Liverpool FC Forum

by **Dundalk** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:32 pm

No he is not but you get the impression Rafa is a very hard man to work for. Im looking forward to the day someone takes out a book and says what they really feel about him, none of this sitting on the fence

by **RobinHood6969** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:36 am

Heard Obefami Martins gonna join Wolfsburg for 9 million pounds

..

by **Redman in wales** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:57 am

daily mail again...

Xabi Alonso deal is done... and Liverpool boss Benitez wants Lee Cattermole to replace him!

Liverpool are on the verge of striking a compromise deal to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid and will plough part of his transfer fee into bids for Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole and Hull defender Michael Turner.

Alonso's move to the Bernabeu has dragged on through the summer, with Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez demanding £35million and Real offering £25m for the Spain midfielder.

But Sportsmail understands that the clubs are now only £5m apart in their negotiations and are expected to agree on a price of just under £30m in the next 48 hours.

The 27-year-old will be reunited with his Anfield team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa, who completed his £3.5m move to Real on Wednesday after passing a medical in Spain.

Although Liverpool are set to make a sizeable profit on Alonso - who was signed from Real Sociedad for £10.5m in 2004 - their supporters will be hugely disappointed to see him leave and more than a little surprised at the men Benitez is planning to buy with the proceeds.

After a summer of being linked with players of the calibre of David Villa and his Valencia team-mate David Silva, Cattermole and Turner can hardly be described as box-office signings. But with FIFA planning to introduce a rule limiting clubs to five foreigners in their starting lineup, Benitez is believed to be concerned about the small number of English players in his squad.

He is ready to tempt Wigan with an offer of £12m for Cattermole, who cost just £3.5m from Middlesbrough a year ago.

Wigan insist they do not want to sell the combative midfielder and have so far resisted attempts by their former manager Steve Bruce to take him to Sunderland.

Although Bruce would also be prepared to go as high as £12m, he knows that Sunderland cannot match Liverpool's pulling power or offer Cattermole a chance to play on European football's biggest stage.

Cattermole impressed during his first season at Wigan and for England at this summer's European Under 21 Championships in Sweden, but was resigned to staying for another year before looking for a move to a bigger team.

If Wigan could be persuaded to sell, he would jump at the chance of joining a Champions League club like Liverpool where he can press his claims for a senior England call-up with the World Cup less than a year away.

Hull are equally determined to hold on to Turner and manager Phil Brown insisted last night that they would listen only to a 'ridiculous' offer for the centre back.

Benitez will test their resolve with a bid of £5.5m for a player who has attracted interest among Barclays Premier League clubs since helping Hull win promotion to the top flight last year. Tottenham, Fulham and Everton are all known admirers of the 25-year-old.

Brown said: 'Michael is knocking on the door of the England set-up and when you play like that you are going to attract attention. It would be difficult to hang on to him if a ridiculous bid came in, but as we stand, no bids are on the table.'

However, Andrea Dossena's move to Napoli has been held up over a wages dispute. The 27-year-old left back, who signed for Liverpool from Udinese in a £7m switch a year ago, is keen on a return to his homeland and Benitez has made it clear he will not stand in his way by agreeing a cut-price deal of £4.5m.

But Napoli's director of sport Pierpaolo Marino yesterday admitted there was deadlock over personal terms. 'We have taken a break in order to reflect on this,' said Marino. 'The move is on hold. There are no immediate prospects.

'The president has spoken to Rafael Benitez and there is some distance between us and the player. But I wouldn't worry too much.'

It is possible Spurs may hijack the deal if no agreement is reached.

by **we all dream...** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:42 am

I would like to see Lee Cattermole at our club think he would be a good buy. He is no 'replacement' for Xabi but I would certainly welcome him to our club. 12million is to high, maybe 7-8 but I think he would progress under the leadership of Carra, Masch and Gerrard and could be a fine player. I like is attitude too, he gets stuck in.

Say we do sell Xabi for 30mill and buy someone, say Cattermole, for under 10million who would we be buying with the other 20ish?

by **europian-kings** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:25 pm

we all dream... wrote:Say we do sell Xabi for 30mill and buy someone, say Cattermole, for under 10million who would we be buying with the other 20ish?

My guess is nobody!

by **bunglemark2** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:37 pm

Those pie eaters at the helm of the club are likely to spend that on a feast of chicken-fried-steak-burgers in one weekend !!

by **muzza798** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:56 pm

I think we should not sell alonso and tbh i dont think we need to sign anyone else. If any of you can remember we finnished last season imo the second best team in Europe. For a run of about 7-10 games or something we were banging in 3-5 goals nearly every game and playing brilliant football. Seing as weve sold Arbaloa and were selling Dossena to napoli which will raise 9-10 mil we should make Hamsik or w/e from Napoli part of the dossena deal. We could do with a right winger and he's very skillful but if we dont sing anyone i'd like to see bennyoun bumped up to starting 11.

by **fergieisawhiskeynosedtw@t** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:52 pm

muzza798 wrote:I think we should not sell alonso and tbh i dont think we need to sign anyone else. If any of you can remember we finnished last season imo the second best team in Europe. For a run of about 7-10 games or something we were banging in 3-5 goals nearly every game and playing brilliant football. Seing as weve sold Arbaloa and were selling Dossena to napoli which will raise 9-10 mil we should make Hamsik or w/e from Napoli part of the dossena deal. We could do with a right winger and he's very skillful but if we dont sing anyone i'd like to see bennyoun bumped up to starting 11.

I think you should use spellcheck

:laugh:

by **Toffeehater** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:42 pm

30 million for xabi spend it on silva we'd still have 5 million or so left and can pay that plus the doss for cattermole or turner if we want

by **JC_81** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:28 pm

Toffeehater wrote:30 million for xabi spend it on silva we'd still have 5 million or so left and can pay that plus the doss for cattermole or turner if we want

The fact that we are supposedly interested in Cattermole and Turner worries me more than losing Alonso. Neither are good enough.

by **redbeergoggles** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:22 pm

Cattermole is exactly the type of young English talent we should be snapping up ,the lads got bags of talent and a murderous passion for the game ,not unlike a very young and over zealous Gerrard ,and we all know how he grew in stature

I cant however see why the interest in Turner has suddenly emerged ,simply not good enough .

by **redbeergoggles** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:32 pm

Here's another shout ! I wouldn't mind Leed's Fabian Delph ,Ok he is an unknown commodity in the Premier league but so was Ashley Young and this lad could easily emulate him .

by **Dundalk** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:49 pm

Silva staying at Valencia ??

After Valencia striker David Villa recently ended summer-long speculation surrounding his future by pledging his allegiance to the Mestalla outfit, fellow Spanish star and team-mate David Silva has followed suit.

Silva, like Villa, had long been linked with a move away from the cash-strapped club Los Che, with Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United strongly tipped to land the 23-year-old midfielder, who has made 89 league outings for Valencia.

But after Euro 2008 Golden Boot winner Villa broke his media silence by revealing he was going no where during the close-season, his fellow countryman Silva, who has 26 caps for his country, has trodden a similar path.

"I am like I have always been since I am a player of Valencia: tranquil, getting ready for what is about to come and eager to work to make a good season," he told Superdeporte.

"Why should I be sad? I am a player of Valencia and I am happy to be one. Since Monday I have been working with team-mates that I really like and with whom I have a very good relationship.

"I know that several clubs wanted me and showed interest in me, but I always saw myself at Valencia and I always thought I would end up staying.

"It is always good that you are talked about, specially if it's because big clubs want to sign you."

by **Reg** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:05 pm

All it shows is that no one has come in for them.... those who have attracted interest, Etoo, Ibramovich, Ronaldo, Kaka, Alonso, Tevez etc.. have been snapped up. These two keep repeating this mantra hoping someones gonna come in and take them away. Kinda like a girl playing hard to get as the night wears on.... yawn... . :laugh:

by **tubby** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:23 pm

I heard today that Zola could be interested in bringing in Balotelli from Inter. If he is available Rafa should definatley try for him. He is going to be a monster of a player one day, a bit of an attitude but I wouldn't call him a bad boy just yet.

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