JUNE 18
Report: Barca
chase Mascherano
AFP
European champions Barcelona are hot on the trail of
Liverpool's Argentine international midfielder Javier Mascherano,
Catalan sports daily Sport reported Thursday.
Thew club's head of technical affairs Txiki Begiristain and director of
football Raul Sanllehy met with the player's two agents for two hours at
a Barcelona hotel, according to Sport, to thrash out a potential deal
and "establish the interest of the two parties."
Mascherano has been dubbed unsellable by the Reds' Spanish coach Rafael
Benitez, who says he would not even sell the player for 60 million
euros.
JUNE 18
Rafa
linked with move for Lodeiro
TEAMtalk
Highly-rated Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro is
said to have caught the eye of Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.
The 20-year-old Lodeiro is currently contracted to Primera Division
Uruguaya side Nacional.
Lodeiro shone when representing the Uruguay Under 20s in the South
American championship played this year in Venezuela.
The playmaker is currently owned by the company BBC Sport, who bought
him in February among other young players of the Uruguayan U20 national
side.
JUNE 16
Liverpool
poised to sign Johnson
By Phil McNulty - BBC Sport Online
Liverpool look to have won the race to sign England
defender Glen Johnson after agreeing a fee in the region of £17m with
Portsmouth.
Reds' boss Rafael Benitez is confident he has beaten off interest from
Chelsea in the 24-year-old and expects to make him his first summer
signing.
Manchester City had also registered an interest in Johnson, but it is
believed Anfield is his preferred destination.
Benitez is now likely to sell Andrea Dossena to help fund the deal.
Johnson, who joined Portsmouth from Chelsea in a £4m deal two years ago,
emerged as Benitez's prime target after having an outstanding season at
Fratton Park last season.
Benitez is working within financial restrictions in the transfer market
this summer, but it is understood Liverpool are still owed money from
the deal that took Peter Crouch to Portsmouth last summer.
Spanish defender Alvaro Arbeloa could also be sacrificed to raise cash
towards the Johnson deal, with Real Madrid being linked with an £8m
move.
He has cemented a place as England's first-choice right-back under coach
Fabio Capello and played in the two recent World Cup qualifying
victories against Kazakhstan and Andorra.
Johnson signed a new four-year deal at Portsmouth in January, but club
officials accepted they could not stand in his way if he was offered the
opportunity to move a club playing in the Champions League.
JUNE 13
Eto'o for Masch?
By Darren Lewis - Daily Mirror
Samuel Eto'o has been offered to Liverpool by
Barcelona in a swap deal as the European champions step up their bid to
land Javier Mascherano.
Eto'o, 28, is one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe after
failing to agree a new deal at the Nou Camp.
Barca believe offering him to Liverpool for unsettled Mascherano could
help to smooth a deal. Reds boss
Rafa Benitez insisted earlier this week that he wasn't willing to sell
his Argentine defensive midfielder to Barca "at any price" - even
£50million .
But Mascherano's agent, Walter Tamer, also spoke this week about
Mascherano's "dream" of playing for the Champions League winners.
And Barca are also well aware of Liverpool's financial woes as well as
their lack of depth in attack. Eto'o now has just a year left on his
current deal.
JUNE 12
Juventus
close to
deal for Dossena
tribalfootball.com
Juventus are close to landing Liverpool fullback
Andrea Dossena in a £6.5 million deal.
The Italy left-back, 27, signed last July from Udinese for £7m, only
made 12 Premier League starts last season and wants to move to guarantee
his World Cup place.
JUNE 12
Will Saviola be
Torres foil?
This is Anfield
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.
Liverpool were linked with an attempt to sign the player in January when
Robbie Keane departed but with important fixtures between Madrid and
Liverpool coming up – the deal was effectively dismissed.
However, the player has only one year left on his contract and Liverpool
would offer the player an opportunity to get back in to the limelight.
Whilst his goalscoring record is not overly impressive at Madrid, his
record at previous clubs Sevilla and Barcelona are.
JUNE 8
Reds duo linked
with Rovers
By Al Campbell - LFC Online
John Barnes and Jason McAteer have been linked with
the Tranmere job.
Barnes, currently manager of Jamaica, and McAteer, a former Tranmere
player, are the bookies' favourites to replace Ronnie Moore as Rovers
boss.
Paul Ince is also in the running for the job after leaving Blackburn
earlier in the season.
JUNE 7
Crouch
linked
with Reds return
By Matt Ladson - This is Anfield
The Sunday papers always bring a few new rumours to
the table and with the transfer window open in less than a month you can
expect many more in the weeks to come.
A new name has entered the discussion today though, with former
Liverpool striker Peter Crouch the subject of a report in The Mirror.
“Despite severe financial restrictions in place at Anfield, manager Rafa
Benitez will attempt to try to land Crouch for as little as £4million”
claims Paul Smith.
But with Portsmouth’s prospective new found wealth it seems unlikely
they will need to sell at a cut-price.
Crouch left Anfield for Fratton Park last summer for £8m seeking regular
first team football.
Another Portsmouth player who has been linked with Liverpool for some
time now is full-back Glen Johnson. Reports in the last few days
indicate new Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is also interested in
signing the England international and reports on Sunday suggest
Chelsea’s willingness to pay over £10m means he will return to Stamford
Bridge.
Johnson left Chelsea in 2007 and has cemented himself as England’s first
choice right back this season with consistent displays for Portsmouth.
JUNE 4
Reds move for Distin
By James Pearce - Liverpool Echo
Liverpool are set to launch a £2million bid to sign
Portsmouth defender Sylvain Distin.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez is in the market for a new centre-back following
the departure of Sami Hyypia to Bayer Leverkusen and believes the
31-year-old Frenchman fits the bill.
Distin only has one year left on his contract at Fratton Park and
recently admitted his future was uncertain.
“Right now I expect to be here next season but I’m not in touch with
anyone and tomorrow things can change,” he said.
“There may be a new manager with his players and I won’t play. A lot of
things can happen in the coming months.
“All I want to do is go away on holiday, relax and refresh my mind and
then I will come back and see what happens.”
Bolton and Tottenham have also been linked with a move for the versatile
6ft 3ins defender who can play centre-back or left-back.
Distin started his career at French non-league side Joue-les-Tours and
had spells at Tours and Gueugnon before he was snapped up by Paris
St-Germain in 2000.
He spent the 2001/02 campaign on loan at Newcastle before making a
£4million move to Manchester City.
His five-year stay at City yielded over 200 appearances but he left in
the summer of 2007 after his contract expired.
Liverpool were interested in him two years ago but he made the switch to
Portsmouth in order to get regular first team football.
He led Pompey to FA Cup glory in 2008 and has played 93 games for the
south coast club.
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