FOR all Liverpool’s wheelings and dealings during the transfer window, this summer will forever be remembered for the one player who didn’t go anywhere.
The Champions League semi-final defeat to Chelsea had barely began to sink in when Rafael Benitez started planning for the new season in earnest with a £10m bid for Gareth Barry.
It would spark a protracted, rancorous, tedious and ultimately futile attempt to bring the Aston Villa midfielder to Anfield.
For whatever reason – and the rights and wrongs of the transfer chase remain fiercely debated and defended at both clubs – the Barry saga cast a long, embarrassing shadow over Liverpool’s summer.
And it also threatened to shatter the uneasy peace that had held among the Anfield corridors of power after a tumultuous previous campaign.
Such was Benitez’s frustration at the club’s owners’ failure to back his pursuit of £18m Barry, he had to be talked out of quitting. Instead, the Spaniard headed for yet more clear-the-air talks with chief executive Rick Parry.
With Xabi Alonso’s future intrinsically linked to that of Barry, it was all very messy and very unnecessary. But don’t be surprised if the chase resumes nearer the January transfer window, when Barry will be available at a greatly reduced price.
Benitez’s other summer priorities were a pair of full-backs, a striker, some wingers and a goalkeeper to provide a realistic challenge to first-choice Pepe Reina between the sticks.
The Anfield manager can feel satisfied – at least in principle – with movements both in and out of the club.
Brazilian keeper Diego Cavalieri arrived from Palmeiras and was encouragingly composed and authoritative during pre-season, with a debut against Crewe Alexandra in the Carling Cup lined up for later this month.
Andrea Dossena, a big-money £7m signing from Udinese, and free transfer Philipp Degen will provide competition on either side of defence, an area Benitez has long since pinpointed for improvement.
Evidence thus far suggests Italy international Dossena will need time to settle at left-back, although he will surely prosper once the team hits its stride after an unsure start to the campaign.
Degen, meanwhile, has already lived up to his injury-prone reputation by succumbing to a groin problem that has prevented him from making his bow. Clearly, it’s unlikely the Switzerland international will prove as dependable as the departed Steve Finnan.
Young striker David Ngog could prove an inspired signing if the Frenchman lives up to the promise of his earlier career.
The main interest, though, has come in the form of the two major attacking players Benitez has brought to the club.
Robbie Keane is the centrepiece of Benitez’s summer rebuild. Second only to Fernando Torres as the most expensive player in Liverpool’s history, the former Tottenham Hotspur man will be expected to strike up a partnership with the Spaniard and fire the goals that can ensure a creditable Premier League title challenge.
To do that, the duo will need the required service, particularly from the wide areas where Liverpool have been desperately crying out for creativity since the start of the campaign.
A successful end to a summer-long pursuit of Espanyol’s Albert Riera will hopefully provide potency down a left flank shorn of John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell and work-permit victim Sebastian Leto.
But the lack of similar threat down the right and the doubts concerning the balance in central midfield may well need to be addressed in January. Gareth Barry, anyone?
The Champions League semi-final defeat to Chelsea had barely began to sink in when Rafael Benitez started planning for the new season in earnest with a £10m bid for Gareth Barry.
It would spark a protracted, rancorous, tedious and ultimately futile attempt to bring the Aston Villa midfielder to Anfield.
For whatever reason – and the rights and wrongs of the transfer chase remain fiercely debated and defended at both clubs – the Barry saga cast a long, embarrassing shadow over Liverpool’s summer.
And it also threatened to shatter the uneasy peace that had held among the Anfield corridors of power after a tumultuous previous campaign.
Such was Benitez’s frustration at the club’s owners’ failure to back his pursuit of £18m Barry, he had to be talked out of quitting. Instead, the Spaniard headed for yet more clear-the-air talks with chief executive Rick Parry.
With Xabi Alonso’s future intrinsically linked to that of Barry, it was all very messy and very unnecessary. But don’t be surprised if the chase resumes nearer the January transfer window, when Barry will be available at a greatly reduced price.
Benitez’s other summer priorities were a pair of full-backs, a striker, some wingers and a goalkeeper to provide a realistic challenge to first-choice Pepe Reina between the sticks.
The Anfield manager can feel satisfied – at least in principle – with movements both in and out of the club.
Brazilian keeper Diego Cavalieri arrived from Palmeiras and was encouragingly composed and authoritative during pre-season, with a debut against Crewe Alexandra in the Carling Cup lined up for later this month.
Andrea Dossena, a big-money £7m signing from Udinese, and free transfer Philipp Degen will provide competition on either side of defence, an area Benitez has long since pinpointed for improvement.
Evidence thus far suggests Italy international Dossena will need time to settle at left-back, although he will surely prosper once the team hits its stride after an unsure start to the campaign.
Degen, meanwhile, has already lived up to his injury-prone reputation by succumbing to a groin problem that has prevented him from making his bow. Clearly, it’s unlikely the Switzerland international will prove as dependable as the departed Steve Finnan.
Young striker David Ngog could prove an inspired signing if the Frenchman lives up to the promise of his earlier career.
The main interest, though, has come in the form of the two major attacking players Benitez has brought to the club.
Robbie Keane is the centrepiece of Benitez’s summer rebuild. Second only to Fernando Torres as the most expensive player in Liverpool’s history, the former Tottenham Hotspur man will be expected to strike up a partnership with the Spaniard and fire the goals that can ensure a creditable Premier League title challenge.
To do that, the duo will need the required service, particularly from the wide areas where Liverpool have been desperately crying out for creativity since the start of the campaign.
A successful end to a summer-long pursuit of Espanyol’s Albert Riera will hopefully provide potency down a left flank shorn of John Arne Riise, Harry Kewell and work-permit victim Sebastian Leto.
But the lack of similar threat down the right and the doubts concerning the balance in central midfield may well need to be addressed in January. Gareth Barry, anyone?
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