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Posts Tagged ‘client’

• Striker says he is happy at the club and on Merseyside
• Merseyside police detain man for alleged racist gesture

Andy Carroll has said he has no desire to leave Liverpool after the club tried to exchange him for Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez only a year after his £35m arrival from Newcastle United.

Carroll, who has scored only six times for Kenny Dalglish’s team since becoming Britain’s most expensive footballer 12 months ago, was also linked with a return to Newcastle United earlier in the transfer window. Having produced a battling display in Saturday’s FA

• Liverpool want €26m for their wantaway midfielder
• Catalans may offer Alexander Hleb and Martin Cáceres

Barcelona were tonight preparing a renewed bid for Javier Mascherano after the coach Pep Guardiola admitted that he wanted to sign a defensive midfielder. The comment comes in light of Mascherano’s refusal to play for Liverpool at Manchester City .

Barcelona’s initial bid of €15m (£12.3m) with €5m more in add-ons was rejected by Liverpool. The Anfield club are understood to be holding out for a fee closer to €26m. That is a valuation Barcelona are reluctant to match but they remain hopeful of concluding a deal by offering players in return, and because of the determination of Mascherano who has made his position abundantly clearto leave.

Although Guardiola refused to name the Argentinian directly, he did admit: “If a defensive midfielder arrives the needs of the team will be resolved. If one arrives I will be satisfied. I will only speak about [Mascherano] when he’s here, if he comes.”

Barcelona believe that is likely despite the fact that they are not in the best of financial health. The signing of David Villa for €40m was carried out by the former president Joan Laporta, amid criticism from the new president Sandro Rosell at what he described as the club’s “stratospheric” debt – which he calculated at more than €400m.

Rosell’s first act when he was elected in July was to seek a bank loan for €150m to cover players’ salaries. He also admitted defeat in the pursuit of Arsenal’s Cesc Fábregas, unable to offer a fee much in excess of €40m, and forced through the sale of Dimitro Chygrynskiy, even though Guardiola wanted to keep him.

Barcelona are prepared to offer Liverpool Alexander Hleb and Martin Cáceres in part exchange, to increase the bid beyond the current €20m. Pressure is building on the new president and sporting director from Guardiola to get the deal done.

Politically, they cannot be seen to have failed to provide reinforcements. Barcelona also believe they have a huge advantage because of Mascherano’s willingness to fight for a move. Their hand is stronger, certainly, than during the attempts to sign Fábregas, when their bullish confidence, both from the former regime and the current one, turned out to be misplaced. arcelona did not count on such stubborn resistance from Arsène Wenger and could not raise sufficient funds to persuade Arsenal to sell and although Fabregas told the Arsenal manager that he wanted to leave, he was unprepared to publicly rebel.

Mascherano has asked not to play for Liverpool, while his agent has openly spoken about his desire to depart England for Spain.Some are criticising the club for letting Yaya Touré go and effectively replacing him with the same type of player for much the same price. Touré fetched E28, £24m. In total, the fee for Mascherano looks like settling at a similar level.

The situation, though, has changed: when Barcelona sold Touré, the Ivorian’s agent had repeatedly spoken out in public about his client’s dissatisfaction at being a substituted and contract renewal talks had also stalled. Barcelona also sold him in the hope of raising the funds for a bid for Fabregas.

Having failed to secure the Arsenal captain they now have a vacant slot in central midfield that Guardiola believes has to be filled.

Barcelona may have one problem, though, with sources suggesting that a late bid from Internazionale should not be ruled out.

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• Argentina captain wants a reunion with Rafael Benítez
• ‘For him to be linked to Inter has a magical taste,’ says agent

Javier Mascherano has begun agitating for a move from Liverpool for a second successive summer, with his agent describing the prospect of a reunion with Rafael Benítez at Internazionale as “a dream”.

The Argentina captain has been disillusioned at Anfield for some time, having been denied a transfer to Barcelona 12 months ago and with his family having struggled to settle in England. An offer to extend his contract beyond 2012 was agreed in principle towards the end of last season only for Mascherano to leave the agreement unsigned as he awaited developments on Benítez and Liverpool’s financial situation.

Benítez’s new club, the reigning European champions Inter, are keen on the 26-year-old midfielder but, as with Steven Gerrard and Real Madrid or Fernando Torres and Chelsea, Liverpool have yet to receive an offer. Mascherano’s agent, however, has made it clear that Inter would have no trouble enticing his client to Italy should they agree a fee with Liverpool.

“If it was up to Mascherano, the negotiations [with Inter] would be very easy,” said Walter Tamer. “But he has a contract with Liverpool and first the two clubs would have to find an agreement before we step in.”

Liverpool’s new manager, Roy Hodgson, made it a priority to outline his visions for the club to Gerrard and the vice-captain, Jamie Carragher, but has been unable to meet Torres, due to Spain’s World Cup success, or Mascherano, who is on holiday in America. Tamer said: “Mascherano has not spoken to Hodgson nor with Liverpool. After the World Cup, he has switched off but it’s clear that he is happy to be a target of top clubs in the transfer market.

“Last season it was the European champions, Barcelona, that wanted him and this year it’s Inter, the current Champions League winners. For him to be linked to Inter has a magical taste … it’s a dream. Think about it; the strongest team in the world wants him, a team where many of Mascherano’s compatriots play and a side that is guided by a coach with whom Mascherano has a personal bond.”

Benítez priced Mascherano out of a move to Barcelona due to a reluctance to lose both the Argentinian and his then central midfield partner, Xabi Alonso. But Tamer believes the £50m asking price demanded last summer is no longer relevant. “Last year Benítez turned down a lot of money offered by Barcelona for the player but this is a different market,” he said. “I have not been informed what Mascherano’s buyout clause is. I await a call as I am the only one authorised to speak of his eventual transfer.”

As well as a meeting between Hodgson and Torres, Liverpool are still waiting for confirmation of the extent of the groin injury the Spain international sustained in the closing stages of Sunday’s World Cup final. Torres is expected to undergo a scan but Liverpool, whose first-team squad begin a pre-season training camp in Switzerland, are now hopeful the injury is not as serious as initially feared.

Dr Peter Brukner, the club’s new head of medicine and sports science, said: “We’ve been in touch with the Spanish medical team and they don’t think it’s too serious. It’s an adductor muscle injury but they’ve not had a chance to assess it today.

“Fernando will have a proper assessment and probably a scan tomorrow and some of the Liverpool medical staff will go to Madrid later in the week to fully assess the injury and organise his rehab. At this stage we don’t think it’s too serious. We can’t say too much more at the moment until it is properly assessed.”

Reports in Belgium today have linked the Standard Liège captain, Steven Defour, with a move to Anfield.

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