MFletcher

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liv...-name_page.html VALENCIA striker David Villa has appeared to rule himself out of a summer switch to Anfield after expressing his desire to remain at the Mestalla club. Villa, who has scored 15 goals from 35 league appearances for his side this term, is a long-term transfer target of Rafael Benitez?s. The Liverpool manager first targeted the Spain international as a replacement for Michael Owen in 2005 but failed with a £4.5million bid, the player later joining Valencia from Zaragoza. His impressive showings during the last two seasons in La Liga have seen his stock rise considerably across Europe and the player has again been linked with a move to Liverpool following the American takeover of the club. Story continues ADVERTISEMENT The player, a close friend of goalkeeper Pepe Reina, sparked rumours of a possible transfer after being spotted in the Anfield directors? box for the home game with Bolton. However, Villa, who is under contract with the La Liga outfit until June 2013 and has a buy-out clause of £100m, insists his future lies at La Mestalla. ?My wish is to stay here,? said Villa, who is also a reported target for Chelsea and Manchester United. ?Not only this year but in the future because I am under contract and I hope I can extend it. In any case, we will have to wait and see what happens this summer.? Regardless, it now appears that Benitez lacks the war chest to afford the likely £25m fee it would take to secure Villa?s services from his former club. The manager is still awaiting confirmation of his summer budget from owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, who are believed to be in disagreement over how much money should be allocated to bolster the squad. Despite early indications that Benitez would be given the financial muscle to compete with Europe?s elite in the transfer market, it now appears that his kitty differs little to previous seasons. Benitez is also unlikely to pursue Villa?s international strike partner Fernando Torres, who is set to leave Athletico Madrid after the conclusion of the Spanish season this weekend, with the manager privately expressing doubts over the forward. The former Valencia manager, who has turned his attentions towards Benfica winger Simao Sabrosa after being priced out of a deal for Florent Malouda, has already added Andriy Voronin to his list of marksmen. With further additions expected over the summer, competition for a place up front at Anfield is likely to be fierce. Yet, top-scorer Peter Crouch, who netted 24 times for club and country last season, is relishing the challenge. ?I have to constantly prove myself,? said the England man. ?You have to prove yourself in every game for England and Liverpool, two massive stages to play on. ?If your form dips a touch, you are replaced. You?ve got to keep on your toes otherwise there will be someone there to replace you. There is always someone to take your place. ?When you?ve got 70-odd games in a season, it is not feasible to start every game. The manager knows that but players are greedy. They want to play every game. ?I?m no different but I understand that you can?t.? Benitez, meanwhile, is anxiously waiting to see if Liverpool can avoid another fixture calamity. The Premiership fixtures for 2007-08 are released this morning and Benitez is hoping it is kinder to Liverpool than it was last season. Then, the computer threw up away games at their fellow top four sides, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, as well as Everton and Bolton, before the end of November. Liverpool lost them all without scoring a goal and Benitez admitted that, with the need to rest squad members because of a hectic Champions League group schedule, this run of game ultimately cost his side a tilt at the title. The first analysis of Liverpool fixtures will be available from 11.30am on the Daily Post website, www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk, this morning. ------------------------------------------------- The same old rubbish.

Benayoun strikes me as a similar player to Luis. He's the creative type who'll try something unexpected. The problem with Garcia is that he has a dreadful tendency to make the wrong choice. I recall one opportunity in a game this season where he was in the box and, if he'd put it across goal, it was a tap in. Insead he thumped it at the near post and hit the side netting. He's frustrating, but he can score some fantastic goals. I can't see the benefit of having both. Luis is hardly a concrete first choice as it is and I can't see why we would have two "creative" players fighting for a potential spot in the team. It's different if you have two strikers fighting for one spot - one of them is guaranteed to play. But that won't be the case if we bring in Benayoun and keep Luis. Both of them could be out of the team for any number of matches. To me, it seems like a way of buying a more consistent, less frustrating player than Luis whilst making a profit. Garcia will probably collect a decent fee from Spain and could well be used in P/X. Of course, this is my opinion and pure speculation on my part - but it's certainly a possibility.

If I recall correctly, Spanish Fan was the bloke who originally reported the Lucas signing from some obscure Spanish radio station. And I really rate Benayoun. I think he's a fantastic wee player, but he's too similar to Garcia. Unless we're planning to sell Luis, I can't see the benefit of bringing him in.

I imagine Betis will stay up. I hope so anyway. Gonzo hasn't a chance of getting a game here next season.

It could be that the release clause drops if Atletico don't make the UEFA cup - a bit like Owen's at Newcastle.

If we come in and meet their demands, and then meet the player's demands, then there's every chance that a transfer could be tied up quietly. No-one had any whiff of the Lucas deal and I read that we had it sorted within 72 hours.

If there is a press conference today, there's every chance it could be a new signing. We seem to have got to work with absolute secrecy this year. It's one of the reasons that Bascombe is churning out rubbish and the tabloids are regurgitating his work. They don't have a clue and the club don't seem to be giving them any pointers. Of course, it will probably be for something like new contracts or the new stadium.

Allardyce coming out and admitting that there is a release clause is probably his way of getting in first and blaming Owen for leaving. I can't see why you would publicise a release clause otherwise.

You can hold press conferences for players, they just won't officially join until the transfer window opens.

I can understand Malouda keeping his options open. If he comes out and says "The only place I want to move to is Liverpool" and the deal falls through, then he'll look a plank ending up somewhere else and trying to explain his past comments. Either way, I'm not going to pass judgement on G&H until September. And the stories linking Bent to Valencia are interesting. He would probably be a replacement for Villa, but whether that deal goes through and they subsequently sell Villa and he decides to come here? I can't see it all happening as nicely as that.

One of the problems I had with the Eto'o transfer was his nationality. The guy will be away for a couple of months every two years and those could be vital games he is missing. Also he seems to complain a lot. Either way, I didn't think we'd sign him and I'd be extremely surprised if we were to sign Villa. He's a great player, but the fee that Valencia are demanding is shockingly high. Of course, we could maybe throw in a couple of players (Garcia, Riise, Arbeloa maybe?) to lower the price. I'm merely speculating here.

I'm pretty sure that if we'd bought him out of his contract with third parties then there would have been an announcement about him being given a four year contract etc. etc. My understanding is that we've paid £1.5M for his registration until this time next summer - at which point we'll have to release him from his contract or pay the third party a set fee in order to obtain him permanently.

The only player I could conceivably see moving to Arenal who is a "fan favourite" is Mascherano - but I can't think of a single reason why Rafa would move on someone he spent so long trying to get. It's not like he was brought here as Alonso's replacement either, he started the semi against Chelsea over him. This leads me to conclude the rumour is complete and total rubbish. So the same as I thought the other night the first time I heard it. EDIT: Masch is only on loan as well...

West Ham have absolutely no say in whether he stays there next season. He's just trying to make it sound as though he's their player - when he will quite clearly be sold by MSI to whoever makes the highest bid. Part of his consortium was some Icelandic billionaire. They'll go straight down the crapper if he pulls out, especially if these stories regarding wages are true. £70,000 a week to Bellamy?

And yet no-one has put it up on YouTube yet. You're all useless.

Excellent news about Reina and Alonso. I'd have taken the money for Momo myself, but if he improves his passing he can be a key player for us.

Well, I won't be able to form my own opinion anyway.

Someone needs to put this up on YouTube. It wouldn't surprise me if Jamie knew what was going on given his connections with the club and it's players. Maybe there is something to it... I won't be able to tell until someone puts the thing up on the internet though.

Of course I'd lament a lack of progress with Alonso's contract talks. I think he's an excellent player and it would be a blow to lose him.

Which is why I said "seem to". Did I say "there HAS been"? No. I didn't.

Provided they use £8.1M of that to pay for Cisse, then it's a great deal for us as well.

You have to say, there does seem to have been a complete lack of progress in Alonso's contract talks. I'd be gutted to lose him, but bringing Eto'o in as P/E would certainly soften it. However, I suspect we'd then buy yet another holding midfielder. Rafa identified Xabi as the only holding midfielder at the club whenever Masch arrived...

That could be quite difficult considering he plays for Cameroon.

Pizarro is co-owned by Roma and Inter - so Inter are willing to give up their half of his registration as part of the Chivu deal. Anyway, the reason why I'm concerned at a lack of progress is because of Rafa's interview the day after the CL final. He said that there were two ?20M targets that he could sign immediately. Ten days later and we've still only got vague rumours to go on and we don't seem to have made a concrete bid for anyone. In the meantime, the Mancs have paid a fortune for two youngsters. Other clubs will look at that, consider that the going rate and ask for more than they might previously have done. Of course, I'm not overly concerned. The Spanish season doesn't finish for another couple of weeks and I've no doubt that we'll make a couple of signings from there. The new contracts for Stevie and Carra are encouraging though. And we all seem to be forgetting the £6.2M we spent on Lucas Leiva. It's not like that money appeared from nowhere.

Chivu is Inter bound I read - with Walter Samuel, David Pizzaro and 3M going their way.