Benitez: Mascherano going nowhere

Fri, 01 May 18:05:54 2009

Rafael Benitez revealed Argentina captain Javier Mascherano has turned down an approach by an unnamed club for his services.

Mascherano is only 15 months into a four-year contract, but Benitez on Friday held talks with him following the midfielder's own claims that he was unsure about his own future on Merseyside.

Benitez said: "Javier is happy here with the fans, the club and the manager. I have had a very positive conversation with him. He has already said no to one club, a good side. He wants to stay but he cannot stop big clubs asking about him."

Benitez refused to name the club concerned but it is understood the approach did not come from either Italy or Spain.

That suggests a British club could be involved because it is unlikely that a club from anywhere else could match the player's wages or likely fee.

He added: "If you are a top-class player, people are always asking about you. They will know if there are four or five big clubs asking for them and the player would be proud of that.

"He has tried to be polite and correct. Now I have had a conversation with him and it was very clear he wants to continue to play for us. I do not see this as a big problem.

"The conversation with him was very honest and he was very clear about things. These things happen always in football, clubs all around the world will work like this. It is just part of the situation that exists at the top level.

"You just have to handle it and work with the situation when it arises. Clearly we do not want to lose key players. Players like Mascherano and Xabi Alonso have long contracts so we are in a strong position, while we are very close now to sorting out Daniel Agger's position here.

"He wants to stay and maybe we will soon have a solution to that problem because Danny is a player with a big future here."

 

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  1. We thank God Reina has not had any injury this season­ and we have forgotten we need an assistant good­ keeper.While looking forward to sell Lucas,try­ Arbeloa/Babel till Jan transfer,we need an excellent­ keeper 'in case' Reina has a problem.We should­ still buy Barry if the price is not that much 18K so­ that our rotation theory(if any) wont make us to lose­ points to the likes of Stoke,Hull etc next season

    From Michael, on Sat 2 May 12:08PM

  2. Aurelio/Insua LB Arbeloa/Johnson RB­ Agger/Skrtel/Carra/Hyypia CB Riera/Dossena LW­ Alonso/Mascherano/Lucas(He will get better) CM­ Kuyt/Benayoun RW Gerrard/ Torres strikers (sell Babel­ get cover for Torres) almost complete just a little­ tweaking needed

    From ned n, on Sat 2 May 11:34AM

  3. rafa is inteligent. very much superior to idiot alex­ (saf)

    From hanuman340, on Sat 2 May 9:38AM

  4. in 5 years rafa have done tremendous improvement to­ lfc. during the same period alex, wengaer have not done­ the same progress despite their vast experience. this­ shows that rafa is very clever compared to the other­ two. esp the idiot alex.

    From hanuman340, on Sat 2 May 9:37AM

  5. rafa is inteligent. very much superior to idiot alex­ (saf)

    From hanuman340, on Sat 2 May 9:35AM

  6. MOST PROBABLY ITS RAFFA TALKING @#$% AGAIN ,,,,,,TRYING­ TO MAKE HIMSELF LOOK GOOD ,,,,AS HE HAS WON NOTHING­ AGAIN ,SO ALL HE CAN TALK ABOUT HIS HIS PLAYERS HE­ WANTS TO KEEP,,,,WHEN IT GETS TOUGH RAFFA BOTTLES IT­ ,,,LIVERPOOL HAD THE BEST SEASON FOR A LONG TIME AND IN­ CERTAIN GAMES HE SHOWED NO BOTTLE ,,,HENCE LOSS OF BIG­ POINTS ,,HE CANT HANDLE BEING IN MORE THAN ONE­ COMPITION,,,,HE IS LIVERPOOLS WEAK LINK

    From Chris, on Sat 2 May 1:20AM

  7. Alan's right on every point there, in particular­ regarding Insua. We moan that no-one comes through­ from the reserves any more, then we unearth a little­ gem like Insua and people suggest he's not good­ enough. He's probably been the most consistent LB­ we've used this season and he's only a kid with­ masses of potential. We'd be insane to spend big­ money on a LB at the expense of first team­ opportunities for him.

    As for Bale, forget it -­ he'd cost a lot because Spurs paid a lot for him­ relatively speaking and although at his best he's­ good going forward, he's about as much use­ defensively as Dossena. We've already wasted more­ money than we got for Riise on Dossena and there are­ other positions that we need to spend the money­ on.

    Also, the bid was surely from City. Mascherano­ cost us over £20m and has over two years left on his­ contract which equals a big fee. United have got more­ sense than to be approaching us for a player like­ Mascherano (Ferguson seems to be stumbling over­ opportunities to embarrass himself these days without­ actively seeking them out) and I can't see Chelsea­ enquirinhg about him without it being all over the­ papers, it's what they do and there's no way­ Wenger would spend the money.

    Unless O'Neill­ thought he could swap Barry for him, City are the only­ feasible alternative.

    From Andy Jones, on Fri 1 May 11:42PM

  8. half of you havent got a bloody clue , lucas is only a­ young lad give him a chance , and as for gareth bale­ are you having a laugh the lad is @#$% he cant even get­ a game at spurs so why do we need him we have insua for­ that area, and also the idiot saying we should push­ gerrard into midfield instead of using him were he is i­ am guessing you dont even watch liverpool play .

    From alan, on Fri 1 May 11:21PM

  9. what liverpool need is a decent left back. gareth bale­ would be good for liverpool.

    From Raimo K, on Fri 1 May 11:06PM

  10. wat liverpool realy need now is either another good­ striker so gerrard can back 2 midfield or if he gonna­ stay up front then bring in a good midfielder like­ barry to cover his old position but if they keep playin­ like this they are totaly gona win the title next year

    From dumgaz, on Fri 1 May 7:44PM

  11. lucas is the one rafa needs to off-load

    From EDDIE O, on Fri 1 May 7:33PM

  12. as a liverpool fan for nearly 40 years and have seen­ highs and lows with javier staying we need to get rid­ of lucas he hasnt shown us what he was capable of so­ now its time for him to hang up his scouse boots and­ leave merseyside for good .

    From moley44, on Fri 1 May 7:03PM

  13. okay then mascherano is stayin but there going to have­ to sell someone if they want to buy some more players­ either that or ask the owners or go fundraising which­ is unlikely so yeh liverpool your going to have to sell­ someone i just hope rafa makes the right decisions so­ your team will go very far and win the league this year­ and next year

    From smiley123, on Fri 1 May 6:09PM

  14. mascherano is better than jong+kompany

    From popofierce, on Fri 1 May 5:45PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    city don't need him we have jong and kompany

    From emma o, on Fri 1 May 5:23PM

  16. Should we keep Tommy? Only if his passing gets better,­ I like him as a tenacious little begger but i feel he­ could be so much more when it comes to attacking.

    From stubateman13, on Fri 1 May 5:13PM

  17. would be city ..

    From abc a, on Fri 1 May 5:09PM
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