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Today’s fluff still loves Shine 97

It’s Monday morning at 5.19, and the Mill is still wondering where you’ve been. Because every time we try to call, we just get your machine. And now it’s almost 6am, and we don’t want to try again. Because if you’re still not back, heaven knows, what then? Maybe we can distract ourselves with some tittle-tattle (and try to forget the fact that a) the Mill was struggling so badly for a riff this morning that we resorted to simply typing the lyrics of Rialto’s 1997 hit Monday Morning 5:19 and b) that we didn’t need to look the lyrics up).

Manchester United and Everton are battling it out to sign Bob Schepers, who sounds like he should be presenting a documentary about farming on Radio 4, but is in fact a 17-year-old Dutch winger for SC Cambuur. He played in Holland U17’s run to the European Championship final, and is also making a small blipping noise “on Ajax’s radar”.

Chelsea have £50m to spend this summer and it’ll all go on Kaká. Or Fernando Torres. Or Sergio Agüero. Or Bastian Schweinsteiger. Or possibly Dani Alves, who has also been linked with Manchester City in the Spanish newspaper Sport.

Liverpool have dipped for the line and pipped Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal in the race for Charlton’s Jonjo Shelvey. As Rafa Benítez waves to the crowd from the top of the podium, a faceless man in a suit hands him a bunch of flowers and drapes the £3m-rated teenage utility man around the Liverpool manager’s neck.

And to complete the contractually-obliged big four round-up, Arsenal were rather laughably linked with a move for Pepe Reina over the weekend.

Elsewhere, West Brom will bolster their Premier League survival bid next season by signing two players who failed to keep their teams up in this campaign. Hull’s Jimmy Bullard and Burnley’s Steven Fletcher are the smart buys.

Steve Coppell wants to turn the 2010-11 Bristol City side into the 2007-08 Reading team. The signings of Dave Kitson, Ivar Ingimarsson and James Harper will be the easy part. Bringing in blue and white hoops might be a little trickier.

It’s Everton v Blackburn for Getafe’s £10m-rated striker Roberto Soldado.

Wigan will move for Celtic’s Marc Crosas over the summer and will subtly attempt to placate sceptical Latics fans by continually describing him as “a former Barcelona and Lyon midfielder” on the club website.

And Paris St-Germain have a hankering for dynamic but erratic full-backs and will satisfy their hunger by snapping up West Ham’s Henry Ilunga and Portsmouth’s Nadir Belhadj.

LiverpoolArsenalCharlton AthleticChelseaManchester UnitedEvertonJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk

• Rhone Group bid for 40% stake at Anfield
• Under-pressure owners may be forced to accept

Liverpool are in talks with private equity firm the Rhone Group over a £118.5m deal to buy a controlling share of the club and halve its debts.

It is understood the investment group wants a 40% stake at Anfield which would considerably strengthen the club’s financial position.

The Rhone Group’s bid would give them the controlling interest, with co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett reducing their shareholding to 30% each.

Hicks and Gillett, were last year told to cut £100m from the club’s £237m debts. The Royal Bank of Scotland gave the club a deadline of this summer to pay up.

The club’s chief executive, Christian Purslow, has been working to find investors and says he wants a deal by Easter.

The offer from the Rhone Group – which is the first real result of Purslow’s wide-ranging search – would be used to slash the club’s debt by half. That would make Liverpool a more attractive option for further outside investment.

It would also improve the club’s credit-worthiness, which could lead to work finally beginning on the long-awaited new stadium in Stanley Park.

Details of the offer were received by Liverpool yesterday and the matter has yet to be discussed by the board.

There have been suggestions that the American co-owners are looking for a better price, but with the clock ticking it may yet prove viable.

The Rhone Group was founded in 1995, has its headquarters in New York with other offices in London and Paris and describes itself as “one of the world’s leading mid-market private equity firms”.

LiverpoolBusinessguardian.co.uk

• Ngog has done a good job, says Javier Mascherano
• Forward has eased pressure on Rafael Benítez

Javier Mascherano has paid tribute to David Ngog for shouldering the “impossible job” of replacing Fernando Torres in the Liverpool attack and easing the pressure on the manager, Rafael Benítez.

A lack of quality cover for Liverpool’s record signing has been a frequent criticism of Benítez this season, with the problem exacerbated by the hernia that has restricted Torres to only one first team start in the past six weeks. Ngog, however, has improved noticeably during the Spaniard’s absence and scored his sixth goal in 15 appearances this term in the 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic on Wednesday, before Torres stepped from the bench to guarantee three vital points and the headlines late on. Mascherano is adamant the 20-year-old French forward’s contribution during a trying spell for the club should not be overlooked.

“He has taken his chances and it is very important for him,” said the Argentina captain. “As a footballer it is not easy to play all the time if people are expecting David to do the same job that Fernando does. That is not possible. He is under pressure all the time. But quietly he is doing a good job. When he has had to play, he has scored goals. He is trying to do the right thing and he is doing well for the manager.”

Ngog, a £1.5m signing from Paris Saint Germain, is undoubtedly ahead of his anticipated development at Liverpool and his promise has led to a possible conflict at international level, with Cameroon offering the striker a chance to play alongside Samuel Eto’o at next summer’s World Cup. The France under-21 international admitted: “My father is from Cameroon. They have qualified for South Africa and have a very strong team. I like playing for France and have enjoyed every game with the under-21s. I have played for France from a very young level and feel a strong allegiance towards them. But like a lot of French players, I have parents from Africa and I cannot forget that one half of my family is from Cameroon.”

Mascherano, meanwhile, believes the pressure of overcoming a bleak situation with Argentina to help Diego Maradona’s team qualify for the World Cup has provided the mental strength to cope with Liverpool’s struggle to retain a top-four finish in the Premier League.

The midfielder said: “I have spoken a lot about that situation with the manager [Benítez]. The pressure with Argentina to put them in the World Cup was worse; not because it is my country and Liverpool is my club. Here you have a little bit more time to do the right things. We know that we have to keep winning if we want to be in the top four but we have a game every week. In Argentina, I would go for two games then have three or four months to wait for the next one to put it right. It has been good to have that experience.”

LiverpoolRafael BenítezFernando TorresPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk