Sergi Canos: Liverpool’s Barcelona signing – everything you need to know

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Name: Sergi Canós Tenes
Date of birth: 2 February, 1997
Birthplace: Nules, Castellon, Spain
Position: Striker
Club: FC Barcelona
International appearances: Member of Spain U16/ Catalonia U16 squad

What’s the latest?
A report in Barcelona-based paper Sport from a few months ago revealed that the Catalan club are scrambling to sign several youth players to new deals, with the youngsters that have recently turned 16 currently free to sign for Premier League sides. One of those clubs is Liverpool, who Sport say are prepared to offer superior contracts to those on the table from Barcelona, and indeed, have already done so in the case of Sergi Canós, according to his agent Eduardo Rivera. It has emerged in recent days that Canós has accepted the offer, and is expected to join the Liverpool youth set-up before the end of this month.

Did you know?

1) The young striker started out in the youth ranks of Club Deportivo Castellón in Valencia, before joining FC Barcelona’s academy in 2010.

2) In his first season at Barcelona, Canós won a league title in his age group, and after being promoted up a year in 2011, he achieved the same feat for a second consecutive season.

3) In the current campaign as part of Barcelona’s ‘Cadete A’ team, Canós has been used across all three forward positions. Along with his versatility, he has been lauded for his strength, speed on the ball and finishing ability.

4) In October 2012 the young forward joined the exclusive club of Barcelona players to score five goals in one game, a feat even FC Barcelona’s record-breaking youth level striker Bojan Krkic failed to match.

5) The striker cites his idol as David Villa, and has been featured in Barca TV’s round up of the best of the club’s youth team goals for this strike, below.

They say
“The first signs of a Barcelona exodus have already occurred. Liverpool’s academy started to negotiate the signing of Sergi Canós several weeks ago. The young striker has kept quiet, while his agent, Eduardo Rivera, received a formal offer from the English club.”

I think out of all the transfer rumors and speculations so far, this looks like a done deal. Although 16 year old, the profile is exciting and if he can go on to have an impact like his idol David Villa, what more should we ask for? I am very excited by this news and I feel he will be our first signing this summer. 

 

 

Liverpool set to lose out on signing Stefan Kiessling

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Bayer Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling doesn’t seem to be going anywhere thanks to Serie A giants Fiorentina.

The Italian club have had a move for the big forward rejected, which means it’s going to be even more difficult for Liverpool to sign the forward if Brendan Rodgers thinks he fits the bill for his Anfield project.

The problem is that because of the Chelsea Andre Schurrle deal, Leverkusen seem reluctant to talk through deals for any of their other major players until that has been sorted out.
As that is a deal which seems to rest on the future of Kevin De Bruyne, it’s impossible for Fiorentina, Liverpool or any other major side to come in and sign Kiessling until that has been resolved.

This is one news that doesn’t upset me. For some reason I don’t fancy 29 year old striker with limited abilities joining Liverpool. Yes, limited ability. I have seen a bit of him but never overly impressed. I think we should instead go for Kevin Gameiro whom I think is a perfect fit for Liverpool, also cheap.  

Daniel Agger urges Liverpool to buy Christian Eriksen

English: Danish football player, Daniel Agger, during Liverpool FC pre-season training in Singapore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Christian Eriksen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daniel Agger has urged Liverpool to buy his national teammate Eriksen and believes that the 21-year-old is exactly the type of player Liverpool needs. I think most Liverpool fans would agree to that. Talking to sky sports Daniel Agger said that:-“We want to play attacking football with the ball on the ground and that is exactly what Christian Eriksen is all about. That is the kind of player we need,” 

It all depends on which team he plays for.”

“If he plays for a team who want to keep the ball on the ground, then the answer is yes – due to his passing, his runs and his hard work.”

“He has to do what he believes is best and no-one else but him should decide his future. You must never listen to anyone else other than yourself.”

As much as I hate to say this but I think Eriksen would definitely like to play in Europe and with Borussia Dortmund interest in him, it looks less likely that he will be wearing Red Jersey next season. Eriksen himself confirmed his desire to join Dortmund:-

“Dortmund are a club where I would like to play,” he said. “I think I would be a good fit there with the football there.

“Dortmund play nice, attacking football. The Bundesliga has never really been my preferred choice and a few years ago I would not even have considered it, but now I do.

“The competition is getting stronger and it is no coincidence the two Champions League finalists are German clubs.

“I know there has been contact between the two clubs, and both Ajax and Dortmund have already talked to my agent.”

Liverpool miss out on Europe through fair-play league

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LIVERPOOL have missed out on a back-door entry into Europe with England having failed to be granted an extra place through the Fair Play League.

The final standings released by UEFA yesterday revealed Sweden, Norway and Finland finished in the top three and have been awarded an additional berth in next season’s Europa League first qualifying round.

England, having been fourth in the intermediate standings back in December, eventually dropped to ninth place.

Liverpool are set to finish third in the Premier League Fair Play table and, as the highest-placed team not to have already qualified for Europe, would have been offered the extra spot.

Brendan Rodgers had sounded his concerns at gaining entry to Europe through the fair play route, not least as it would have disrupted his team’s planned Far East tour this summer.

But now Liverpool can press ahead with their summer schedule as they face up to being without European football for only the second time since 1999.

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Its very disheartening to see Liverpool failing to qualify for Europe. Europa league is still a very good league to compete in and this year we have witnessed how seriously most teams take Europa. We have a very young squad and this competition would have been the perfect platform to gain European experience for some of our youngsters. It was delight to see them play this season in Europa. I only wish its a blessing in disguise as BR once said and I hope we qualify for ECL next season. Pipe dream?

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Liverpool chose Roy Hodgson over Pepe Reina’s recommendation – Pellegrini, tragedy?

English: Roy Hodgson as a head coach of Fulham F.C. Русский: Рой Ходжсон на посту главного тренера ФК «Фулхэм» (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the Express, Pepe Reina admitted that he recommended Pellegrini to Liverpool in 2010 following the sack of Rafa Benitez but instead Liverpool appointed Roy Hodgson. Beggars belief! 

“Pellegrini had just lost his job at Real Madrid despite doing a really good job there and giving Barcelona a run for the La Liga title,” Reina said.

“He was available and we needed a manager. For me, it made perfect sense. I said so, telling Purslow that Pellegrini was the right man. It wasn’t just because I knew him. It was more about the style of football that he plays, getting teams to attack all the time.”

“Pellegrini has an attacking mentality and, when Purslow asked me about him, I said, ‘He’s a great manager and a great man in the dressing room’. He would never sit deep and just accept being put under pressure by opponents.”

“I know that the club spoke to Pellegrini a couple of times when they were looking for a new manager because he told me.”

“He called me and asked me what the mood was like in the dressing room, what the players were thinking and so on. I really hoped that he would get the job.”

I hope we are now past it. No more bad manager appointments and no more buying overpaid players. Brendan Rodgers looks promising but he has to deliver next season. 

Daniel Sturridge to emmulate Didier Drogba

Transcript from his interview:- 

“At Chelsea, I didn’t play two games in a row as a striker,” he said. “I didn’t have an opportunity but that’s in the past for me now.

“I am a lot more peaceful and I’m playing with a clear mind.

“Before there were a lot of things going on and mentally it was hard for me. It’s difficult when you do well and then don’t play the next game as you feel, ‘What more can I do?’

“But I’m glad all that happened. God made that happen and showed me how I need to be strong mentally.

“Being strong mentally is the one thing that can separate you from anyone else.

“When I worked with Didier Drogba at Chelsea, the one strength he had above everybody was his mental strength.

“I learned a lot from working with him about what it takes to be a top player.

“Hopefully I’ll become one.”

“I am just relaxed and enjoying my football at the moment,” he said. “When you’ve got a manager who believes in you and gives you an opportunity, you just have to go out there and work as hard as you can.

“God has given me a gift and now it’s down to me to do the hard work and show what I am capable of doing.

“I need to be dedicated to my job and not let myself, the manager or my family down. If I do that then hopefully my abilities will shine through.”

“I love that. I hope the fans do it every game,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what they say to me.

“I love the banter, it’s what I live for. So hopefully they’ll keep giving me stick!”

And with Stevie Gerrard and Luis Suarez out, Sturridge said he was relishing his partnership with Philippe Coutinho.

“It’s fantastic to be playing with someone of his calibre,” he said. “It’s good to have somebody around who is hungry. He has a lot to prove just like I have.

“We have both come from big clubs where we haven’t had an opportunity to play week in week out. We are both hungry to show everybody what we are capable of doing.

“I can’t praise him highly enough for what he’s shown. It’s very difficult to do what he has done in such a short space of time.

“I want to say thanks to Philippe because he has made my job very easy. He has been very unselfish. He has put me in many times and it’s just fantastic to work with him.”

Daniel Sturridge has been in scintillating form for Liverpool since his arrival in January. Its great to see that he has learned positive things from the likes of Drogba when they played together. I personally think Sturridge is complete different player from Drogba, while he has learned mental strength from Drogba, it won’t harm him if he tried to develop some sort of strength that Drogba had. Even though Sturridge is more agile, a little bit of extra strength can prove an asset in EPL. I hope Sturridge does not only try to match Drogba but better him as well. Fingers crossed. 

What do you think?

Brendan Rodgers demands for consistency

Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo: “This year has provided a great learning curve for me and I look back and see that it was learning that I needed.

“I knew the expectancy of the club but, going into next season, I am a much better prepared manager for that.

“We want to make significant improvements next year in the points total because the reality is we are 30 points behind the leaders and 11 points behind the top four.

“But I’ve seen enough and, if we improve our mentality in the summer – by signing players who have that consistent winning mentality – we can then improve again, like we have done in the second half of the season.

“That’s the job of the recruitment team and the club to identify those types of players.

“They might not always be the best players, but what we need in the second year of this project is to find a great level of consistency. There is a process of getting into the top four and becoming champions and that is consistency.

“I’ve loved every minute of being here and the small steps of where we want to go. But now I want to make bigger steps.”

I think everyone expects Liverpool to sign young players this coming season (again) as it is getting difficult to lure world class quality to Anfield due to lack of financial power as well as European football. Nonetheless, we are still an ambitious club and am sure 3-4 more quality youngsters like Coutinho and Sturridge can change the dynamics of the team completely but I think it is necessary that we sign at least 1 or 2 experience and proven players to balance out the squad which will consist majority of youngsters. I think Brendan is more experienced now and we have been in top 4 form since January. We didn’t have a great transfer window in summer last year but we did surprisingly well in January. I think this summer we can have a successful business due to the following factors:

a) new scouts from Man City

b) more experienced recruiting team

c) more experienced BR

d) philosophy in place “buy them young”

I see us signing  1 midfielder, 1 attacker and 2 defenders this season. (at least) and I agree with the boss that we should be performing consistently to have any chance of top 4. It will be difficult with the youngsters but its not impossible. I can’t wait for next season to start, already!

Liverpool target Raul Albiol to replace Jamie Carragher

According to the reports in Italy Liverpool considers Raul Albiol to replace Jamie Carragher. 

Raul Albiol has fallen down the pecking order at the Bernabue behind the likes of Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Varane. He wants to play regular football in order to feature in 2014 Brazil World Cup and will welcome the offer from Liverpool. Since the rumors about Ashley Williams has calm down, Liverpool has reportedly shown strong interest in signing Albiol whose experience will help fill the void that will be left by Jamie Carragher.

I hope these reports are not true, Raul Albiol is well past his peak and I would like Coates, Wisdom or Kelly to take over Jamie Carragher instead. Even if we sign a CB, we should sign someone young and ready like Toby Alderweireld.

Liverpool after Fred Onyedinma, who is he?

According to the Daily Star,

ARSENAL are preparing a bid for Millwall’s teenage starlet Fred Onyedinma.

But they will have to fight off competition from Liverpool and Manchester City to land the 16 year-old.

Attacking midfielder Onyedinma has been watched by a host of top flight clubs this season after impressing for Millwall’s youth sides.

The battle to sign him is now down to a three-horse race with the Gunners set to make the first move.

Arsenal, Liverpool and City all had scouts monitoring Onyedinma in his last game against Brighton.

He has already trained with Millwall’s first team and scored twice in his last four games for the Lions’ Under-21s.

But he is yet to sign a professional deal so will only cost a compensation fee, which is likely to be in the region of £200k.

I seriously don’t know how many youngsters are we going to sign? We already have so many waiting on the wings to play first team football. Is it really important to sign youngsters if we are just going to sell them again like Tom Ince? I think we should first give chance to the current crop of youngsters already at the club before signing anymore youngsters unless some real special talent is available.  I would like to see us investing in first team players this season.

Liverpool sign Sergi Canos?

According to the reports today,

Liverpool have been linked with young Sergi Canos for a while now and if Catalan newspaper Sport are correct he already has ‘one foot in Liverpool’. They say that Canos will be the third cadet to arrange a move away from Barcelona recently, with Josimar and Julio Pleguezuelo Selva both likely to go to London. Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City are the clubs chasing the latter two youngsters, but it’s Liverpool out on their own for Sergi Canos and Sport say negotiations have been ongoing for some weeks now.

The Catalan newspaper say that Barcelona have made some last minute moves to keep him but that they don’t think they can convince the youngster to change his mind and stay at Barcelona  The contract he could get with Liverpool would be worth far more than what Barcelona are able to offer youngsters and that leaves a situation which the La Liga club think is unfair.

Canos, 16, is a forward but can also play out wide on the right.

 

Kevin Strootman is good enough for Liverpool: Manager admits.

A tall, left-footed midfielder with exceptional vision and a strong shot, Kevin Strootman broke into the Dutch national side during UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying. His profile has also been raised by a series of fine showings for PSV Eindhoven following a summer 2011 transfer from FC Utrecht.

PSV coach Dick Advocaat would like to keep hold of Strootman but he admits a move away from the Eredivisie this summer should happen if he is to progress his career.

“For PSV it would be good if he stays, but for Strootman himself it’s better to leave,” Advocaat told De Telegraaf.

 “He’s the reserve captain of the Dutch national squad and PSV will make another step next season.

 

“This guy fits everywhere. He’s a fantastic player because he knows exactly what his qualities are.”

 

He added: “[He would be good for] Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, but I think he’s also good enough for Manchester City and Manchester United.

 

“Strootman is nothing less than Gareth Barry. He’s a very useful player for every team. Especially when he’s surrounded by better players.”

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This is certainly a green signal from the manager, club and possibly the player who wants to play for a bigger club next season. He is a quality youngster and will add a much needed competition for Lucas Leiva. But the biggest stumbling block could be his transfer fee which is said to be around  €17mn, too much?

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Liverpool legend John Barnes asks for patience from Liverpool fans in support of Brendan Rodgers who can be next Sir Alex Ferguson, you believe?

Speaking at the launch of the Royal Mail ­Football Heroes Special Stamps, part of the FA’s 150th ­ anniversary, John Barnes said that:

“Yes, there has been progress,” said Barnes. “And we are talking at a time when Sir Alex ­Ferguson is not around any more in management.

“Just look what he created at Old Trafford – and that was after they went three or four years without winning anything when he first came to the club.

“But United stuck with him because they believed in him. They trusted him.”

“I would have liked to have seen Liverpool do that [be patient] with Kenny Dalglish, but they let him go. But I would like to see them do it now with Brendan Rodgers.

“If you look at the way ­Liverpool have played at times this season, it has been excellent. If they can do that consistently, then success will come.”

“What will help the team achieve consistency is if the fans back the manager and the players. If they ­believe in what is ­happening there – which I do – then it can only be ­positive.

“Look, they may not actually win ­anything next season, but I can ­definitely see progress.

“United stuck with Sir Alex, and now Liverpool must do the same with Brendan Rodgers.”

“When a new manager goes into United now, there is no reason for United not to continue to progress ­because of the quality of players that are there.

“If they don’t, it will not be the manager’s fault. You will have to ask why ­players who have just won the title are not performing.

“In ­modern football, ­players can tend to absolve ­themselves from ­responsibility for ­defeat. When a team wins, it’s ­because of the players. If they lose, it is because of the manager.

“I would say to Liverpool that they should stick with the manager and for the fans to stay with him and the ­players. Support is vital.”

I think this is a widely debated topic on every Liverpool forum – Should we stick with Brendan Rodgers for 2-3 seasons? I would like to see how the next season starts and my opinion is that BR is a wonderful manager but lacks experience of managing a top club. FSG knew this well before they hired him and it only implies that they are ready to stick with BR for at least couple of seasons. I see no job insecurity for BR next season as well but if we finish below the current standing 7th again next season, pressure will rise. Ideally, we should aim for progress which comes only from stability or hundreds of millions which we simple don’t have. That’s why I would like to see BR as Reds boss again next season. He made few mistakes this season like only signing player he managed before in his first transfer window (Borini and Allen) unfortunately didn’t work as good as everyone would have liked, loaning out Carroll before signing Dempsey and playing out of form Allen regularly, these are just a few of his mistakes I can recall right now. I also think he did brilliantly in January transfer window by signing Sturridge and Coutinho which helped Liverpool performances in latter half of the season. So, all in all its a mixed season for BR and we should be positive going forward to Liverpool’s second season under more experienced Brendan Rodgers.

Contrary to Barnes viewpoint, I would like BR to form dynasty like Bill Shankly instead of Sir Alex Ferguson. 🙂

Liverpool’s new summer target: Left-back Lucas Digne

 

According to the Sunday people,  Liverpool are in talks over signing £8m rated Lille defender Digne

Liverpool have held talks over signing £8million-rated teenage French defender Lucas Digne, writes the Sunday People.

The 19-year-old Lille left-back is one of the hottest properties in Ligue One and Kop boss Brendan Rodgers has identified the youngster as a key signing this summer.

Digne – who has played for France at every level from Under-16 to Under-19 – has been linked with both Manchester United and City, Ajax and Udinese and is under contract until 2016.

Rodgers is looking at the youngster as a player he could blood straight away – putting a question mark over the future of current first choice, Jose Enrique.

Lille know they might have to cash in on Digne, with Liverpool aiming to do a quick deal once the season is over.

I like the idea of signing a young left-back as Jack Robinson is still too young to play and compete with Jose Enrique but to suggest that Jose Enrique future is doubtful is utter nonsense. If we want to challenge for the top 4 next season we want more than one player at every position to compete. At the moment, there is no competition for Jose Enrique and I hope we buy a good youngster who can help to built such competition and fight for the starting place. We must not SELL Jose Enrique, I think he is an excellent athlete, strong, sometimes quick, good going forward, good crossing ability and he also has that little bit of Spanish flair as well. We need depth in the squad and I know we will do that in the summer. £8mn for Lucas Digne sounds too much for a youngster but if we can get him under £5mn then I have no problem. Haven’t seen much of him other then in Youtube but looks very good nonetheless.  

 

 

Fulham vs Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge’s hattrick seals Liverpool win.

 

It was a day to remember for Liverpool Football Club as we smashed the record for Liverpool’s highest ever away goals tally in a single season. Sturridge looked sharp throughout the match except for in few occasions where he made a bad decision of not passing the ball, not a surprise though. As long as he keeps scoring we shouldn’t mind but in my opinion football is a team game and he should learn to play accordingly. Anyway, I was really surprised to see Coates, Shelvey, Wisdom getting the chance to play and they did very well. I don’t know why BR don’t play Coates too much. Yes, he had a terrible game against Oldham but so did everyone else. I think Coates is amazing talent and I would also like to see him play as Defensive Midfielder as he is good going forward with the ball. Fabio Borini looked very sharp as well and I hope to see him getting a start against QPR along with Sturridge in a 4-4-2 formation. I was very happy to see Conor Coady making his debut as I think he is surely one for the future and can play as CD, DM and MC.

Finally, I would like to say that we did it without Suarez, Gerrard, Agger and Skrtel. It was a fantastic win and we should have scored 5-6 goals easily but we got the 3 points nonetheless.

Jordan Henderson on his goal scoring form

“It’s always important for midfielders to get goals,” said Henderson.

“Hopefully I can keep working on that and get a few more next season.

“Scoring goals has been brilliant for me on a personal level, but I think the team has definitely progressed throughout the season and we can only get stronger and better and we look forward to next season.”

He added: “We’ve progressed over the season – we’ve played some really good football and won some really good games.”We’re definitely progressing all the time and we’ll look to continue to do so in the last two games and next season.”

Brendan Rodgers sees Liverpool as title contenders in few years time, possible?

Reds boss also praised Sir Alex Ferguson for his remarkable career. 

“It [United] has been a machine which has been working for over 25 years,” said the Reds boss.

“Sir Alex has really put his identity on the club and that has led to success. It will take David time to go in and assess everything but it is a club as stable as any in the world and it is ready-made for him.

“I can only think of Liverpool – I’ve a big enough job here to get us moving on but I think next year we can do that.

“My focus is to try to close the gap. We are bridging that gap slowly this year but hopefully we will take a bigger stride next year.

“But the reality is very simple: we are 30 points behind the leaders and 12 points behind fourth place so we have a lot of work to do here.

“We know it is a long road but we don’t like being second-best and being behind.

“We don’t start the season aiming to finish fourth. The aim is always to win the title.”

Liverpool scouting Aymen Abdennour?

According to Metro,

Liverpool are monitoring Toulouse’s Tunisian centre-half Aymen Abdennour as they plan for life after Jamie Carragher retires. 

Boss Brendan Rodgers’ scouts are at Marseille v Toulouse in Ligue 1 to run the rule over the defender, valued at £5million.

Same source also mentioned that,

Spanish giants Barcelona are also said to be interested in securing the services of Abdennour as they bid to strengthen their backline, which has looked less than solid this season. But it is believed he has set his sights on a move to the Premier League.

With Liverpool watching him this weekend, Abdennour will hope to convince the Reds to launch a bid for him by impressing against  Marseille.

Boggles my mind as to how anyone will prefer Liverpool or Premiere League for that matter over the mighty BARCELONA!! First team football can be a factor, but can Liverpool provide him with it? Is he that good? Who is Aymen Abdennour?

Profile (Metro):- 

The 23-year-old is a powerful left-sided player, who can play at full-back or centre-back, and loves to help his side from an attacking point of view – much like the modern day defender these days.

He is seen as a future lead of the senior national side, having been captain of Tunisia’s under-21 team, and played at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations but could not help his country advance from the group phase.

Since playing for Toulouse, he has not been sent off in 60 league matches, so clearly possesses good discipline on the field and has also chipped in with three league goals.

Profile looks strong but I don’t watch too much of a french football to judge on the players playing in Ligue 1. I am sure many of you all follow the league, what’s your opinion on him? 5mn looks reasonable? 

Gerrard dissapointed to miss out on Carragher’s Liverpool farewell

Talking to Liverpool official website, Gerrard touched on few topics concerning Carragher, his shoulder injury and upcoming fixtures:-

‘That’s my main disappointment – that I can’t share the last game with him. But it’s always going to be nice to say the last game I played with Jamie was the derby.’

 ‘I’m sure we’ll be looking to finish on a high. Fulham is a tough game away from home, but I am quite confident. We’re playing really well away from home – if you look at our recent performances against Aston Villa, Reading where we should have won comfortably and Newcastle where we blew them away.

‘If we can hit anywhere near close to those three performances, I’m sure we can get three points at Fulham.

‘Then there’s Jamie Carragher’s last game against QPR. I think all the players in the dressing room, all the supporters and the staff need to give him the lift he needs to make sure he goes off with a win.’

‘Hopefully he doesn’t put too much weight on over the summer and can join me for my testimonial!’ Gerrard added.

‘I first got the injury against Oldham in the FA Cup when I came on as a sub and I’ve since aggravated it on numerous occasions. The medical team and staff have been brilliant – they’ve helped me a lot and put a lot of hard work into getting me out there onto the pitch.

‘I’ve felt my form has been good this season. I think I got off to a slow start after the tournament (Euro 2012) but got stronger as the season went on. I’ve enjoyed the season, although it is disappointing to leave it empty handed.’

‘Between the medical staff and myself, we’ve decided the best decision is to get it done now so I am ready for pre-season training.

‘I’m very disappointed to miss the last two games, but it’s a stage now where it’s probably better if another player plays because he’ll be able to offer more because the shoulder is quite sore.’

Pepe Reina and Martin Skrtel not for sale: Brendan Rodgers

Numerous reports regarding the imminent departures of Skrtel and Reina scattered around the football globe as the form of both the ‘used to be’ key players kept declining this season. Skrtel who won the best Liverpool player award last season is now struggling to find his place in the team having lost it to retiring Jamie Carragher. Pepe Reina is no more considered one of the best goalie in EPL let alone Europe due to his performances in last 3 years and rightly so. If the rumors are to be believed, Liverpool will be busy in the market this summer to find at least couple of center backs to replace Jamie Carragher and for possible departures of Martin Skrtel and Sebestian Coates. Rumors aside, Liverpool gaffer Brendan Rodgers has rubbished any such reports and maintains that all of it is just speculation and none of the mentioned players are for sale. Speaking to ECHO he said:-

“It has been difficult for him and I’ve acknowledged and recognised that,” Rodgers told the ECHO regarding Skrtel.

“The great professional he is means his focus has been outstanding and he’s trained very, very hard everyday and has been there when he’s been required.

“We made the change a few months back and I think Jamie Carragher has arguably been one of the best defenders in the league and Daniel Agger has been fresh and played very well.

“It has been unfortunate for Martin but he has been a loyal member of the squad and is still very much part of my plans here.

“He’s happy here, he’s not in any rush to leave but players want to play.  I haven’t had any concerns with Martin at all, his attitude has been first class.

“It is important they know where they stand and he knows where they stand.

“He is very much a part of what we are trying to do here.

“We are trying to build up a group with a winning mentality and he’s got a winning mentality.  It’s just unfortunate he lost his place.

“It wasn’t so much through his form, it was just I felt we needed more of an organiser and a leader.”

“You can become a leader but I also think it is something a lot of people are born with,” he said.

“He is certainly a player we want to keep and we have no ideas of selling him.  He is an important member of our group.”

Rodgers, meanwhile, has reiterated that goalkeeper Pepe Reina is not for sale.

“It’s that silly season now that starts up all the rumours and whatnot but Pepe’s not for sale.

“He’s got three years left on his contract here, he’s happy and obviously there’s speculation but it’s not worth commenting on.”

I think we should sell Reina only if there is an offer above 15mn but we should keep hold of Skrtel at least until the end of next season. I think he is great and will prove himself again next season. What do you think?

Brendan Rodgers impressed by Jonjo Shelvey.

Is Jonjo Shelvey the right man to fill in the void left by Steven Gerrard? Brendan Rodgers was very impressed with Jonjo Shelvey after his performance against Man Utd U21. This is what manager had to say about talented youngster.

”Jonjo is a talented player,” said Rodgers.

“He is a young player that came here with big expectations and it’s sometimes difficult, but I think he has played quite a lot this year.

”In the last few months he hasn’t been in the team and because we’ve been down to one game a week, it’s been difficult for him to show.

”You saw from his goal during the week for the under-21s against Manchester United he has fantastic quality. The power and quality of that strike showed what he’s got.

”He’ll come into contention to play, as will some of the other players who have been outstanding in training and trying to demonstrate they want to be in the team.

“I will always look at the attitude of the players in training and those players that have shown that will and desire to work well will maybe have an opportunity to play.”

I think with nothing to play for the rest of the remaining matches, we should offer first team football to deserving youngsters. I would like to see Jonjo Shelvey, Andre Wisdom, Suso, Coates and Fabio Borini in the starting XI against Fulham. What do you think?