ACCORDING to ESPN, Liverpool have knocked back a £10 million bid from Italian outfit Napoli for out of favour defender Martin Skrtel.
Former Reds boss Rafa Benitez, now manager at Napoli after leaving Chelsea last season, was hopeful of bringing the Slovakian centre-back to Napoli. However it transpires that the club have rejected the bid for the 28 year old.
Skrtel is currently recuperating from strained ligaments in his right knee, an injury that prevented him from being in the squad for Liverpool’s 1-0 win against Stoke in their first Premiership game this season.
Even when Skrtel does return he will face a tough challenge to break back into the team, with Kolo Toure and newly appointed vice-captain Daniel Agger looking like a formidable pairing at the back.
Skrtel, who arrived from Russian side Zenit st Petersburg 5 years ago, has been linked with a move to Napoli, and a reunion with Benitez for the majority of the summer, after losing his first team place to Jamie Carragher and in May actually admitted that he was thinking about a switch from Anfield.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has insisted since the end of last season that Skrtel is not for sale and now, after the injury to Sebastian Coates, Skrtel is looking increasingly likely to stay as he is the sole backup option for central defence.
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Benitez whinged for years when he was at Anfield about not having a good enough squad and now he’s trying to sign those very players. Go figure.