Football » Premier League

PFA Chief supports trading ban

Lewis Doe — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:11:29 +0000

The chief representative of all Premier League players has said that the ban on under 18s switching clubs was the right decision to make. Gordon Taylor, head of the Players Football Association (PFA), believes that outlawing the sale of under 18s will help fairness and development among younger players.

The latest move comes shortly after it was announced that Chelsea were banned from signing any players for the next two transfer windows after they were found guilty of harassing a 15 year old player and persuading him to move to West London. Huge restrictions are also being called for against Manchester United after a top flight French club lodged an official complaint against the Premier League champions in a similar scenario.

Taylor said: “There’s been a general feeling that a ban on the movement of players under the age of eighteen would be better for the game. Football is all about competition. You cannot have the best youngsters being snapped up by the biggest and richest clubs.”

For years clubs have been arguing over the sale of relatively young players with many arguing that the main cause for the problem is agents acting on their behalf. Young players need to grow up in their own country first and establish themselves at big domestic clubs instead of being whisked away to parts of the world they know very little about.

There is also the problem that players at young ages are not emotionally developed enough to be able to cope with the stresses of living away from home at very young ages. For example, it is very easy for a young boy to get home sick and depressed if he is taken away from his home in Italy and placed in a flat in Manchester until he is old enough to sign a professional contract with Manchester United.

As Taylor says the move will also stop the monopolisation of playing talent by the biggest clubs in the world. A lot of good players come through the academies of a variety of clubs but those clubs never get the chance to play those players because they have already been bought before they have had the chance to step out on the field for the first team of the club that raised them.

That is not on and now that a ban looks as though it may be universal across Europe, it will help to increase fairness and variety among clubs. Smaller clubs can field their best players without the worry of losing them and therefore more clubs can compete with the best.

Benitez has a dig at football’s money

Dan Brown — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:27:05 +0000

Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, has had a dig at the amount of money floating around in the modern game. Benitez believes that football has become tainted by its orientation to finances and says that players such as Gareth Barry should be ashamed of themselves for moving to a club because of cash.

Benitez had been linked with Barry for a very long time but he ultimately chose to go to Manchester City who were offering him a wage deal that Liverpool could not even get close to. Furthermore in a season where players are moving between clubs for world record amounts of cash, Benitez has praised the likes of Glen Johnson, who Liverpool themselves had to pay over the odds for.

Benitez said: “He [Johnson] was always thinking about Liverpool so for us to sign a player who wants to come, an England international with experience of being at a big club, is really good, because of his desire to be successful here. In this market, money is not the main thing because everyone at this level earns big money. If it’s just for money sometimes you make mistakes, like Barry.”

“I won’t say too much but that was clearly for the money, 100 per cent. It is not a bad thing to miss out on him. The most important thing is the passion of the player.”

Benitez does have a clear point in the respect that you would rather have a player at your club who seems genuinely grateful to be there as opposed to someone who is just there to go through the motions and then pick up his wage packet at the end of the day.

There are a lot of players in football who are just mercenaries and will go to the club that offers them the most money but this is now an accepted part of the game. Benitez is quite within his rights to come out and have a dig at Barry and the amount of cash floating around in football but it is something that Liverpool themselves have adopted, they did spend £30 million on Fernando Torres not too long ago.

What Benitez is probably more worried about is the ability of the biggest clubs in Europe to monopolise. The danger of this is that if only a few clubs can afford to buy the very best players in the world then the gap between them and everyone else will one day get so big that it cannot be overcome.

This is the real danger that Benitez probably has in mind but doesn’t want to talk about openly in the media. When a manager comes out and knocks certain players who are only in the game for cash, it is not really new news and we have all heard this sort of story before.

The point is that when you read between the lines of many transfers and players switching between clubs you begin to realise the massive dangers that you would otherwise have not paid any attention to. It is also important to consider that Liverpool are very much a club in transition. Benitez is trying to create something that will take his side closer to title winning form and give them a chance of lifting the European Cup they won not too long ago.

Therefore whenever something happens along the line that dents the larger vision of a manager or club it is quite natural for that person to come out and have a sly dig at the person responsible. If Barry had gone to Liverpool then it is unlikely that Benitez would be talking about another target that Liverpool have missed out on, maybe David Villa, who looks set to remain in Spain for bigger wages.

It is a well used cliché in life but there is no smoke without fire and it is an unfortunate set of circumstances when a lot of players choose to join clubs they may not necessarily want to go to because it means they can retire as soon as their playing careers are over.

The point is that now a lot of clubs and managers have to be very careful with the people they are trying to buy. In a world where football is dominated so much by money it means that a lot of players in sides may not be giving their all for that particular club.

Therefore if you can buy a player that actually wants to be at your club, although he may be of less quality, he could turn out to be more valuable than a better player elsewhere on better money. A determined player who loves his club can often raise his levels of performance enough to be able to cope with a much better opposition side or player.

This means that sometimes when you are buying a player it is more valuable to look at the things that you may not normally look at. This is the underlying thing that Benitez is talking about because he clearly knows that there are particular players that Liverpool would want to sign but they are players that would not give their all for the club.

It is actually quite refreshing to see a manager who would rather buy someone who is not as good just because he wants to put the Liverpool shirt on every week and tap the sign each time as he walks out at Anfield. There are players like this out there but because money is bigger in football than it has ever been a lot of players are becoming tainted to epic proportions.

Football is a game where you have to play the system sometimes and Liverpool will have to in future months. The point is that Benitez will only part with his cash if it is for the right player, a player that wants to play for Liverpool and a player that is not buying into a lucrative Liverpool contract. He will quite happily spend a lot of money but the point is that he will not throw it away in trying to create something special if players are there for all of the wrong reasons.

Chelsea to hold crisis talks with their captain.

Dan Brown — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:30:00 +0000

Chelsea will hold crisis talks with their captain, John Terry, later today as the England centre back returns for pre-season training amidst a storm that is currently surrounding his future. Chelsea have already rejected two bids from Manchester City that have been aimed at poaching the Chelsea legend away from Stamford Bridge.

Terry has not yet had a chance to talk to his club and it appears that Carlo Ancelotti is wasting no time in talking to one of his most influential players. The reason that Terry has not yet said any thing is quite simple, he has been on holiday while most of this drama has been developing.

Chelsea fans will be hoping that it is the case that he simply walks into the manager’s office, sits down and states his intention that he has no desire to leave the club at all. If there are any doubts what so ever about his future at the club then Chelsea could well be swayed by a third Manchester City bid, which is currently being prepared.

This bid could be well over the £40 million mark and could see Terry earn wages that get close to the highest paid player in the Premier League, Robinho. However, you would question why he would want to move at all. Chelsea have a much better chance of immediate success than City do and Terry has come through the ranks of the club to lead the first team.

In effect, he is the main man at Chelsea and this is something that he may not have the luxury of should he choose to move up north. Many would question his ambition and temperament if he made the move as it would defy all football logic. It would also lead to a lot of fans branding him as nothing more than a mercenary and he would lose a lot of the respect that he currently has from fellow playing and coaching staff.

He will be encouraged by the fact that the club clearly want him to stay and the fact that they are wasting no time at all in holding talks with him. No sooner has he walked back through the door to start pre-season preparations and he is straight into the office to talk to the manager.

This prevents Terry from thinking that he is considered nothing more than a financial asset at the club and it could be a move that strengthens his desire to stay at Stamford Bridge. Had the club left the issue and waited for City’s third bid to come in the Terry would not be blamed for thinking that the club did not have his best interests at heart and he may well have walked through the exit door and got on the M1 to go up north.

A lot of players when they have left a club that they clearly admire and love have said that the thing, which pushed them out of the door, was that club’s reluctance to show any desire in making them stay. In a world that is dominated so much by huge sums of money it can e very easy for club’s to lose sight of the most important thing in their players and fans.

It is highly unlikely that Terry will be leaving Chelsea and it will take a very special deal from City for it to happen. It would have to be a deal that defies normal and logical thinking in the respect that it would allow Chelsea to move forward in maybe three or four areas.

The point is that should Terry stay and ultimately when he is asked questions in public about the whole affair, he will probably say that the main reason he stayed at the club was the fact that the manager wasted no time at all in showing his desire that he wanted him to remain as Chelsea captain. The club are clearly going to show him some loyalty and they clearly want him to stay put and for a non-egotistical man such as Terry this may well be enough.

It is a weird scenario because it is all of these values, which will be the main reasons that Mark Hughes wants Terry to join City. Many people will not look too far into the links but it is obvious that Terry would be the ideal sort of player to lead the City revolution. Someone that clearly has no ego and someone that would clearly give every thing for the club he is paid to play for.

This is why City are preparing a third bid for the England skipper, and would probably prepare another two or three after this if that’s what it would take to get him to make the move. Obviously City are better positioned than anyone else to be able to offer Terry a highly lucrative contract that would give him more money than he has ever earned before but the point is that there is clear logic behind their bids.

It is different from last January when they tried to sign Kaka from AC Milan because on that occasion it was probably more a case of, we will have a go and see if we can sign him. On this occasion it is a case of, this is the man that would be the ideal person to front our club over the next three to four years.

It would be a signing that would virtually see Manchester City set down the home straight. They would have a player around whom they could base the entire vision of the club and this is why Terry is so important to them. However, the discussion in the manager’s office today is likely to be the deciding one and it is likely that it will be a discussion that sees Terry state his desire to remain at the club, which he defines.

If he stays then it will be very much business as well expected but if he chooses to go then the party poppers will be going off all over the blue half of Manchester as many will quite obviously not be able to believe their luck. Realistically Terry will stay at Chelsea but the whole issue proves the growing strength that City are slowly obtaining.

City will have to do a lot better to snap up the best

Dan Brown — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:29:26 +0000

Chelsea have rejected an offer by Manchester City for their captain, John Terry. The offer was thought to be in the region of the £30 million mark but it shows that City will have to work a lot harder if they are to sway the best players to move away from their established clubs.

City would probably have to double that sum of money to have any chance of signing Terry and then they would probably have to triple his wages. This is all because Terry has no obvious intent to leave the club where he has made his name. If you go and offer him twice the money he is earning now it won’t mean anything because he is settled down and established at a club that has proven it can win things.

Manchester City is still very much a work in progress and the players they have signed so far this summer prove the ambition that the new owners of the club have. However, as has been said so often in recent weeks, they cannot expect to sign the top level of player until they have proven that the club is established under the new rulers and has the ability to win things.

This means Champions League football. The top professional players like to win trophies and the majority would not move to another club for purely financial reasons. Fair enough, if you have the money and ability to try and make a move happen then you would be silly not to go for it but City will not get top players to just walk through the door at Eastlands.

However, all this considering, if City did somehow manage to get Terry to leave the West London club then it could be the making of the Mark Hughes revolution. Terry is one of those players that carries around a reputation, he is a well-liked and well-respected player. He has also been noted by many attacking players around the world as one of the hardest defenders to play against.

His serious ambition and nature could tempt other big name players into making moves and it would be fair to say that Terry could become the first real high calibre signing that City have come to make after, what is now, a long time with the new owners in through the door.

Sooner or later a big name player is going to move to City and that player will be followed by others but all Mark Hughes can do now is make the best squad out of the players that are available to him. This may mean that City fans have to wait one or two seasons in order to see their club become like their city rivals or like a Real Madrid but the point is that all of the tools are there for it to happen.

What Mark Hughes will be thinking is that if City can try and get Terry to join then he is just the sort of person and player to represent the club and every thing that it is about. He does not have an ego and he seems like a genuine, honest and hard working club man. The ideal type of individual you would want to represent your club when you are trying to sign that next level of player that may take just a little more persuasion than is normal. There is no doubt around the fact that Chelsea want to keep him and there does not seem any reason why he would want to move. There are rumblings about a few dressing room disagreements involving Terry at Chelsea but a move now would seem to defy logic.

First of all, he is Chelsea Football Club, he is one of the first people that you think of when you think of Chelsea and it is for this reason that if he is happy, he will not be going to another club for any amount of money. Furthermore, Carlo Ancelotti, has just arrived as the new manager and the club will looking to reinvent itself to get back to the success that was experienced during the Jose Mourinho era.

This means that Chelsea will be going through their own revolution, all be it on a smaller scale than at City, which means that they will want their captain to front it. Chelsea need one or two big names through the front door and they will not arrive unless they know that the captain and backbone of the team are equally strong.

Selling Terry would be an illogical and silly move. The only point at which he would and should leave the club is the point when he does not enjoy himself any more and is getting literally sick of life at Chelsea and everything connected with the club. For someone who is Mr. Chelsea, it is difficult to see when or how these days could even appear.

So even if City go away and come back with a £40 million bid, a £50 million bid or even greater, they will not get Terry to leave unless he wants out from a club that has built him up and made him into one of the most respectable defenders that has ever played world football.

To players like Terry wages do not matter, they are all about respect and representing what they believe in. Unless something has gone drastically wrong in West London then Terry will be pulling the captain’s arm band over the blue shirt of Chelsea in August and Blues fans every where will be able to breathe a massive sigh of relief as they look to win back their Premier League crown.

For City the options are simple, keep working hard on trying to sign better players. They already have a good playing staff and sooner or later someone will make the move. This can only increase the chances of success, which will in turn make it even easier to sign John Terry or Lionel Messi, but for now they may have to be content with the level just beneath this phenomenal pairing.

Ruud back to Premiership?

Dan Brown — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:05:27 +0000

So, Sam Allardyce is trying to attract Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy back to the Premiership, is he? As Big Sam says, it really would be a coup but is it just a dream or could it really become reality?

Blackburn Rover fans have had a mixed reaction to the news. Many have total faith in their manager who, after all, has managed to attract big players to his clubs before. Rivaldo, Campo, Okocha and, of course, Niocolas Anelka to name but a few. Others believe it is either a bridge just too far or that Nistelrooy will opt to stay with Real Madrid for a final year and then go back to PSV as all his family still live in Holland. So, let’s just look at the facts. Yes, Allardyce has the pedigree to snap up star players, even if Nistelrooy, at 33, is coming to the end of his playing career. Yes, he needs a replacement following the departure of Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City. And, yes, Ruud van Nistelrooy would be quite a bargain as Real Madrid are rumoured to want just 1.5 million pounds for him.

One of the big stumbling blocks could be wages as Big Sam himself admits that Blackburn could in no way match his Real Madrid salary. Would money be the main motivation for Nistelrooy to come back to the Premiership or would scoring goals again be his reward?

Spurs are also said to be in the running to sign the striker and the London club might well be the favourites in this race. However, the most likely scenario is that Nistelrooy will opt to go back to PSV where he will end his playing career. Although he once famously threatened to quit international football, he still has his sights set on the 2010 World Cup and would love to play in the tournament.

Nistelrooy is still a brilliant player and well capable of slotting home the goals. Pace isn’t particularly important for his game which is centred around position, control and accuracy. Would he get the service he needs at Blackburn? Nistelrooy has also had his fair share of injuries which has to be taken into consideration. However, given no problems, he probably has three years of play in him yet and the price tag of 1.5 million could be considered quite a bargain.

The Dutch striker was a prolific scorer during his five seasons at Manchester United, having been snapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson after he was spotted by his son, Darren. Nistelrooy scored 150 goals in less than 200 matches before moving to Real in 2006. However, he has fallen down the pecking order in recent times and even more so with the recent arrival of the big guns, Kaka and Ronaldo. At least he would spend less time sitting on the bench if he came to Ewood Park.

Nistelrooy is still the second highest goal scorer in Champions League history with 60 goals and was three times the Champions League top scorer, as well as the top scorer in three different European domestic leagues. It’s more likely that his heart will be with PSV, the club he joined at the end of the 1990s from Heerenveen at a then record transfer fee of 6.3 million pounds. You can see why Sam Allardyce would like to sign him but on this occasion, it might be a purchase just out of reach.

City ready to go for Everton ace

Dan Brown — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:36:41 +0000

Manchester City are preparing a bid for Everton defender, Joleon Lescott, as Mark Hughes continues his quest to create the perfect squad. City will test the backbone of David Moyes with a tempting £15 million bid, an amount that Lescott is probably just about worth.

It is thought that Everton want around £18-£20 million for one of their best players as he has now become a regular in Fabio Capello’s England squads and is the bench mark of one of the best defensive teams outside of the back four. It would be a very shrewd signing on the part of City and Lescott could gel in well to their team with Richard Dunne, the current City captain.

With Roque Santa-Cruz and Gareth Barry already high profile names in through the door, it could be a matter of time before Lescott joins Carlos Tevez in making the City switch. The Eastlands club will offer Lescott a lucrative contract that would double the amount of money that he is currently earning for the Toffees and this would be a difficult offer for even the most resilient of individuals to turn down.

Lescott has built a fairly solid reputation during his time at Everton and has won many admirers for his attacking out look as well. He is often seen marching up for corners and free kicks and seems to have an added advantage as he scores a lot more goals than a normal defender would in any other side. What this does is it increases his appeal as a player and makes him a double-edged sword. If Everton ask for two or three more million pounds to make the deal even better as far as they concerned then City would be well advised to just pay it.

The danger is that many people would say that Lescott is a pretty average defender who can go and score a couple of goals, nothing more and nothing less. Therefore the amount of money that Everton are asking for him could be seen as a little more than good value, proving once again that sides are looking to take full advantage of the financial benefits that City obviously have in abundance.

Mark Hughes obviously has a very clever plan to try and assemble the best side that he can with players that are probably just beneath the bracket of being world class. What this will allow City to do is build up some consistency and challenge for a top six place next season. They may not be able to go that extra little bit as Robinho is still the only out and out brilliant player in the side, but the owners will be demanding some improvement and this is a squad that will deliver that.

If Tevez is added to the fold then besides from infuriating one half of Manchester, it will mean that City are brilliantly poised to have a crack at success next year. We would all love to be in Mark Hughes’ position with millions to spend but there is a pressure attached with this and he is doing well to get around this problem.

Football: reality TV

Dan Brown — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:07:47 +0000

It appears that broadcasting giant ESPN has stepped in to save the day for English Premier League junkies as the company bid on, and won the rights to show 46 live matches this upcoming season and bucket load more up until 2013. The American TV network jumped in after Irish broadcaster Setanta failed to pay the English, and Scottish Premier Leagues the over 30 million pounds it owed them.

I actually like the programming that Setanta has to offer as they show a wide variety of British and European sports. But it seems they shot themselves in the foot when it came to football. I’m not sure if you’d call it greed or mismanagement that finally did the company in.

It seems that not too many football fans were willing to fork over the high monthly bills to subscribe to Setanta, especially if the corner pub had already paid for it. The simple solution to the lack of subscribers would have been to lower the monthly rate to a more affordable price and then watch as the subscriptions went up. But this is the world of high finance companies, where the barter system and common sense often take a back seat to profits.

If you’re running a business, I think the last thing you want to do is turn away money, no matter what amount it is if you’re making a profit. If I was a hotel owner and Jack the Lad came knocking on my door and offered me 10 quid for an empty room that usually goes for 50 pounds a night, well I think I’d be daft not to take it. The room’s going to sit empty, so a tenner in my pocket is definitely better than nothing.

But that’s not how big business works. Companies set a price and if you can’t pay it, they take a “screw you” attitude and turn and walk away. The problem is though, they’re walking away from what could be a very substantial profit. The more often they walk away, the more money lost until they eventually go belly up.

I remember when Setanta first came out in North America, they were very hard for local pubs to deal with due to the astronomical rates they were charging. It was rumoured they charged the pubs a price per head when people went to watch a game, and they had a representative there counting fans and collecting the coin. A few years later the company’s games were broadcast on local cable television and satellite systems for quite a reduced price.

The problem with Setanta and other similar broadcasters is the fact it’s all or nothing with them. You either subscribe for the whole month or you don’t see anything. A better option is selling individual games to people who are interested and willing to pay to watch a specific match

Setanta refused to budge on their pricing scheme in Britain and the average fan pushed back and said well “screw you too.” They definitely didn’t help themselves out by listening to what Joe Public had to say, especially in these tough economical times. They are now paying the ultimate price for their stubbornness and have lost their major lifeline.

And what of ESPN, how will they handle and distribute their games, on a pay per view basis ? Well we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’m sure not everybody will be happy, but I’m sure they will manage to pay their bills at the end of the day.

Premier League will step in over Tevez future.

Dan Brown — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:49:52 +0000

Premier League officials have said they will monitor any move that Carlos Tevez makes away from Old Trafford in order to inspect any irregularities that his move brings up. Tevez recently stated that he would not be staying at Manchester United, which has opened up a potentially slippery bidding war for his services.

It is a positive move on behalf of the Premier League who clearly don’t want a repeat of any third party agreements that meant his short career at West Ham United ended in controversy. Sheffield United were relegated in place of West Ham and it was Tevez who scored the goal, which sent them down. The Sheffield side decided to launch a court case, that was only resolved earlier this season.

The problem that Tevez has had to deal with ever since he came to England is the fact that his agent was the person who held the rights to his playing career. Kia Joorabchian is the player’s adviser and holds his economic rights, meaning that for any club trying to sign him would not approach the club Tevez was playing for but this man.

It is this point, which makes any move Tevez has stink of illegality and how it ended up that someone else and not another club could control his finances is amazing. Manchester United paid Joorabchian over £10 million to have Tevez on loan for two seasons and he asked for over £25 million to make the transfer a permanent one, with the rights being handed over.

Now it has emerged that Manchester City or Liverpool will probably be the sides that pay this man what he is asking for, which is an amount that seems to be verging on the extortionate. Tevez would be well advised to get rid of this guy as soon as possible so that everything in his football life can become black and white as soon as is possible.

Tevez is a very genuine and honest man that does not seem to know what the word egotistic means. He deserves a lot better than having to be controlled by one other person that does not appear to know the ins and outs of football law in a variety of countries.

West Ham ended up having to pay over £25 million themselves for their decision to take up an offer that would bring Tevez to Upton Park and the current agreement that he has worked out with his adviser clearly seems to bring more trouble than it is worth.

If you went and asked Tevez all he would want now is to play football and be paid in an uncomplicated fashion for doing what he loves. It is very doubtful that he would have enjoyed all of the legal fuss that has surrounded him since he moved to England and West Ham would probably say that they would not do the same thing again if they were given another chance. Hopefully once his future club has been sorted out, all parties can settle down and forget about what has been a messy last few seasons.

Lyon close to defeat over Benzema.

Dan Brown — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:10:32 +0000

Lyon have accepted that they are close to defeat in their attempts to try and keep star player, Karim Benzema. The young Frenchman is thought to head a shortlist of attacking players that Sir Alex Ferguson will try to buy to make good the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United would be a good destination for the young man and it should not unsettle him too much in terms of moving to another country. He would be well positioned to be able to go home frequently and the pace of the Premier League could suit him well as he continues his development as a player.

Lyon had insisted that the player would not be going to another club this summer but the club’s president, Jean-Michel Aulas, has now admitted that £35 million would be a hard fee to turn down. United would probably be happy to pay it as well because it is a lot less than they would have to fork out for Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich.

Aulas said: “Karim has said he wants to stay at Lyon but I think Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka also imagined they would be staying with their clubs. There is a tsunami known as Real Madrid sweeping through football which leads to a reaction from Chelsea, City and tomorrow United.”

“I won’t hide the fact he has been approached by other teams – as a consequence, saying that he is non-transferable is tough.”

Benzema has been far and away the most potent of Lyon’s attacking players over the last two seasons, scoring 54 goals in the process of becoming the most feared player in the top-flight of French football. This has meant that he has attracted a lot of interest but the rumours linking him with United have existed for a lot longer than those associating him with any other clubs.

He would also benefit from the fact that Patrice Evra, his international team mate, already plays at United and could easily help him settle in. He would also be more likely to get a starting place at United as opposed to if he joined a top Spanish side. The thought of Benzema and Rooney side by side, destroying defences is a truly terrifying prospect.

It may also be the case that Ferguson wants to go for a player that mirrors how Ronaldo was when he first went to United. Although Benzema would arrive with a higher profile and the statistics to back him up, he would be similar to the Portuguese winger in the respect that he still has the naivety of youth. This could allow the United boss to mould him into a truly terrifying player that could benefit United in a number of other areas.

Lyon now seem resigned to the fact that they will have to sell the player as soon as United come in with a big bid. Benzema would be well advised to ignore the lucrative rival offers that are likely to come his way and think about what would be best for him personally and his career in the game.

Torres statements are a breath of fresh air.

Dan Brown — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:07:25 +0000

Fernando Torres has come out with some refreshing comments just days after reports emerged in the papers that there was a good chance he would join Premier League champions Manchester United. The Liverpool front man insists that he is going nowhere and it is nice to see such positive comments in a summer where players are being transferred for stupid amounts of money.

Torres is one of the most important players in the Liverpool side and fans would have been dreading his possible departure when news surfaced that there was interest from his native Spain and his not so native Manchester. However, the striker will be staying at Liverpool for as long as he is wanted and is the clearest sign that Rafa Benitez is about to build a revolution up on Merseyside.

Torres said: “Winning the European Championship with Spain gave me a taste of what winning at the top level was like and once you’ve had a taste of success it becomes an addiction. A lot of players committed themselves to Liverpool this summer with new contracts and players don’t do that unless they think they can have their ambitions met.”

“There is a lot of belief at the club and a lot of trust in the manager. I sincerely believe I will win the Premier League and the European Cup here. The winning tradition is very clear at Liverpool. I want to be involved in a little piece of their history. I’m very happy with my contract at Liverpool and wouldn’t leave just to earn a little more somewhere else where I wouldn’t be that happy.”

Some people will say that his comments are being blinded by his own new love for the club he is currently playing at but Liverpool did win the European Cup not too long ago against some good sides and they pushed Manchester United harder than ever before in Premier League history last season.

Whether they will win the league or not next year is a debate that is wide open. It is hard to see how they would maintain the consistency at this moment in time unless Benitez starts making some quality signings and quickly. Both Manchester United and Chelsea are already negotiating over new players and the only transfer stories coming out of Liverpool are about players that are leaving.

It may be the case that Benitez is waiting until all of the players that want to leave have gone before he decides to make his signings for the summer. The risk of doing this though is missing out on players that would substantially improve the side. David Villa od Valencia for example, has already said that he would love to join Liverpool and that they are the only English side he would move to. However, he is in negotiations with other Spanish Football clubs and this won’t be a possibility until Liverpool move to take action.

Torres has some big ideas and clear visions but the fact is that Liverpool won’t go any where until Rafa gets himself into the next gear of the summer.