Rumour Mill: Liverpool set to bid £8M for Tottenham centre back

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers wants Tottenham Hotspur and England Under-21 defender Steven Caulker to be his first signing at Anfield.

The former Swansea manager is determined to be reunited with the 20-year-old, who spent the duration of last season on loan at the Liberty Stadium.

Before joining Liverpool, Rogers expressed a desire to keep the highly-rated centre-half in South Wales for another season but now wants Caulker to join him on Merseyside.

Spurs remain interested in loaning out the England Under-21 international for another season to continue his development but have made it clear that Caulker, who is under contract in North London until July 2014, is not for sale.

Rodgers, however, is set to test Spurs resolve and is preparing an opening bid thought to be in the region of £8 million for the defender, who made 26 Premier League appearances last season for the Swans.

Rodgers believes Caulker is good enough to challenge for a first team spot at Anfield and this could tempt the youngster to push for a move. Spurs already have French international defender Younes Kaboul on their books and are close to finalising a deal to bring Ajax captain Jan Vertonghen to White Hart Lane.

Rodgers, privately feels the 6 foot 3 inch star will be an England regular within a year and is willing to increase his offer for the youngster should Spurs rebuff Liverpool’s opening bid.

Source: Caught Offside

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Transfer Watch: Who will Liverpool sign first?

Who will become Brendan Rodgers’ first signing as a Liverpool manager? Let’s go through the list reported in the press.

Clint Dempsey

The Anfield club's co-owner Tom Werner admitted: 'We never talk publicly about our transfer targets, however, any team would be lucky to have Clint Dempsey playing on their squad.'

At the moment Rodgers is also said to be actively pursuing Clint Dempsey, whom he feels will fit into the system of play that the new head honcho prefers. By agreeing to coach Liverpool, Rodgers will carry the aspirations, dreams and desires of hundreds of millions of Liverpool fans worldwide.

Adam Johnson

Talks are set to move forward in the coming days and the Kop outfit are hoping the Blues will do quick business on the England star who narrowly missed out on Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad.

Brendan Rodgers knows he also faces stiff competition from both Sunderland and Newcastle for Johnson, but the Merseysiders are understood to be willing to match his City wages.

Former Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish set the wheels in the motion last season and Liverpool scouts have been tracking the tricky 24-year-old ever since.

Rodgers is also a huge admirer of the player and has been told the funds are there to push through a big deal.

Johnson is now looking for more first-team opportunities to further his England claims and Liverpool are confident they can provide them.

Gylfi Sigurdsson

Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson admits he would be interested in a move to Liverpool to be reunited with former manager Brendan Rodgers after claiming his record-breaking move to Swansea is off.

Last week the Swans agreed a £6.8million transfer - almost doubling their record fee - to sign the player from Hoffenheim permanently after his successful four-month loan spell subject to a medical.

However, Rodgers' departure to Anfield cast doubt on the deal and Sigurdsson now does not think he will complete it - despite being keen to remain in the Premier League.

Mohamed Diame

Mohamed Diame’s move to Liverpool is back on, after it emerged that new Reds manager Brendan Rodgers is a fan of the former Wigan midfielder.

The Senegalese international was initially sounded out by former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish about a move to Anfield, before the Scot lost his job.

The 24-year-old – available on a Bosman after his contract with the Latics ran out – said he had hoped to move to Liverpool but was looking at other options, but it has now emerged that Rodgers would be keen on signing him.

First summer signing for LFC?

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Transfer Watch: Liverpool to re-ignites Fernando interest and other possible transfers

Liverpool has been alerted by the news report coming out from the Real Madrid camp on the availability of Argentine defensive midfielder, Fernando Gago.

Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho has instructed the club that he intends to get rid of Kaka, Fernando Gago, Hamit Altintop and Ricardo Carvalho in the off-season. According to Mundo Deportivo, Gago will follow Kaka, Altintop and Carvalho through the Bernabeu exit if Mourinho gets his way in the summer.

Gago is not part of Mourinho's plans and the midfielder spent the season on loan at Roma. He was expected to seal a permanent move to the Serie A outfit last month but the Italians refused to meet the €7million asking price set by Madrid by the June 1 deadline. Gago has one year left on his contract and may now be forced to run out his contract next season if no other interested buyers come in.

Liverpool new manager, Brendan Rodgers are looked set to recruit more players to mount a serious Premier League challenge this August. There are a few key areas in the Reds team need to be covered and Lucas Leiva’s position are the most crucial as the Reds struggles to fill the defensive midfield role last season when the Brazilian midfielder sat out through injury.

Fernando Gago transfer probability – 3/5 and worth £5.7million, aged 26, will fits into FSG’s plan.

Let’s look at other transfer target for Liverpool FC.

Many reports suggested that Rodgers are interested in his former Swansea City players, Joe Allen and Gylfi Sigurdsson. Are these the kind of players that can drive Liverpool back to Champions League football?

According to the BBC, Sigurdsson has verbally agreed to make his loan move to Swansea permanent, but since Rodger’s made his Liverpool switch, his future has become somewhat more uncertain. Rodgers has since admitted that “if he comes on the market I have to be interested. He knows that I rate his qualities and abilities.”

Rodgers’ interest in Joe Allen also has an air of authenticity. He was the mainstay at Swansea City and Rodgers’ is clearly a big fan. There’s every chance that he’ll look to bring him over to the Reds (if Swansea doesn’t placed a players protection clause when Liverpool signs Rodgers).

Another noticeable mentioned by the press was Fulham’s Clint Dempsey. Liverpool’s chairman Tom Werner has made his interest in the American star clear. He publicly told the press, “We never talk publicly about our transfer targets. However, any team would be lucky to have Clint Dempsey playing on their squad.”

All three are Internationals, can pass the ball around neatly and score goals. They’ve all got Premier League experience, are physical and have bucket loads of energy. In particular Clint Dempsey is the real deal and how Liverpool could use his goals moving forward.

Without Champions League football, Liverpool FC would never going to get Fernando Llorente, Kaka or Eden Hazard. As such the Reds need to start making sensible signings and rebuilding. These three players look like they’ve got the nous to get Liverpool competing again.

Source: LFC Stats

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Rumour Mill: Liverpool wants Manchester City midfielder as Kuyt replacement

Newly installed Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is wasting no time in his pursuit of new additions to his Anfield squad and having offloaded Dirk Kuyt to Fenerbahce, the former Swansea City manager will now look to move for Manchester City winger Adam Johnson.

Rodgers is believed to be preparing a significant bid, said to be in the region of £16million, for the 24-year-old England international and the Northern Irishman will hope that the promise of regular first team football will act as enough motivation for the former Middlesbrough man to push for an Etihad Stadium exit.

Johnson has struggled to make an impact at Manchester City and has consistently failed to secure a regular first team berth ever since his £7million move to the club. Last term the Sunderland born winger managed just 10 Premier League starts and as a result lost his spot in the England Euro 2012 squad.

Whilst Manchester City may well have won the Premier League and have Champions League football to look forward to Johnson may well feel that his career is stagnating at the club. The arrival of Samir Nasri last summer further stifled his progress and talk of further additions could well spell a death knell to his time at the big spending club.

Liverpool could well do with a more natural right wing option as Jordan Henderson has struggled to fill the role since his move to the club and with Kuyt having left there is indeed further need to consider addressing the problem area.

Source: Caught Offside

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Video: Brendan Rodgers the new LFC manager

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Liverpool Football Club announced that Brendan Rodgers has been appointed as the club's new manager, last Friday morning after signing a contract.

Rodgers, 39, is regarded as being at the forefront of a new generation of football coaches, an excellent tactician and motivator with a progressive philosophy. After an extensive two-week process where many highly-qualified candidates were carefully considered, Liverpool's ownership group identified Rodgers as the single outstanding candidate to implement their long-term vision.

 

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