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Rafael Benitez wants to strengthen his Liverpool squad and is set to demand a hefty transfer budget of £50M for big-name signings. The Liverpool boss is not a clear favourite among the board of directors because of his failure in the Premier League again. The new demands might force the club to look beyond him.
Liverpool boss, Rafael Benitez, wants to have big-name signings and is reportedly taking measures to demand a huge transfer budget from the club owners. He had already shown his disappointment in the transfer restrictions imposed on him, which almost cost his job. This has spread throughout Anfield, with Tom Hicks and George Gillet going against each other and jeopardizing Rick Parry's position as co-owner.
Benitez knows that he has to make some top class signings to challenge the likes of Man Utd and Chelsea for title in the next season. He might need to sell some players to make money, although a huge transfer budget is required to bring the top players in Europe to Anfield.
The Spanish boss wants David Villa, David Silva, Daniel Alves and Gareth Barry. Liverpool has already submitted bids for Barry and he is likely to make the move in the coming weeks. David Villa and Silva - the Valencia duo - has clearly increased their price tag by their performance in the Euro 2008. Villa has scored a hat-trick and Silva had been instrumental in the win against Italy. Daniel Alves has already declared that he wants to move to a top club in Europe - Man Utd, Real Madrid and Barcelona interested in his services.
Valencia had set a cheap price tag of £17M for David Villa a month ago, though the combined price of Villa and Silva can go more than £35M. Benitez will be eyeing to have a Spanish style of attack with Torres and Villa leading the pack and Silva supporting them. The addition of Barry to hold the midfield will give enough strength to the team, and will help Gerrard release his forward runs quite often.
Liverpool is on the verge of selling another Spanish midfielder - Xabi Alonso to Juventus, who has reportedly agreed terms with the Italian giants. Benitez might get upto £15M for Alonso and the sale of John Arne Riise to Roma will add £4M to his transfer budget.
Benitez has already signed Swiss right-back Philip Degan on free-transfer and Italian defender Andrea Dossena from Udinese for £7M
Written by Abhilash Manapatt
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