Hodgson compensation deal financed with Benitez cash?

Liverpool may have to shell out as much as £2million in compensation to Fulham if they decided on Roy Hodgson as their new manager, according to the Daily Star. Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed would be extremely reluctant to see his veteran coach leave but would understand if the 62 year old wanted a final shot at the big time with an English club. The newspaper says that if Hodgson is Managing Director Christian Purslow and advisor Kenny Dalglish’s preferred candidate they could finance the compensation package from the £2million that will be saved if former boss Rafa Benitez is, as expected, unveiled as the new Inter Milan boss next week. Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer has commented on Hodgson’s link with Liverpool:

“The gaffer is at that stage of this career where he is thinking ’will this sort of opportunity come around again?’ I suppose in a lot of ways you can’t blame the guy if an opportunity like this came along. We hope he doesn’t go, we hope he stays at Fulham, but we will have to wait and see what happens. But I wouldn’t blame him at all (if he decides to move), not at all. It is Liverpool you are talking about, a huge club, who normally compete in the Champions League every season. There are four or five such clubs in the country and there would be very few managers or players who would not find it difficult to resist going to them.”

Other managers in the frame for Reds hotseat are Kenny Dalglish, Martin O’Neill, Harry Redknapp and even Sven-Goran Eriksson who expressed he is a “life-long fan” of Liverpool FC and would love the job.