Friday, July 16, 2010

Liverpool FC Boss Roy Hodgson Calls For Transfer Patience

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has urged the club's supporters to be patient as he steps up his summer player hunt.

The Reds boss has yet to make any forays into the transfer market despite the Anfield side being continually linked with a host of names.

Only Milan Jovanovic has sealed a move to Merseyside since the end of the season, though the deal to bring the Standard Liege striker was already in place before Hodgson took over from Rafa Benitez.

Hodgson has hailed the arrival of the Serbian international striker, who scored against Germany in the World Cup, and hopes Jovanovic's signing will be the first of many.

Reds fans have been asked to trust that the manager will do his utmost in keeping the best of the current crop whilst adding quality from outside.

"We are working very hard on making certain the players we have at the club who you would call the 'good players' are going to be with us for next season," said Hodgson.

"The board are working very hard in that area. Some players are a bit disenchanted after what happened last season and we want to make sure we get that enchantment back.

"We are looking to add to and improve the squad, but I prefer not to talk or say what we are doing until we have something concrete to announce.

"We are being linked with players left, right and centre and it amuses me that we are sometimes linked with players we haven't even heard of.

"I have great faith in the Liverpool public that they will see through the snippets of information they may read in the newspapers, take it with a pinch of salt and wait for an official announcement.

"I'm very pleased we have got Milan," said Hodgson of the 29-year-old who us unlikely to feature against Al-Hilal on Saturday.

"He looks a very keen and enthusiastic player and it's good to have players who are desperate to play for the club.

"I was not responsible for signing him but I was pleased to hear the club had taken the initiative to get a player like him. I've seen him a lot during my time at Fulham and we were watching him.

"He's a natural wide player who can play through the middle. He's more of an attacking winger than a wide midfielder and he's a goalscorer. He scores goals for club and country and I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of him.

"He scored in the World Cup, he's done well with Standard Liege at Champions League level, so he's no stranger to the big games.

"He only joined us last night, so I don't think we'll use him at the weekend. He looks fit, but at this stage I think I'd prefer to use the players we have been working with all through pre-season."

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