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Reports today claim that Rafael Benitez is set to battle it out with Martin O’Neill for a second Summer running.
Ashley Young is reportedly the target of a £20m bid from Benitez – who has also been linked with Valencia’s David Silva.
Benitez and O’Neill clashed last Summer of Liverpool’s attempted move for Gareth Barry, who has since signed for cash-rich Manchester City, with Benitez being denied the £18m he needed to complete the deal by his board.
O’Neill stood firm over Barry’s pricetag last Summer and now looks set to demand £30m for Young.
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Xabi Alonso has arrived in Austria to join the rest of the squad for tonight’s preseason friendly in Vienna.
Alonso was given extra time off this Summer with Fernando Torres, Albert Riera, Alvaro Arbeloa and Jose Reina after they appeared in the Confederations Cup for Spain.
It was believed that he would not join up with the squad and instead be in Madrid tying up the details on a move to Real.
He looks set to travel to Bangkok with the squad, which would put a move in serious doubt.
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Reports today claim that Rafael Benitez has stepped up his interest in Valencia attacker David Silva, with Xabi Alonso looking likely to join Real Madrid this week.
The Spanish international would cost around £20m, which would easily be covered by Alonso’s proposed switch to Madrid.
Benitez has been linked with the diminutive wideman several times this year and could be set to beat off competition from several other sides for his signature.
Filed under: Transfer Gossip | Tags: Alberto Aquilani, Luciano Spalletti, Rafael Benitez, Xabi Alonso
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Reports are emerging that claim Liverpool representatives are locked in talks with Italian giants Roma over the transfer of midfielder Albert Aquilani.
Luciano Spalletti, Roma’s coach, has previously admitted he needs to shift some players to bring in funds for new faces – and he has an abundance of midfielders at his disposal.
Having recently signed a new deal with Roma, Aquilani looked unlikely to leave the Italian capital, but the fee he could command would allow them to bring in a few new players.
Reports claim Rafael Benitez has offered £18m for the Italian international that he sees as the ideal replacement for Real Madrid bound Xabi Alonso, but Roma are holding out for £22m.
“We will certainly evaluate any firm offers that come in for Aquilani and consider them carefully,” said Spalletti from Roma’s pre-season training camp.
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The Daily Mail is reporting that Xabi Alonso’s future will be resolved after discussions with Rafael Benitez.
The squad is due to fly to Bangkok from Austria after the friendly with Austria Vienna. If Alonso is on that flight, Real Madrid’s chances of securing his signature will look slim.
A figure of £26m is claimed to be Real Madrid’s final offer as they believe Alonso’s poor relationship with Benitez will be enough to see them secure the midfielder.
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It has been reported today that Rafael Benitez has turned down four massive bids for Fernando Torres – and has also declared the striker not for sale at any price.
Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are all reportedly ready to pay upwards of £60m for the striker.
Benitez was told by the club’s American owners that the decision was entirely down to him to make.
“We have had some very big offers for some of our key players this summer – and that includes Fernando Torres.” Benitez is quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror.
“Clubs wanted Fernando and we were contacted by agents working for those clubs. But we always knew that when a bid came in we would say ‘no.’ The main thing was that Torres wanted to stay here. People knew the player wanted to stay, but it did not stop clubs trying.” he said.
“Football has changed and there is big, big money around. But we still have the same idea to keep the spine of the team and work hard for next season.”
“In football and life you cannot guarantee anything, that is a fact.”
“I don’t want to speak about United selling Ronaldo to Real Madrid because he is not my player and they are not my team.”
“But what I will say is that we wanted to send out a message that Liverpool are a strong team and that we want to improve. You don’t improve by selling your best players.”
Torres, who was signed from Atletico Madrid, who not entertain the idea of moving back to Spain to play for his former club’s rivals. Nor would he countenance the idea of playing for Manchester United, given their status as Liverpool’s number one rivals.
Manchester City had two bids for the frontman turned down last season and Torres is unlikely to make it third time lucky for the cash rich club.
Chelsea have been strongly linked with Torres on several occasions in the past and would be the most likely winners in a battle for his signature – should he be made available.
Torres had been reported as unhappy with life in Liverpool, but he has moved to dismiss those claims – especially as they said he wished to live in London.
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Rafael Benitez has admitted that he did consider bringing former Anfield favourite Michael Owen back to the club before the 29 year old agreed to join Manchester United.
But Benitez said he didn’t believe that competing with Manchester United for former Anfield favourite Michael Owen would have worked.
“We had some contact about Owen and we were analysing the situation.” he said.
“But we have a World Cup coming up and the top players want to play every week.”
“It would have been hard for Owen to play every week at Liverpool.” he finished.
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Rafael Benitez has moved quickly to end speculation that Frenchman Franck Ribery is set to move to Anfield from Bayern Munich.
Odds on the player moving to Merseyside plummeted on Friday after a spate of bets were placed on the transfer going ahead.
“I don’t think we will be signing anyone else for big, big money – just maybe the ones who can fit into our team.” he said.
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Wrexham have made a bid to take Dean Bouzanis on loan – which has been accepted by Rafael Benitez.
Bouzanis was a member of the youth side that reached the FA Youth Cup final last season and will compete with Chris Maxwell for the number spot at The Racecourse.
“We’ve agreed with Liverpool to take goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis on loan, although we have yet to finalise the length of the deal and the figures, but the boy has agreed to come and the two clubs have given it the go-ahead.” said Wrexham boss and former Reds striker Dean Saunders.
“That’s ongoing so it might be a bit of a rush to get anything sorted by tomorrow, but we have two games next week and the quicker we get him in the better. There are a few things to tie up because he is eligible to play for both Australia and Greece and he has been asked to play in an international tournament so that’s another issue to sort out.”
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Sky Sports is reporting that Rafael Benitez is lining up Inter Milan’s Esteban Cambiasso as a potential replacement for Javier Mascherano, who looks set to join Barcelona this Summer.
Benitez is fighting to keep hold of both Mascherano and Xabi Alonso with Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid targetting each.
Real Madrid have been very public in their pursuit of Xabi Alonso, who is believed to want the move to go through. Mascherano has been publicly courted by triple-winning Barcelona also.
Benitez yesterday insisted that the players would not be leaving Anfield as they owed the club for how well they’ve been treated, but has been drawing up a list of potential replacements in case either or both depart.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Cambiasso has established himself as key performer in the Italian champions side since arriving in 2004. At 29 years old he could be subject to an offer José Mourinho cannot refuse.
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Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has completed a move to Spanish side Real Zaragoza after passing a medical and agreeing terms.
The former Notts County, Arsenal, Leeds, Birmingham and Portsmouth winger has agreed a three year deal with the recently promoted side.
“I wanted to come to Spain and I had offers from important teams in Europe but joined Real Zaragoza,” he told realzaragoza.com.
“I really want to get started and do well in the league.”
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The odds on Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery moving to Anfield dropped from 66-1 to 8-13 on yesterday.
A small group of punters betting on the Frenchman moving to Merseyside has seen Skybet slash their odds in a similar fashion to Michael Owen’s shock move to Manchester United last week.
Dale Tempest of Skybet is quoted on oddspreview.com as saying: “Every price we have put up has been taken on Ribery moving to Liverpool, which has left us stumped as in recent weeks he has been liked with every other club but the Reds!”
“After seeing money for him to join Man United and Real Madrid at the same time that Bayern Munich say he’s going nowhere, we’ve now seen a flood of bets on him to join Liverpool.”
“8/13 may seem a very short price but after the losses we made last week on Michael Owen, who was gambled down from 20/1 to move to Manchester United, we are taking no chances.”
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Spanish pundit and journalist Guillem Balague has revealed that Xabi Alonso has asked Rafael Benitez to sell him to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The Spaniard has stated that Alonso has his heart set on a move to Madrid, but Benitez’s pricetag is preventing any deal from going through.
“It is true that Real Madrid are getting a little impatient with the situation (Alonso transfer saga) and they would like to find a solution as soon as possible – not only with Xabi Alonso but they would like all of their transfer activity complete before pre-season in around two weeks time.” Balague wrote on his website.
“Rafa Benitez has been publicly sending out the message that he does not want Xabi Alonso to leave – but I cannot help wondering if, in these circumstances, it is entirely fair to do so when Xabi appears determined to move on.”
Balague has also spoken of the broken relationship between Alonso and Benitez – which became a problem when Alonso wanted to attend his son’s birth rather than fly to Italy to face Inter Milan in the Champions League.
“Their relationship may have reached breaking point: Rafa decided to sell him last summer and the player accepted the situation. However, when there were no concrete offers that matched Rafa`s valuation, Xabi was told he would be staying. Xabi was previously asked to sign a new deal and he did so.”
“The player now feels it is time to move on and he has asked Rafa to release him so that he can pursue fresh challenges.”
“Under entirely normal circumstances, when there are healthy relationships between player, manager, agent etc – everything would be fairly straightforward and concluded with the minimum of fuss.”
“However, it appears that nobody is willing to make compromises or make concessions and the situation seems to be in stalemate.”
Balague does not feel that Liverpool keeping hold of the midfielder would be in the best interests of anyone involved.
“The danger is that Real Madrid will run out of patience and focus their attention on other targets (the Spanish newspaper Marca is reporting that De Rossi of Roma is already being lined up as an alternative).” he wrote.
“If that were to happen, and Xabi ends up staying at Liverpool – I have to ask how healthy that would be for the relationship between manager and player at Anfield, and how motivated will Xabi be next season?”
“This could also lead to another potential problem for Benitez: if a price tag has been placed on Alonso, a player who has asked to leave – what happens if a Premiership rival puts that money on the table after Madrid have withdrawn their interest?”
“Would it have been better to have sold to Spain, rather than to a Premier League rival?”
“Perhaps a bid may come in from one of the big Italian clubs, but if not, the situation becomes increasingly more complicated and I fear it may not end to everyone’s satisfaction.”
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Injury to Fabio Aurelio has reportedly led to Rafael Benitez making a move for Marseille’s Taye Taiwo.
Aurelio has injured his knee while playing football on the beach while away on holiday with his family in Brazil.
Andrea Dossena is still likely to be sold with a move to Juventus looking close. The Italian has contradicted himself this Summer by saying he wanted the move to go through, but then backtracking and stating his desire to stay on Merseyside.
Taiwo has made his desire to move to England public in the last few months and it appears that Rafa Benitez has taken notice after the defender put in some fine performances in Europe last season.
“If I was to depart, then I would not join a small club. It will be Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal.” Taiwo told France-Football.
“I do not want to leave Marseille for the sake of it. If I make it, it will be for a big club, to win the UEFA Champions League, in England, or why not Spain?”
“I won’t make it for money, otherwise I could immediately leave for Ukraine, where I could earn just as much.”
“I am not scared by the level in England. I believe I have the right level to defend against [Wayne] Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo.” he added.
“Anyway I am more powerful than them. The only one with whom it would be much more complex is Messi.”
“He is too small and too strong. That’s why maybe it could be better for me to join England rather than Spain.”
The 24 year old has been linked to other Premiership and continental clubs in the past few months, but appears set on moving to a top four Premiership side – and not Tottenham Hotspur.
“I have made my desire to play in the Premier League clear,” he told Sky Sports.
“Tottenham are a big club, but I am at Marseille. I want to play in the Premier League, but I have a contract. But if the clubs agree.”
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Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has urged his club to splash out on both Javier Mascherano and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas.
The Argentine midfielder has been linked with a switch to Spain all Summer long after reports emerged that he’d fallen out with Rafael Benitez over his wife’s determination not to return to England.
And Messi has been very vocal on his desire to see his national team captain move to the Nou Camp this Summer.
“We were spectacular last season and we hope that this term, we will be able to do the same, or at least repeat a little of what we achieved,” Messi told Sport.
“We were surprised by what we did last season but if players such as those who have been mentioned in the press arrive at the club to strengthen the team, it would be even better because it is important to be stronger.”
“I hope Mascherano can come and we can form a solid partnership. His qualities are always appreciated.”
“The same goes for Fabregas. A good footballer like him who can contribute a lot is always welcome.”
Does this not count as public tapping-up?
