LIVERPOOL are taking a hardline stance with former manager Rafa Benitez after warning that Dirk Kuyt is not for sale and claiming they would rather see Javier Mascherano run down his contract than leave on the cheap.
Mascherano wants to leave Liverpool but only for the right price, says Hodgson
Inter Milan coach Benitez has been looking to press ahead with raids on Anfield for the duo, but Roy Hodgson offered his predecessor little encouragement yesterday as he broke off preparations ahead of the Europa League play-off with Trabzonspor.
Signing Holland forward Kuyt has become a priority for the Serie A and Champions League winners, but he will not agitate to leave and Hodgson was unequivocal over his future. “He is not for sale,” said Hodgson, who has included Kuyt in his squad for tonight’s game.
Mascherano will miss out after injuring his calf in the stalemate with Arsenal last Sunday and will only become cup-tied for teams competing in the group stages of the Champions League if he features in the second leg in Turkey next Thursday.
Hodgson, who is likely to rest skipper Steven Gerrard for tonight’s game, said there was no skulduggery behind the absence of the unsettled Mascherano. And in what amounted to a stark ultimatum to Inter, he said he would prefer to lose Mascherano on a free transfer when his contract expires in 2012 than accept a cut-price deal now.
The situation is complicated by the “promise” Mascherano received from the Liverpool hierarchy last summer who, in blocking interest from Barcelona 12 months ago, said he could move on this summer for the right price.
“We want an offer that meets what we think is his value and Javier is perfectly happy with this. He doesn’t expect the club to just let him walk out of here,” said Hodgson.
“His problem is a familiar one in that his wife doesn’t come to Liverpool, so when he is here he lives alone. If he moved to a Spanish or a Mediterranean club, the chances are she would join him there.
“He is resigned to one of two possibilities. Either a club doesn’t come along and offer us his valuation, in which case he stays, or we have an offer that meets his valuation, in which case he may go. It is only this promise that was made a year ago lingering over my head that means I am even prepared to go as far as this.
“As far as I am concerned, I’d be quite happy to work the two years with him. If he then wanted to walk away, then so be it. The nicest thing of all would be if he signed a new contract – it’s there for him. But nobody is putting him under any pressure.”
Uppermost in Hodgson’s mind, however, is ensuring his team negotiate a tricky tie with Trabzonspor.
Hodgson admits the Premier League will take precedence over Liverpool’s Europa League commitments and is likely to take the opportunity to rest Gerrard and Fernando Torres while Daniel Agger is definitely sidelined with concussion sustained against Arsenal and which, Hodgson says, has “left him unable to read newspapers or watch TV without getting headaches.”
Liverpool have confirmed that Mike Kelly, Hodgson’s assistant at former club Fulham, has followed him to Anfield as goalkeeping coach.
He will not be working with reserve keeper Diego Cavalieri, though, who is moving to newly promoted Serie A side Cesena following the arrival of Brad Jones from Middlesbrough.
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