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FRIDAY 18 |
O'Neill waits for Reds' response
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is still awaiting a
response from Liverpool after holding further talks with
Gareth Barry.
Liverpool have spent the summer chasing Barry, but have been
unable to agree a fee with Villa for the midfielder.
O'Neill confirmed last week that he had sent his Premier
League rivals
a letter to outline the club's demands for their captain.
Barry has admitted his desire to join Liverpool, but
returned to training with Villa on Wednesday as the
situation remained unchanged.
The England international held further talks with O'Neill on
Thursday and the Villa boss has confirmed there has been no
progress on the matter.
"I've spoken to him this week and he reiterated a desire to
join Liverpool," O'Neill told the club's official website.
"So the situation remains unchanged, we're still waiting to
hear back from Liverpool."
(TEAMtalk)
Spurs report United and Liverpool
Tottenham have reported Manchester United and Liverpool to
The Premier League over the conduct in their pursuit of
Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane respectively.
The Premier League champions have confirmed they have made a
bid for Berbatov, while Spurs have been stung into action
again by Rafael Benitez, who announced last week in public
that he wanted to sign Keane.
The Spaniard caused Tottenham displeasure when he said in
2006 that Spurs were ‘desperate’ to sell Jermaine Defoe and
take Djibril Cisse.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has issued a statement on the
club’s website which read: "Today's public comments by
Manchester United's manager, announcing that he has made an
offer for Dimitar and is confident that
the deal will go through with time working in their favour,
is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference
with one of our players.
"It is also probably one of the worst offences by any
manager in
the Premier League to date and is unbelievably hypocritical
given his recent comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo
and Real Madrid.
"Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently
and we made an official complaint to the Premier League
about the conduct of Liverpool earlier this week.
"The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told
both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling
Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should
refrain from pursuing the player.”
(Setanta Sports)
Hammill ties up Blackpool loan
Blackpool have completed the signing of Liverpool youngster
Adam Hammill on a six-month loan deal.
Skysports.com confirmed earlier on Friday that Hammill was
set to move to Bloomfield Road following interest from a
clutch of clubs.
The winger, who spent last season on loan at Southampton,
had been keen to gain further experience away from Anfield.
Hammill admits that Blackpool had always been his preferred
choice and he is looking forward to playing for Simon
Grayson's side.
"We've known for the last few weeks that this is the club I
was wanting
to join," Hammill told the club's official website.
"There's been a lot of interest, but I met Simon a few weeks
back and he come across very pleasant - and we decided this
was the best club
for me.
"He told me about his plans for the season, his ambitions -
and I was in them - that was enough for me.
"I'm just looking to have a successful season here and I
can't wait til
the season starts and get the ball rolling."
(Sky Sports)
West Brom snap up keeper Carson
West Bromwich Albion have signed England international
goalkeeper
Scott Carson from Liverpool for £3.25m.
The 22-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Aston
Villa, has joined on a four-year deal.
Carson, who had been linked with a move to West Brom's
fellow Premier League newcomers Stoke City, is the club's
sixth signing this summer.
The fee for Carson could rise to £3.75m, while the club have
an option
to extend the contract by another year.
"Scott is a young keeper who has achieved a lot in a short
space of time," manager Tony Mowbray told West Brom's
official site.
"I think he's been looking for some stability in his career
after spending
a lot of his time as a Liverpool player out on loan at other
clubs.
"Scott is one of a group of very talented, emerging, young
English goalkeepers. Hopefully, we can provide him with a
platform to push his career onwards and upwards."
(BBC Sport Online)
Liverpool FC told Keane could go
Juande Ramos has indicated Tottenham could be willing to
sell Robbie Keane in an attempt to balance the club’s books.
The Republic of Ireland international has become the Anfield
club’s priority this transfer window as Rafael Benitez
attempts to bolster his strikeforce.
And Benitez will be encouraged by comments yesterday from
Spanish compatriot and Tottenham manager Ramos on Keane’s
future.
Ramos said: “We will have to see what happens (with Keane
and Berbatov) but they are important players. Right now they
are with us but, whatever happens, our aim is to have a
balanced squad that allows us to do better than last year.
“We have to be realistic and look at where we are coming
from and who we are up against. Our aim is to break up the
‘top four’. Tottenham have
a clear philosophy and have had for years.
“We are on the stock exchange and have to balance the books.
The idea is to buy young players with potential and talent
and if there are important offers for our older players we
study them.
“We bought Modric before Euro 2008 because we knew his price
could rise. We expect a lot from him. Giovanni fits the
policy too.”
(Liverpool Daily Post) |
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THURSDAY 17 |
Trio star as Hungary overcome Spain
Krisztian Nemeth, Peter Gulacsi and Andras Simon helped
Hungary to
a 1-0 victory over Spain in the group stages of the European
Under-19 Championships in Prague on Thursday evening.
Gulacsi put in a decent display to keep a second successive
clean sheet, making crucial late saves to deny Emilio Nsue
and Daniel Parejo.
Nemeth lasted until injury time but could not add to his
opening day goal, while Simon came on with two minutes to
go.
Clubmate Mikel San Jose had to settle for a place on the
bench for Spain.
The Hungarian trio will now feature in the semi-finals,
while Spain are relying on other results to keep them in the
competition.
Dean Bouzanis, meanwhile, did not feature as Greece played
out a 0-0 with hosts Czech Republic.
(LFC Official Website)
Potters pull out of Carson chase
Stoke have revealed they are "no longer pursuing" Liverpool
goalkeeper Scott Carson, who is reportedly close to joining
Blackburn Rovers.
The Potters held talks with the 22-year-old at the Britannia
Stadium earlier this week after having a £4million bid
accepted by the Reds.
But boss Tony Pulis has now pulled out of the race to sign
Carson, with Rovers, Middlesbrough and West Brom also
interested in recruiting him.
A Stoke statement read: "We can announce that we are no
longer pursuing Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson.
"The club will continue to look to improve the squad and
remain hopeful of closing in on several new signings ahead
of the Barclays Premier League campaign."
(TEAMtalk)
Reds legend backs Keane pursuit
Former Liverpool striker Ian Rush believes Robbie Keane
would increase Rafa Benitez's options in attack.
The 28-year-old Tottenham and Republic of Ireland striker
has been linked with a move to Anfield.
Rush told BBC Radio Merseyside: "If you're going to be
successful you do have to have different options especially
with Peter Crouch leaving.
"I think we need two or three and maybe four different
options if you want to be successful."
In addition to holding an interest in Keane, Benitez has
courted Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry this summer.
The two sides are currently deadlocked on their valuation of
the 27-year-old England international.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill is believed to be holding out
for a fee of £18m, which the Reds have been unwilling to
meet.
Rush feels that Villa's valuation of their captain is about
right.
"It's the going rate for players today. If he's going to
improve Liverpool, which I think he is, then that's what you
have to pay."
(BBC Sport Online)
Lucas vows to deliver more goals
Lucas Leiva today revealed Rafa Benitez has given him
licence to attack and pledged to repay his manager's faith
with goals.
The Brazilian midfielder opened the scoring for Liverpool in
last night’s 2-1 friendly victory over Lucerne in
Switzerland and after the game he admitted he is hoping for
a better goals return in the coming season after notching
just a single strike in the last campaign.
He said: “It’s always nice to score a goal and it was a good
goal and a good win for the team so I’m happy about that."
(Liverpool Echo)
Liverpool FC ready
to launch Keane bid
Tottenham Hotspur are bracing themselves for a substantial
bid from Liverpool for Robbie Keane.
Rafael Benitez has earmarked the Republic of Ireland
international as he attempts to bolster his strike-force
following the departure of Peter Crouch to Portsmouth.
And Liverpool are expected to make an official offer in the
next few days as Benitez’s transfer priority shifts away
from Gareth Barry.
(Liverpool Daily Post)
Rovers favourites to win Carson race
Blackburn have emerged as favourites to sign Liverpool
keeper Scott Carson after reportedly accepting a bid for
Brad Friedel from Aston Villa.
Carson, who spent last season on loan at Villa Park, is
heading for
the Anfield exit door this summer as he no longer figures in
Rafael Benitez's plans.
But the 22-year-old's destination is shrouded in mystery,
with several clubs in the race to recruit him.
(TEAMtalk) |
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WEDNESDAY 16 |
Benitez welcomes return of Leto
Rafael Benitez welcomed the return of Sebastian Leto after
the Argentine winger enjoyed an impressive run-out during
the 2-1 win over FC Lucerne in Grenchen.
The left winger, who was signed by Benitez from Club
Atletico Lanus, gave an exciting performance during the 55
minutes that he was
on the pitch.
Andriy Voronin scored a brilliant winner for Rafael
Benitez's side after Mario Gavranovic had equalised Lucas'
opener.
Due to work permit problems Leto last played a competitive
match for
the reserves against Middlesbrough on December 10, 2007, and
the Reds boss is now hoping to have the winger available for
selection in his squad this season.
"Leto is a good player and he showed tonight the quality
that he has,"
said Benitez. "He has had some problems with his work permit
but hopefully that will be okay because has a lot of
quality.
"We are waiting to hear when that permit will come through
and we should find that out in the next 10 days."
(LFC Official Website)
Voronin impresses as
Liverpool win in Switzerland
Goals from Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva and Ukraine forward
Andriy Voronin saw Liverpool claim a 2-1 win over Swiss
Super League outfit
FC Lucerne in their second pre-season friendly.
Reds boss Rafael Benitez handed new goalkeeper Diego
Cavalieri the gloves for his debut, while fellow newcomer
Philipp Degen was also in
a first XI which included Spaniard Danny Pacheco but not
Steven Gerrard, who was left on the bench.
Voronin, a constant thorn for the Lucerne defence in the
second half, went close to grabbing a second but there were
no further goals.
(Evening Echo)
Cavalieri starts against Lucerne
Diego Cavalieri makes his first start for Liverpool as the
Reds continue their pre-season schedule against Lucerne
tonight.
The Brazilian stopper joins Philipp Degen and Sebastian Leto
in
the starting line-up with Jamie Carragher captaining the
side in the absence of substitute Steven Gerrard at the
Stadion Bruhl in Grenchen.
Daniel Agger will continue in defence while Spanish starlet
Daniel Pachecho is once again in the side following his
impressive performance against Tranmere.
The Liverpool team in full: Cavalieri, Degen, Agger,
Plessis, Pacheco, Voronin, Leto, Benayoun, Lucas, Insua,
Carragher.
Substitutes: Hansen, Dossena, Hyypia, Skrtel, Gerrard,
Aurelio, Darby, Spearing, Babel, Mascherano.
(LFC Official Website)
Bulls boss completes double swoop
Hereford United boss Graham Turner has bolstered the Bulls
ranks by bringing Robbie Threlfall and Bradley Hudson-Odoi
to the club.
Defender Threlfall, 19, who featured for the Bulls on loan
last season, has signed another season-long loan deal from
Premier League side Liverpool.
Former Fulham striker Hudson-Odoi, 22, has penned a
permanent
one-year contract.
(TEAMtalk)
Leto linked with Olympiakos
Olympiakos are reportedly in talks with Liverpool over the
signing of midfielder Sebastian Leto.
Leto joined The Reds last summer from Lanus but has
struggled for
first-team opportunities since his switch.
(Sky Sports)
Liverpool put Barry deal on ice
Liverpool are ready to put their move for Gareth Barry on
ice - unless Aston Villa lower their valuation of the
player.
The Reds protracted chase for the England international is
now reaching epic proportions and with no sign of a deal
being done Liverpool are ready to concentrate their efforts
on bringing in Rafa Benitez’s remaining summer transfer
targets.
With Villa refusing to budge on their £18m valuation of
Barry the two clubs have reached stalemate as Liverpool are
not prepared to pay that price.
(Liverpool Echo)
Agent claims rivals gunning for Xabi
Xabi Alonso’s agent has claimed that Arsenal have emerged as
shock contenders for the signature of the Spain
international, who seems destined to leave Liverpool this
summer.
Alonso, 26, had seemed poised to join Juventus but the
Italian giants’ purchase of Christian Poulsen from Sevilla
has left him in limbo at Anfield, and it appears he is not
on Rafa Benitez’s agenda for next season.
Reports claim that Benitez needs to sell the Basque
midfielder in order
to free up funds for an £18 million capture of Aston Villa’s
Gareth Barry – coincidentally another player who Arsenal
have shown an interest in.
The convoluted transfer scenario could be resolved if Alonso
was to move to Emirates Stadium and his agent, Inaki Ibanez,
claims The Gunners have shown their interest in his client.
"The player knows about this subject and now the decision
lies with Liverpool," Ibanez told Spanish newspaper Publico.
Arsenal have lost Mathieu Flamini to Milan and Gilberto
Silva is poised to join Panathinaikos, so Arsene Wenger is
known to be in the hunt for midfield reinforcements.
If Alonso did plug the gap in the Arsenal side then he would
join compatriots Cesc Fabregas, Manuel Almunia and Fran
Merida
in North London.
(Setanta Sports)
Thor Zakariassen
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