Liverpool Tell Mascherano: You're Staying - Report
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Liverpool Tell Mascherano: You're Staying - Report
The Argentine midfielder has apparently had his future forcefully spelled out to him...
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez will tell Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano that he will not be allowed to leave Anfield when the team reconvene for their pre-season preparations this week.
Rumours that the player was seeking a move gathered pace over the weekend, with a Daily Mail report on Sunday suggesting that the Reds were about to offer him a lucrative new contract, tripling his current wages, in order to tempt him to stay.
His wife was reported to be unhappy in England, and Barcelona were apparently lurking with intent, hoping to tempt the anchorman with the prospect of a move to Catalunya.
A report in today's Liverpool Echo, though, intimates that he will be told that he has no option but to stay on Merseyside, with Benitez informing reporters that both Mascherano and Xabi Alonso "owed" the club for the part it had played in reigniting their respective careers.
The report also states that there are no plans to offer the player an improved deal, as he is only 18 months into the four-year contract he was awarded in February 2008.
Benitez is believed to be hoping to motivate the player to stay with the prospect of glory at Anfield, and an offer of a new contract will only be forthcoming once he has affirmed his loyalty to the Reds once again. -
Alonso can go if the price is right but not Mascherano...he is too important for Liverpool.