Transfer target states 'I love Liverpool'

A defensive player being hotly linked with Liverpool in the January window seems to be back on the radar for a summer signing...

Liverpool defender target Fábio Coentrão has had a £25 million price tag placed on his head.

The Portuguese international has been heavily linked with a move away from Benfica, with Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish thought to be one of the managers interested in bringing the player to England, GiveMeFootball reports.

PLEASE follow Murphy's Liverpool on Facebook!

Coentrão himself has previously expressed a desire to ply his trade at Anfield, expressing his admiration for the Merseysiders last month when they were linked with a move.

“I love Liverpool,” the full back was re-quoted as saying on Live4Liverpool.

Manchester United are also thought to be keen on the player, with Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly monitoring the 22-year-old for several season now as his stock rises at the Portuguese Liga champions.

Eight potential summer signings?

While Kenny Dalglish is turning the ship on the pitch for Liverpool, there is continious speculations to which players that will be brought in to Anfield this summer.

Liverpool's principal owner John Henry is focused on ending Liverpool FC's league title drought.

He admits Kenny Dalglish's transformation of their on-field fortunes is exactly what he hoped for when he chose to appoint the Scot as manager, GiveMefootball reports.

The future will tell us whether he will become the permanent one.

But even though Liverpool have signed two strikers in January, they are still believed to be interested in Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku, the Bleacher Report claims.

Liverpool are facing competition from Chelsea in the signing, another team who seem to have no dearth of strikers with Drogba, Anelka and Torres already in the squad and Sturridge on loan to Bolton. 

Further on they also claim Mateo Musacchio has emerged as the top target for the center back position. The young Argentine has become a regular starter at Villareal after moving to the team from River Plate in 2009.

He has caught the fancy of a lot of top clubs across Europe with a string of fine performances. With his long-term contract at Villareal, the club officially says that the player is not for sale. Comolli and Liverpool, though, believe that they could land the promising youngster for €4m.

If the deal for Musacchio does fall through, Liverpool are believed to be lining up hotly tipped January target Davide Santon, who is currently on loan at Cesena from Inter Milan.

With the need for replacing Carragher becoming more and more important as time passes, the signing of a center back would be a priority and either Musacchio or Santon would fit the billing.

The other targets mentioned in the Bleacher Report article is Eden Hazard, Fabio Coentrao, of course Charlie Adam and Ashley Young.

Young is today being mentioned in other reports too, like GiveMeFootball who say News of the World claims Liverpool will battle Manchester United and Manchester City at the end of the season in a race to land the player, with a €15 million valuation placed on his head.

25-year-old Young has made 11 appearances for England thus far, and has become a regular in the Three Lions squad under Fabio Capello.

The England international winger was heavily linked with an Anfield switch in the summer, although Liverpool never made an official approach for the player.

Aston Villa managed to keep hold of their prized asset, but Young only has 18 months left on his contract at Villa Park and after rejecting the club's latest offer appears unlikely to sign a new deal.

Liverpool have identified teenage playmaker Christian Eriksen as a potential summer signing after being impressed with the Ajax midfielders strong performances in Holland. 

Damien Comolli, director of football at Liverpool, spent close to a week in Amsterdam as he negotiated a deal for Uruguayan forward Suarez and was said to be impressed with Eriksen.

The Danish international is still just 18-years-of-age but has impressed with a number of mature performances for Ajax and has been tipped as a potential star of the future, Sportsvibe reports.


Liverpool seem to have adopted a new transfer policy under owners Fenways Sports Group as they attempt to identify young, talented players with big futures ahead of them.

Eriksen certainly fits the current model as Liverpool believe the midfielder, who has been compared with Dennis Bergkamp, has a bright future and may be available for around £10m.

Finaly, another new name appears on the radar, with Liverpool being linked with a move for young Valencia forward Paco Alcacer in the local Spanish press.

Valencia newspaper Superdeporte claims that the Reds have sent scouts to watch a number of Alcacer’s games, and though Real Madrid and Barcelona are also interested, a bid from Liverpool appears most likely.

One of the greatest legacies of the Rafa Benitez reign as Liverpool manager is his overhaul of the club’s academy.

The 17 year-old Alcacer made his first team debut for Valencia earlier this season, and has scored 15 goals in 13 games for Spain’s U17 side.

He now has 2 in 2 for the U18s, and could become part of the revolution on Merseyside, joining fellow Spaniards Suso, Dani Pacheco, Dani Ayala and Emmanuel Mendy.

However, his contract expires in 2013, and Liverpool are highly unlikely to pay his €10m release clause.

Liverpool's main summer targets?

When the transfer window was closed Monday night, it is my impression most Liverpool supporters were quite happy, despite the fact that Torres went to Chelsea. 

The overall impression is that John W. Henry and NESV / FSG has clear intentions with their purchase of Liverpool, and want to invest in the team's future. And accoring to Sportsvibe Kenny Dalglish has revealed that he fully believes the club’s new owners will continue to invest heavily in the reconstruction of the team.

He is even saying that the owners were a 'bit disappointed' not to get more players in during the January transfer window:

Even former Liverpool player and club legend John Aldridge say 'other signings will come in future, I’m sure of that. Kenny can build the team as time goes on because the new board have shown they are willing to spend', TalkSport reports.

It seems clear enough we can look forward to a very exciting summer!

But who is going to be the club's main targets?

It seems quite likely, even though Ian Halloway according to some sources may not think the same, one of the summers main targets will be Blackpool playmaker Charlie Adam.

And according to Caughtoffside The Merseyside club believe they are the front runners to bring in the Scottish international who they believe wants to complete a move to Anfield.

Ian Holloway’s sung the praises of manager Kenny Dalglish in relation to the way he conducted himself in the chase for the in form 25 year old, in marked contrast to the way the Tangerines boss pilloried Aston Villa’s Gerard Houllier, and that too could well work in Liverpool’s favour come the summer.

Tottenham reportedly failed to secure a move for Adam in the dying minutes of the transfer window but it is believed that the former Rangers man has set his heart on a move to Liverpool and it was the interest from the Dalglish and co. that led to him putting in a transfer request in the first place.

Even Blackpool manager Ian Holloway says it would be 'impossible' to stop Adam from joining Liverpool in the summer.

Sportsvibe.co.uk claims Liverpool have identified young German midfielder Marko Marin as the next player to join the Anfield revolution.

The 21-year-old has already drawn interest from a number of Premier League clubs after a string of superb performances in the Champions league, including two impressive displays against Tottenham.

Spurs, Manchester United and Arsenal have all shown an interest in the talented playmaker, but according to reports in the German media, Liverpool are now the favourites to bring Marin to England.

Caughtoffside claims Liverpool are keen on making a summer move for Bolton centre back Gary Cahill as Anfield Director of Football Damien Comolli draws up plans to freshen up the club’s back four.

Dalglish and Comolli are apparently big admirers of the Bolton defender but will not be prepared to meet the inflated asking price of £25m, a fee that also scared off Arsene Wenger but Liverpool may feel that they can persuade Wanderers to accept less given their financial problems.

Liverpool are also reportedly planning a summer move for versatile Benfica wideman, Fábio Coentrão, GiveMeFootball claims.

The Portuguese is thought to have been on the radar of the Reds for a number of months after Goal.com initially reported that they had shown interest in the 22-year-old.

Coentrão has since been quoted in the French press expressing his 'love' for Liverpool and, now, caughtoffside.com suggest the Anfield club have 'earmarked' the Portugal international for a summer transfer.

Liverpool are currently short on recognised left-backs after the failure of Paul Konchesky to make a lasting impression at Anfield saw him loaned out to Nottingham Forest.

World's best left-back to Liverpool?

Today's most important rumours are about a portuguese wing-back, a Dutch forward and Scotland international midfielder.

Today the Liverpool FC Supporter's Club Scandinavian Branch website claims 'big things' are on the agenda this week with John Henry and Tom Werner coming to Merseyside. They might be in Liverpool allready for the Blackpool game on Wednesday, but at least for the Everton derby game this weekend.

The do however not know what the 'big things' are, either it might be appointments of new club staff or player transfers.

Today's biggest rumour however is about a Portugese wing back...

Rumours have spread that the first signing of Dalglish's return to Anfield will be Portuguese wing-back, Fábio Coentrão - by some sources dubbed the 'worlds best left back'. But according to Wikipedia, the 22 year-old has already signed for Liverpool, and is playing with the number 39 on his shirt, Football-talk claims.

Now obviously Wikipedia is not a reliable site in which you can draw solid conclusions as to player transfers, as anyone could have changed his current club information. However, there may be some truth to the rumours that Fábio Coentrão will sign for Liverpool this January.

Liverpool's left back position is currently occupied by Paul Konchesky. He isn't the most popular player at Liverpool at the moment, not least because of his poor form, and the consensus that the player isn't good enough for Liverpool, as well as the fact he was signed by Roy Hodgson.

Coentrão had a brilliant World Cup, being probably the best player in the Portugal side, providing an excellent source of width, pace and the provision of crosses - all things that Liverpool currently lack. Chelsea were reportedly interested immediately after the World Cup last summer, but a deal never materialised - they do have Ashley Cole after all.

Sport.co.uk can confirm that Liverpool are leading the chase for FC Utrecht forward Ricky Van Wolfswinkel who is being closely watched by the reds and Tottenham Hotspur.


The starlet has been monitored closely by the aforementioned Premier League duo, while Arsenal and Newcastle United have also kept a close eye on the striker, however the player’s representative has confirmed Kenny Dalglish and Harry Redknapp are considering bids for the forward, with Liverpool leading the chase for Dutchman dubbed the '.next Marco Van Basten'

- We have not had a formal call from Liverpool yet, player representative Louis Laros told Sport.co.uk.

- I know they are interested in him and they are following him. I think they are looking at him as a signing in the future, but possibly not immediately. Also his injury could be an issue with a move remember. I don’t think that a formal offer will come from Liverpool in this transfer window.

- Liverpool are the main club following Ricky, but he is being followed by some big clubs throughout Europe and of course England, but without doubt, Liverpool is an interesting club for Ricky. But for the moment we keep hisoptions open and we wait and see.

Another rumour says Liverpool could be set for a shock swoop for Celtic's Scott Brown.

According to Sportingo Kenny Dalglish is keen to add some more dynamism to the midfield and is considering a move for the Scotland international. With Lucas Leiva continuing to polarise opinion on Merseyside and Jonjo Shelvey still a work in progress, there is ample room for Brown and his all-action style would be well suited to the Premier League.

Dalglish will hope that his connections to Celtic for whom he starred as a player - and spent an ill-fated spell as Director of Football when John Barnes was manager – will assist in negotiations for the player should they decide to proceed.

Liverpool with official winger enquiry

A few eventful days at Anfield today culminated with the unveiling of new manager Kenny Dalglish and new head coach Steve Clarke .

I wish them both good luck with the task they have before them - it is enormous!



Dalglish under today's press conference hinted that there may be no transfer business in January - with tis window being a 'difficult market'. But anyone who knows this business knows he will keep his cards close to the chest...

Today's big buzz was the rumour regarding the possible transfer of Luis Suarez, with tweets saying things like "Luis Suarez has flown in to JLA and will sign for Liverpool tomorrow - Pending medical". But yet nothing has materialized.

Today's most concrete rumour is about Valencia winger Pablo Hernandez.

Liverpool are reportedly set to make a move for the Spaniard,  who is said to be frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities on offer with Los Che and is now looking elsewhere for more regular football.

According to The Mirror, this has alerted Liverpool to his availability and The Transfer Tavern now reports the Anfield club have made on 'official enquiry'.

Yesterday it was claimed by Goal.com that Liverpool are set to launch a summer swoop for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo.

Now Talksport say Liverpool have been given the green light to make a £17m offer for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo.

Negredo, 25, has been attracting interest from a number of top clubs following his impressive displays in La Liga. Liverpool are keen to bolster their forward line and give some much needed support to Fernando Torres who looks well below his best this season.

Kenny Dalglish has just taken charge of first-team affairs but the club have been working hard to bring new faces into the squad.

Reports in Spain suggest that Sevilla would not block a sizeable bid for their star forward and would consider a £17m offer.

Dalglish is set to seal a move for Benfica left back Fabio Coentrao as his first signing in January, according to reports.

The new Reds boss wants to bring in a replacement for Paul Konchesky, one of Roy Hodgson’s high-profile flops, to improve their defence, GiveMeFootball claims.

Alongside Damian Comolli, Dalglish has amended Liverpool’s January transfer wishlist, which now includes Ryan Shawcross and Ricky van Wolfswinkel at the top.

Coentrao is one of the best full backs around and would be a significant coup for Liverpool and possibly signal signs of better things to come for the remainder of the season.

Rumours coming out of Ipswich Town have suggested that Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool have recently had scouts sniffing around their star striker, Connor Wickham according to the Footballtransfertavern.

Liverpool are said to have had their boys out to watch the 17-year-old starlet in recent matches and a bid of £10million would be enough to secure the striker’s services.

At just 17 he has been tipped to become a real star for the future with interest from Tottenham and Arsenal. However, then manager, Roy Keane, was unwilling to let the youngster go and even announced that should Wickham leave that he would have been ‘lynched’.

Following the termination of Keane’s deal with Ipswich, the door has been left open for the 17-year-old. Offers will now go through the board and a large bid for the player could turn some heads.

Liverpool will face a battle if the club is to win the signature of reported transfer target Johan Elmander.

Corriere dello Sport reports that Italian side Fiorentina are weighing up a January bid for the Sweden international as he continues to stall over new contract with Bolton, GiveMeFootball report.

Elmander is Bolton's record-signing after joining the club from Toulouse for around £10m in 2008, and the 29-year-old has been in magnificent goalscoring form this season.

His performances have led to the Trotters launching a surprise assault on the Champions League places and have also reportedly caught the eye of Liverpool director of football strategy Damien Comolli.

However, Bolton boss Owen Coyle has attempted to ease fears that the Swede would be moving to Anfield, but admitted that Elmander would be crazy not to consider joining a club the size of Liverpool.

- If it was a club of a similar size to Bolton I believe he would stay here. If an elite club came in Johan would be crazy not to think about it, he said.

Gomez interest confirmed

Today Glen Johnson again is linked with a move away from Liverpool. This time it is Real Madrid that apparently is interested in the defender.

He is back on Real Madrid's radar after details emerged of a bust-up between Jose Mourinho and his vice-captain Sergio Ramos, The Daily Mail reports.

Reported Liverpool target Mario Gomez' agent says he expects interest in the January transfer window.

Sport.co.uk understands that the Bayern Munich forward is attracting interest from top European clubs ahead of the January transfer window with the player’s representative expecting enquiries for the striker.

Gomez, 25, is being tracked by Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Juventus following a difficult start to the Bundesliga campaign with Bayern Munchen having onlu recently broken into the first-team following an injury to Miroslav Klose.

The German international is highly regarded as one of Europe’s most prolific marksman following his 35 million euro move from Stuttgart to Bayern Munich in 2009.

Despite recently being given more game time by boss Louis van Gaal Gomez is being monitored closely by the aforementioned trio, but despite interest there has been no formal offers. However the player’s agent does intimate that it is still early to talk about transfer gossip.

Oliver Mintzlaff told Sport.co.uk:

- Mario Gomez is one of the best strikers in Europe, the best German striker, and the best in the Bundesliga. There is no concrete interest, but it is early, we expect interest. But even with Mario at the moment, it is quiet.

Reported Liverpool and Arsenal target Karim Benzema is now also on the radar of Juventus.

According to Il Corriere dello Sport the Italian giants will attempt to sign the Real Madrid striker on loan for the rest of the season in what would represent a blow to his Premier League suitors.

The 22-year-old joined Real from Lyon for around £30 million in 2009 but failed to live up to expectations during his first season at the Bernabeu.

His poor form had led to growing speculation that he would soon leave Spain and, despite a recent turnaround in fortunes for the France international in Madrid, it has been claimed he could still leave Los Blancos should their demands be met.

Liverpool and Arsenal are said to both be monitoring the Frenchman with a view to making a move in January and Real are reportedly willing to accept offers of around £15 million for his services.

But - along with Juventus - Liverpool will allegedly have to battle with with Arsenal in the race for Benzema after Mediaset reported he is the north London club's 'no.1 target'.

David Bentley looks likely to end his nightmare stay at Spurs in January, and is hopeful of securing a move to Liverpool after reports of interest from manager Roy Hodgson, according to Metro.

Bentley, who is still just 26, wants to leave White Hart Lane after falling out of favour with Harry Redknapp in a bid to reignite his flailing career.

And the former Blackburn and Arsenal star has identified Anfield as his first-choice destination amid speculation that Hodgson is considering a bid in the region of £5million to take him to Merseyside.

Bentley has shown flashes of his talent since making the move back to London from Ewood Park in a 2008 deal thought to be in the region of £17million.

However, he has failed to justify his price tag and remains on the fringes of the first team behind several of the club's other creative stars including Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and new signing Rafael van der Vaart.

Hodgson is desperate to add a specialist winger to his squad and believes for the price he is expected to command during the transfer window, Bentley represents a bargain.

The former England international has started just one Premier League game all season, and his exorbitant wages at Spurs mean the former Fulham manager believes he can play hardball in negotiations over the player's transfer value.

According to the Daily Mirror, Liverpool, along with Stoke, Fulham and Aston Villa are queueing up to sign Manchester City left back Wayne Bridge.

The former England international is not part of Roberto Mancini’s first team plans after he bought Aleksandar Kolarov for £19million from Lazio in the summer and is expected to leave Eastlands in January. 

Stoke are said to be leading the way for the 30 year old as Potters boss Tony Pulis is believed to be lining up a loan bid in the New Year. 

Bridge has two years left on a £70,000 per week contract, after joining from Chelsea in January 2009.

Liverpool’s hopes of signing Rennes right-back Rod Fanni have been given a boost, Imscouting reports.

The news is that a proposed move to Marseille looks likely to fall through.

Fanni is one of the best right-backs in the French top division and has forced his way into the French national team over the past couple of years, making five appearances for them so far.

The attacking-minded defender has been watched closely by Liverpool of late, with Roy Hodgson travelling to France to watch him play against Auxerre last month.  With Hodgson having had a public disagreement with Glen Johnson recently, speculation increased over Fanni's arrival at Liverpool.

However, Marseille have also been linked with Fanni for some time and indicated a few days ago that they expected to tie up a deal for the 29-year-old.

Now, the French champions have revealed that they have been unable to push through a deal for Fanni, leaving the door open for Liverpool.

Marseille chairman Jean-Claude Dassier told RMC:

- Today we can only be pessimistic, Fanni's agent is being irrational and it is doubtful a deal will now be done. I can't see any way it could be completed, except if the player decides to manage himself in a reasonable way.

A name that comes back on to the transfer radar of Roy Hodgson today is Benfica winger Fabio Coentrao.

He was a reported target under Benitez, but now it seems he is back, with GiveMeFootball today reporting on a potential bidding war between several clubs.

Manchester United is a new club in the race for the player that has been monitored by some of Europe's elite in recent seasons.

AC Milan have reportedly earmarked the versatile left sided player, who can play in defence or midfield, as a potential successor to Paolo Maldini, and are poised to move for the player.

This news could spur Manchester United into showing their transfer hand, with the Old Trafford club still keeping an eye on the situation.

Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and Juventus are, like Manchester United, also thought to be keen on the player, whilst Liverpool have long been admirers of the players ability.

Hodgson is keen to strengthen his squad, and with question marks over the form of Paul Konchesky, Liverpool could make their move in January. They are the outsiders, though, it is reported.

Another transfer target Liverpool apparently also have to fight against Manchester United to get is Valencia winger Joaquin.

TalkSPORT suggests the Spain international - also a reported target for Liverpool - could be tempted to leave Valencia for Manchester.

Sir Alex Ferguson is allegedly a keen admirer of the 29-year-old and has apparently identified him as the man to replace the injured Antonio Valencia at Manchester United.

However, the Manchester United boss will reportedly have to fight with Liverpool for his signature as Roy Hodgson looks to add more cutting edge to his side in January.

A transfer battle between Manchester United and Liverpool would make for fascinating viewing for the neutrals as each side looks to improve their respective squads.

The Liverpool boss has admitted that his side rely too heavily on the goalscoring talents of Anfield hero Fernando Torres and, hence, is understood to have identified his attacking department as the most in need of reinforcement.

Four players linked

The rumour mill is running warm with speculations to what players Hodgson is going to bring to Anfield in january.

The biggest rumour right now is about the Hungarian striker Adam Szalai. The player is today according to Sky Sports being linked with Liverpool and Inter Milan.

The player is today earning his trade with the Bundesliga side Mainz, scoring three goals for the German outfit and claimed a hat-trick in Hungary's 8-0 win over San Marino earlier this month before adding his fourth goal in five internationals in their 2-1 win over Finland.
 
The 22-year-old was a youth player at Real Madrid and joined Mainz on a six-month loan last season before moving to Germany on a permanent basis this summer.

Reports in Hungary claim he could be set to return to one of Europe's big clubs, although his agent, Oliver Fischer, stressed there is no rush for him to move on.

- If there was an offer then it's likely that we would consider it, he told Nemzeti Sport.

Get the updates first!
Follow Murphys on Facebook!

On to the Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari, who reportedly is set to quit the San Siro in January.

Liverpool is said to be among the clubs following the player, who earlier has played for Portsmouth, Sports.co.uk reports.

His representative did stress that there is interest from Spain, but the Premier League is the Ghanaian’s preferred destination.

- It could be that he will leave in the January transfer window, we have to arrange a meeting in the next few days in Milan to discuss his future, and then we will know the conditions of a transfer. There has been contact from the Premier League, but also in Spain. But for Sulley a return to England and the Premier League is definitely a possibility, he said. 

Another player appearing in the transfer jungle today is Borussia Dortmund’s highly rated in form youngster Nuri Sahin.

Roy Hodgson is according to Caughtoffside lining up a January swoop for the player.

TheTurkish international has been in superb form this season helping his side to second place in the Bundesliga and appears to be a player that the Anfield manager is interested in bringing in to boost the club’s midfield.

Now in his fifth season in the Dortmund first team Sahin has been in sparkling form this term with his box to box performances attracting a lot of interest including from German giants Bayern Munich who appear to have a healthy interest in the young Turk.

Unrealisticly The Daily Star reports that Hodgson will be given a £60million transfer budget, with £30m of them for january. 

The paper stated that one of the managers first priorities in January will be to spend a sizeable chunk on Benfica wing back Fabio Coentrao.

Coentrao impressed for Portugal during this summer’s World Cup, alongside team-mate Raul Meireles, and Hodgson believes Coentrao could add extra depth to Liverpool’s defence and midfield.

Originally a left winger, Coentrao converted to left back for Benfica with considerable success last season and helped the Portuguese club to the league title. He was then first choice full back for Carlos Queiroz for Portugal in South Africa.