Liverpool pushing for a new goalkeeper

Liverpool are believed to be closing in of the signing of Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, plunging the future of Pepe Reina at Anfield into serious doubt.

A deal for the Belgian international could go through as early as this week, with a fee believed to be in the £10 million region. Should he make the trip south to Liverpool, the likelihood that either Mignolet or Reina would be comfortable sitting on the bench is hugely unlikely, with recent reports linking Reina with a move back to Spain.

Barcelona were considered to be interested in his services with the seemingly impending departure of current goalkeeper Victor Valdes, but Valdes has recent announced that he will complete his final year on his contract with the La Liga champions before leaving after next season.

Sunderland, though, will not be keen to sell Mignolet, who was their Player of the Year in the 2012/13 season.

But the 25-year-old, who has also been linked with Arsenal, has only two years remaining on his contract and Sunderland will know his value will decrease as time drags on.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

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Liverpool set for double raid on Spanish club

Liverpool are preparing for a double raid on Spanish Primera Liga side, Sevilla. Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic has admitted he is flattered to be linked with a move to Liverpool.

Luis Alberto, 20, has been linked with a move to the Reds for some time and last week spoke of his imminent arrival at Anfield, saying he’d be “foolish” to turn down the Reds’ offer.

Alberto spent last season on loan at Barcelona B, scoring 11 times in 37 appearances.

Sevilla were keen to keep hold of their exciting young prospect but are now believed to be willing to do business as long as the Reds agree to some supplementary add-ons that could eventually take the deal up to £8million.

Meanwhile, the Croatia international is reportedly attracting interest from Anfield and he has now reiterated his stance that he will only stay with the La Liga side if they bolster their squad.

"I'm really flattered that I'm being linked with such a big club like Liverpool," Rakitic told 24sata.

"I heard that something is happening, but for now there is no concrete offer.

"My brother, who is taking care of my career, is doing all the business about my future.

"But I will repeat what I said before: I will only stay at Sevilla if they will strengthen the team.

"I made it quite clear about that and they know that they have to buy some good players."

25-year-old Rakitic has previous playing experience for Basel in Switzerland and Schalke in Germany.

He has made 53 appearances for his country, scoring 9 international goals.

Source: FoxSports

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

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Liverpool set to complete £7.7M deal for Celta Vigo striker

According to The Guardian, Liverpool are close to completing their second signing of the summer after Iago Aspas arrived on Merseyside to finalise his £7.7m move from Celta Vigo. The 25-year-old forward travelled to Liverpool on Monday, having cancelled a holiday to the Caribbean once he became aware of interest from Anfield, and will undergo a medical on Tuesday before sealing the transfer from his boyhood club.

Aspas, 25, was tracked by Rodgers throughout last season and he initially intended his purchase to complement rather than replace Suárez.

With Suárez’s future looking increasingly to be away from Anfield and Daniel Sturridge fighting to be fit for the start of the season, Rodgers will have to find further striking recruits in the next few months.

Suárez’s public flirtation with Madrid has continued as he has spoken of the attraction of playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Aspas can operate across the front line and scored 12 goals in Celta's return to the top flight last season following five years in the second division. He had offers from Valencia, Portuguese and Italian teams plus Swansea City, whose failure to conclude the deal has added to Michael Laudrup's frustrations at the Liberty Stadium, but cleared the way for a move to Liverpool after settling a contractual issue with Celta Vigo.

Source: The Guardian

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

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Former Liverpool boss wants Reds defender at Stadio San Paolo

Liverpool have placed a €14million price tag on its central defender, Slovakian international, Martin Skrtel as manager Brendan Roders looks to trim their squad of underperformers this summer.

Reports have widely been speculating that Napoli are interested in signing Skrtel, with incoming manager Rafael Benitez seeing the 28-year-old as a solid defender who can offer continuity to the Serie A side's backline.

This is despite a below par season for Liverpool in which Skrtel ended up losing his place to Jamie Carragher in the second half of the season.

With Brendan Rodgers already acquiring Kolo Toure, Skrtel, could team up again with Rafa Benitez, who brought the defender to England five years ago.

"It is too easy to say, but if there is contact from the Blues then we will begin to evaluate it," Skrtel's agent Karol Csonto told Italian paper Tutto Mercato.

"Napoli are a great club and Benitez is a great coach, but Skrtel is a Liverpool player and for this reason he is already looking to the next season with the Reds."

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

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Liverpool target already knows he will be Reds

‘Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world. I could have moved to other teams and countries, but I quickly decided that I wanted to be in England.’

Iago Aspas had plenty of offers when he decided it was time to leave Celta Vigo but there was only one place he was going.

According to the paper the move for the fast and direct left-footer isn't finalised yet, but poised to be sealed for £7.7 million. A local idol, the Vigo-born Aspas was Celta's top scorer with 12 goals in La Liga this season, his first in the top flight.

Aspas is set to earn around £45,000-a-week at Liverpool, and moves on a four-year-contract, having scored a 12 goals in 34 matches last season.

However, Premier League rivals Spurs are one of a handful of clubs thought to have tried to hijack the transfer late on, but Aspas says there was never any doubt about his next destination.

‘I did not hesitate when I heard that Liverpool wanted me,’ said Aspas in Marca.

‘I’m quietly confident, but very excited about this new challenge. This is clearly a huge step forward for me.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

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Liverpool star net winner on international friendly

France manager Didier Deschamps has hailed Liverpool striker Luis Suarez as the 'difference' in his side's 1-0 loss to Uruguay.

He has been in the headlines non-stop over the past couple of months for reasons that are not always positive, but Wednesday night saw him back to doing what he does best—scoring goals and winning games.

Les Bleus travelled to Montevideo for the friendly against the South American opponents but received no hospitality as Suarez scored the only goal of the game. France will be next up against football powerhouse, Brazil and the odds are not so kind for the French as football betting site, Unibet revealed.

And Deschamps said the second-half substitute introduction was the catalyst that turned the advantage to Uruguay's benefit.

After not playing a competitive match since being suspended for biting Branislav Ivanovic in late April, Suarez was left on the bench for the first half of the international friendly, with Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani paired in attack. A low-key and uneventful first 45 minutes failed to yield a goal, and Suarez was introduced at the break in place of Forlan.

Suarez took only five minutes to score after coming on as a half-time substitute in place of former Manchester United man Diego Forlan. The goal was Suarez's 32nd for his country, which has put him one behind Forlan in the all-time Uruguayan scoring stakes.

Forlan has 33 in close to a century of caps, well ahead of Suarez's 64 appearances. The former Atletico Madrid striker is now 34 years old and is unlikely to add many more goals to that tally, although the Confederations Cup will give him another target to hit.

The 50th minute goal saw him cut in from right-hand side before superbly finishing from a tight angle with the outside of the boot.

Suarez's Liverpool team-mate Sebastian Coates and Southampton striker Gaston Ramirez played for the two-time World Cup winners, whilst Arsenal trio Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud turned out for the French.

It's back to the stands however for Suarez, as he will miss Uruguay's next game, a crucial World Cup qualifier against Venezuela next Tuesday, through suspension.

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Betting on Liverpool

Despite the end of the football season, there are still plenty of opportunities for more football betting even if your club never made it to Europe. And sadly this is the case for Liverpool FC. So how do you think Liverpool will do in the 2013/14 Premiership? The betting is quite interesting. Not surprisingly Manchester United remains the favourite to win next year’s Premiership despite the retirement of Ferguson, and the odds at 2/1 aren’t bad either, but if you think that Liverpool has a chance then you can get 30/1 on them doing so.

Not very likely sadly, but they could easily be in the top four. The best odds at the moment on them reaching the top four are 15/8, so it is a bet that you might well consider to be worthwhile. Certainly Liverpool will finish in the top 6, but betting on them doing so isn’t really worthwhile, certainly at the current best odds of 1/6 on; you wouldn’t bet at those odds at a casino. Then there are the more political bets such as potential manager changes and transfers. For instance what’s going to happen about Andy Carroll? Will he return to Newcastle as he wants? Currently it seems more likely that he will go to West Ham where he has been on loan. There is still time to get a bet on.

For a different type of football betting you could always go on to your favourite online casino Lucky Nugget and play some football themed slots games such as Shoot. Shoot is one of the best football slots ever produced, and it really is for football fans. Inspired by the Shoot football magazine, it features many of the great players from the 1960s onwards. It is a 5 reel 50 payline slot with a top prize of 50,000 coins on regular spins plus a multi staged bonus feature including free spins with a potential top prize of 619,000 coins; now that is serious money.

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Press Release: Away Kit marks Diamond Era for Liverpool FC

New Warrior design redefines standout features of the 80s and 90s

[05 JUNE, 2013] Warrior has officially launched the new 2013/14 Liverpool FC away kit.

Channelling direction from breakthrough patterns and graphics featured throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Warrior’s core inspiration behind the new design stems from the Club’s white and red 1981 League Cup-winning kit.

Head of Warrior Football Richard Wright says the brand worked closely with Liverpool FC throughout the design process.

“We believe we have produced an away kit which stays true to the Club’s heritage but has a fresh look and feel. It has been particularly helpful having LFC involved in the process, emphasising the relevance of past kits which has helped us to design a strip fans will identify with.”

Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool FC manager, agrees.

“A football strip fuses a team together; it is a Club’s uniform for players and fans. The fact that glimpses of the Club’s history appear in this kit is a really nice touch from Warrior,” said Rodgers.

Primarily white and black with elements of red, the overall kit carries a strong traditional look. The graduation of colour from the shirt down into the shorts and socks sparks strong interactivity between the three components.

Beyond the traditional colour scheme, the neckline has been reworked to give the shirt a modern edge, while an eye-catching diamond print draws attention to its bottom half. Originally featured as part of the 1989/91 away version, the dynamic pattern is a refreshed interpretation of the detailed graphic.

“I like that this strip is different, the pattern and colours are fresh. It looks and feels great on and I can’t wait to wear it next season,” said Liverpool FC forward Daniel Sturridge.

In line with the new home kit, contrast detailing features on each sleeve. A fully embroidered Liver Bird crest sits on the shirt’s front, while two commemorative Eternal Flames and a 96 logo are prominently positioned on the back of the neck.

Designed using War-Tech, Warrior’s ground-breaking apparel technology system, the away kit is powered by breathable, moisture-wicking War-Tech fabric. Four-way stretch mesh panelling under the arms and across the back of the shirt facilitates optimum ventilation while allowing for added comfort and temperature control in core heat areas.

Fans are encouraged to weigh in with their feedback about the new away kit by connecting with Warrior Football on Twitter using the hashtag, #RiseUpLFC

To learn more, visit www.warriorfootball.com.

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