Sunday, October 31, 2010

Roy Hodgson Not Under Pressure To Sell Players In January

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has received a welcome boost after new owner John Henry insisted he will not be weakening the squad by selling any players in the January transfer window and will look to bring in reinforcements.

The American owner’s statement comes on the back of reported interest in Liverpool’s key Spanish duo Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina.

Both players have been linked with moves away from Anfield, with Reina reported to be attracting the interest of Manchester United.

But Hodgson, who has been in regular contact with the New England Sports Ventures group since their take-over, has been reassured that he is not under pressure to sell players.

However, he admits things could have been different had former co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett still been in charge.

He said: “The statements were totally self-explanatory and in line with everything John [Henry] and Tom [Werner, co-owner] have told me all along," Hodgson said.

"It is very much in line with our aims for the club.

"One of our aims for the club is to rebuild and restructure and get much stronger. The way we hope to do that is keeping our strong base of top players and adding more players to it.

"There have never been any discussions of the need to sell or get rid of players. All the talk has been of how we are going to make the team stronger.

He added: "It is a very different situation to the one I found myself in at the beginning. There was talk then of staving off administration and having to let players go.

"But the new owners coming in has completely changed the face of things and, as far as we are concerned, their statement is perfect. It is just what everyone wants to hear."

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