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• Fee believed to be close to Liverpool’s £25m valuation
• Argentina midfielder to sign four-year contract

Javier Mascherano’s long-awaited transfer to Barcelona is set to be completed this weekend after Liverpool accepted a bid from the Catalans.

The midfielder almost joined the La Liga champions 12 months ago only for former manager Rafael Benitez to eventually price him out of a move.

However, with the 26-year-old keen to move for personal reasons – he constantly complained his family had not settled in England – the club came to an agreement with him that if they received an acceptable bid they would allow him to leave.

After rejecting an initial bid of £16m from Barcelona last weekend an offer has now been forthcoming which comes close to their valuation of £25m.

The player was never likely to stay once he became aware of Barcelona’s initial bid and told Hodgson he did not want to play in Monday’s defeat to Manchester City.

But Liverpool were never going to accept anything less than they paid for Mascherano when they rescued him from West Ham’s reserves for £18m three and a half years ago.

“Liverpool Football Club have agreed terms for the transfer of Javier Mascherano to FC Barcelona,” said a Liverpool statement. “The Spanish club have now been given permission to speak to the Argentina midfielder.”

This week Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola admitted he was in the market for a defensive midfielder having been thwarted in his attempts to sign primary transfer target Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.

Reports in the Spanish media earlier this week claimed Mascherano had already agreed a four-year, £85,000-a-week contract and, now Liverpool have accepted a fee, the Argentina captain will travel to Barcelona for a medical this weekend.

A statement from Barcelona appeared to confirm that, with the Catalans even suggesting Mascherano played a part in the final negotiations.

“FC Barcelona and Liverpool FC have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of Javier Mascherano to the club for the next four seasons,” it said.

“The deal was closed after intensive efforts made by the club in the final hours and through the player himself in the negotiations.

“Barcelona will report the details of the operation once the player passes the medical and the transfer is concluded.

“It is hoped Javier Mascherano will arrive in Barcelona this weekend.”

Transfer windowLiverpoolBarcelonaguardian.co.uk

• Deschamps signs one-year extension at Stade Vélodrome
• Frenchman had been linked to Liverpool manager’s job

Marseille’s coach, Didier Deschamps, has moved to end speculation over his future by extending his contract by a year until June 2012.

The former France captain, who led the south coast club to the Ligue 1 title last term, had been linked with the Liverpool job as a replacement for Rafael Benítez.

The Marseille president, Jean-Claude Dassier, who revealed at the weekend that Liverpool had contacted him over Deschamps, told the club’s official website: “I am very happy that Didier Deschamps has signed for another year.”

Deschamps, who has been at the Stade Vélodrome since 2009 after spells in charge of Juventus and Monaco, admitted he was “flattered” by the interest from Liverpool, but wanted to continue his work at Marseille.

“It makes me very happy,” he said. “It is not a financial question that I leave OM. After the season that we have experienced, there is still work to do. A great club asked me. I’m very flattered but when I start somewhere… If I ask for respect from my players, the least I can do is to be comparable in my commitment to the club. I owe it to the OM. I agree and I respect that commitment.”

Dassier revealed at the weekend he received a call from Liverpool’s executive director, Christian Purslow, last Thursday. “I kindly indicated to him that there wasn’t the slightest chance for him to pinch our coach. Even in his dreams,” Dassier said.

MarseilleLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Striker could be fit to face Blackburn this weekend
• ‘The feedback was very positive,’ says manager

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez has confirmed that his striker Fernando Torres is close to recovery from the injury that has kept him out of the squad since the beginning of November.

Torres was injured while on international duty for Spain and has not been able to play since Liverpool’s Champions League match against Lyon. However, Benítez believes he could be fit to face Blackburn this weekend.

“The feedback we had about Torres yesterday was very positive and he was feeling good,” he said. “We will see how he is in the next training sessions, but it seems as though things are going well.”

Asked whether the Spain international could face Rovers, Benítez added: “It depends on how he feels during the week. He has to keep training with the fitness coach, but if he is feeling better maybe he can be involved in normal training sessions and afterwards we can decide.”

Benítez expects to have something close to a full squad of players to choose from for the encounter with Sam Allardyce’s side as the summer signing Alberto Aquilani is finally available for selection, while Steven Gerrard is nearing full match fitness.

“We have two or three players with knocks, but hopefully they are small things,” said Benítez. “It is always very positive [to have a fully fit squad], but there is a big difference in players being available and being ready.

“When they are coming back from injuries you have to be careful, but at least we will have options we didn’t have before.”

Fernando TorresRafael BenítezLiverpoolPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk