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• Carlos moving to Anfield after impressing in NextGen series
• Sporting selling youngster to held ease financial issues

Liverpool have agreed a deal with Sporting Lisbon, close to £1m, to sign one of the most talented young players from the academy that has developed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Nani.

João Carlos, 19, is moving to Anfield after coming to the attention of the Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, during a scoring performance in the NextGen series of youth-team matches earlier this season.

The teenager has been talked about in Portugal as being similar to a young Deco but Sporting have financial issues and have decided to accept Liverpool’s offer in keeping with their usual policy of nurturing young players and then selling them for profit.

Carlos has trained with Sporting’s first-team this season, but has not made his senior debut.

LiverpoolSporting LisbonTransfer windowDaniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk

• Arsenal receive £5m offer for French left-back
• Henderson says sky’s the limit for Kenny Dalglish’s side

Liverpool have followed the £20m signing of Jordan Henderson with a £5m offer for the Arsenal left-back, Gaël Clichy.

Kenny Dalglish is anxious to address a glaring weakness in his squad ahead of next season and, having considered the merits of both the Newcastle full-back Luis Enrique and Celtic’s Emilio Izaguirre, has turned his attention towards Clichy. The French defender has rejected Arsenal’s offer of an extension to his contract, which has only 12 months remaining, and his employers are expected to cash in for around £5m-6m this summer rather than lose him on a free next year.

The 25-year-old has been linked with a host of European clubs since the breakdown over his contract extension and been touted as a possible makeweight in several deals being pursued by Arsène Wenger. Liverpool were forced to deploy Glen Johnson and 17-year-old Jack Robinson at left-back last season, with Dalglish offloading Paul Konchesky on loan to Nottingham Forest. They are awaiting a response from Arsenal on their approach.

Henderson has admitted it was a wrench to leave his boyhood club, Sunderland, but believes he can be part of a successful new era at Liverpool.

The 20-year-old passed a medical and agreed personal terms at Liverpool before joining the England Under-21 squad in Denmark, although David Ngog’s involvement in the transfer is now on hold as the French forward considers what options are available. Henderson will cost Liverpool an initial £16m, either in cash or with Ngog included in the package, and the midfielder believes the rapid transformation overseen by Dalglish will lead to honours.

Henderson said: “Liverpool’s definitely the place to help me come on as a player, and improve me. The club’s going in the right direction and it can go as high as it wants. There is a lot to achieve. It’s a massive club and we’ve seen over the last few months how good they are. So I’m just coming here to learn and try to improve my game and I’m sure that along the way there will be a lot of happy memories.”

The Sunderland-born midfielder, however, admitted it was “a massive decision” to leave Wearside. He said: “It’s hard to leave your local club. I’m a Sunderland lad, I’ve supported them all my life. My family are all Sunderland fans as well, and it’s pretty tough because I’ve had some great years there. I’ve been there since I was seven and I’ll definitely miss it, but I’m looking forward to playing for Liverpool now. This is a massive opportunity for me.”

LiverpoolKenny DalglishTransfer windowAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Out-of-contract American alerts a number of Premiership clubs
• Villa talks on hold because of Houllier and O’Neill situations

Brad Friedel has been offered the opportunity to re-sign for Liverpool this summer after Kenny Dalglish joined Tottenham Hotspur in the chase for the veteran American goalkeeper.

The 40-year-old is out of contract at Aston Villa and talks over an extension at Villa Park are on hold due to the uncertainty over the manager Gérard Houllier’s future. That has alerted several Premier League rivals to the prospect of an astute free transfer and it is understood Liverpool and Spurs have emerged as front-runners for his services.

Friedel joined Liverpool from Columbus Crew in 1997 but made only 25 league appearances for the Anfield side over three years before moving to Blackburn Rovers, where he established himself as one of the finest keepers in the Premier League. However, a return to Merseyside would only be as back-up to José Reina, with the Spain international having recently ended doubts over his long-term future at Liverpool, and the prospect of more regular first-team football at White Hart Lane in place of the erratic Heurelho Gomes could work in Harry Redknapp’s favour.

West Bromwich Albion are also interested in the former USA international while Villa have not given up hope of convincing him to extend his successful three-year stint in the Midlands. Speaking before the final game of the season on Sunday, a 1-0 win over Liverpool secured by Stewart Downing – another Dalglish target – Friedel said: “The contract talks at this moment have been put on hold because of Mr Houllier’s health and also the ongoing court case with Martin O’Neill.

“Myself and my advisors wanted to get to safety first and foremost before we started diving into things of that nature. I still feel very good, I still think I’ve got a year or two left in the legs and we’ll see what happens. I’ve enjoyed every minute of my three years here, so we’ll just have to see what the future brings.”

Roy Hodgson, the Albion manager, could decide to turn his attention to Preston’s Andy Lonergan, who impressed in the Championship last season and has also been on Birmingham City’s radar.

Aston VillaLiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk