Ryan Babel wants another chance to prove he can become more than just an Anfield supersub next season.
The Dutch youngster has struggled for consistency since his £11 million move from Ajax two years ago and looked likely to be made available this summer.
But after ending his season with a substitute appearance for Holland last night, he insisted he wants to stay at Anfield and fight for his future.
The Dutchman could fetch around £10m in the transfer market, but his agent Winnie Haatrecht said: “Ryan is very happy at Liverpool and clearly doesn't want to leave.
"He still has a three-year contract.”
Babel's impact since he arrived at Anfield has been largely as a goalscoring substitute.
His goal at West Ham in May was his ninth from the subs' bench, halfway to David Fairclough's incredible club record of 18 supersub strikes. But boss Rafa Benitez made it clear he would be happy if Babel failed to match Fairclough’s achievement after challenging the player to establish himself as a permanent fixture in his starting line-up.
“Ryan has done well as an impact player, which is not easy when you are young, but we think he can do more than that,” Benitez said.
“Our view of Ryan is a player who starts games and has an impact from the beginning. But first of all he has to improve tactically.”
Babel started only 13 times last season, and was left out of the squad altogether twice in the final month of the campaign.
But when Benitez spoke recently about young players who he hoped could make an impact next season, he pointedly included the Dutch youngster.
“I'm positive because we were talking recently about how Fernando [Torres] and Steven Gerrard didn't play together for a long time,” he said.
“Hopefully, they will manage that more next season – and we also have good young players like David Ngog, Nabil El Zhar, Ryan Babel and Emiliano Insua coming through.
“We have a very good squad but we can still improve a little bit. How much – enough to win the title? I'm sure it will be enough to compete.”
Babel reprised a familiar role last night, coming on as a substitute as Holland celebrated their qualification for the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Norway.
The Dutch youngster has struggled for consistency since his £11 million move from Ajax two years ago and looked likely to be made available this summer.
But after ending his season with a substitute appearance for Holland last night, he insisted he wants to stay at Anfield and fight for his future.
The Dutchman could fetch around £10m in the transfer market, but his agent Winnie Haatrecht said: “Ryan is very happy at Liverpool and clearly doesn't want to leave.
"He still has a three-year contract.”
Babel's impact since he arrived at Anfield has been largely as a goalscoring substitute.
His goal at West Ham in May was his ninth from the subs' bench, halfway to David Fairclough's incredible club record of 18 supersub strikes. But boss Rafa Benitez made it clear he would be happy if Babel failed to match Fairclough’s achievement after challenging the player to establish himself as a permanent fixture in his starting line-up.
“Ryan has done well as an impact player, which is not easy when you are young, but we think he can do more than that,” Benitez said.
“Our view of Ryan is a player who starts games and has an impact from the beginning. But first of all he has to improve tactically.”
Babel started only 13 times last season, and was left out of the squad altogether twice in the final month of the campaign.
But when Benitez spoke recently about young players who he hoped could make an impact next season, he pointedly included the Dutch youngster.
“I'm positive because we were talking recently about how Fernando [Torres] and Steven Gerrard didn't play together for a long time,” he said.
“Hopefully, they will manage that more next season – and we also have good young players like David Ngog, Nabil El Zhar, Ryan Babel and Emiliano Insua coming through.
“We have a very good squad but we can still improve a little bit. How much – enough to win the title? I'm sure it will be enough to compete.”
Babel reprised a familiar role last night, coming on as a substitute as Holland celebrated their qualification for the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Norway.
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