Liverpool FC Forum

by **JBG** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:40 pm

New contracts for Reds

By James Carroll
Date: 1/6/2005

Liverpool are set to reward four players with new contracts after their heroic efforts in the UEFA Champions League Final victory over AC Milan in Istanbul one week ago.

It's claimed that Djimi Traore, Dietmar Hamann and Jamie Carragher are being lined up for fresh deals whilst the Liverpool Echo says that skipper Steven Gerrard has told Anfield officials that he will definitely be staying at the club and will put pen-to-paper on a new contract before the start of pre-season training.

In the case of Traore, it completes an astonishing turn around for a player that was on the brink of joining Everton last summer and was castigated for his own-goal and performance in the FA Cup third round defeat at Burnely in January.

Everton boss David Moyes was still hopeful of pulling off a £3.5m swoop for the French left-back, but Traore admitted after last week's European Cup win that he wanted to stay at the club for life. He is set to extend his contract until 2009.

Hamann's performance in Istanbul, made all the more extraordinary today with the news that he played the final stages and penalty shoot-out with a fractured foot, has made manager Rafael Benitez offer the German international a fresh deal.

Benitez had previously pulled out of contract negotiations with Hamann after a couple of poor performances in February and also believed that his wage demands were a too much.

Hamann, who was thought to be close to penning a deal with Bolton Wanderers with Hamburg also interested, now looks set to stay at Anfield for at least another season with the possible option of an extra 12 months on Merseyside.

Meanwhile, Scouse duo Carragher and Gerrard are also being tipped to ink new deals in the not too distant future, a move which will hopefully quash the speculation surrounding the latter's future once and for all.

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New contracts for reds - By james carroll (shanklygates)

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