The Liverpool duo of Daniel Agger and Dirk Kuyt are reportedly set to be offered new deals at the club, in order to secure their Anfield futures.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Rafael Benitez, having committed his own future to the club, is now intent on encouraging his most essential stars to do the same.
The newspaper reports that Benitez is confident that Kuyt, along with the two full-backs Fabio Aurelio and Alvaro Arbeloa, will extend their deals shortly and he is also hoping that Agger will choose to stay.
The Dane has been linked with a move away from Anfield this season, with AC Milan reportedly interested in signing the defender in the January transfer window.
However, that deal appeared to fall through and Agger remains on Merseyside, although he has struggled to force his way back into the starting line-up due to the good form of Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel.
Yet Benitez appears confident that Agger can be persuaded that his future lies at Liverpool and revealed that he has spoken with the player and received positive feedback.
“Agger has been injured. He knows that he's a player that I have a lot of confidence in,” explained the Spaniard.
“My conversation with him was very positive.
“He knows my ideas and he knows if he's not playing well, he will have problems and if he's injured he can't play but if he's fit he will have the same chance as the others or maybe more.”
Agger signed for the Reds from Brondby in 2006, but has managed only ten league starts for Liverpool this season.
Benitez also admitted that the cost of having to find replacements, should any of these players decide to leave Anfield, was prohibitive.
“We've already started talking, so hopefully it will be done sooner rather than later. If you have to go to the market to sign players of this level, you know you have to spend a lot of money."
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Rafael Benitez, having committed his own future to the club, is now intent on encouraging his most essential stars to do the same.
The newspaper reports that Benitez is confident that Kuyt, along with the two full-backs Fabio Aurelio and Alvaro Arbeloa, will extend their deals shortly and he is also hoping that Agger will choose to stay.
The Dane has been linked with a move away from Anfield this season, with AC Milan reportedly interested in signing the defender in the January transfer window.
However, that deal appeared to fall through and Agger remains on Merseyside, although he has struggled to force his way back into the starting line-up due to the good form of Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel.
Yet Benitez appears confident that Agger can be persuaded that his future lies at Liverpool and revealed that he has spoken with the player and received positive feedback.
“Agger has been injured. He knows that he's a player that I have a lot of confidence in,” explained the Spaniard.
“My conversation with him was very positive.
“He knows my ideas and he knows if he's not playing well, he will have problems and if he's injured he can't play but if he's fit he will have the same chance as the others or maybe more.”
Agger signed for the Reds from Brondby in 2006, but has managed only ten league starts for Liverpool this season.
Benitez also admitted that the cost of having to find replacements, should any of these players decide to leave Anfield, was prohibitive.
“We've already started talking, so hopefully it will be done sooner rather than later. If you have to go to the market to sign players of this level, you know you have to spend a lot of money."
No comments:
Post a Comment