Liverpool get their £2million defender...
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Rafa Benitez has been left devastated after being told he has just £1.5million to spend by his club's American owners.
The Liverpool manager has struggled against budget constraints all summer because of the financial crisis at Anfield, and revealed a week ago he was in talks to try and extend his kitty.
Benitez wants a centre half to provide cover in a crucial position, with Daniel Agger suffering from a back problem, and he also would love to sign a wide player who can also operate as a stand in striker.
But after talks with the Yanks, he has been told there is only a miserly sum available - which will not even buy one player, never mind the two he desires.
It has left the Liverpool searching frantically around for a loan signing before the transfer window closes at the end of August, and he has sounded out several targets.
His first choice was Ryan Shawcross, but Stoke have laughed off the suggestion that they would let a defender important to them go out on loan for an entire Premier League season.
Benitez has also enquired about the Real Madrid centre half Ezequiel Garay, and he may have more joy in that direction, with the Spanish giants ready to consider a further loan period for the 22 year old.
Liverpool's Spanish boss was actually in the market for Garay a year ago, but was beaten to the punch by Madrid, who snapped up the Argentina international for £10million, and promptly loaned him back to his former club Racing Santander.
That loan period was up in June, but with the Bernabeu side signing Valencia centre half Raul Albiol in the summer they have no room in the squad for Garay and will consider another loan.
That will suit Benitez perfectly, because he knows that the frankly insulting £1.5million will do little more than pay the loan fee for a year.
Liverpool have been thrust into a desperate financial situation because the American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been hit by the worldwide credit crunch, which has reduced dramatically the value of their assets.
They were forced to go to the banks in July to extend loans they took out to buy the club for another year. Hicks and Gillett had extended their debt to around £360million, but were told by banks the RBS and Wachovia that it would have to be reduced.
The pair were asked to find around £60million, and that has come by cutting the Anfield transfer budget and diverting operating profits into repaying some of tyhe loans.
When Benitez negotiated a new contract back in April, he was offered guarantees that he would be given £20million to spend, plus the money from the sale of Robbie Keane to Spurs back in January.
That amounted to almost £38million, and the Spanish coach was also told that he could use any money he generated in the transfer market through sales.
But this summer he has raised more than £40million through the sale of Xabi Alonso, Sebastian Leto, Alvaro Arbeloa, Paul Anderson and Jack Hobbs.
Benitez has spent around £33million of that on signing Glen Johnson and the Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani, who was a direct replacement for Alonso.
But it means he has made a PROFIT in the transfer market in a summer which was widely perceived to be a massive one in the history of the club, given how close they were to becoming genuine title contenders.
The Anfield boss believed that he needed two more quality signings to allow his side to make the final step to becoming Champions, but instead he will now have to shop in the bargain basement for just one more addition to his squad.
He has also enquired about taking the Portsmouth defender Sylvain Distin on loan, but was again met with near incredulity by the South coast club.
What will have angered Benitez most is that he was in a position to sign the Spain international winger David Silva from Valencia, but then had to pull out of the deal because he didn't have the money to meet the £17million asking price.
The Reds manager has so far refrained from speaking out about the apparent u-turn on their word by the American owners, but he is known privately to be angry about the situation, and may not be able to resist a reaction in the coming days.
still talk about what David Villa or Silva ... my arse.
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£1.5million??
wtf??
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this is like the worse nightmare for LFC fans...haiz, hw the hell did we end up with this 2 jokers ah?they r becoming a laughing stock leh...
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Liverpool Owners Leave Rafael Benitez With Only £2m to Spend – Report
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has reportedly been told that he has only £2 million to spend before the transfer period comes to a close.
According to a report in The Mirror, the Reds' gaffer was in talks with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to enlarge the transfer kitty, but has been left red faced after being told that he will receive no more than the aforementioned sum to play with during the current transfer season.
Due to Daniel Agger's persisting back problem, 'Rafa' was reportedly looking to strengthen his side with some much need defensive cover by signing a centre-back. He was also said to be keen to sign a striker who could play wide, giving the Merseyside club more tactical options.
However, with the sum that the Spaniard has before him, he is unlikely to sign a single player on a permanent basis.
Owing to the lack of funding, the boss is reportedly keen to add a temporary fix to continue the 'Rafalution'.
The newspaper believes that the club's primary target was Ryan Shawcross, but Stoke City appear to be unwilling to let an important player go out on loan for the remainder of the season.
Meanwhile, the Anfield boss is said to be looking towards Real Madrid defender Ezequiel Garay, as he believes that the second coming of the Galacticos will have significantly reduced the chances of Argentine securing a spot in the first team.
Benitez has raised about €46.5m (£40m) owing to the sales of Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Jack Hobbs, Paul Anderson and Sebastian Leto. The former Valencia coach also raked in €14m (£12m) when he offloaded Robbie Keane during the previous transfer window.
The club's only significant acquisitions of the summer have been those of Glen Johnson from Portsmouth and Alberto Aquilani from Roma, totalling to an expenditure of about €38m (£33m). -
the yanks are like that what
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Actually can't blame the owners lah... They have already spent more than any of the other big 4 liao... And the world is still not out of a global financial crises... What more does Rafa want? Want so much money then go join Man City lah...
The real problem is he never promote youth players into the first team over the last 5 yrs he was there...
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Times are bad.
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haha, loaning Ryan Shawcross from Stoke ? I want to laugh off Rafa's advance too. It is like borrowing a frying wok from a mee goreng stall. :D
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2 million to buy what!?
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Originally posted by sand king:
2 million to buy what!?
buy Singapore's Daniel Bennett from SAF FC and Fathi Yunus from Tampines Rovers... 2 of our best defenders for 2 million. not a bad deal eh?
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Originally posted by novelltie:
buy Singapore's Daniel Bennett from SAF FC and Fathi Yunus from Tampines Rovers... 2 of our best defenders for 2 million. not a bad deal eh?
are you sure they are worth 2m? for me, they are not even worth 100k spent on both.
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i bet newcastle have more funds then 1.5m
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why do i have a feeling wenger is having a last laugh?
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Lol, i bet Portsmouth has more than that.
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i do not understand, top 4, purportly advance youth academy...
yet they can't even churnned outa single decent defender...
also when was the last youth academy player that really shone in the BPL...I can only recall Gerrad! Where's the talent??? Is Liverpool really doing enough to cultivate talent? or its only focusing on short term buying and selling?
what is Benitez doing? building a squad notwithstanding, a club needs to be managed right from its very foundations
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KYRGIAKOS ... lined up for Kop
LIVERPOOL have made a £2million swoop for AEK Athens centre-half Sotiris Kyrgiakos.
The defender is expected to travel to England in the next couple of days and will sign a three-year contract worth around £30,000 a week.
Kyrgiakos said: "This was the biggest challenge of my career. I'm sad to be leaving but Liverpool is one of the greatest clubs in Europe. I can't wait to start."
The 30-year-old played for Rangers for 18 months between 2005-6 and won a Scottish League and League Cup double in his first season at Ibrox.
He has 49 caps and four goals for Greece but missed their Euro 2004 glory through injury.
Rafa Benitez turned to the cut-price Greek after being priced out of a move for £12m-rated Athletic Bilbao ace Fernando Amorebieta.
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Originally posted by Louis dave36:
are you sure they are worth 2m? for me, they are not even worth 100k spent on both.
come on, lighten up. it was meant to be a joke but it will do good for Singapore's football. imagine 2 of our centre backs playing their trade in England and especially in Liverpool. woah, they will be single out every year by PM Lee for awards...
but seriously Bennett isn't all that bad...
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Originally posted by novelltie:
but seriously Bennett isn't all that bad...
not bad
but not good either
he headed the ball to... i don't remember who, and liverpool scored a goal.
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Originally posted by kopiosatu:
not bad
but not good either
he headed the ball to... i don't remember who, and liverpool scored a goal.
well, with a transfer kit of 1.5 million one cannot be spoilt for choice right? so take a gamble with Singapore's Bennett, you never know... he could be the next Tony Adams... (let's hold our hands together and pray)...
anyway the pool of Liverpool fans will increase tremendously and our Angel will earn more from pubs profits during weekends when Pool plays
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some of the players rafa sign this season are crazy.
glen johnson 18million? i think he worth less than half for fullbacks.
aqualini,hopefully injury free.
2million greek defenders of age 30? i tot rafa already has sketel, carragher, agger. hmmmm...kinda funny signing.
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Originally posted by reyes:
some of the players rafa sign this season are crazy.
glen johnson 18million? i think he worth less than half for fullbacks.
aqualini,hopefully injury free.
2million greek defenders of age 30? i tot rafa already has sketel, carragher, agger. hmmmm...kinda funny signing.
he is losing the plot... he's losing his mind... i don't blame him... management is stressful...
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I think Johnson too expensive already... and its really budget sia...2m.
wheres the Liverpool youngsters??? -
I guess last season's the best liverpool can ever get.
ccb i waiting so long to see ebank blakes play, but he injured.. -
Yeah, that Johnson is way way over priced liao... He kind of disappear on that right back area and allowed Modric to run freely and cross on the left... Pool were lucky Keane or rather Reina was in top form or they could have been down by more than one by half time... And the second goal, he totally let Bassong ran pass him without even putting in a challenge...