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Posts Tagged ‘contract’

• 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

• Representative says midfielder is chasing a move to Spain
• ‘Liverpool promised him that they would help him leave’

Liverpool’s unsettled midfielder Javier Mascherano is determined to join Barcelona, according to his representative in Spain.

The Argentinian informed the new manager Roy Hodgson that he wants to leave Anfield last month, and has also been linked with Internazionale in Italy.

Speaking to the Catalan radio station, Com Radio, Horacio Zandonadi said: “The player and all of us would be delighted if he could end up at Barcelona. We’re talking about a figure that is about half the size of what Barcelona were being asked to pay for Cesc Fábregas.

“He has not renewed his contract [with Liverpool] and they promised him that this year they would help him leave, so we’re talking about a situation that is much easier than it was last summer.

“Mascherano and [Lionel] Messi are friends, they get on very well because they are similar personalities. They are very professional, very committed and they love football and family.”

LiverpoolBarcelonaTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

Today’s Mill was persuaded to throw out a football programme collection only a fortnight ago and is not at all resentful

The Rumour Mill is minding its own business in a graveyard at dawn, attempting to roast its frozen chestnuts on a puny brazier when who should turn up but Blackburn Rovers’ El Hadji Diouf muttering something about weather. “Ha! Ha!” he says. “‘Tis ever and so nuncle, with the Black Monks. Scream did he, scream and gurgle as they skewered his cat flap for want of a farthing? Oh! Poor Diouf’s cold! Pity poor Diouf, for his nose is frozen, and he does shiver.” Apparently, it’s taters out and the cold snap has badly affected his form.

Real Madrid are hoping to capitalise on Mrs Vidic’s similar contempt for the Lancashire climate by making a £20m summer bid for her husband, Nemanja. Manchester United are lining up Porto’s Bruno Alves as his replacement. If that sounds familiar it’s because Sir Alex Ferguson has had to go back to Plan A having been told by Palermo’s Simon Kjaer that he has no intention of moving to England despite both United and City being prepared to trigger the £18m release clause in his contract.

There’s a lot of United ire in the tabs this morning, inspired principally by how comments made by Fabio Capello – United are no longer a “war machine” – were spun yesterday. “Get stuffed, we don’t miss Cristiano Ronaldo and we’re well placed to win the title,” is the gist of Ferguson’s rapid rebuttal.

Manchester United will move, however, to bring in a goalkeeper and fancy Lyon’s Hugo “Slender” Lloris but not the £20m asking price.

In other Lancashire news, Darren Ferguson is on the verge of replacing Alan Irvine at Preston North End and Blackburn’s Benni McCarthy has been heard humming the Kinks’ Set Me Free. “Enough’s enough,” he told the Mail. “I feel I’ve been stepped on too much and it’s best to go.” And when it’s Big Sam stepping on you, a £2m move to Birmingham City would relieve the South Africa striker of a great weight. Burnley, meanwhile, are close to agreeing terms with Algeria’s captain, Yazid Mansouri. A million quid will persuade Lorient to let the midfielder strut in front of the David Fishwick minibus ads at Turf Moor.

Moving south Arsène Wenger has outed himself as a Craig Bellamy fan but thinks getting him out of Manchester City is a non-starter. He’ll turn instead to QPR’s 15-year-old “wonderkid” Raheem Sterling and stop Jack Wilshere joining Burnley on loan following injuries to Cesc Fábregas and Denilson.

Birmingham are going to sign Joe Hart on a long-term deal from Manchester City for £3.5m instead of waiting till June when they fear the price might be more.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s wages have scared off Blackburn but Liverpool can just about run to the £87,500 a week he wants to leave Real Madrid.

Wee Gordon Strachan, former chalkboard purveyor of this parish, is going to splash £6m on Celtic’s Stephen McManus, Barry Robson and Scott McDonald while Paul Telfer sits by the phone wondering if he may have been inadvertently cut off.

Mick McCarthy thinks Derby’s Kris Commons would look dandy in old gold and Chris Hughton is eyeing up Leeds’ Jermaine Beckford. Both men reckon £1.25m should swing the deals with Newcastle particularly bullish given Beckford has only six months of his contract to run and will tempt Elland Road supremo, Bad Santa, with a cheeky bid.

And finally, for Liverpool fans, here’s a titbit from the web deep throats’ site of choice: “Ryan Babel to Birmingham for £10m. Andriy Voronin to Zenit St Petersburg for £3m. Philipp Degen will move to Wigan for £2m and Andrea Dossena is going to Atlético Madrid for £4.5m. With £20m at his disposal, Rafa will spend £11m on [Galatasaray's] Arda Turan, £3.5m on [Standard Liege's] Milan Jovanovic and £5m on [Crystal Palace's] Victor Moses.”

Please feel free to add your own guff below.

Manchester UnitedTransfer windowLiverpoolReal MadridRob Bagchiguardian.co.uk