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• José Antonio Martín denies saying striker will leave Anfield
• ‘Fernando’s deal is for the present and the future’

José Antonio Martín, one of Fernando Torres’s representatives, has denied saying that the striker could leave Liverpool this summer for another Premier League club.

“Now is not the moment to speak about this issue because Torres is focused completely on his work for Spain,” Martín said. “After the World Cup Bahía Internacional [the company which represents Torres] will possibly meet with the player but the truth is that Fernando has signed a deal with Liverpool which is for the present and the future.”

Roy Hodgson telephoned Torres last week, within hours of his appointment as Liverpool’s new manager, in an attempt to persuade the striker to remain at Anfield. Torres is in South Africa, where Spain play Germany in a World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, though his somewhat jaded performances at the tournament – where he has been thoroughly outshone by his strike partner, David Villa – are unlikely to have convinced potential suitors of his value.

Martín was earlier quoted as saying: “It is very likely that Fernando Torres will stay in the Premier League, but I cannot say that it will be with Liverpool. We are working on his future but right now you cannot guarantee that he will stay with the English club.”

Fernando TorresLiverpoolTransfer windowSpainSimon Burntonguardian.co.uk

• New Anfield contract contains no release clause
• Brede Hangeland may be Hodgson’s first recruit

The Football Association will have to wait until 2012 if it wishes to appoint Roy Hodgson as England manager after the 62-year-old accepted a two-year contract with no release clause from Liverpool today.

Hodgson had been touted as the leading candidate to replace Fabio Capello should Sir Dave Richards, the chairman of Club England, decide to take the expensive option of sacking the Italian following England’s dire World Cup campaign. Although Capello retains the support of influential figures on the FA’s main board, such as Phil Gartside, the Bolton Wanderers chairman who has publicly backed the incumbent, Richards has asked for two weeks to consider whether the 64-year-old should lead England’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

The Fulham manager has made no secret of his desire to lead England but, despite the uncertainty surrounding Capello’s future, has agreed a deal with Liverpool that provides no escape route should the FA make an approach before Capello’s contract expires after the European Championships.

Liverpool’s managing director, Christian Purslow, who has led the search for Rafael Benítez’s successor at Anfield, has finalised personal terms with Hodgson and agreed to meet the £2.5m compensation fee payable to Fulham under the terms of his 12-month rolling contract at Craven Cottage.

The only obstacle preventing confirmation of Hodgson’s appointment at Anfield are issues relating to his departure from Fulham, believed to be bonuses their manager feels he is entitled to after last season’s 12th place finish in the Premier League and run to the Europa League final. Representatives from both sides were working on a resolution tonight and, providing one is found, Liverpool should have Hodgson installed for the start of pre-season training tomorrow. He could then be unveiled as Liverpool manager tomorrow afternoon.

Hodgson faces a major task of reviving Liverpool’s fortunes after the disappointments of last season and amid the £350m debt placed on the club by its co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The new manager has been promised an initial £15m this summer to revitalise a squad that finished seventh in the Premier League last season, a kitty that includes the profit made on players sold during the January transfer window and may be reduced by the compensation owed to Fulham. Brede Hangeland, whom he brought to Craven Cottage for £2.5m from FC Copenhagen, is one possible target although Fulham’s asking price may prove prohibitive.

The former Switzerland, Internazionale and Blackburn Rovers manager, who has held 15 coaching positions during a 34-year career, faces the task of convincing Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano, among others, to resist offers to leave Anfield this summer. The Fulham midfielder and former Liverpool player Danny Murphy has given a glowing reference on Hodgson to his close friends at Anfield, Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, but the futures of the captain, a transfer target for Real Madrid, Torres, wanted by Chelsea, Barcelona and Manchester City, plus Mascherano remain in doubt. Yossi Benayoun is likely to be the first player to leave Liverpool once the new manager is in place with a £5m move to Chelsea agreed.

Kenny Dalglish’s position as Liverpool ambassador and at the club’s youth academy has been in question since the search for Benítez’s successor began but he is not now expected to quit Anfield. Dalglish was asked to compile a shortlist of candidates and put his own name forward once he felt that no available managers were better qualified for the task of unifying Liverpool at this difficult time. Hodgson, however, has been the Anfield board’s preferred choice since Benítez accepted a £6m severance payment to leave the club.

One player who is destined for Liverpool is Milan Jovanovic, the Serbia international striker who agreed a free transfer from Standard Liège in January but indicated, during the World Cup, that the deal was not watertight. “I am going to Liverpool. I have signed there for three years. I repeat: no pre-agreement – a real contract,” the 29-year-old said today.”And the departure of Benítez changes nothing. I have maintained contact with the executive board of Liverpool and everything is good. I am working to arrange my visa for England. Next week I go there to collect my work permit. On the 14th or 15th July I will join the squad for a training camp in Switzerland.”

LiverpoolRoy HodgsonAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

The game embodied all tensions of this year’s contest for the Premier League, with Manchester United coming from behind to end a bad recent record against Liverpool with a winner from Park ji-sung. The reigning champions, who now lead the League, will feel relieved that the substitute Yossi Benayoun merely headed into the hands of the United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the 90th minute.

There was relief of another sort for United in the return as a substitute of Ryan Giggs, who has recovered from fracturing his arm. His side required every possible resource here.

There had been scepticism over Sir Alex Ferguson’s claim in his programme notes that he has “a twinge” of sympathy for Rafael Benítez. Considering recent results the feeling might just as easily have been a pang of indigestion while trying to absorb three consecutive defeats by Liverpool. The United manager’s stomach would have churned once again when the visitors took the lead in the fifth minute through a goal from a forward who keeps distressing the Old Trafford side.

After Michael Carrick had lost possession, Steven Gerrard, from his very advanced midfield position, fed the ball to the right and Dirk Kuyt delivered the deep cross that an utterly unmarked Fernando Torres headed handsomely beyond Van der Sar. The occasion had galvanised visitors who had probably forgotten their Europa League fixture last Thursday evening and showed no signs of fatigue.

All the same, United did equalise swiftly. Javier Mascherano persisted in fouling Antonio Valencia until both men had crossed the 18-yard line and the referee Howard Webb, having initially played the advantage, awarded a penalty. Ferguson wanted a red card for the Liverpool midfielder, but Mascherano may not have been the last man since Jamie Carragher was attempting to cover.

Pepe Reina then dived to his left to block Wayne Rooney’s spot-kick but had directed the ball back into the middle of the goalmouth, where the United forward knocked it into the net. The game was intriguing if attritional and Ferguson’s side went ahead thanks to a man whose very involvement may have been debatable to some.

Dimitar Berbatov had impressed against Fulham the previous weekend, yet the languid Bulgarian did not start here because Ferguson counted on the work-rate of Park in a congested midfield. The South Korean offered somewhat more than that, getting in front of Glen Johnson to head home a Darren Fletcher delivery after 60 minutes. United had inched a little closer to retaining the title.

Premier LeagueManchester UnitedLiverpoolKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk