Transfers - Gossip Shop: Rafa's shopping list

Eurosport - Tue, 28 Apr 23:20:00 2009

Rafael Benitez has admitted Liverpool may have to sell players if they are to get all their transfer targets this summer, but where would the changes be made?

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Valencia Silva Villa - 0

Central defence: Liverpool are solid in this position but Sami Hyypia (free) is not getting any younger and Daniel Agger (£10million) is seriously considering a move to Italy. Raul Albiol of Valencia (£8m) is the primary target. He is only 23, good in the air and - importantly for Benitez - Spanish. Fulham stopper Brede Hangeland (£10m) is also an option after his player-of-the-season display this campaign.

Full-back: This is Liverpool's problem position. Fabio Aurelio is a wizard with the dead ball but his defending is suspect and he appears more useful in midfield. Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen have failed to live up to their billing, the former on account of inconsistency and the latter due to constant injury problems. Dossena would be sold for around £6.5m and Degen half that. Portsmouth and England attacking right-back Glen Johnson (£8m) is tipped with a move north.

Central midfield: Benitez is still keen on Aston Villa's Gareth Barry (£18m), although a bid for the England midfielder would seem somewhat extravagant as the Reds are blessed with Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano in this department. He could offload Lucas but Yossi Benayoun's big-game mentality means he is likely to be offered a new contract.

Wingers: Albert Riera has been excellent for Liverpool but the right side of midfield is still somewhat understaffed, with Dirk Kuyt the only real option and Benayoun more effective through the middle. Tottenham Hotspur's Aaron Lennon and Valencia star David Silva would cost around £15m and £20m respectively, so impact-sub Ryan Babel's time at Anfield could be up. He would fetch in the region of £10m.

Strikers: The cautionary tale of Robbie Keane makes it hard to see how a big-name striker will fit in alongside Fernando Torres, with Benitez preferring to use Gerrard as a withdrawn forward. Valencia are broke and could accept around £20m for David Villa or less if bought as a package with Silva, but Villa is unlikely to want to play second fiddle to his international team-mate. Andriy Voronin - currently impressing on loan at Hertha Berlin - would raise around £5m while David N'Gog could be sent away on loan.

GS reckons Benitez should calm down on the tinkering, though. Liverpool have got as close as ever to Manchester United and surely only a couple of tweaks in defence is necessary for a team that already ranks among the top five in Europe?

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Spurs midfielder Didier Zokora has dropped a bombshell by telling boss Harry Redknapp to play him or lose him after he was left on the bench for the 5-2 Premier League defeat to Manchester United.

The Ivorian, 28, was quoted as saying by the Mirror that "the World Cup is in June 2010 and I can't sit on the bench if I want to be in the Ivorian squad.

"I am working hard to impress and get back in the team. I would like to finish the season on a high but it is hard for me after being dropped."

He could return to France with Lyon, Marseille and PSG interested, but a move to Italy (Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio) or Spain (Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla) is as likely.

Middlesbrough flop Afonso Alves is set to leave the Riverside in the summer whether Boro stay up or not.

The burly Brazilian has a less than impressive strike rate of one goal in four appearances, a poor return on the £12.7m he cost when he signed from Heerenveen.

The 28-year-old will cost around £6m, with Benfica the most likely destination.

Swansea striker Jason Scotland said that he is expecting to move to a Premier League club in the summer, which has put several clubs on red alert.

Fulham were impressed by the Trinidad and Tobago hit-man, 30, when he scored twice in their two FA Cup clashes this season.

Middlesbrough are also reported to be keen, although with it looking less and less likely that they will be in the top flight next season that move seems almost pointless.

With the big clubs sniffing around towering centre-half Hangeland, Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is already sounding out replacements in his beloved Scandinavia.

Lillestrom defender Havard Nordtveit and Rosenborg stopper Vadim Demidov are reported to have been scouted by the former Internzionale manager on a recent trip to Norway.

GS readers will be familiar with the 18-year-old U21 international Nordtveit as he is on loan from Arsenal, who he joined last season. Any move for him would be as part of a £10m package for Hangeland's move to the other end of the Picadilly line.

Latvian born to Russian parents, the 22-year-old Demidov is perhaps less well known, despite making his Norway debut earlier this season. He would cost around £2m.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 136 - 155 of 155

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  1. Rafa should buy tevez, eto'o and david silva

    From Simachew, on Tue 26 May 3:26PM

  2. Rafael Benítez, must sell Ryan Babel, Lucas, Krisztián­ Németh & Andriy Voronin.

    List of should­ buy&bring to Liverpool fc for next season are ;-­

    Matthew Upson
    Per Mertesacker
    Sergio Ramos
    Raúl­ Albiol
    Brede Hangeland
    Alexis
    Glen Johnson
    David­ Silva
    Tom Huddlestone
    Miguel Veloso
    Yaya Touré
    Gareth­ Barry
    Bastian Schweinsteiger
    Michael Owen
    Ashley­ Young
    Sergio Agüero
    Lionel Messi
    Álvaro­ Negredo
    Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
    Nicolas Anelka

    From obiwan_242, on Tue 12 May 8:49PM

  3. Too many, too much. it aint going to happen. I hope­ Mascherano goes no where though. Riera has been one of­ our brightest players this year and the width given by­ him and Kuyt has made us look very good on the wings. I­ honestly don't think we need a lot. Maybe better­ strength in depth. Lucas needs to keep improving, but­ hes a youngster, hes got time. We need a replacemnt for­ Hypia and another striker that is all. aurelio is not a­ bad player either, hes made a few mistakes, but saved­ our @#$% to. The problem with this position is not­ replacing him with somebody worse he would have to be­ accustomed to the premier league and there arnt (m)any­ around.

    From TheFootballOracle, on Fri 8 May 2:13PM

  4. come on guys lets be honest liverpool wont sign ribery­ or ramos. BUT liverpool could sign villa. tevez could­ also be an option IF we fail to sign villa, tevez will­ be a good replacement then we get the money from­ agger,voronin,lucas and bable with the 30m rafa gets­ automaticly to sign villa and silva :)

    From ellis.trish, on Fri 1 May 9:34PM

  5. SERGIO RAMOS WILL SUIT LIVERPOOL LIVERPOOL IS LIKE A­ SPAINISH TEAM THEY GOT LOTS OF SPAINISH PLAYERS... REAL­ MADRID THEY HAVE LOTS OF HOLLAND PLAYERS

    From Ademola, on Fri 1 May 2:26AM

  6. if i was him i would try get david silva david villa­ downing aron lennon tevez hangeland and raul b...­
    some1 to help gerrard in midfield like senna or steven­ ireland

    From Ademola, on Fri 1 May 2:24AM

  7. buy the player the best one like david silva.aaron­ lennon.david villa.raul albiol.glen jhonsson.carlos­ teves.so our team are the best team.

    From Mathewslawrence, on Thu 30 Apr 10:32AM

  8. i think rafa should bring this player..

    sergio­ ramos/glen johnson/cassani-right back
    agger is a good­ player and have the quality.
    he look good play at­ leftback position.. please keep this player.
    insua is­ good lefback player.. good crossing. he young and must­ give him change to play in first team.. maybe insua­ become a star at anfield.

    centre defender- raul­ albiol/zapata/

    midfielder-­ montolivo/barry/banega/lulinha/moutinho/miguel­ veloso

    left midfielder- silva/yury zhirkov/asley­ young/stewart downing/capel

    right midfielder-­ navas/pedro leon/ribery/milner/quaresma

    striker-­ balotelli/owen/villa/zarate/higuin

    please sell this­ player

    arbeloa
    degen
    aurelio
    dossena
    lucas
    reira­
    voronin
    benayoun
    babel
    pennant
    plesis
    nabil el­ zhar

    dont sell xabi alonso!!!!

    From ayieTorreS, on Thu 30 Apr 5:58AM

  9. pity to babel..still young..he can play front with­ torres..good for liverpool if can get player like eto­ or aguero and of course d.villa..midfield is good­ enough..already hav­ gerard,alonso,mascherano,kuyt,benayoun,riera,lucas..if­ silva come,what happen to riera??no job at all..i think­ diego (bremen) is better than barry..he more young than­ barry..liverpool should focus on defender..give more­ chance agger to play..good in dribling and­ shooting..liv should hav right and left back that can­ make good overlapping like marcelo and sergio ramos..

    From koquro, on Wed 29 Apr 7:07PM

  10. my version

    silva 20m
    tevez 10m after 2year­ loan
    messi 40m plus agger or pennant their intrested­ in them
    albiol 5m
    moutinho 9m

    From JOSH WALDRON LFC 4EVVVVVVVVVVAAAAAAAAAAAA, on Wed 29 Apr 6:58PM

  11. FFS im sick of liverpool buying every spainish player­ in the world its an engilsh league no wounder we have a­ rubbish nation side.

    and man u need to sell berb his­ 30m worth of @#$%.. sell berb fergie :)

    From Kyle, on Wed 29 Apr 6:50PM

  12. benitez do not buy barry buy villa and tevez and keep a­ voronin sell lucas

    From fayjohn7396, on Wed 29 Apr 4:44PM

  13. Sell Kuyt, soooo slow
    We need a New striker, New right­ mid and New left mid

    David Villa/ Tevez
    David­ Silva
    Ribery/ Navas/ Sneijder

    From Wongy, on Wed 29 Apr 4:35PM

  14. i read on the gossip column this morning that rafa has­ to sell some players to get money to buy new ones. well­ to that i can only say DO NOT SELL GERRARD, DO NOT SELL­ TORRES, DO NOT SELL DIRK KUYT AND DO NOT SELL REINA

    From smiley123, on Wed 29 Apr 4:10PM

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    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    ALL MATCHES ON­ INTERNET: PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP,­ CARLING CUP, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP AND MUCH MORE

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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Wed 29 Apr 11:27AM

  16. stastic show that each game, liverpool will get more­ corner than others team but don't want to utilies­ it. why?

    From HELMI, on Wed 29 Apr 8:50AM

  17. Are Liverpool turning into the new Spanish side.

    From darkfury18, on Wed 29 Apr 8:14AM

  18. Ronaldo probably wouldn't even consider going to­ Liverpool
    Thats one of the silliest things i've­ read today.

    From darkfury18, on Wed 29 Apr 8:13AM

  19. he didnt even think to use young england talend on­ academy to replace old one ?rafa shoping like a­ girl..buy high class cosmetic..no effect...sell­ it...lol

    From Addy N, on Wed 29 Apr 7:53AM

  20. RONALDO SHOUD GO TO LIVERPOOL SO TAKE THAT FOLKS WHO­ SUPPORT MANCHESTER UTD OR BURNLEY

    From Zara, on Wed 29 Apr 7:44AM
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