Sunday 13 July 2014

Rodgers wants to strengthen his side in £135million spending spree



Brendan Rodgers is ready to spend every penny of the £75million Liverpool bank for Luis Suarez – and then some, writes Alan Nixon in the Sunday People.The Kop boss wants a further six players that could take his spending this summer to a whopping £135m – eclipsing the transfer frenzy Spurs went on last year after getting £86m from Real Madrid for Gareth Bale.

And Rodgers will go back to Southampton, from where he plucked Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana earlier in the summer, for one of the incoming six – striker Jay Rodriguez.Rodgers has also targeted Sevilla’s Alberto Moreno and Swansea’s Ben Davies – with a £20million move for Benfica’s Lazar Markovic almost completed.

And centre-back Dejan Lovren could be the fourth Saint to sign for the Reds with talks well under way.Swansea keeper Michel Vorm’s £6m price tag has not put off Rodgers and the Dutchman is likely to be another heading to Merseyside this summer.The spree will go some way to calming the fears of Liverpool fans, worried that Suarez’s move to ­Barcelona will rule out a title challenge.
But it mirrors the spend-spend-spend policy last year of Spurs, who wasted all the cash they got for Bale on a string of flops like £26m forward Roberto Soldado and midfielder Erik Lamela, who cost the same

Tottenham were supposed to mount an assault on the title with their new-look, expensively-assembled team, but Denmark star Christian Eriksen was the only success as they finished way off the pace. Just as Spurs spent far more than the cash they got for Bale, the six Kop targets will cost more than the Reds banked for Suarez.
But Rodgers has already been given the green light to bring Lambert, Lallana and Emre Can to Anfield and he is confident that the club’s American ­owners will ­bankroll another splash.(soccerheatbase)

Suarez thanks Liverpool after agreeing Barca deal

Luis Suarez has released a letter to Liverpool fans thanking them for their support and explaining his reasoning for joining the Catalan club.Both clubs had announced on Friday that they agreed a deal for the forward and £70m was the fee subject to a medical and the signing of a five year contract.

Suarez was keen to explain the reasons for his move insisting that he enjoyed his time at Merseyside and that living in Spain with his wife's family "is a lifelong dream and ambition".The letter wrote: "It is with a heavy heart that I leave Liverpool for a new life and new challenges in Spain.

Both me and my family have fallen in love with this club and with the city.But most of all I have fallen in love with the incredible fans. You have always supported me and we, as a family, will never forget it, we will always be Liverpool supporters.I hope you can all understand why I have made this decision. This club did all they could to get me to stay, but playing and living in Spain, where my wife's family live, is a lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now the timing is right.

I wish Brendan Rodgers and the team well for the future. The club is in great hands and I'm sure will be successful again next season.I am very proud I have played my part in helping to return Liverpool to the elite of the Premier League and in particular back into the Champions League.
Thank you again for some great moments and memories. You'll Never Walk Alone."He was a contraversial figure in the premier League but he was a prolific goalscorer and Liverpool fans have thanked him for his services.(soccerheatbase)