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Posts Tagged ‘portugal’

• Carlos moving to Anfield after impressing in NextGen series
• Sporting selling youngster to held ease financial issues

Liverpool have agreed a deal with Sporting Lisbon, close to £1m, to sign one of the most talented young players from the academy that has developed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Nani.

João Carlos, 19, is moving to Anfield after coming to the attention of the Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, during a scoring performance in the NextGen series of youth-team matches earlier this season.

The teenager has been talked about in Portugal as being similar to a young Deco but Sporting have financial issues and have decided to accept Liverpool’s offer in keeping with their usual policy of nurturing young players and then selling them for profit.

Carlos has trained with Sporting’s first-team this season, but has not made his senior debut.

LiverpoolSporting LisbonTransfer windowDaniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk

• Agger sustained injury in 4-0 defeat at Tottenham
• Agent Per Steffensen: ‘It’s the worst possible news’

The Liverpool defender Daniel Agger could be out for up to four weeks after he fractured a rib in Sunday’s 4-0 Premier League defeat at Tottenham.

The Denmark international sustained the injury when he fell heavily in the first half and had to be substituted before half-time. However, there are contrasting reports on the extent of the injury.

The Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish told the club’s website that “Daniel has got a fractured rib, so he’s struggling a bit”. However, the version offered by Agger’s agent Per Steffensen differs.

Steffensen told sporten.tv2.dk: “It’s the worst possible news. He has broken two ribs, and he must keep still for four weeks. Daniel is way down now and I certainly sympathise with him.

“He will miss the two [international] matches against Cyprus and Portugal and there is a match against Manchester United he also misses. It’s insanely annoying.”

Liverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Midfielder wants a new deal after nine months at Anfield
• Previous owners informally agreed to summer review

Liverpool will be asked to improve Raul Meireles’ contract this summer, less than a year after he joined the club on a four-year deal from Porto.

The Portugal midfielder was signed as a late £11.7m replacement after Javier Mascherano left for Barcelona last summer. Given the uncertainty that surrounded the club under the then-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, there was an informal agreement to review his terms if his first season in English football proved successful.

Meireles has been a regular starter under both Kenny Dalglish and Roy Hodgson, scoring five goals in six games shortly after the managerial change, although he is likely to miss the final game of the season at Aston Villa on Sunday, due to a hamstring injury suffered in the recent 5-2 win at Fulham.

Despite the Liverpool hierarchy being overhauled since his arrival, Meireles’s agent, José Caldiera, expects the informal agreement to be honoured by Fenway Sports Group and the player is keen to extend his stay on Merseyside.

“If I had this opportunity I’d sign a new contract today. [For] 10, 20 years, for sure,” he said recently.

The former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, meanwhile, wants the club’s sports therapist, Ivan Ortega, to join him at Chelsea. Ortega moved to Liverpool from Celta Vigo in 2009 and worked closely with Torres during the Spaniard’s final injury-plagued seasons at Anfield. It is understood the striker has asked Chelsea to offer a position to Ortega as he looks to rediscover the form and fitness that has eluded him since his £50m transfer to Stamford Bridge in January.

LiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk