LFC Daily Update News & Rumours

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Liverpool plan new bid for Real Madrid's Heinze

Liverpool refuse to give up on landing Argentina international defender Gabriel Heinze.

Heinze saw a dream move to Anfield thwarted due to their tense relationship with Manchester United and ended up signing for Real Madrid in the summer.

The News of the World says Reds boss Rafa Benitez remains keen on bringing Heinze to Merseyside and will try again for the defender before the end of this season.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Masch link played down

Barcelona have moved to play down talk that they are set to make a bid for Liverpool's Javier Mascherano.

Sources at the Catalan giants have insisted that the Argentine is not currently on their list of targets.

It is believed that Mascherano was looked at last season by Barca, before he moved from West Ham to Liverpool.

"There exists no contact with the agents because the player is not on our list of objectives," the source said.


Javier Mascherano

Barca had been strongly linked with a bid for Mascherano - who has stated his desire to sign a new long-term deal at Anfield.

Source: Skysports

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Jose Reina could be a possible target for Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid is one of the Spanish clubs ready to find new players in the English market in January or next summer. He is still a young man at the age of 25, but Rafael Benitez might be tempted to let the player leave if Reina himself is interested in a return to La Liga.

[NJ10]

Cant see why Pepe would want to swap us for Atletico Madrid. He seems pretty settled in England, unlike others like Morientes & Cisse before him. The way he has been playing as well would mean he'd be very hard (and expensive) to replace.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Torres making good progress

Rafael Benitez today admitted Fernando Torres is making good progress towards being fit for Saturday's Merseyside derby.

The Spanish striker is working with the Reds' medical team after suffering an adductor injury which ruled him out of his country's Euro 2008 qualifier with Denmark at the weekend.

"He is much better and improving," said Benitez today. "At the moment though it is too early to say anything about the weekend.

"It's always a risk when a player has an injury and we have to be careful. He is back with us now and working with the physios."

Benitez also delivered positive injury bulletins for both Dirk Kuyt and Harry Kewell as they both set their sights on a place in the squad this weekend.

"Dirk did the warm-up this morning with us and hopefully he'll be okay for the Everton game.

"The news with Harry is very positive as he did the warm up as well. For him, though, it's too early to talk about the weekend."

Metatarsal victims Xabi Alonso and Daniel Agger are also continuing their recoveries, with Alonso able to do some light running this morning and Agger working in the gym.

Source: Liverpoolfc.tv: Official Web Site

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Yossi Benayoun has returned back to Melwood early from international duty with Israel. Yossi was allowed to leave the training camp because Israel have no midweek fixture and are now unable to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Dirk Kuyt will be fit for the derby. Dirk will miss Holland's game with Slovenia tonight but will be fit for Saturday's game at Everton.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Rafa Benitez is set to open a can of worms by making a January bid for Real Madrid defender Gabriel Heinze. Benitez lost out on signing the Argentine from Manchester United during the summer with Sir Alex Ferguson refusing to sell the player to their close Premiership rivals. This led to Heinze making the switch to the Spanish Giants. However the Liverpool boss is determined to land his man and will launch a new bid for the player in January.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Xabi Alonso is still hopeful of being passed fit in time for the derby. Alonso is currently rated 50-50 to be fit in time for Saturday's game at Everton following a metatarsal injury but he is hoping to be ready to face the Blues.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Liverpool's home game against Bolton has been put back 24 hours. The Reds were due to welcome Bolton to Anfield on Saturday, December 1st but the game has been put back to Sunday, December 2nd because of the Trotters' involvement in the UEFA Cup.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez says England striker Peter Crouch is not for sale. Crouch has been linked with a January switch to Manchester City after slipping down the pecking order at Liverpool since the arrivals of Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin.

But Benitez insists: "People have been talking about Peter Crouch for two months, but he is our player and we don't want to sell him.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

A return to Liverpool could be on for former Bolton Wanderers manager Sammy Lee. The Daily Mail says Lee remains highly regarded as a coach at Liverpool, where Rafa Benitez is a man short, and within the FA, who are likely to offer a role to the former England coach and No 2.

[kennethlindheim]

I think Sammy Lee will take some time to re-evaluate himself before he gets back into the coaching business because he has basically undone all Big Sam's hard work in Bolton to be such an efficient, competitive team, literally taken them from UEFA Cup to relegation candidate in the short time he's been the boss.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Liverpool are reported to have joined the race to sign highly-rated Danish teenager Simon Kjaer. The 18-year-old defender, currently with FC Midtyjlland, has been linked with Middlesbrough and a number of clubs across Europe. Rafael Benitez is now believed to have sent his scouts to Denmark and is said to have been impressed by their reports.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Sissoko wants to leave Liverpool

Momo Sissoko wants to leave Liverpool in January.

The Mali midfielder has told friends he regrets turning down a move to Juventus in the summer after being persuaded by manager Rafa Benitez to sign a four-year contract.


Momo Sissoko

Since then, 22-year-old Sissoko has endured a miserable time, with his opportunities limited by the form of Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano and Steve Gerrard's move to central midfield.

But Benitez is notoriously reluctant to let players go until he gets a replacement and the new contract means Liverpool will put an £8 million price tag on Sissoko.

Source: The Daily Mail