Benitez: Good news on funding front
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Reds boss poised for funding boost
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez may be able to move forward more confidently in his quest for summer signings after two significant developments.
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The first piece of good news came when midfielder Javier Mascherano, whom Benitez put a £50m price tag on to ward off interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid, spoke in glowing terms about the Spaniard.
And it appears the club's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are on the verge of successfully renegotiating the £350million loan they took out to buy the club two years ago.
With the formalities of the £17million signing of Portsmouth's England right-back Glen Johnson expected to be completed in the next couple of days it appears plans are back on track at Anfield.
The futures of midfielder Xabi Alonso and defender Alvaro Arbeloa - both attracting interest from Real - seem less clear.
Benitez has insisted he does not want to sell Mascherano or Alonso but if Real are reported to be ready to offer £30million for the 27-year-old Spaniard then the Reds boss may be tempted to cash in.
There have been noises from Mascherano's camp complaining about the fact the Argentina captain is not among the highest earners at Anfield but the player himself has spoken of his admiration for Benitez.
"(He is) excellent. He's a perfectionist, working down to the smallest detail that you can imagine," said Mascherano, who has three years remaining on his Liverpool contract.
"Fortunately he has renewed his contract, meaning his ties to the club continue and this will give more calm to everybody."
On the reported interest from the European champions Mascherano told Spanish magazine Don Balon: "It's really flattering. For me it means great recognition because we are talking about big clubs.
"I feel comfortable at Liverpool, but it's always good to know that teams like Barca and Madrid are interested in you. I feel very grateful."
Benitez has admitted he paid over the odds for Johnson and that may ultimately decide Arbeloa's fate.
"Sometimes you have to spend a little bit more," he told the Liverpool Echo.
"You can't compete in the top four of the Premier League unless you spend some money.
"We were looking for a player of quality and also somebody who is British because of the new Champions League rules. Glen Johnson fits both categories.
"Alvaro Arbeloa has had a very good season but he has one year left on his contract.
"If he signs that will be good because we will have more competition, but if we get a good offer we will have to consider it."
Real's general manager Jorge Valdano seems confident of being able to sign Arbeloa, telling Spanish newspaper AS: "The lad only has a year left on his contract with Liverpool and this gives us more possibilities.
"He can play in two or three positions and this versatility is good. He is another option to evaluate."
That Benitez has been able to make his first summer signing will help fend off claims the club are in financial trouble.
Much was made of the fact Kop Holdings, the club's parent company, posted a £42.6million loss in the year to August 2008 and there were growing concerns over the state of the owners' loan.
However, Benitez, who fought so hard to get the control he wanted at Anfield, would not have signed his new contract towards the end of last season had he not been sure of the financial position.
Reports suggest Hicks and Gillett, who has already started to raise capital by selling his share in the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team, are well advanced in their negotiations to have the loan refinanced by the RBS and Wachovia banks.
And Benitez is continuing to pursue other transfer targets.
"We have a plan. We can sign one more player if necessary, but that's without any players leaving," he added.
Benitez is also hoping Sebastien Leto and Andriy Voronin - both loaned out last season - will bring in more funds along with left-back Andrea Dossena, who could return to Italy after just one season at Anfield.
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Your Comments
CPSPOSSE (Liverpool fan)
"mc_walton (Everton fan) lol ... you can certainly name alot of liverpool players ... obviously future stars but not right for us :)"
g_reds1892
"Pls don`t sell Alonso & Mascherano. Just sell someone like Babel, Arbeloa and definately Lucas for sure. Alonso is creative while Mascherano is our very own version of Gattuso of AC Milan which is very combative midfielder. Cross my finger.."
mc_walton (Everton fan)
"jamieabdilla and jubbaskinz, understand your points entirely. The point I was trying to make is that I do not think Benitez has always bought wisely in the past- Basis of this is far too many players, and too much of a merry-go-round. Just because Nunez came free does it mean it was good use of money in wages etc.. along with many other players. We are from opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of spending power so I have different view. I feel Benitez wastes too much money, squad space on too many average players - Yes he has got it right when buying one or two focused buys using a lot of cash, but his strategy has shown he buys too many players, which I felt has hindered you and also split your youth set with far too many average players loaded in from accross the globe preventing actual youth development - all these players are on wages... Anyway I did have a point, and I appreciate you did too. "
jubbaskinz (Liverpool fan)
"mc_walton: most of the players you have listed are reserve team players bought at a very young age in order to develop, which is still in progress. players like sissoko, bellamy, gonzalez, kromkamp etc have all been sold at either a profit or a slight loss, so what exactly is your point? when benitez has spent big on a player he tends to get it right - reina, agger, skrtel (who was relatively cheap), kuyt, alonso, masherano, riera, torres etc have all been massive successes since their respective arrivals. considering a player like arbeloa is being touted for an £8m move to madrid when he, as a relative unknown was purchased for between £2-3m to me that represents some wiley business from mr benitez in my humble opinion. YNWA "
jamieabdilla (Liverpool fan)
"mc_walton: about the players that you said were waste of money: Antonio Nunez (came for free with the Michael Owen deal and we sold him for 1 million --> profit); Josemi (signed for 2 million, part exchange with Jan Kromkamp who we then sold for 3 million --> 1 million profit); Fernando Morientes (Bought for 5 million but didn't make it in England --> 2 million loss); Scott Carson (signed for around 750,000 --> sold for 3.25 million after a couple of loans which actually mean some income --> around 3 million profit); Antonio Barragan (homesick therefore he had to go back to Spain); Mark Gonzalez (sold for 6 million --> 2 million profit); Craig Bellamy (solf for 8 million --> 2 million profit). I actually wonder where you are saying this is not money well spent. It's true that there were some failures like Jermaine Pennant but they were rare and when you actually see what players Benitez bought like Fernando Torres (20 million), Xabi Alonso (10 million), Daniel Agger (5 million), Alvaro Arbeloa (2 million), Javier Mascherano (18 million), Martin Skrtel (6.5 million), Jose Manuel Reina (7 million), you actually wonder why some people say that Rafael Benitez doesn't know how to spend his money available....."
mc_walton (Everton fan)
"Liverpool_1986 - "Just give him some money and he will win the league" - can I remind of the following money well spent by Benitez...Josemi, Antonio Nunez, Mauricio Pellegrino, Fernando Morientes, Scott Carson, Antonio Barragan, Mohamed Sissoko, Godwin Antwi, Mark Gonzalez, Jan Kromkamp, Craig Bellamy, Gabriel Paletta, Jermaine Pennant, Nabil El Zhar, Lucas Leiva, Andriy Voronin, Ryan Babel, Charles Itandje. A bit more than your list of 4 players above.... "
kheerdali (Liverpool fan)
"I don't think Alonso or Macherano want to miss next season. As they know very well that Liverpool will be champion. They will be legend"
lfctorres (Liverpool fan)
"Looks like the Americans are here to stay and they might start investing in the club, maybe even start the new stadium. While I still wish they sell, at least they are showing their commitment to the club."
C0rnelius (Liverpool fan)
"crisis (Manchester United fan).
Save that for that old croak of a manager you have in AF. 2-3 seasons more before he retires. In the meantime, I'm sure, in the coming seasons, Rafa will make him regret not retiring sooner. Number 19, here we come! YNWA"
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