006-07.

The German, nicknamed 'The Kaiser', turned down overtures from Bolton and Everton to re-commit himself to the Rafalution.

Bundesliga outfit Hamburg also failed with a late bid.

The 31-year-old has won every domestic and European club honour since his £8m arrival at Anfield from Newcastle in 1999.

There is just one notable exception - the Premiership title - but Hamann is sure he can put this right in the next two years.

"Once Liverpool made me an offer, there was only one place I wanted to play my football," Hamann told the ECHO today. "I always said the first club I would speak to about my future was Liverpool because I wanted to stay.

"The gaffer said we would wait until after the final before we had a meeting and that's what we did. We came to an agreement instantly. I'll be here next season and hopefully for the next two years.

"I'm delighted the manager wanted to keep me. I read a lot about other clubs being interested, but I couldn't imagine playing for any club in England. "

After the Champions League triumph in May, Hamann insists nothing should be ruled out as supporters ponder a seemingly unlikely title challenge next season.

He said: "It's going to be hard to challenge for the title in the next two seasons, but let's give it a go. The Premiership is the only club competition I haven't won since I joined Liverpool. I'm desperate for us to do it.

"The manager has achieved great things already by winning the Champions League and I know he's planning to bring in new players for next season.

"If we can settle quickly and everyone starts working together tactically early on, who knows what can happen? Who would have predicted we would win the Champions League a year ago?

"Maybe we can surprise the top three. It's going to be tough to do that, but I think we'll improve a lot."

Hamann is currently having treatment for a broken bone in his foot, suffered during the final against AC Milan.

JUNE 6
Stevie talks face delay

By Chris Bascombe - Liverpool Echo

Talks to resolve the future of Steven Gerrard are unlikely to start before Liverpool return to pre-season training on June 27.

Gerrard declared his intention to stay at Anfield in the aftermath of the Champions League triumph, but so far there's no meeting scheduled to discuss next year's plans.

A variety of circumstances have contributed to the delay.

Chief executive Rick Parry flew out to Barbados on pre-arranged club business 48 hours after the victory in Turkey.

Manager Rafa Benitez returned to Merseyside over the weekend having spent last week in Madrid, while Gerrard has also been enjoying a well-earned break following an arduous season.

His representative from agency SFX, Struan Marshall, got married the weekend after Liverpool's European Cup win, making it impossible for all parties to get together amid the euphoria of Istanbul.

At the moment it remains unclear if the club will attempt to bring the matter to a close before Gerrard returns to Melwood at the end of the month.

One might have presumed an immediate resolution would have been sought. However, the lack of urgency to put the saga to bed appears more a consequence of circumstance than any suspicious factor.

Yesterday saw the first 'Gerrard to leave' story printed since the European Cup success - a situation every Liverpool fan must have hoped would finally end after the win over AC Milan.

But Benitez knows speculation will continue until Gerrard pens a new deal. He currently has two years left on his contract. If an agreement isn't struck this summer, he edges closer to the danger zone.

Liverpool can't allow the captain to get within one year of a Bosman or they'll receive nowhere near the £35m he'd currently command.

Benitez was planning for next season with two potential budgets. The first, which presumes Gerrard will stay, provides a transfer kitty of around £30m.

However, a contingency plan in the event of the captain moving on, handing Benitez around £60m.

JUNE 1
Traore set to sign new deal

By Chris Bascombe - Liverpool Echo

Born again defender Djimi Traore is ready to sign a new four-year deal at Anfield.

But, veteran defender Mauricio Pellegrino has been told he won't be retained next season.

Traore was a matter of hours from joining David Moyes at Everton during the last pre-season, but a last minute change of heart kept him at Anfield.

That hasn't stopped Everton tracking the left-back's progress, but the Frenchman's triumphant finale to the season has convinced him to stay at Liverpool.

The 25-year-old is the second longest serving player left at Anfield behind Jamie Carragher.

He currently has just one year left on his contract, but that will be extended until 2009 when talks conclude in a few weeks.

This will complete a staggering image transformation for the defender who admits he feared he had played his last game for the club following his own goal against Burnley in the FA Cup.

Dutch winger Bolo Zenden, meanwhile, is the latest player to be touted as part of Rafa Benitez's squad rebuilding plans .

The 28-year-old is a free agent after spending a year on-loan from Chelsea at Middlesbrough.

Sources in Holland claim Zenden, capped 53 times by the Netherlands, is set for talks at Anfield this summer.

Jamie Carragher will also open contract talks before the start of next season, as will Steven Gerrard, who has already told club officials he is definitely staying at the club.

Didi Hamann is also ready to pen the one-year-extension to his contract, with the option of another 12 months.

Pellegrino, however, will not be back at Anfield for pre-season on June 27.

The former Valencia stopper was not convincing enough during his six month spell to secure the option of an additional year.

MAY 29
Dudek's future as wobbly as his legs

By Steve Tongue - The Independent

Game of their lives: But how many of the conquering heroes will be at Anfield next season?

The mixed zone - or "Mick's zone" as the Japanese authorities called it when Mick McCarthy's Republic of Ireland team played a friendly there before the 2002 World Cup - is an area where journalists wait after matches on one side of a barrier for footballers who do not want to talk to them and will use more wiles than most display on the pitch to avoid doing so.

One favourite tactic is to emerge from the nearby dressing room with mobile clamped firmly to the ear; the game occasionally being given away when it rings in mid-"conversation". Another is to start munching a sandwich and gesture apologetically how rude it would be to stop for social intercourse with mouth full.

But in the bowels of the sporting folly that is Istanbul's Ataturk Stadium, long after Wednesday evening had become Thursday morning, ecstatic Liverpool players were suddenly every media man's best friends, their particular catharsis taking the form of a torrent of words to anyone who would listen.

The temptation was to wonder not so much how many of them would be stopping come the first setback next season, but how many would still be at the club. For this is not the Liverpool of Bill Shankly, who when asked for his line-up liked to declare: "Same team as last season."

Rafael Benitez knows he must improve his options for the next Premiership challenge and that in order to do so, some of the 37 players currently in possession of a squad number must have it taken away before August.

Might the man who was proudly sporting the No 1 on his back last Wednesday be among them? It seems so. Jerzy Dudek emerged as one of the night's heroes with his astonishing double-save from Andrei Shevchenko and then his distracting antics on the line (or in front of it) during the penalty shoot-out; yet even if not guilty for any of Milan's three goals, he also displayed some of the familiar handling lapses that tend to undermine the confidence of defenders and coaches, and are stored long in the memory-bank of managers as cerebral as Benitez.

The young goalkeeper Scott Carson has already been entrusted with a Champions' League tie against Juventus, and is this weekend in the United States with England, all at the age of 19; if and when Benitez signs one of his favourite Spanish keepers, Jose Reina, who has helped keep unfashionable Villarreal in the top three of La Liga most of the season, there would be no need to hold on to Dudek.

Naturally the Pole did not see it that way in Wednesday's mixed zone, adrenalin still coursing through his veins, when it was put to him that he had suffered a little criticism of his overall performance this season. "Not just a little! Everyone is talking about a new goalkeeper, but it doesn't matter to me. I never think about that. When I came here, everyone was talking about Chris Kirkland. I have to be confident all the time, or it is difficult to be focused. When I don't feel pressure, I can feel best in the world. I have enough experience to deal with this." The question, of course, is whether Benitez feels the same way.

And what of another hero, Dietmar Hamann, whose belated appearance for the second half enabled Liverpool to adopt the tactics they should have been employing from the start? At once, there was a genuine defensive holding man to clamp down on the brilliant Brazilian Kaka, such as is always required against a team employing a midfield diamond; consequently Steven Gerrard was released to take the game to Milan, which for a while he did in a single-handed manner reminiscent of David Beckham's finest hour for England against Greece four years ago.

Hamann is said to lack pace, but does Claude Makelele, his opposite number at Chelsea, possess it in abundance? Or, more relevantly, Owen Hargreaves, the replacement said to be lined up if Bolton Wanderers, Everton or anyone else can afford the German's wages?

In the meantime, he is taking an admirably pragmatic approach to his future: "I hope it's not my last game [for Liverpool], but that will be decided within the next few days or weeks. I'm just enjoying the moment. You don't get to play a Champions' League final every year, and the manager showed in recent weeks that he's not scared to play players who are out of contract at the end of the season. He brought Vladimir [Smicer] on with 20 minutes gone and he's not certain what he does next season. That's not been a problem. We've all been professional, that's what you've got to do. You get paid until 30 June and until then you've got to put your best foot forward."

The eastern Europeans Smicer and Igor Biscan knew there would be no new contract even before the latter played his part in the epic semi-final victory over Chelsea and the former scored two crucial goals - one of them his team's final penalty - last Wednesday. Smicer, who had his day as an underdog with the lightly regarded Czech Republic team at Euro '96, only to fall at the final hurdle, accepted his rejection graciously, and even took to the streets of Istanbul to share the joy of the club's magnificent travelling support. His compatriot, Milan Baros, has managed only one goal every four games in his two seasons with the club, and did nothing to justify his unexpected place in the final. His chances of a reprieve - with Valencia interested - may depend as much as anything on how successful Benitez is in pursuit of another striker this summer.

There would at least be a queue for him, which could not be said of Harry Kewell, whose selection must have convinced every Championship Manager addict in the land that even the best of the real professionals get it wrong occasionally - not only in playing Kewell to the exclusion of Hamann, but in bringing on Smicer as substitute when his groin gave out again. So there will be another summer of frustration for the Australian, who should have been trying to find some form and confidence for his country at next month's Confederations' Cup in Germany.

"It's been like that for the last six months, rehab, treatment and all that," he said. "But if you'd have told me six months ago I'd be playing in the final but pulled my groin, and still been a winner, I couldn't have believed you. Tonight has been the highlight of my career, and it's been the worst nightmare of my career. It's disappointing, but at the end of the day it's a team game and we won. It's one of the worst games I've experienced, and yet it's also been the perfect ending to the season."

As to the sort of replacements Benitez will seek for those shown the door, he would do well to avoid last summer's understandable mistake in surrounding himself with fellow countrymen who - with the glorious exception of Xabi Alonso - took far too long to adapt to the tempo and physical aspects of English football. Anyone coming in must also embrace wholeheartedly the British refusal not to accept they are beaten, typified on Wednesday by Gerrard, now destined to stay, and Jamie Carragher, who was so emotional amid the celebrations on the pitch that he briefly blacked out.

Irrepressible as ever, Carragher wins the award for best mixed-zone performances of the season and therefore deserves the last words about one amazing night in Istanbul: "When Jerzy made the save from Shevchenko I thought we'd win it. I thought 'these things happen for a reason'. There were probably 40,000 Liverpool fans in the stadium yet the exact place I ran to at the end was where all my mates and my family were stood. Unbelievable."

MAY 27
Benitez to launch new Anfield era

BBC Sport Online

Rafael Benitez is ready to break up his Champions League winning team as he looks to begin a new Liverpool dynasty.

Benitez is believed to be closing in on Villareal goalkeeper Jose Reina and Steven Gerrard looks set to sign a new deal, but several others are set to go.

"Steven Gerrard is a key player for us, along with Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia, Fernando Morientes, Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia," said Benitez.

"We've a lot of good players but we need to find more to improve the team."

Benitez will now begin to focus on his preparations for next season with the official celebrations for Liverpool's incredible win over.

The Spaniard will be backed in financial terms after the club earned more than £30m from winning the Champions League and he will look to invest heavily in his squad.

Reina's potential arrival could spell the exit for Jerzy Dudek, the hero of the penalty shoot-out in Istanbul, even though the Poland international is vowing to fight for his place next season.

Vladimir Smicer and Dietmar Hamann are also out of contract this summer and look to be heading for new clubs despite their integral parts in the comeback against AC Milan.

Speculation also continues to surround the future of Milan Baros and Igor Biscan, while Benitez knows that he must strengthen his overall squad to stage more of a Premiership challenge next season.

Champions League success at least should help to attract new players, although the prospect of defending the trophy next season would be crucial if Uefa were to change their minds.

Gerrard's apparent decision to stay put is also key to the club's fortunes, with defender Hyypia welcoming the midfielder's declaration of loyalty.

Hyypia declared: "It's great news for the club that one of the best players looks like he's now staying. I think he has made a very good decision."

Thor Zakariassen ©