Friday, May 02, 2008

Benitez Wants Quality Additions


Rafael Benitez has turned his attentions to a summer rebuilding program after Liverpool's European exit.

The Reds boss saw his side beaten 3-2 at Chelsea in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, a result which saw the Blues progress by virtue of a 4-3 aggregate scoreline.

With Liverpool now set to end the season empty-handed once again, Benitez accepts that new recruits are vital during the close season.

The Spaniard appears to have been given the assurances he needs that his position as manager is safe, and as a result has already begun to draw up a list of potential transfer targets.

"Clearly now we have to start thinking about the future," he said.

"We must improve and we will add quality to the squad.

"We have two more games in the Premier League to go and obviously we will try to win them both to give our season a good ending.

"But we will be looking at the squad and preparing for next season. You can see we are closer to the top but we still need three or four new players.

"We need to keep working, our scouting department is certainly doing that. We have two more games and will try to win them and then improve the squad for next season."

The Reds have already secured their place in the qualifying round for next season's Champions League, and Benitez is confident that the English representatives will dominate the competition once again during the 2008/09 campaign.

Three clubs from the Premier League reached the semi-finals this year, but the Liverpool boss believes that the potential is there for all four spaces to be taken by teams from this country.

"It has been great to see three English clubs in the semi-finals, it shows how high the standard is in the Premier League," he said.

"And I feel that next season it is possible to see four English clubs in the semi-finals.

"The merit of the top four is outstanding. We have beaten the top sides in Spain and Italy between us, and I can see us getting stronger."

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