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FRIDAY 12 |
Benayoun rejects
Barcelona transfer rumour
Just days after the ECHO exclusively carried Rafa Benitez’s
hands off warning over Javier Mascherano, Barca have
enquired about the availability of Yossi Benayoun.
But this time the player himself seems set to reject any
advances.
Just 10 days ago Benayoun said: “It could be Real Madrid
knocking on my door, I'd still rather stay at Liverpool.
“I have had some offers so maybe I need to talk with
Liverpool.”
Benayoun is halfway through a four year deal and it looks
increasingly likely that he will be offered a new contract.
It was reported in Israel that senior figures at Barcelona
have contacted their Anfield counterparts and enquired about
his availability and
an asking price.
But Benayoun has said: “This has been the best season of my
career.
“I have played a lot of games and scored some important
goals, and I am very happy with that.
“At the moment, I am a Liverpool player, and unless
something surprising happens, I will remain one. But after
such a good season, I have had some offers from England and
Spain. You have to give that some consideration, so there
will probably be some discussions with Liverpool.
“I have had a great two years at Anfield and enjoyed every
minute. I have long since accepted that, with one or two
notable exceptions, there is no such thing as an automatic
choice at Liverpool.
“Unless you are Steven Gerrard, you are going to sit out one
or two games, but that is no problem. Stevie is exceptional,
and the rest of us accept that.”
(Liverpool Echo)
Lavezzi agent insistent on Reds bid
Ezequiel Lavezzi's agent insists Napoli are lying and have
in fact received an offer from Liverpool for the Argentina
striker.
Napoli general director Pierpaolo Marino said on Thursday
his club had not received any bids for Lavezzi while Reds
boss Rafael Benitez has also denied any interest in the
South American star.
However, Lavezzi's agent Alejandro Mazzoni said: "Pierpaolo
Marino continues to lie.
"I reiterate that a FIFA agent presented Napoli with an
offer from Liverpool for Lavezzi.
"This was a formal procedure as the player cannot be
contacted directly (by the interested club) because he is
under contract with Napoli."
Lavezzi has been linked with a move away from Napoli this
month following a dispute with his club over a contract
extension.
The 24-year-old, who joined the Naples-based outfit in the
summer of 2007, scored seven league goals this season.
Lavezzi is under contract with Napoli until June 2012.
(TEAMtalk)
Juventus close to
deal for Dossena
Juventus are close to landing Liverpool fullback Andrea
Dossena in a £6.5 million deal.
(tribalfootball.com)
Will Saviola be Torres foil?
Reports from the media in Spain suggest that Liverpool will
purchase Javier Saviola, the out of favour striker, from
Real Madrid for a figure of around £4.5 million.
The 27 year old Argentine has fallen out of favour at the
Bernabeu since the arrival of Klaas Jan-Huntelaar for the
Madrid side.
(This is Anfield) |
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THURSDAY 11 |
Negredo open to Liverpool switch
Alvaro Negredo would be interested in joining Liverpool or
Valencia if Real Madrid decide to let him leave the Bernabeu
this summer.
The 23-year-old striker has been bought back by Los
Merengues after two years with Almeria and there is some
confusion about whether he will stay or be sold as part of
another deal.
Reports have linked Negredo with an immediate move away from
the Spanish capital, but the player himself wants to show
that he could be the forward that Madrid need if he is given
the chance.
"I am delighted that they are going exercise it because my
dream is to triumph in Madrid," he told AS.
"I still do not know what will happen, but the fact they
have decided to buy me back is testament to my work over the
last two seasons that I feel has been good.
Liverpool have also been linked with a move for Negredo and
while he has not hidden the fact he would like to play with
Fernando Torres, he is not pushing for a move to Anfield.
"I have already said that I think that is a great club and
it would be incredible to play alongside Torres. But I
prefer not to talk about that, because for now I am a Madrid
player," he added.
(TEAMtalk)
Babel: Give me one last chance
Ryan Babel wants another chance to prove he can become more
than just an Anfield supersub next season.
The Dutch youngster has struggled for consistency since his
£11 million move from Ajax two years ago and looked likely
to be made available this summer.
But after ending his season with a substitute appearance for
Holland last night, he insisted he wants to stay at Anfield
and fight for his future.
The Dutchman could fetch around £10m in the transfer market,
but his agent Winnie Haatrecht said: “Ryan is very happy at
Liverpool and clearly doesn't want to leave. He still has a
three-year contract.”
(Liverpool Echo)
Three more friendlies announced
Three friendly games have been announced for a John McMahon
managed Liverpool XI in July and August.
The first game is away to Welsh side Aberystwyth Town on
Saturday, July 18, at the Park Avenue Stadium.
The game is being played as part of their 125th Anniversary
season.
Kick-off is 3pm.
A Liverpool XI will then travel to Notts County on Friday,
July 31, at Meadow Lane. Kick-off will be 7.45pm.
The team will then take on Bristol Rovers at The Memorial
Stadium on Monday, August 3, at 7.30pm.
(LFC Official Website) |
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WEDNESDAY 10 |
Report: Banks WILL
refinance Liverpool debt
Liverpool will pay £3.5 million and an interest rate 4%
above bank rate as the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia
will refinance Liverpool’s £350 million of debt.
This is according to The Guardian who have to spoken to
sources close to the deal.
Liverpool fans group Spirit of Shankly have been giving
advice on how Liverpool fans could complain to RBS (97%
owned by the UK taxpayer) and to their political
representatives. However the banks feel the last thing they
need to take control of right now is a football club.
The newspaper’s source said:
“Banks won’t want to jeopardise growth through taking
control.
“It doesn’t make sense to take control of a business that’s
performing well; this approach could be applicable to
Liverpool.”
It seems that the multi-million pound milking of Liverpool
FC by banks is set to continue.
(This is Anfield)
Tranmere keeper joins Reds
Tranmere goalkeeper John Acherberg has joined Liverpool as a
coach.
The 37 year old goalkeeper is leaving Prenton Park for
Melwood where he will become a goalkeeping coach, working
with the reserves and youth team under Xavi Valero.
This is a dream chance - I need to take it with both hands,"
said Acherberg.
"It's a massive wrench for me to leave Tranmere after so
many years, the fans there have always been so great to me
and hopefully they always
will be.
"I'd like to think that the Tranmere fans will understand my
move however as I'm joining one of the best clubs in the
world."
Acherberg made over 300 appearances between the sticks for
Tranmere.
(LFC Online)
Benitez rules out selling Mascherano
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has ruled out selling
midfielder Javier Mascherano to Barcelona.
Mascherano's agent was quoted as saying the Argentina
international would welcome a move to the Nou Camp.
"It would make Javier very proud that a club like Barcelona
pay him attention after such an incredible year. I believe a
transfer would be feasible," Walter Tamer said.
But Benitez has dismissed the idea, insisting Mascherano is
happy
at Anfield.
"Mascherano has no price," the Spaniard told the club's
website.
"Barcelona could not afford to match his value to Liverpool
Football Club.
"We do not want to sell and Javier is very happy here.
"I have spoken to Javier two or three times this summer -
the last time was only last week - and he was very happy,
very positive.
"He gave me the private number of his agent, Walter Tamer,
and again the conversation was very positive and was all
about football.
"Walter told me that two clubs with big, big names were
asking after Mascherano - and I told him to forget it, that
Javier was happy in Liverpool and he was not for sale.
"So I was surprised to see the agent's comments today.
"He has a long contract and any club can forget about
bidding for him. They can offer £40m or even £50m, we don't
want to sell."
(Sporting Life)
No assurances for committed Agger
Daniel Agger has revealed he was made "no promises" about
his first-team place from Rafael Benitez when he agreed to
sign a new Liverpool deal.
The Danish defender was involved in months of negotiations
about a new deal last season, amid claims he had demanded a
massive wage rise and assurances about regular first-team
football.
But Agger has agreed a new five-year contract, although he
confirmed at the weekend he had not yet put pen to paper.
Agger said: "In football you can't get any promises from the
manager about when you are going to play, and especially not
at a club like Liverpool where we have so many talented
players all competing for places.
"I believe I am good enough to play regularly in this team
and that is what I want to do."
The 24 year-old told the club's website: "I believe this
team, with the players we have, will be able to challenge
for many honours and trophies over the next few years.
"I think I have a chance to play in this team, otherwise I
would not be staying at the club.
"And I really like this city, and I like the people who live
here. It's not the same as my home town, Copenhagen, but I
actually really like where I live. That is important.
"I believe if you have a happy, settled and comfortable life
outside the pitch then you're going to be a much better
player on it."
Agger will be competing with Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel
and young reserve defender Martin Kelly next season, now
that Sami Hyypia has left the club.
But Benitez is believed to be chasing Portsmouth defender
Sylvain Distin, so competition will be as sharp as ever for
the Denmark international.
Agger added: "Of course, if you have a manager who tells you
that he is confident in your ability and he believes in you
and what you can bring to the team, then that is also
important.
"The manager has done this by coming to me and offering me
the contract."
(TEAMtalk)
Legends to receive
World Cup medals
Liverpool legends Gerry Byrne and Ian Callaghan are finally
set to receive World Cup winners' medals today - 43 years
after England won the trophy.
The duo will be honoured by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a
ceremony at Downing Street as they were members of the 11
reserves who did not figure when the Three Lions beat West
Germany 4-2 at Wembley in 1966.
Mr Brown said: "I am absolutely delighted to welcome Gerry
Byrne, Ian Callaghan and the other players to Downing
Street.
"It is absolutely right we recognise their role in England’s
1966 World Cup success – one of our finest sporting moments.
"They are real football heroes and have made this country
proud."
Prior to the 1974 World Cup competition, only the players
who played in the final received medals.
However, FIFA recently announced total of 14 additional
medals will be supplied to each of the winning teams from
the 1930 finals in Uruguay to the 1970 tournament in Mexico.
(LFC Official Website)
Real Madrid president
plays down move for Alonso
Real Madrid Florentino Perez has played down reports of Xabi
Alonso quitting Anfield to join the Spanish giants but
Andrea Dossena’s agent claims that two Serie A clubs are
chasing the Liverpool left-back.
With Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett suffering
a £41million loss this year mainly due to interest payments
on the debts they took on to buy the club, there have been
question marks over whether manager Rafael Benitez might
have to sell to buy this summer.
However, Perez appears to have poured cold water on talk of
Alonso heading to the Bernabeu.
He said: “He is a great player but he also plays in a big
team and I haven’t heard any news that they plan to sell
him.
“It’s obvious (Rafael) Benitez is counting on keeping him.
That’s normal, he’s a good player and it wouldn’t be easy to
replace him.”
Alonso was tracked by Juventus last summer but after
seemingly being set for the Anfield exit door, came back to
enjoy one of his best seasons at Anfield.
According to Andrea Dossena’s agent, Italian football’s most
successful club are now in the market for his client along
with Genoa, but he insists that contrary to reports over the
weekend, the former Udinese man is not unsettled at
Liverpool.
Roberto La Florio said: “I want to make clear that the
player is doing well in Liverpool and has never said that he
wants to leave the club that is in the Champions League and
equipped to win the Premier League
next season.
(Liverpool Daily Post)
Thor Zakariassen
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