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FRIDAY 15 |
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Time running out for goal-shy Mori
Liverpool satisfied a remarkable capacity crowd at Anfield
on Wednesday by kicking off their new campaign the way they
ended the last one.
But worryingly - so did Fernando Morientes. And his
performance wasn't so satisfying.
While the Reds scored three times in a Champions League
clash to begin their defence of the trophy, the Spanish
striker drew another Anfield blank.
Now it would be absurdly harsh to criticise a striker for
fluffing a few chances in a glorified pre-season friendly,
less than a fortnight after reporting back for training.
But after six months of largely goal-free activity at
Anfield, Morientes does not have time on his side - and the
early weeks of this season could be crucial for his
long-term Liverpool livelihood.
(Liverpool Echo)
Owen in bid for Anfield return
Michael Owen is desperate to make a sensational return to
Liverpool.
The former Reds striker wants to end his Real Madrid exile
and Anfield officials have been alerted to Owen's fervent
desire to rejoin the club he left last summer.
A dramatic swoop hasn't been ruled out.
However, Rafa Benitez has already made other arrangements in
the transfer market and would need convincing to move for
the 25-year-old striker.
The European Champions have not budgeted for a bid for Owen,
who joined the club as a schoolboy but decided to leave for
Spain in an £8m deal last year.
(Liverpool Echo)
Figo signing imminent
Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo set for Anfield switchReal
Madrid will waive the £2million transfer fee they were
initially asking for Portuguese star Luis Figo, opening the
door for the 32 year old to secure a dream move to Anfield.
According to the Liverpool Daily Post, Figo’s
representatives are thought to have agreed a deal with Real
Madrid which will see the Spanish giants release the former
World Player of the Year.
Figo has one year left on his contract with Real, but is
eager for a move to Anfield to join the European Champions
this summer. However his high wage demands means the Reds
can’t afford the £2million asking price for his services.
The player is currently in the USA on a pre-season tour with
the rest of the Real squad, but is all set to fly back and
sign a contract on Merseyside.
Earlier in the week it was thought the deal had fallen
through.
(This is Anfield)
Dalglish: Liverpool have made best signing
in Europe
Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish says Steven Gerrard is the
Red's best signing of the summer.
The Liverpool skipper made a dramatic u-turn and decided to
stay at the club following a season of uncertainty and after
finally putting pen to paper on a new contract, Dalglish
says that signature was priceless.
"I don't just think that getting Steven Gerrard to sign a
new contract at Liverpool is the biggest signing of our
summer, I think it's probably the biggest in Europe during
the close season," said the King.
"Steven Gerrard is something irreplaceable for Liverpool. We
might have got a King's ransom in return for his services
but who would we have gone out to buy? Who out there offers
Liverpool what Steven Gerrard does? I've been thinking about
it since I heard he was considering leaving the club and I
still can't think of anyone - regardless of their price -
who could have filled the void.
"That's how important I believe Stevie is to Liverpool."
(Kop Talk)
Benitez to ease Gerrard workload
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has given England's World Cup
hopes a boost by insisting he will be sparing in his use of
captain Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard, 25, expects to be fresh for the 2006 tournament
after being told he will be rotated with midfielders Xabi
Alonso, Didi Hamann and Momo Sissoko.
"We're looking to protect the players and, including
Stevie," said Benitez.
"We have been talking about using the whole squad and
telling the players that much."
He added: "It's not about using them as much as we can, then
just giving them a month to recuperate next summer.
"I don't want to use all the same players all the time. It's
about selecting the right players for the right games."
(BBC Sport Online)
Biscan Heads To Greece
Croat Igor Biscan has agreed to terms with Panathinaikos.
The former Liverpool player has made the switch to Greece
after 4.5 years with the reigning European champions.
The signing of Biscan seems like quite the coup for
Panathinaikos who look to have shored up their midfield byb
signing Flavio Conceicao and now Biscan.
Biscan’s contract with Liverpool ended June 30th and though
many expected that Rafa Benitez would want to keep the
27-year-old, it was not to be and Biscan was forced to find
a new club. Biscan experienced a rejuvenation of sorts last
season under Benitez and was in superb form in the
Champions’ League helping Liverpool to the title. In all,
Biscan played 118 games for Liverpool including 21 last
season.
Biscan, capped 14 times by his country, had also been in
talks with Fenerbahce
(Goal.com)
Nunez favours Spain switch
Antonio Nunez says he would favour a return to Spain if he
is forced to leave Liverpool.
Rafa Benitez has revealed that they are looking for a club
for the Spanish winger as he does not feature in his plans
for the coming season.
Celta Vigo are interested in bringing the former Real Madrid
man back to La Liga but as yet they have not come up with a
suitable offer to Liverpool.
Nunez says that if he is not going to figure at Anfield,
then he would prefer to return to Spain.
"If I am not in Rafael Benitez's plans, it would be good to
return to Spanish football," said Nunez.
The 26-year-old has failed to make a positive impression on
Merseyside since his switch from Madrid, and Benitez feels
he is not up to scratch for his Liverpool squad.
(Sky Sports) |
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THURSDAY 14 |
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Fresh hope for Liverpool over Figo
Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, was
offered renewed hope last night in his bid to sign Luis Figo
from Real Madrid.
Benítez had been ready to look at alternative targets after
Real demanded a £2 million fee for the 32-year-old, who has
already agreed a £60,000-a-week contract to move to Anfield,
but Liverpool believe the Spanish club’s resolve is
softening.
Florentino Pérez, the Real president, is still looking for a
fee for Figo, but Emilio Butragueño, the vice-president, has
talked of finding “agreement to satisfy everyone”, which
would point to a move to Liverpool now Inter Milan’s
interest is on the wane.
(The Times)
Reds debut thrills Zenden
Boudewijn Zenden insists he was more than happy to make his
Liverpool debut on the left wing in the Champions League
qualifier win over TNS.
"I was just pleased to get the 30 minutes and the reaction
of the crowd was fantastic."
"We've only been training a week and a half and everybody is
going to get their minutes to get to their proper fitness,"
Zenden added.
"There's a long way to go. A normal pre-season is about four
or five weeks and we've only been in a week and a half.
"A lot of the boys are not there yet but it's an early start
for us this year so we have to make sure that we do win our
games, even though we know we're not where we want to be
yet.
"We just have to deal with what comes at us. Next week there
will be another game and the week after there will be
another game and we just take it as it comes."
(TEAMtalk)
Bruce: No Upson offer
Steve Bruce has warned potential suitors that it will take a
huge fee to prise Matthew Upson from Birmingham, and
reiterated that the club are not looking to lose their star
stopper.
The former Arsenal man has drawn admiring glances from UEFA
Champions League winners Liverpool, with the Anfield outfit
reported to be ready to table a £5 million bid for the
England international.
Bruce has now denied receiving any bids for Upson, and
declared that any interested parties would have to be
prepared to loosen their purse strings if they wanted to
recruit the 26-year-old.
"It's flattering for him that the big clubs are being linked
with him, it's good for him, it's good for the profile of
the club," Bruce told Sky Sports News.
"But you know we haven't received any bid, we haven't
received any phone call.
"I hope we don't, and if we do I think clubs know that he
will be a hell of a lot of money."
(Sky Sports)
Welsh told he can leave for right price
According to a well-respected Liverpool fanzine, Liverpool
manager Rafael Benitez has told John Welsh that he's welcome
to leave Liverpool on a permanent deal should the right
offer be made for him.
Welsh has been an extremely promising player for Liverpool
but now looks to be way out of line for a place in
Liverpool's midfield. Welsh captained the England under-21s
last season and was rated very highly.
Today's unveiling of Momo Sissoko by Rafael Benitez means
that Welsh is going to have to compete for a place in centre
midfield with Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Dietmar Hamann
and Bolo Zenden.
The fanzine, The Liverpool Way, claims that Welsh met with
Benitez to talk about a possible loan move in order to gain
experience, and in that meeting Benitez suggested that he
could move on permanently if the right bid was made.
Another player that could be about to leave on loan is
right-back David Raven, in a move across the water to
Tranmere.
(Anfield Road.com)
Robson keen to keep Kirkland
West Brom boss Bryan Robson has indicated that he will be
keeping Chris Kirkland on loan for the whole of next season.
Robson has set up a deal to sign the Liverpool custodian on
a season-long loan.
The Baggies chief opted to have Kirkland on a two-week
fitness assessment programme before deciding to sign him on
loan due to his injury problems at Anfield.
Kirkland has impressed during his time at The Hawthorns and
Robson is ready to seal the loan switch.
"There is every likelihood Chris will be staying with us for
the full loan term," Robson told the club's official
website.
"He's been very good in training and come through everything
we've asked of him but we've still got a couple more days
before we make a decision."
(Sky Sports)
Reds complete Sissoko deal
Liverpool have completed the signing of Mali international
Momo Sissoko from Valencia.
The 20 year old midfielder was being paraded before the
media this morning before flying off with his new Liverpool
team-mates for a pre-season training camp in Switzerland.
He could make his debut for the Reds during the friendly
match against Bayer Leverkusen in Austria on Saturday
evening.
Sissoko has been allocated the number 22 shirt for this
season.
(LFC Official Website)
Gerrard: I had nothing to prove
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored all the goals in his
club's 3-0 Champions League first round, first leg victory
over Total Network Solutions - and then insisted he had not
needed to prove a point to the fans.
"I don’t think I had to prove anything [to the fans] but I
have to keep proving things to myself as I want to be
successful."
The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, praised Gerrard’s
contribution.
"We said before he was a good player for us," said Benitez.
"He scored three goals, he played well, he is our captain
and we always said we wanted to build a team around him."
(Goal.com) |
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WEDNESDAY 13 |
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Gerrard hat-trick buoys Reds
European champions Liverpool started the defence of their
title with an underwhelming
3-0 win against Welsh Champions Total Network Solutions, and
somewhat inevitably it was Steven Gerrard to the fore as the
captain bagged a hat-trick.
They may not be dancing on the streets of Total Network
Solutions after this defeat, but they gave a good account of
themselves and once more the Kop were left saluting a player
that can quickly become their hero once more.
(Sky Sports)
Liverpool v TNS - confirmed team
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard,
Le Tallec, Alonso, Morientes, Carragher, Warnock, Potter.
SUBS: Carson, Baros, Cisse, Hamann, Josemi, Zenden,
Whitbread.
(Kop Talk)
Transfer u-turn imminent?
Real Madrid have hinted that they may allow Luis Figo to
sign for Liverpool on a free transfer after all following
fresh talks with the player.
A proposed move to Anfield has stalled because of the
demands made by the Spanish giants but Liverpool boss Rafael
Benitez hasn't given up on signing him.
Real vice-president Emilio Butragueno said: "We hope that we
reach an agreement that satisfies both sides. Luis is an
extraordinary professional and we have a very good
relationship with him."
Inter Milan are also making attempts to sign the player who
claims he only wants to sign for Liverpool.
(Kop Talk)
Milito wants Reds move
Real Zaragoza defender Gabriel Milito has told skysports.com
that he wants to join Liverpool, after The Reds submitted a
£7.5 million bid for his services.
The 24-year-old has two years left on his current deal at La
Romareda, although he has told the Zaragoza outfit that he
is keen to move to The Premiership.
"I want to leave because a proposition of this type is
unique," Milito told skysports.com.
"I have demanded a settlement with Zaragoza and I believe
that the transfer is possible."
(Sky Sports)
Harrison makes Chester bow
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Paul Harrison made his Chester
City debut and kept a clean sheet in the draw with Stoke
City.
Harrison, who was released by Liverpool at the end of the
2004/05 season, played the first half of the 1-1 draw at a
deserted Deva Stadium as the match was played behind close
doors.
Harrison is on trial at Chester with manager Keith Curle
expected to make a decision about his future shortly.
(LFC Official Website)
Hyypia to be offered new contract
Liverpool want to keep Sami Hyypia despite making a bid for
fellow central defender Gabriel Milito.
Chief executive Rick Parry has revealed former captain
Hyypia, 31, will be offered a contract extension.
He told Liverpool's website: "We will be talking to Sami
about a new deal. But We're interested in bringing at least
one more centre-half to the club.
"Sami and Jamie Carragher can't be expected to play 50 games
every season without any back-up."
(BBC Sport Online)
Reds £7.5m Milito bid rejected
Liverpool have had a £7.5m bid for Argentine centre-back
Gabriel Milito rejected by Real Zaragoza, the Spanish club
claimed today.
With the European Champions in the market for a new
defender, Milito is thought to be high on manager Rafael
Benitez's wanted list along with other rumoured targets such
as William Gallas, although a move for Birmingham City's
Matthew Upson remains unlikely at this stage.
The Reds are thoughts to have made a bid of £7.5m for Milito
but Zaragoza say that the player is not for sale.
"There have been contacts with Liverpool and they have made
an offer for Milito," confirmed Zaragoza sporting director
Miguel Pardeza to PA International. "But the player is not
for sale, he is fundamental for us and we want to keep him."
(Shankly Gates)
Figo Reds move still possible
Luis Figo's 'dream move' to Liverpool could still happen,
according to the Portuguese legend's agent, Louis Douens.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is becoming increasingly
frustrated with negotiations for Figo, with the Spaniard
admitting earlier this week: "Figo will be difficult. At
this moment it is really difficult."
"Liverpool have shown the most interest but they won't pay a
fee for him and Real won't accept this," revealed Douens.
(Sky Sports)
Benitez on lookout for new faces
Liverpool begin the defence of the European crown they won
just 49 days ago with Rafael Benitez insisting the club
still need to strengthen.
He will put his transfer dealings to one side to confront
TNS, but the far greater demands of the future still
dominate his thoughts.
He said: "We need more players and more quality. You can
then approach every game with good prospects knowing you
have a good squad."
"We need a central defender. I have told [Jamie] Carragher
and [Sami] Hyypia this because we need more competition. We
also need a right-sided midfielder and a striker."
(Sporting Life)
Saints want £8m for Crouch
Southampton manager Harry Redknapp has told Liverpool to
hurry up and pay the asking price if they want to sign
England striker Peter Crouch.
Crouch played the first 45 minutes of Saints' 2-1 friendly
win at Motherwell on Tuesday night, which came courtesy of
goals from teenager Andrew Surman and substitute Brett
Ormerod.
Liverpool have had a £6million bid turned down but Saints
are understood to want closer to £8million.
Redknapp said: "I see their manager (Rafael Benitez) has
instructed his chief executive (Rick Parry) to get Peter
Crouch - but if they want him they have got to pay the
money.
(Sporting Life)
Report: Liverpool up Milito bid
Liverpool have reportedly bid £7.5million for Real Zaragoza
defender Gabriel Milito.
And according to Wednesday's tabloids the European champions
would appear to be his likely destination.
(Sporting Life)
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Thor Zakariassen
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