Even before the end of last season, it was apparent to many Liverpool fans that Javier Mascherano was not going to stay at the club beyond the summer. His complaints about his family not settling in Merseyside combined with the news that negotiations over a new contract had stalled, seemed to indicate that he wanted out. In fact it has become apparent that he wanted to leave as early as last summer when Barcelona first bid for the player.
Masch’s transfer saga has been drawn out for a number of reasons. Firstly, the World Cup made any decision on his future less clear, even though he expressed during the tournament his desire to rejoin Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan. The departure of Benitez also complicated things as he may well have been persuaded to stay if the Spaniard remained at the club, but with his departure and the fact that his old manager wanted to take him to Inter, it sealed Mascherano’s fate.
Since it has become clear though that Mascherano wants to leave Anfield, there has been very little movement in regards to bids for the player. The reasons for this are because both potential suitors, Inter Milan and Barcelona, had other priorities to take care of first. Internazionale for example do not currently have the funds to match Liverpool’s asking price of £25-30m and while Benitez would like to have his old player with him in Italy, the deal is predicated on other deals going through. The protracted transfer of Mario Balotelli from Inter to Manchester City has been the main stumbling block to raising the funds required for Mascherano, and so any move for the 25 year old will have to wait. Barcelona on the other hand now have the funds to buy Masch after giving up in their pursuit for Cesc Fabregas. Whether they are prepared to match Liverpool’s valuation is another matter but all this time waiting has cost Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson valuable days and weeks to get a squad he feels adequate together.
With only 20 odd days to go to the end of the transfer window, Liverpool’s squad still looks relatively thin on numbers because despite the acquisitions of Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and Danny Wilson, just as many players have left the club, leaving Roy with the same sized squad as last season where a lack of depth contributed to a sub standard campaign. Funds from the sale of Javier Mascherano would be ideal. Hodgson has already lined up his replacement in Christian Poulsen funded by the sales of other players, and so the money raised from Masch’s sale could be of great use to strengthen other positions.
The problem is that Liverpool are running out of time to sell Mascherano. If a takeover is imminent then such a delay is not a problem, but if the club remains in the present owners’ hands until the end of the transfer window, the money from the Argentine’s sale could prove invaluable. Hodgson still needs home-grown players to fulfil the Premier League’s 25 man squad, and on top of this, he is still lacking in numbers at both the left back and centre forward positions. If Masch is sold say 2 days before the end of the window, it would really cause big problems for Roy for he will not have the time to complete moves for targets he has probably already identified with the money.
Despite the very positive transfers of Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic then, I still believe there is a room for improvement in the squad, and if Mascherano does leave sooner rather than later, it will free up funds for Roy to use to get a squad capable of competing in all fixtures this season.
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i totally agree with ya the sooner masc goes the better it is 4 hodgson 2 get 3 or 4 more good players to compeat y.n.w.a.
can not wait til he leaves, we need players who are commited to Liverpool. At this moment in time I would take Lucas.
So we get to use money from his sale, set a deadline, say 10 days prior to close of transfer window, to complete the sale or else he stays put. If he goes before RH can spend the money from any sale, is that cash likely to sit in an account ready for the next transfer window or is it more likely to go towards interest payment on LFC’s debts? No money, no player? Maybe swap him?
Either way, get rid of anyone who does not feel privileged to wear our badge. YNWA
Here’s one for the conspiracy theorists! Ever get the feeling that Man City’s messing about with Balotelli is to serve two purposes?:
1. get the player to lower his salary,
but more pertinently for Liverpool
2. Starve Inter for as long as possible of the £25 odd mill required for them to buy Masch – thus leaving us with a player who doesn’t wish to play for us anymore, and also leaving us no money to invest in other transfer targets during this window.
Wouldn’t be surprised if City engineer the Balotelli transfer to take place on the final day of the transfer window, leaving us with little or no time to deal…
I’ve found it interesting that City have used their capital resources as a weapon – they’ve driven the market price and salaries of players to extraordinary levels, they’ve sought to deprive other clubs of transfer targets over the last year or two (barry, silva, SWP) and they’ve also attempted to weakened all of their rivals by courting their best players (adebayor / barry / tevez / lescott / k toure / Torres / Terry / and now Milner).
This would be just another clever, if albeit indirect way of them depriving a rival (LFC) of money badly needed to improve their squad.
Or maybe am I giving Garry Cook and his minions too much credit here….
they’ve got form on this – just ask Harry Redknapp!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/04/harry-redknapp-manchester-city-bellamy
I for one am glad that Liverpool is holding out on Masch’s valuation. Even 25m is a cut-price deal. LFC has been held to ransom too many times before, selling players for cheap and overpaying for new signings, just because other clubs know that in a negotiation, LFC will usually be the first to crack.
This time, we have a world class player whom we know is worth at least 30-35m. 50m if you asked Rafa last year. So if no one’s willing to pay even 25, then no sale, simple as that. Yes, it will cause a bit of financial problems, but Liverpool absolutely will not be held to ransom.