Liverpool - £30m to £40million War Chest

[all_funkt_up]

Interesting bit of news with regards to our summer transfer budget. According to today's papers we have a large chunk of money to spend come the summer. Benitez reportedly had his first in-depth meeting with the Club's new owners after the Arsenal game and they must have talked money. It will be re-assuring no doubt to Rafa, who allegedly voiced his concerns with regards to being able to compete with the top clubs a few weeks ago. Should also stamp out the talk of him going to a big Spanish club come the Summer.

I must say, talk like this worries me because it just inflates the price of the players that we are interested in. Everyone knows we have cash and all of a sudden, the likes of Simao and Alves cost more.

Hmmmm

Originally Posted by The Beeb

Benitez 'nets £40m transfer fund'

Benitez is set to join the Premiership's top spenders

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will be given £40m to spend in the transfer market this summer, according to newspaper reports.
The club's new American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks will make the money available so Benitez can mount a challenge for the Premiership title.
Benitez met the club's owners over the weekend to discuss a strategy.
"We talked about ideas for the future and it was good. For me, the future of the club is brilliant," he said.
"They (Gillett and Hicks) said that we will go in the right direction."
However, Benitez, whose side face PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the quarter-finals on Tuesday, would not confirm how much he will be given to spend on new players in a bid to compete with Premiership front-runners Manchester United and Chelsea.
He added: "We have a big Champions League game against PSV to concentrate on and now is not the time to talk about money."
The Liverpool manager has been linked with a whole host of players, including Sevilla winger Daniel Alves, Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o and Valencia forward David Villa.
Benitez is in his third season in charge at Anfield, while Gillett and Hicks have made serious investment during previous forays into ice hockey and baseball in the United States. They have also concluded a deal for the Reds' new stadium following a meeting with Liverpool City Council. Work on the new ground in Stanley Park will begin in May and will be completed by the end of 2010.

[all_funkt_up]

Originally Posted by The Guardian

Rafael Benítez is to receive unprecedented backing in the transfer market at the end of the season, with Liverpool's new American owners telling their manager that they intend to bankroll a summer of spending as they seek to make an immediate impact on their adopted sport.
While George Gillett and Tom Hicks, who completed their takeover of the Merseyside club last month, have already stressed that they will not match the lavish spending of Roman Abramovich following the Russian oligarch's purchase of Chelsea, they have effectively informed Benítez that money is not an issue in terms of his close-season plans, granting him more financial clout than any previous Liverpool manager. The Americans are already committed to spending some £270m on a new stadium in Stanley Park, which is due to be completed in late 2008.

The new owners attended Saturday's 4-1 victory over Arsenal and met with Benítez for four hours of discussions at the club's training complex on Sunday, to outline their long-term strategy. "We were talking about ideas for the future and it was good," the Spaniard said yesterday. "It was very positive and, for me, the future of the club is brilliant. They [Gillett and Hicks] said that we will go in the right direction."
Benítez, who has also emphasised the need to improve youth development, would not discuss the figures involved last night, but it is understood that the funds at his disposal will be in excess of £40m. That would allow Liverpool to compete at the top end of the market for players, the more so given Abramovich's recent apparent attempt to rein in his spending at Stamford Bridge, granting the Spaniard far more leeway than he has enjoyed since arriving on Merseyside in 2004.

The manager has spent heavily since then, though he has largely been forced to buy in bulk, bringing in a number of players, some of whom have been recruited purely with the future in mind, for a combined figure totalling around £20m each summer. Confirmation that he will now be able to set his sights higher and lure more established talent to Anfield - particularly given his long-standing interest in Daniel Alves at Sevilla, Samuel Eto'o at Barcelona and Valencia's David Villa, all of whom had previously been out of his reach - will encourage both the manager and supporters, even if it should hardly come as a surprise.

Gillett, due in Eindhoven this afternoon for tonight's Champions League quarter-final at the Philips Stadion, and Hicks have already proved themselves willing to invest heavily in baseball and ice hockey in the United States and are now keen to demonstrate their commitment to Liverpool having ventured into new territory in the Premiership. The need to do so was made clear by Benítez, who has expressed concerns recently that Liverpool have been slipping further adrift of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Indeed, his achievements in claiming the European Cup and maintaining his team's challenge this term on a middling budget - albeit only in comparison to that of the Premiership champions - had seen his reputation soar on the continent. "But you can only be a genius if you have good players," he said. "You can be the best tactician in the world, but you must have the players who understand what you want of them and can do what you ask of them. You have your ideas, but the players decide in the end."

From now on in, Liverpool should be in a better position to ensure they boast that calibre of player as they seek a first domestic league title since 1990.

Manager's spending

04-05

Total spending £15.85m

Costliest buy Xabi Alonso, £10.8m

05-06

Total spending £28.9m

Costliest buy Peter Crouch, £7m

06-07

Total spending £29.7m

Costliest buy Dirk Kuyt, £10.9m

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by all_funkt_up

Everyone knows we have cash and all of a sudden, the likes of Simao and Alves cost more.

I don't know a great deal about Simao, but Alves is a class player and to be honest I don't think that the amount of money Liverpool have available to spend will make much of a difference to his price - he's one of the main players behind Sevilla's success in recent seasons, he's now broken into the Brazilian national team, he's under contract until 2012 and he's got a release clause (according to AS's guide to the season) of 60m euros. All of which means he's not going to come cheap anyway, all that Liverpool's new spending power will mean is that they're among the group of clubs that would be in a position to try to get him away from Sevilla.

Apparently your favourites Real Madrid are also in the running for him though, possibly in a part-exchange deal involving Cicinho.

If he does leave Sevilla this summer, I'd be very surprised if it's for any less than 10m.

[all_funkt_up]

RC - apparently we were after Alves last year but the price was just prohibitive. I hope Rafa has a value in mind and sticks to it. If we value him at £15million and he moves to another club for £20million then so be it. We shouldnt try and match other clubs and gazump them. When you do that you enter Chelsea territory and that £40million you had evaporates very quickly.

[andeeeee]

after seeing pinders chest i wouldnt mind seeing that at the half time draw

[all_funkt_up]

Today more than ever, it becomes apparent that £40million for players is only a good thing when spend wisely....

Originally Posted by Star on Sunday

Juventus striker David Trezeguet has put Liverpool on alert after claiming he wants to leave the club.

Please God no, not on this Holiest of days. Please do not curse us with either Trezeguet or Ibrahimovich.