GWistooshort

Ancelotti has said he won't go for Torres.................. Sunday Mirror Man City to launch cut-price £40million raid for Fernando Torres - Exclusive By Simon Mullock Manchester City will attempt to cash in on the chaos at Liverpool by offering the Merseyside club £40million for Fernando Torres. While Anfield boss Rafa ­Benitez appears to be ready to perform a dramatic U-turn by rejecting an offer from ­Juventus and committing himself to Liverpool, Torres’s future remains in the balance. Despite assurances from new chairman Martin Broughton that he doesn’t need to sell the Spanish ­striker to service the club’s £351m debts, City are still ready to weigh in with a bid for Torres which falls £20m short of ­Liverpool’s valuation. City’s Abu Dhabi owners ­believe their chances of ­landing the 26-year-old ­forward are high after Carlo Ancelotti ruled Chelsea out of making a move. Ancelotti said: “Torres is a fantastic player, but comes with a very expensive price tag. I won’t go for him in the summer because, with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in the squad, it’s difficult to think about signing him.” City have been given ­encouragement by Torres’s ­advisers to test Liverpool’s resolve to keep their star. Despite suffering the bitter disappointment of missing out on qualifying for next season’s Champions League, that won’t prevent them from launching a bid to bring in the world superstar they crave. City may even offer Torres a clause in a £200,000-a-week contract that would give him an escape route after just 12 months if they once again fail to qualify for Europe’s top club competition. After giving Roberto ­Mancini assurances about his future, City’s owners are now going to hand the Italian as much money as he wants to build a Premier League-winning side. Ironically, City’s quest for Torres could be helped by ­Benitez’s failure to agree a deal to quit for Juventus. The Turin club were willing to offer the Spaniard a £4m-a-year contract and a £5m signing-on fee. But the initial deal stalled over Benitez’s reluctance to walk out on Liverpool without guarantees that he would be given full control over ­transfers and appointments to his back-room staff. And after giving Benitez until tomorrow to make a decision, ­Juventus are ready to look to bring back former player and coach Didier Deschamps from Marseille after being hit by a compensation ­demand from Liverpool ­believed to be £10m. A source close to the Italian club said: “Juventus feel they have gone as far as they can to bring Benitez to Italy. “The latest obstacle is ­compensation. Time is ­starting to run out.” Liverpool believe Juve’s bid to prise Benitez away has been driven by his agent, Manuel Garcia Quilon. The Spaniard has four years left on his contract and it would have cost co-owners Tom Hicks and George ­Gillett £16million to sack him. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Manchester-City-poised-to-launch-cut-price-40million-raid-for-Liverpool-star-Fernando-Torres-Exclusive-article418463.html

Excellent - I've missed Xabi's goals from the half-way line Has he had a good season at Bilbao then?

Depends what the process is - maybe all offers have to go before the board Purslow, Nash & Ayre are on the board as well as Hicks & Gillet & possibly 1 other rep for each of Hicks & Gillet (Casey Coffman replaced Tom HIcks Jnr in Jan, but she may have left Hicks' employ since, & Foster Gillet) so they may be able to be out-voted

I expect £60m of it was used to pay down the debt to RBS & Wachovia as demanded by the banks as a condition of re-financing

At 31 July 2009 we owed almost £482m in total, of which £472.5m was due within 1 year & £9.4m was due after more than 1 year. This has increased from £443.5m owed in total at 31 July 2008, of which £421.6m was due within 1 year & £21.8m was due after more than 1 year. The two major parts of our debt are £234m owed to the banks, down from £261.6m owed at 31 July 2008, & £144.4m owed to Kop Footbal (Cayman) Ltd ie Hicks & Gillet, up from £58.2m at 31 July 2008. The interest rate on the loan from Kop Football is 10% & we owe £8.1m in unpaid interest, up from £2.4m at 31 July 2008. We also owe Hicks & Gillet £0.5m in unpaid expenses (Hcks £215,000 & Gillet £300,000), up from £0.36m at 31 July 2008. Our credit facility with RBS & Wachovia is up to £297m, of which £110m is secured by letters of credit & personal guarantees by Hicks & Gillet & £187m is secured by the assets of the club. The interest rate is LIBOR + 5%. As of 31 January 2010 we had utilised £250m of this credit facility. The rest of the debt is made up of £35.5m to trade creditors, £28.2m of deferred income, £15.9m of accurals & £13.8m to taxation & social security plus a few smaller items. It is important to remember that these accounts are up to 31 July 2009 so they are 9 months old. The detail is mainly under note 17 of the accounts on pages 24-25 of the printed document or pages 26-27 of the pdf

This puzzles me The accounts say "Aquisitions to the playing staff since the year end are Aquilani and Kyrgiakos for total guaranteed fees of £20.4m." Accordng to Roma's statement to the Italian stock exchange (www.asroma.it/UserFiles/988.pdf), which I assume to be correct, we agreed fee of 20m euros (£17.2m at current exchange rates) for Aquilani, with various potential add ons payable on number of appearances, Champions League qualification & winning the Champions League or Premier League, none of which have been triggered yet If the "total guaranteed fee" for Aquilani is £17.2m, that means we paid £3.2m + any add ons for Kyrgiakos, which is some way from the £1.5m widely reported at the time It's interesting that Johnson isn't included although he is mentioned under "Future Developments" on page 4

The Times is saying the same thing today The Times May 8, 2010 Real standing by with deal to sign Steven Gerrard Matt Dickinson Steven Gerrard will be offered a chance to escape Liverpool’s problems with a summer move to Real Madrid. José Mourinho is expected to take charge at the Bernabéu this summer, and he wants the England player as his first big signing. Real are willing to pay about £30 million for the Liverpool captain, who turns 30 this month. They are hopeful of exploiting the uncertainty at Anfield, with the position of Rafael Benítez, the manager, unresolved and an ever-changing cast in the boardroom. Gerrard is disillusioned with developments this season and it will almost certainly take a change of manager to convince him that the club are striding forward. Roy Hodgson, after his success with Fulham, and Martin O’Neill, the Aston Villa manager, are among those who would be in contention should Benítez walk away, or Liverpool sack him. A move abroad would represent a huge upheaval for a player who has lived on Merseyside all his life, and Gerrard is not actively seeking a move. But Madrid will become a very tempting destination if Liverpool fail to quell the concerns of senior players, including Fernando Torres as well as Gerrard. Martin Broughton, the club’s chairman, sought yesterday to reassure the supporters that the club would fight to keep their star names despite interest in Torres from Manchester City and Chelsea, who are said to be willing to table a £70 million bid. “There’s absolutely no reason to sell either Torres or Gerrard,” Broughton said. “I don’t want to sell either of them; Rafa doesn’t want to sell them. We don’t need to do it to pay off any debt.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7120091.ece

Mancini has said again yesterday that Man City will try to buy Torres this summer.................... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/07/roberto-mancini-carlos-tevez-city

So Hicks Gillet reduced the club's debt to RBS/Wachovia by £60m by increasing the club's debt to themselves by £86m

From the BBC story on the accounts.............. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8668320.stm

Welease Wafa???

Phil Thompson speaks out................

From the Sky Sports website................ Europe could decide Kjaer fate Premier League target still courts transfer to "great team" By Simone Bargellini 6 May 2010 Palermo defender Simon Kjaer says he will remain at the club - as long as they qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Delio Rossi's side are chasing the fourth European place in Serie A and currently sit fifth with two games remaining. They trail fourth placed Sampdoria by two points and overturning that deficit could prove crucial in determining the future of the promising 21-year-old. The two sides meet in a crunch encounter on Sunday in a game that could go a long way to deciding who finishes fourth. Kjaer, a Danish international, has been linked with Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City in recent months, with the stopper expected to leave the Stadio Renzo Barbera at the end of the current campaign. But the sought after centre back says reaching the qualifying stages of the Champions League with his current employers could see him stay put - despite strong links to a move away from Italian shores. Kjaer told reporters: "My future? I want to play in the Champions League. If we achieve the fourth place, I have no reason to leave Palermo. "I still have three years of the contract (left), then it all depends on the president (Maurizio) Zamparini. Later I'd like to play in a great team but now I'm only thinking about Palermo. "Juventus? In this season they haven't done well, but it remains a great club with a great history." http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11865_6137759,00.html

From Rory Smith in thi morning's Daily Telegraph......... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7687308/Jamie-Carragher-wants-to-end-his-career-at-Liverpool.html

Maddock in the Mirror today has Real Madrid after Gerrard for £30m

Here's the latest from them................. Fernando Torres: If Rafa Benitez is too slow, I'll leave Liverpool (for £70million) By John Edwards Fernando Torres was anxiously awaiting news of Rafa Benitez’s meeting with Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton last night after deciding he wants his uncertain Anfield future resolved in the next week. Liverpool’s record £21million signing is in demand after it became clear Anfield bosses may have to cash in on him, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona all waiting for any encouragement to open a bidding war that could send the fee soaring to £70m. While Benitez presented his argument to Broughton over why any proceeds should go towards strengthening his squad, rather than servicing the club’s debt, Torres was agonising over his next move. Alarmed at the way Liverpool’s campaign has petered out and left them lagging behind their main rivals, he wants answers on whether Benitez is staying and evidence of a strategy to guard against any repeat of this season’s failings. Eager to avoid any unwanted distractions ahead of next month’s World Cup, he has made it clear he needs to know Liverpool’s intentions before he leaves Merseyside next week, in readiness for linking up with the Spain squad. He may be prepared to tolerate one more season without Champions League football but is ready to move on, should Liverpool deem a £70m offer too good to turn down. Chelsea remain keen, as revealed in Sportsmail earlier this week, though City’s hopes appear to have been dashed by the 1-0 defeat by Tottenham. Liverpool issued a statement last night that appeared to cast further doubt on the prospects of Benitez leaving to take over at Juventus. It claimed the talks, attended by managing director Christian Purslow as well as Broughton and Benitez, had been ‘constructive’ but added it was only the first of a series of planned meetings. With Juventus wanting an answer from the Liverpool boss by the start of next week, they may finally abandon their pursuit of him and turn to alternative targets, such as Fiorentina’s Cesare Prandelli. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1274073/Fernando-Torres-If-Rafa-Benitez-slow-Ill-leave-Liverpool-70million.html

Carra says he wants to stay Jamie sets record straight 6th May 2010 Jamie Carragher insists he is eager to commit his future to Liverpool - despite some press reports to the contrary. The Reds vice-captain was quoted in a national newspaper in March as saying he would be prepared to walk away from Anfield if he isn't offered a new deal by the club. However, Carragher is adamant in his desire to finish his career with Liverpool, reiterating he does not want to turn out for any other team. "I've spoke to the manager about it and we both agreed that it would be better if we talked about it at the start of next season," the 32-year-old told LFC Weekly. "There was an interview with a national newspaper and the headline was a bit misleading, saying that I would be prepared to leave Liverpool. "Really, I said that if Liverpool didn't want me, I'd be forced to sign for someone else because I'd have no other option. "I don't want to retire yet. I understand at my age, you can only make decisions season by season. But I want to finish my career at Liverpool. I don't want to play for anyone else." It's well documented Carragher is keen to turn his hand to coaching when the day comes to hang up his boots. However, the centre-back admits he'd be reluctant to take up a position working within an Academy set-up. "I've passed the UEFA B coaching badge and I'm considering the A badge at Lilleshall this summer," he explained. "I still haven't made my mind up what I'm going to do when I'm finished, but I'm doing this so I'm prepared and to see if I enjoy it. "If I did go into coaching, it would have to be at a senior level. I'm passionate about football and all I've ever wanted to do is win. I'm not really the kind of person to have the patience to improve the kids at the Academy." http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/jamie-sets-record-straight

From the BBC Gossip Column............... "Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho has rejected claims that he will return to the Premier League next season but has admitted he will be back. He said: "I will return for sure. Will it be next season? I don't think so, but for sure I will be back in England." (The Times)" http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/8663852.stm

The Daily Telegraph 6 May 2010 Chelsea eye £34 million bid for Gonzalo Higuain if Fernando Torres bid fails By Jason Burt Chelsea have been offered the chance to sign the exciting Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain for €40 million (£34 million) as they look to strengthen their squad this summer. The Premier League club are now weighing up whether to bid for the powerful Argentine international should their attempts to sign Fernando Torres fail. Contact is understood to have been made with Torres's representatives, the Spanish agency Bahia Internacional, to establish the Liverpool striker's intentions at the end of this season. Manchester City have also opened a similar dialogue over Torres although neither they, nor Chelsea, have yet approached Liverpool over the 26 year-old, who would cost at least £60 million. Both clubs are expected to be the big spenders in the transfer market this summer with Chelsea, finally, deciding to rejuvenate their squad with some younger players as well as introducing five players from their academy into the first-team squad. Ancelotti hopes to make two or three significant signings. Higuain is known to Ancelotti and his cause is being pushed by agents who are close to the former Juventus executive, Luciano Moggi. Ancelotti is a former Juve coach, of course and has a good relationship with Moggi, who is trying to help broker a deal. The 22-year-old striker is demanding a salary of €4.5 million (£3.9 million) a year with Chelsea also having to pay €4 million to his representatives to secure the deal. That, however, may prove a sticking point given owner Roman Abramovich's stance over such fees. It appears that Chelsea would, however, turn to Higuain only if their attempts to secure Torres, a long-term target, fail. It would then be interesting to see how Ancelotti plans to fit Higuain into his team and what that means for his established strikers, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, who are both over 30. Anelka, in particular, would appear vulnerable. Higuian has enjoyed an outstanding season at Real, particularly as it was feared he would be frozen out following the raft of expensive signings made last year. He is also now expected to be part of Diego Maradona's squad for South Africa this summer, although he was only included for the latter stages of Argentina's qualifying campaign. Higuain, who was born in France, arrived at Real from River Plate in 2007 for €13 million, on a six-year deal, and has scored 20 goals in La Liga this season, defying the expectation that he would be replaced by French striker Karim Benzema. Chelsea have now instituted an unofficial policy of only bidding for players who are under 26. Torres would be an exception to that, as would Franck Ribery, although his personal problems have made it unlikely that Chelsea would pursue their interest. The club have also gone cold on Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero, who fits the profile in terms of age, but has been priced out of a move with the Spanish club's insistence that they receive €50 million (£43 million). Chelsea remain interested in Wolfsburg's 23-year-old striker Edin Dzeko – as are City, who appear favourites for the Bosnian international – while Ancelotti would like to lure Alexandre Pato from his former club AC Milan. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/chelsea/7683363/Chelsea-eye-34-million-bid-for-Gonzalo-Higuain-if-Fernando-Torres-bid-fails.html

The Daily Mail (I know) reckons Rafa is meeting Broughton today.................. Rafa Benitez: I want Fernando Torres cash - showdown talks key to future of Liverpool boss EXCLUSIVE By Simon Jones 6 May 2010 Rafa Benitez will hold crunch talks with Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton today with his tenure as manager in the balance and the club reeling from Chelsea's bold move for Fernando Torres. As Chelsea prepare to offer £70million for Liverpool's star striker, Benitez will meet Broughton in London and demand written assurances that all money raised from player sales can be used to sign new ones. Benitez believed he had been given such a guarantee when he signed his new contract last year, but monies from sales have since been used to service the club's debts. Unfortunately, Broughton is unlikely to be able to give 50-year-old Benitez the promise he is seeking, due to the chairman's non-executive role and the club's delicate financial state. That will frustrate Benitez further and push him into a corner over his future, which is still very uncertain with Juventus waiting for him to decide if he is keen to move to Turin at the end of the season. Privately, Chelsea are surprised that their discreet move for Torres has become public. Yet the rumbling confusion over Benitez's future has encouraged them to believe they can be successful in their battle with Manchester City for the 26-year-old rated the world's best striker. The divide between Benitez and the club's hierarchy seems to be growing wider with every day and the stark realisation that the talismanic Torres could be sold has brought the club's dramatic slide into sharp focus. Juventus are waiting patiently for an answer on their four-year contract offer for Benitez, but the Spaniard is believed to have reservations about taking on the challenge in Turin with the club in such a state of transition. However, the sale of Torres would leave Liverpool in a similar situation and most probably turn dwindling public support against the manager. If, as seems likely, Benitez does depart, the presence of Kop idol Kenny Dalglish as an intermin manager will at least appease fans as the club searches for a suitable replacement. However, the pressure will be on for them to make giant str ides quickly after such a disappointing season on all fronts. The sale of the club is paramount to those changes, but the project Benitez began in 2004 seems no closer to completion. Although Liverpool have made plans to sign new players, the extent of that recruitment is difficult for them to predict. The club have held preliminary talks with Real Madrid about Rafael van der Vaart and were linked with Real's Royston Drenthe and Guti yesterday, but any such moves are likely to be shelved until Benitez and Torres finalise their futures. Dutchman Drenthe has potential but Guti - although a free transfer - would be unlikely http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1273400/Rafa-Benitez-I-want-Torres-cash--Showdown-talks-key-future-Liverpool-boss.html

The Daily Mail says Juventus have also been linked with him http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1272757/Fiorentina-want-Liverpool-misfit-Alberto-Aquilani--salary-cap-scupper-hopes.html

Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, who will be joining Arsena on a free transfer this summer, has revealed he turned down Liverpool http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_6134233,00.html Valencia's David Silva has said "it is an honour" to hear that Man Utd are interested in him & that "it would be very hard to resist" them http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1272924/Valencia-star-David-Silva-issues-come-plea-Manchester-United.html

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Like the Robbie Keane fee?

The Echo today says Rafa "was out of reach on a scheduled day off yesterday – along with the rest of the first team squad – and was not due back at Melwood until this afternoon to take training", which adds to the likelihood it was leaked from inside the club http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2010/05/05/juventus-to-intensify-pursuit-of-liverpool-fc-manager-rafa-benitez-100252-26378291/