Fabio Aurelio is winning his battle to be fit to return to action on Monday – and to take his place in the Brazil squad for the first time.
Aurelio, who is in the last year of his current contract, has missed Liverpool’s last two games against Fulham and Lyon with a calf problem.
His form before that, though, had been good enough to catch the eye of Brazil coach Dunga, who will take Aurelio and Reds midfielder Lucas to Qatar for next Saturday’s friendly with England.
Benitez is thrilled Aurelio’s consistency has been recognised and has confirmed talks are planned with the 30-year-old about extending his stay at Anfield.
First, however, the Liverpool boss wants to see Aurelio up and running again and hopes the Anfield clash against Birmingham will provide an ideal opportunity.
“We are really happy for Fabio to have received the call up because he it is a fantastic opportunity for him,” said Benitez.
“We are not so happy that the game is in Qatar but there you go! I think he is a very good player, a really nice person to have around the club and very professional.
“He is someone that we are continuing to analyse how he is playing and how he is doing; we offered him an extension before but his agents did not accept it.
“Then he had the problem with his knee, so we have to analyse again because he has had so many injuries and we know things might have to be done in a different way.
“But we still have it in our minds to talk with him again because of what we know he can do and what he adds to the squad.”
Talks had started during the summer with Aurelio’s agent about extending his stay on Merseyside beyond the end of this season, as he is a player Benitez knows and trusts from their time together with Valencia.
Provided he comes through the weekend training sessions, he will come into contention for a place on the left side against Alex McLeish’s men and Benitez hopes Aurelio has seen the back of the Melwood treatment room for some time.
“You can always count him to give his best,” said Benitez. “Fabio is a very good professional, top class in terms of quality.
“The only problem is that he has had some injuries and we have got to be careful.”
Aurelio, who is in the last year of his current contract, has missed Liverpool’s last two games against Fulham and Lyon with a calf problem.
His form before that, though, had been good enough to catch the eye of Brazil coach Dunga, who will take Aurelio and Reds midfielder Lucas to Qatar for next Saturday’s friendly with England.
Benitez is thrilled Aurelio’s consistency has been recognised and has confirmed talks are planned with the 30-year-old about extending his stay at Anfield.
First, however, the Liverpool boss wants to see Aurelio up and running again and hopes the Anfield clash against Birmingham will provide an ideal opportunity.
“We are really happy for Fabio to have received the call up because he it is a fantastic opportunity for him,” said Benitez.
“We are not so happy that the game is in Qatar but there you go! I think he is a very good player, a really nice person to have around the club and very professional.
“He is someone that we are continuing to analyse how he is playing and how he is doing; we offered him an extension before but his agents did not accept it.
“Then he had the problem with his knee, so we have to analyse again because he has had so many injuries and we know things might have to be done in a different way.
“But we still have it in our minds to talk with him again because of what we know he can do and what he adds to the squad.”
Talks had started during the summer with Aurelio’s agent about extending his stay on Merseyside beyond the end of this season, as he is a player Benitez knows and trusts from their time together with Valencia.
Provided he comes through the weekend training sessions, he will come into contention for a place on the left side against Alex McLeish’s men and Benitez hopes Aurelio has seen the back of the Melwood treatment room for some time.
“You can always count him to give his best,” said Benitez. “Fabio is a very good professional, top class in terms of quality.
“The only problem is that he has had some injuries and we have got to be careful.”
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