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• Club cannot match City or Spurs financially, says Hodgson
• Manager trying to use money ’sensibly and intelligently’

The Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, is keen to make further signings before the start of the season but admits he has to be realistic in his aims.

The Englishman accepts he cannot match the spending power of Premier League rivals such as Manchester City or Tottenham but that will not stop his recruitment drive. Having already acquired Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic on free transfers, and brought in the 18-year-old centre-back Danny Wilson for an initial £2m, Hodgson has to find a left-back and support for striker Fernando Torres.

Liverpool were today linked with Manchester City’s England defender Wayne Bridge and Milan’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – both of whom would make a considerable dent in Hodgson’s restricted transfer budget. However, with Emiliano Insúa on the verge of a £5m transfer to Fiorentina, the winger Albert Riera in talks with Olympiacos over a move for a similar amount and the £25m-rated midfielder Javier Mascherano more than likely to be leaving Anfield this summer the manager should have money available to strengthen his squad.

“We don’t have the unlimited funds that teams like Manchester City and even Tottenham to some extent these days seem to have,” said the 62-year-old. “On the other hand some money is being made available and we are doing everything to use that money as sensibly and as intelligently as we can.

“We had quite a good squad of players last season: Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, José Reina – these players mean there is a certain strength to the team whatever we do. We would like to make some changes. Every manager who comes to a new club would like to make changes, to bring in some fresh players.”

Hodgson has yet to work with most of the players who are likely to make up his first-choice line-up as they have either only just returned from a delayed holiday because of the World Cup or are still on leave.

Instead the Liverpool manager has been putting a largely reserve squad through their paces at their Switzerland training camp. Last night he took charge for the first time in a goalless friendly against Grasshoppers with a team who had an average age of just 20.

Hodgson is keen to arrest the decline of the last decade in terms of players coming through the ranks and in the last week has given hope to a number of promising youngsters.”It’s a great opportunity for them but my real work in preparing Liverpool to play next season will begin when I get back to Melwood and find the 13 players who went to the World Cup,” he said.

“If you’re a young player you’re waiting for that chance to get into the first team and show what you can do. These lads are being given a chance earlier than expected but unfortunately they are being given a chance all together.

“What you hope for when you get your chance is that all the big-hitters are around you and they make it a bit easier for you. Here we are throwing them all in together.”

LiverpoolRoy HodgsonTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

• Manager says last season’s troubles cannot be cured overnight
• Joe Cole completes move to ‘biggest club in the country’

Roy Hodgson has warned Liverpool supporters it will take much more than the arrival of Joe Cole to lift the “doom and gloom” that enveloped the club last season. The manager, speaking after Cole completed his free transfer from Chelsea, urged fans to remain realistic about the club’s prospects as he picks up the pieces from the wreckage of Rafael Benítez’s final season in charge.

Although Hodgson is delighted that Cole has agreed to move to Merseyside, as his rebuilding programme at Anfield starts to gather some momentum, the former Fulham manager said today that he would never want to “dupe” supporters into believing “everything was rosy” because of one signing.

Liverpool missed out on the Champions League after finishing seventh in the Premier League last term and Hodgson acknowledged the disenchantment that accompanied a miserable campaign would not disappear overnight. He has pleaded for understanding from fans and, at the same time, spelled out the need for “a lot more players” to arrive at Anfield before the start of the season if Liverpool are to progress and have a chance of seriously competing again.

“You don’t change doom and gloom, you don’t change disenchantment with a signing or two,” said Hodgson from the club’s training camp in Switzerland. “The Liverpool supporters know that I can’t stand in front of a TV camera and put right some disenchantment that has been going on for several years now with a couple of words or by signing a football player. All we can hope to persuade them is that we are going to be on the right track. We are trying to get things right again.

“I can assure [the Liverpool fans] we’ll make plenty of efforts on the field, and I’ll hope to dispel the doom and disenchantment in that way, but it’s not going to be an overnight thing. Unfortunately, last season was a very disappointing season for the club in every respect, culminating in a popular manager leaving the club – you don’t dispel that with a couple of signings and I wouldn’t ever want to try and dupe the Liverpool public by telling them all is rosy now because Joe Cole is signing. There is a lot more work to do and there are a lot more players needed.”

Progress is already being made on that front. Having already recruited the Serbia international Milan Jovanovic and Cole on free transfers, Liverpool today completed their third signing of the summer when Danny Wilson joined from Rangers in a deal worth £2m initially and up to a further £3m in add-ons.

The 18-year-old central defender, who won the Scottish Football Association and Football Writers’ Young Player of the Year award last season, described the move as a “massive challenge” after passing a medical and signing a three-year contract.

Hodgson’s desire to strengthen the squad further is likely to lead to a number of players on the periphery moving on, with Philipp Degen the latest to be told that he has no future at Anfield. The Switzerland right-back made only three league starts following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund two years ago. “We have had an amicable conversation with Philipp and he wants to play football,” Hodgson said. “We won’t stand in his way and he is free to look for another club.”

Liverpool, who play Grasshopper tonight in their first pre-season match of the summer, remain on the look-out for new owners with Hodgson admitting that Martin Broughton, the club’s chairman, is “trying desperately to find the right people” to provide much-needed new investment. In the meantime, the Liverpool manager has urged supporters to remain patient and be sensible with their demands for success. “I can only hope that the people who watch us are aware of the situation and that they’ve got their feet on the ground like we’ve all got our feet on the ground, and that they’ll give us credit if we deserve any for the efforts we make on the field,” Hodgson said.

Joe ColeLiverpoolTransfer windowStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk

• Rangers will receive £2m up front for 18-year-old defender
• Wilson was the SFA’s young player of the year last season

Liverpool are close to adding a third summer signing after agreeing a potential £5m deal with Rangers for Danny Wilson.

The 18-year-old central defender, voted the SFA’s young player of the year last season, was pulled out of the Rangers squad that departed for a pre-season tour of Australia today to undergo a medical at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground.

The Rangers chief executive Martin Bain confirmed: “We have agreed a deal in principle with Liverpool for the transfer of Danny Wilson. Liverpool’s offer will see the club receive £2m up front with add-ons linked to games played, taking the total value of the deal to £5m.”

Liverpool have been in talks with Wilson and his representatives for several months, with the club ambassador Kenny Dalglish playing an influential role in negotiations for a player who was also a target for Tottenham Hotspur.

Wilson will join Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic as Liverpool’s new faces for next season once the transfer is completed, and provides a further illustration of the club’s intention to sign more British talent to meet Uefa’s impending regulations on homegrown players in European squads.

LiverpoolRangersTransfer windowAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk