Watch Liverpool

Posts Tagged ‘italy’

• 30-year-old confirms approach from Newell’s Old Boys
• Rodríguez: ‘The president called me and I said yes’

Maxi Rodríguez could join the proposed exodus from Liverpool’s midfield this summer after revealing a desire to return to Argentina with Newell’s Old Boys.

The 30-year-old came through the youth system at Newell’s Old Boys and played three seasons for the club before leaving for Espanyol in 2002.

He enjoyed a fine end to the season at Liverpool, scoring seven goals in three matches, including two hat-tricks, and still has 18 months remaining on the three-year contract he signed on arrival from Atlético Madrid in January 2010.

However, he has confirmed an approach from his boyhood club and may ask to be released from his Anfield contract if a compromise package can be agreed.

Rodríguez told the Argentinian newspaper La Capital: “When I left here, I knew I was coming back. The president [William Lorenzo] called me and I said yes. Now it depends on the contract I have in Liverpool, maybe that can be loosened a little.”

Kenny Dalglish found Rodríguez an important utility player towards the end of last season but with the Liverpool manager intending to overhaul his midfield with younger talent, and struggling to get several unwanted high-earners off the wage bill – such as Alberto Aquilani, Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen – an offer from Newell’s Old Boys is likely to be considered. But the Argentina international would have to accept a significant reduction in his salary for the deal to happen.

Another surprise departure could be Raul Meireles, who reports in Italy have claimed is a target for Internazionale one year after his £11.7m arrival from Porto. The Portugal international enjoyed a promising debut season in English football, particularly in the month after Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson as manager, but was not always deployed in his favoured central midfield role and would provide Liverpool with a quick return on their investment.

The Anfield club are expected to follow the £20m capture of Jordan Henderson with the signing of Charlie Adam from Blackpool, possibly this week, although the two clubs have yet to agree a fee for the Scotland international midfielder. A deal may include Jonjo Shelvey joining Blackpool on loan in a bid to gain more first-team experience.

LiverpoolTransfer windowAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Liverpool’s deal for the Sunderland midfielder, whether for £16m or £20m, shows they are serious about rebuilding

There is no truth in the rumour that Antony Gormley has been commissioned to design a second Angel of the North, to honour the Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli’s services to industry in the north-east. Or that the project has been delayed while the sculptor demands a £20m premium, for being English. Such sarcasm is drawn to Liverpool’s recent spending. Their willingness to pay unrealistic transfer fees, however, shows where they stand as a club.

A potential £55m has been invested in less than six months to bring Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson from Newcastle and Sunderland. These are two players of immense promise who, in terms of top-level performance in the Premier League, have produced one full season between them. So much for the end of expensive gambles and the start of unearthing hidden gems under Comolli and the club’s new owner, Fenway Sports Group.

Henderson underwent a medical and discussed personal terms on Merseyside on Wednesday before the conclusion of a transfer package that will be worth £20m, according to Sunderland. Liverpool claim they are committed to spending £16m on the once-capped England midfielder, whether or not the French forward David Ngog becomes a makeweight in the deal. What is indisputable is that the fee was one that the Sunderland chairman, Niall Quinn, and manager, Steve Bruce, felt they could not reject.

“Jordan is a credit to himself, his family and Sunderland’s academy and everyone here wishes him the very best for the future,” Quinn said in a statement that was in keeping with the distinct lack of acrimony over the transfer. “I’m pleased that we got the deal to a level that we felt was right for our club.”

The fee was one that Manchester United, Henderson’s suitors when a fine start to the season earned him a place in the England team against France in November, were not prepared to pay. But Liverpool had to, as United have demonstrated by beating them to the signature of two of Kenny Dalglish and Comolli’s other targets, Phil Jones and, probably, Ashley Young.

Liverpool do not have Champions League football to offer to what is a limited pool of FSG’s preferred targets – young, emerging, British players. They cannot provide overwhelming evidence that a Premier League winner’s medal is achievable at Anfield. They can offer good money, as free-transfer arrivals such as Joe Cole (who earns £100,000 a week) and Milan Jovanovic (£120,000 a week) can testify, but Liverpool do not have their pick at the top end of the transfer market and their capacity therein pales in comparison to United’s. As Sir Alex Ferguson said recently, it was Liverpool’s time in the 1980s and it is United’s time now, and that statement applies to transfers as well as trophies. Jones, Blackburn’s commanding centre-half, and Young, the Aston Villa forward, who both had the option of Anfield, look set to confirm Ferguson’s point.

FSG has a clear strategy for Liverpool’s future but it is in no position to bide its time or haggle over fees and wages when talent becomes available. Prevaricating has damaged the club too often in recent years; a point that Rafael Benítez, the former manager who had lined up deals for Nemanja Vidic and Florent Malouda, only to see them join United and Chelsea for larger fees, often used against his employers.

At least, after the final, debt-ridden years of the Tom Hicks and George Gillett era, Liverpool are in a position to invest under FSG’s ownership. It is far better to receive an England centre-forward and midfielder with at least a decade ahead of them for £55m than a note of thanks from the money-lenders.

In Henderson, Carroll and the Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez, who appears to be a sound investment at £22.8m after only a half a season at Anfield, Liverpool are showing other young players that they have a coherent policy of rebuilding and challenging for a return to the Champions League. Losing out on Jones and Young will be a setback but Dalglish has alternatives, such as the Birmingham City defender Scott Dann, Aston Villa’s Stewart Downing, Connor Wickham of Ipswich Town and Charlie Adam of Blackpool, and Liverpool’s owners have shown they are prepared to back him.

FSG is not prepared to harvest players with minimal return, however. Liverpool’s central midfield looks overcrowded and that is without the club’s interest in Adam being revived. Christian Poulsen has expressed a desire to stay on Merseyside (it is unlikely to be granted), and Juventus’s £6m offer for Alberto Aquilani is not being taken seriously at this stage. Aquilani’s agent, Franco Zavaglia, has denied that the £20m Italy international has been the subject of an approach from Milan. Liverpool will look to sell both players and many more this summer, as they make their fresh start under Dalglish. It is a step forward that they can acquire £20m players without having to sell first.

LiverpoolSunderlandTransfer windowAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• ‘My future is completely linked to Porto,’ says Portuguese
• Interest reported from Chelsea, Liverpool, Juve and Roma

Porto’s coach, André Villas Boas, will stay at the club next season. He denied reports he would move to England or Italy after a successful first season with the Portuguese champions.

“My future, as you know, is completely linked to Porto,” he said.”I do not know of any official interest from other clubs.”

He had been linked with jobs at Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League and Juventus and Roma in Serie A.

The 33-year-old led Porto to the Portuguese league title last month and his side are one match away from completing the season undefeated. They face Braga in the Europa League final next week and are also in the Portuguese cup final.

The Porto president, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, earlier this week urged the coach to stay at the club, saying he would make sure Villas Boas had the resources for continued success.

Keeping the forwards Radamel Falcão and Hulk, who have caught the eye of top European clubs, would seem to be an imperative.

The Colombian Falcão has scored 17 goals in the Europa League, beating the record for goals in a European club tournament previously held by Jürgen Klinsmann, while the Brazilian Hulk is the top scorer in the Portuguese Premier League with 23 goals.

“The president has been clear regarding their release clauses. Porto protects itself very well, so the clauses are high and it will be difficult for a club to meet these clauses. They would have to make a big investment,” Villas Boas said.

Hulk’s release clause is set at €100m(£87m), while Falcão’s is lower at €30m, but with the club reportedly negotiating with the player to increase it.

The Brazilian said he is happy at Porto, but did not rule out a move. “I am not desperate to leave. I am at a great moment in my career, and have three years’ contract left with a great club. As the president said, if someone wants me, they’ll have to pay, so I will leave it in my agent’s hands,” Hulk told reporters.

Falcão said his wish was to stay at Porto, despite the intense speculation. “They [newspapers] have sold us to half the world, but we are still here and I think will continue. At the moment my mind is with Porto, I am happy here and expect to stay many years,” he said.

ChelseaLiverpoolEuropean footballguardian.co.uk