Rafael Benitez is confident he can find the funds to make Javier Mascherano’s move permanent – but might have to wait until the end of the season to complete the deal.
The Argentinian midfielder signed on loan from West Ham last January, and when that expires at the end of this season Liverpool will still have first option to buy him permanently.
But while Benitez and the player himself would sooner tie up the loose ends when the next transfer window opens again next week, the Liverpool manager is prepared to wait.
He wants to make an extra centre-half his priority in January and with the Mascherano deal set to be worth £17million, Liverpool could need the extra six months to the end of the loan agreement to come up with the money.
The 23-year-old was also hesitant to commit his future to Liverpool until after Benitez had smoothed things over with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett following their public fall-out last month.
But after the two parties called a truce following the meeting they had after last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, Benitez hopes that Mascherano will be closer to deciding on his future.
“We’re just waiting. I have confidence he will stay with us,” said Benitez
“I really don’t know (if he will sign in January). The situation is we are working together on a lot of issues, and we just have to wait.
“But it’s always better to get it done as soon as possible.”
Benitez’s desire to keep Mascherano will only have been strengthened his performance in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Portsmouth at Anfield.
The win took Liverpool three points clear of both their opponents and Everton, which is how it stayed yesterday when their Merseyside rivals lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
It was the way Mascherano nullified the physical presence of Portsmouth’s midfield that laid the foundation for Liverpool to go clear in fifth place, thanks to goals from Yossi Benayoun, a Sylvain Distin own goal and two late strikes from Fernando Torres.
Benitez said: “Mascherano can give us the balance and allow the other players to play their own game.
“When you have a midfielder who is in a good position and can play the ball properly and always supporting the centre-backs and also the attack, it’s really important for players like Torres that they can go forward and sometimes forget they need to defend.
“We have a lot of very good players now with that mentality. Javier has a very good mentality, he’s very professional.
“If you don’t use him he never complains, he’s always ready for the next game. He trains really hard.
“He’s the kind of player you want as a holding midfielder. He doesn’t need to score a lot of goals, just keep the balance of the rest of the team.”
Manchester United’s victory over Everton, coupled with Arsenal’s 2-1 win in the north London derby over Tottenham earlier on Saturday, mean Liverpool remain 10 points behind Arsenal Wenger’s leaders with a game in hand and six off United.
And Benitez insists the complexion of the title race still has time to change, even during the remainder of the congested Christmas period.
“The title race is open,” the Spaniard added. “You never know what can happen over Christmas with three more games.
“We need to keep going. We know we have one game in hand so we need to keep going and try to play well and win, if possible play well and score goals.
“And then maybe it can be closer.”
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp revealed that his team couldn’t train in the two days before the game because their training pitches were frozen.
And that proved fatal for his defence against Torres, whose direct running and pace also played a part in the opening two goals, before he added his brace to round off the victory.
“When he gets down the channels, and he got up their left four or five times in the first half, he is very difficult to deal with,” said Redknapp.
“You don’t want to be left one-on-one with him as Sol Campbell was a few times. The lad has got pace, terrific skill.
“He has that trick where he looks at you then drags it past you and goes outside, which we looked at an awful lot on the video.
“But then for £26m he should be half decent. He is very good player.”
The Argentinian midfielder signed on loan from West Ham last January, and when that expires at the end of this season Liverpool will still have first option to buy him permanently.
But while Benitez and the player himself would sooner tie up the loose ends when the next transfer window opens again next week, the Liverpool manager is prepared to wait.
He wants to make an extra centre-half his priority in January and with the Mascherano deal set to be worth £17million, Liverpool could need the extra six months to the end of the loan agreement to come up with the money.
The 23-year-old was also hesitant to commit his future to Liverpool until after Benitez had smoothed things over with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett following their public fall-out last month.
But after the two parties called a truce following the meeting they had after last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, Benitez hopes that Mascherano will be closer to deciding on his future.
“We’re just waiting. I have confidence he will stay with us,” said Benitez
“I really don’t know (if he will sign in January). The situation is we are working together on a lot of issues, and we just have to wait.
“But it’s always better to get it done as soon as possible.”
Benitez’s desire to keep Mascherano will only have been strengthened his performance in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Portsmouth at Anfield.
The win took Liverpool three points clear of both their opponents and Everton, which is how it stayed yesterday when their Merseyside rivals lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
It was the way Mascherano nullified the physical presence of Portsmouth’s midfield that laid the foundation for Liverpool to go clear in fifth place, thanks to goals from Yossi Benayoun, a Sylvain Distin own goal and two late strikes from Fernando Torres.
Benitez said: “Mascherano can give us the balance and allow the other players to play their own game.
“When you have a midfielder who is in a good position and can play the ball properly and always supporting the centre-backs and also the attack, it’s really important for players like Torres that they can go forward and sometimes forget they need to defend.
“We have a lot of very good players now with that mentality. Javier has a very good mentality, he’s very professional.
“If you don’t use him he never complains, he’s always ready for the next game. He trains really hard.
“He’s the kind of player you want as a holding midfielder. He doesn’t need to score a lot of goals, just keep the balance of the rest of the team.”
Manchester United’s victory over Everton, coupled with Arsenal’s 2-1 win in the north London derby over Tottenham earlier on Saturday, mean Liverpool remain 10 points behind Arsenal Wenger’s leaders with a game in hand and six off United.
And Benitez insists the complexion of the title race still has time to change, even during the remainder of the congested Christmas period.
“The title race is open,” the Spaniard added. “You never know what can happen over Christmas with three more games.
“We need to keep going. We know we have one game in hand so we need to keep going and try to play well and win, if possible play well and score goals.
“And then maybe it can be closer.”
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp revealed that his team couldn’t train in the two days before the game because their training pitches were frozen.
And that proved fatal for his defence against Torres, whose direct running and pace also played a part in the opening two goals, before he added his brace to round off the victory.
“When he gets down the channels, and he got up their left four or five times in the first half, he is very difficult to deal with,” said Redknapp.
“You don’t want to be left one-on-one with him as Sol Campbell was a few times. The lad has got pace, terrific skill.
“He has that trick where he looks at you then drags it past you and goes outside, which we looked at an awful lot on the video.
“But then for £26m he should be half decent. He is very good player.”
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