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Posts Tagged ‘milan-jovanovic’

• Anderlecht will not pay a fee for Jovanovic
• Serbia international to have a medical on Thursday

Anderlecht have struck a deal to sign Milan Jovanovic from Liverpool. The Belgian club announced the news on their website and said the transfer hinges on Jovanovic passing a medical on Thursday.

Jovanovic joined Liverpool on a free transfer from Standard Liège last summer, having impressed the then manager Rafael Benítez, but was unable to establish himself in the Premier League and last started a game for Liverpool in January. Anderlecht have not paid a fee for him.

The Serbia forward had been a huge success in Belgium with his previous club, boasting an impressive goals-per-game ratio and catching the eye in the Champions League group stages in 2009.

The Anderlecht general manager, Herman van Holsbeeck, described negotiations with Liverpool as “long but fruitful” and spoke of Jovanovic’s “undeniable talent” and “requisite experience” being key qualities.

LiverpoolAnderlechtTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

• Defender sold after struggling to make impact at Anfield
• Milan Jovanovic among those also linked with moves away

Liverpool have agreed a deal to sell defender Paul Konchesky to Leicester City.

The 30-year-old, who was signed from Fulham for £4m last August by Roy Hodgson, played just 18 matches for the club after struggling to settle. Hodgson’s departure and Kenny Dalglish’s arrival in early January effectively signalled the end of the left-back’s Anfield career, as he was immediately loaned out to Nottingham Forest.

He returned to pre-season training with Liverpool but was told he was surplus to requirements and has now been moved on, for a reported fee of £1.5m.

A club statement confirmed: “Liverpool have today finalised a deal to sell Paul Konchesky to Leicester City. The 30-year-old will now join the Championship outfit for pre-season.”

Konchesky’s departure is likely to be the first of several as Dalglish looks to rebuild his squad.

Milan Jovanovic, who arrived on a free transfer from Standard Liege last summer, is expected to be the next to leave. The Serbia international started just one game under Dalglish and did not feature in the squad for the last three months of the season.

Several other fringe players also seem set to go with 31-year-old midfielder Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole, 30 in November – both signings from the short-lived Hodgson era – linked with moves away.

The striker David Ngog appears to be surplus to requirements now and has been interesting some Premier League rivals, while the future of up goalkeeper Brad Jones appears in doubt with Liverpool apparently close to bringing in Roma’s Brazilian Alexander Doni as Jose Reina’s deputy.

Leicester’s manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, said he was looking forward to working with Konchesky.

“Paul has been a Premier League player year in, year out throughout his career so he represents a very big signing for us. He wanted to come to Leicester and it means a lot that proven, established top-flight footballers want to be a part of what we are building here.

“I know Paul very well as a player and a person and he will be a top-class addition to our squad.”

LiverpoolLeicester CityTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

• Liverpool captain admits he feels pain of Northampton defeat
• Steven Gerrard urges senior players to lift rest of squad

Liverpool’s reliance on Steven Gerrard took a twist today when the midfielder was put forward to call for calm in the wake of the team’s defeat to Northampton Town in the Carling Cup. Gerrard was not even on the bench for the third-round tie, which Liverpool lost on penalties after it finished 2-2 in extra time at Anfield, but believes those who did play yesterday can learn from such a chastening experience.

“Football isn’t just about the highs,” Gerrard said. “Throughout my career I have experienced both highs and lows and probably learnt more from the lows because you look at yourself first, look at what went wrong and try to learn from your mistakes. The players are allowed to be down but it’s up to players like myself to pick them back up. What I would ask all the supporters is to trust the players. I’ve been reading and listening to what they’ve been saying and they’ve all said we’ll get it right in the end – and we will.”

The club captain’s upbeat mood was not shared by Milan Jovanovic, who gave Liverpool the lead against Northampton with a ninth-minute strike before goals from Billy McKay and Michael Jacobs put the visitors in front. It took a 116th‑minute equaliser from David Ngog to drag the match into a penalty shoot-out, which Ian Sampson’s side won 4-2.

“Catastrophe. I am so disappointed,” Jovanovic said. “We know this is not Liverpool. It is very bad. I am surprised by the performance. I have not had good experience of English football but I didn’t expect this. Northampton played a really good game. We played a bad game.”

The defeat was the third Roy Hodgson has suffered since taking over at Liverpool and after the game the manager spoke of his “bitter disappointment” with the performance of the players selected to take on opponents who are 17th in League