FIVE Players that could be sold to fund more acquisitions

With Liverpool still under the ownership of the seemingly cash-strapped Americans and with a takeover looking unlikely to be completed before the end of the transfer window, money will have to be generated through player sales in order for the club to bring in any further players. For the past year or so now, Liverpool have worked on a sell-to-buy basis as crippling debts have forced spending to be at a minimum. However, I believe there are players on the books of Liverpool that can be sold, for reasonable prices, in order to accumulate a competitive transfer budget to help towards the acquisition of the two players I think are needed for the team.

Of course, if Javier Mascherano is sold on for the £25 million valuation reportedly placed on his head then Hodgson will already have an impressive war-chest at his disposal, nevertheless, I believe the following players can be sold in order to push that potential £25 million pound to above and beyond the £35 million mark:

Emiliano Insua – After Mascherano, Insua is the most obvious departure after a fee was initially agreed with Fiorentina for the Argentine’s services, however, after Insua was unable to agree personal terms with the Italian club, the 21-year old still remains at Anfield. I do believe that the future of Insua is the deciding factor on whether a new left-back will be targeted as, without the revenue made from the potential sale of Insua and the fact a 25-man squad has to be named by September 1^st, it could become difficult for a left-sided defender to be brought in. With Insua seemingly deemed surplus to requirements at Liverpool, there is no reason why the Argentine will not have left the club by the end of the transfer window. As previously noted, £5 million can be made from any sale of Emiliano Insua.

Nabil El Zhar – After a promising start to his Liverpool career, El Zhar has disappeared from the first-team. Admittedly, injuries have played a major factor; however, his talent never looked as though it would be good enough for him to ever become a regular in the Liverpool team. There should be plenty of lower-standard clubs interested in the Moroccan winger, and Liverpool could probably expect to receive a fee of about £1 million for any potential sale of the 23-year old wide man.

Damien Plessis – Similarly to Nabil El Zhar, Plessis made a brilliant start to his first-team life at Liverpool with a man-of-the-match performance on his debut at The Emirates against Arsenal in April 2008. However, during the past 2 years since his debut Plessis has only made 6 further appearances and doesn’t seem to require the ability to challenge for a starting berth in the Liverpool first eleven. Liverpool could demand a fee of about £2 million for Plessis which would be welcomed for a bit-part player.

Diego Cavalieri – With the recent completion of the signing of Brad Jones, Cavalieri is no longer needed as back-up to Pepe Reina and, with a plethora of young ‘keepers waiting in the wings for their chance, the Brazilian could well be sold for a helpful fee. Cavalieri has often been linked with Benfica and Liverpool could potentially receive up to £3 million for the services of our number two goalkeeper.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos – Although I am an admirer of the Greek centre-back, with the addition of summer signing Danny Wilson, it begs the question; do we need Kyrgiakos anymore? He filled in as our fourth-choice defender last season efficiently however with Wilson looking more than capable of playing the role of back-up central defender, would it be a shrewd move to make a bit of money off the long-haired Greek? A host of European clubs would probably be interested at a price of about £2 million.

My Maths has never been my specialist subject, however, after adding up what I believe to be reasonable valuations for each of the players listed, Liverpool can potentially make £13 million from the sales of these players that are almost certainly not needed at the club. Adding this together with the suggested £25 million Liverpool could make of the sale of Mascherano, Hodgson could have upwards of £37 million to spend on new players. With the transfer window deadline looming my suggestion to Roy Hodgson is to look to ship these players out as soon as possible, and if possible. Of course, some of these players may not attract the attentions of any clubs at all, but, if they manage to then all I can say is, let the sales commence!

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