Yossi Benayoun may be sold to raise cash
Jun 24 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post
LIVERPOOL will consider cashing in on Yossi Benayoun if they receive any concrete offers.
The Israeli playmaker, bought for £5million from West Ham last summer, has not previously been on the list of players manager Rafael Benitez is looking to offload as he continues to seek the funds that will land him his targets.
But with Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp admitting an interest, while also expressing doubts over raising the necessary cash to take striker Peter Crouch from Anfield, Liverpool’s hand could be forced.
Benitez would prefer to retain Benayoun as a useful squad member as the player is happy on Merseyside despite his apparent lack of first team opportunities.
He recently said: “There are three or four clubs in England willing to buy me after the season I have just had.
“But I want to stay at Liverpool until the end of my career.”
He did play in 30 Premier League games last season but started in only half of those, while his biggest impact came in the Champions League group stages when he scored a hat-trick in the 8-0 win over Besiktas.
He also hit a treble in the FA Cup win over Havant & Waterlooville but generally found it difficult to force his way into Benitez’s preferred attacking formation for much of the campaign.
Bids of £6m would be well within range of the likes of Portsmouth and other reported potential suitors such as Manchester City and Middlesbrough.
And with Benitez’s attempts to raise money from other squad members currently stalling, any hope of snaring enough cash to bring in both Gareth Barry and David Silva could rest on what they would be able to get for Benayoun.
No headway has been made in negotiations to agree a fee with Aston Villa for Scott Carson, while Liverpool have still to reach the Midlands side’s £18m valuation of their captain Barry.
Juventus are expected to make their move for Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso after both the club and the player hinted they wanted a deal to be done.
But even the minimum £10m Benitez hoped to get for Crouch could be in jeopardy after Portsmouth manager Redknapp admitted he is cooling to the idea of bringing the striker back to Fratton Park.
But he did admit an interest in Benayoun despite bringing in winger Glen Little from Reading, albeit on a free transfer, last week.
Redknapp said: “Of course I’d like to have someone like Yossi Benayoun.
“He’s a top player. I don’t know what the chances are of getting him out of Liverpool.
“It’s known I like Crouchie, too. But it doesn’t look like anything is happening there. I think Liverpool want a bit too much money for him.
“If that’s the case then we’ll move on to the next option.”
Liverpool have added another friendly to their pre-season programme by confirming a game against Norwegian side Valerengen in Oslo on August 5 (6pm).
Liverpool’s confirmed friendlies are: July 12 v Tranmere (a); July 16 v FC Lucerne (Grenchen); July 19 v Wisla Krakow (Friborg); July 22 v Hertha Berlin (Berlin); July 30 v Villarreal (Villarreal); August 2 v Rangers (a); August 5 v Valerengen (Oslo).
Jun 24 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post
LIVERPOOL will consider cashing in on Yossi Benayoun if they receive any concrete offers.
The Israeli playmaker, bought for £5million from West Ham last summer, has not previously been on the list of players manager Rafael Benitez is looking to offload as he continues to seek the funds that will land him his targets.
But with Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp admitting an interest, while also expressing doubts over raising the necessary cash to take striker Peter Crouch from Anfield, Liverpool’s hand could be forced.
Benitez would prefer to retain Benayoun as a useful squad member as the player is happy on Merseyside despite his apparent lack of first team opportunities.
He recently said: “There are three or four clubs in England willing to buy me after the season I have just had.
“But I want to stay at Liverpool until the end of my career.”
He did play in 30 Premier League games last season but started in only half of those, while his biggest impact came in the Champions League group stages when he scored a hat-trick in the 8-0 win over Besiktas.
He also hit a treble in the FA Cup win over Havant & Waterlooville but generally found it difficult to force his way into Benitez’s preferred attacking formation for much of the campaign.
Bids of £6m would be well within range of the likes of Portsmouth and other reported potential suitors such as Manchester City and Middlesbrough.
And with Benitez’s attempts to raise money from other squad members currently stalling, any hope of snaring enough cash to bring in both Gareth Barry and David Silva could rest on what they would be able to get for Benayoun.
No headway has been made in negotiations to agree a fee with Aston Villa for Scott Carson, while Liverpool have still to reach the Midlands side’s £18m valuation of their captain Barry.
Juventus are expected to make their move for Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso after both the club and the player hinted they wanted a deal to be done.
But even the minimum £10m Benitez hoped to get for Crouch could be in jeopardy after Portsmouth manager Redknapp admitted he is cooling to the idea of bringing the striker back to Fratton Park.
But he did admit an interest in Benayoun despite bringing in winger Glen Little from Reading, albeit on a free transfer, last week.
Redknapp said: “Of course I’d like to have someone like Yossi Benayoun.
“He’s a top player. I don’t know what the chances are of getting him out of Liverpool.
“It’s known I like Crouchie, too. But it doesn’t look like anything is happening there. I think Liverpool want a bit too much money for him.
“If that’s the case then we’ll move on to the next option.”
Liverpool have added another friendly to their pre-season programme by confirming a game against Norwegian side Valerengen in Oslo on August 5 (6pm).
Liverpool’s confirmed friendlies are: July 12 v Tranmere (a); July 16 v FC Lucerne (Grenchen); July 19 v Wisla Krakow (Friborg); July 22 v Hertha Berlin (Berlin); July 30 v Villarreal (Villarreal); August 2 v Rangers (a); August 5 v Valerengen (Oslo).
No comments:
Post a Comment