Rafael Benitez is convinced that Liverpool will hold a vital edge over their Premiership rivals going into next season despite them not being in the same spending bracket.
There are strong indications that Liverpool will be the only top four side that will still have their core starting XI in place next season, as Chelsea and Arsenal again are going through a period of transition, while United look set to lose the jewel in their crown to Real Madrid.
So far, all the major transfer news surrounding the Reds has either seen them as the aggressor (i.e. Barry, Keane, Villa) or the tone-setting sellers (i.e. Crouch, Alonso).
Thus, unless something completely unexpected happens between now and mid-August, the Anfield side should be going into next season having succesfully built on an already very solid core.
"The players who played the majority of the games last season, the big names, the important players are still with us and that's important," Benitez was quoted as saying in The Mirror.
"It can give us an advantage. For us, keeping our key players and bringing in others with passion and hunger is important.
"You have to be realistic. Every year you need to change players. For example, Crouch wanted to play and you need to accept his situation, understand it and move on.
"But you want to keep the players who are your key components. That gives us stability and a base to work from, and then, hopefully, the new players can give us the things we were looking for."
While espousing the perceived virtues of his own team, Benitez did admit that shaking things up - whether by design or not - can have its own benefits.
"When you talk about these players like Ronaldo, Adebayor, Lampard, they are very good players and their prices will be high," the Spaniard added.
"If they leave, the clubs will have more money and could bring in better players. But we will have all our big names still in place, and that could be more important. They will have confidence, too.
"When you have players winning trophies, that's important for their mentality.
"Sometimes you can see a good player who isn't winning trophies, and you have doubts about his mentality.
"But the Spanish players have shown they have it by winning a trophy, and we have others here who have shown it as well."
Benitez then turned his attention to young players at the club whom he is expecting big things from this season, with specific focus on Dutch star Ryan Babel.
"Babel will now be more settled now and more experienced, and maybe we can see the best from him this season," he added.
"I can see Babel emerging this season, we know his potential, and he is a player that can change a game.
"We know Ryan prefers to play as a striker, but it's important to have experience in other positions, and we can use his versatility.
"With him improving, Daniel Agger coming back, and the younger players coming through to add to those with experience, we have a good balance."
There are strong indications that Liverpool will be the only top four side that will still have their core starting XI in place next season, as Chelsea and Arsenal again are going through a period of transition, while United look set to lose the jewel in their crown to Real Madrid.
So far, all the major transfer news surrounding the Reds has either seen them as the aggressor (i.e. Barry, Keane, Villa) or the tone-setting sellers (i.e. Crouch, Alonso).
Thus, unless something completely unexpected happens between now and mid-August, the Anfield side should be going into next season having succesfully built on an already very solid core.
"The players who played the majority of the games last season, the big names, the important players are still with us and that's important," Benitez was quoted as saying in The Mirror.
"It can give us an advantage. For us, keeping our key players and bringing in others with passion and hunger is important.
"You have to be realistic. Every year you need to change players. For example, Crouch wanted to play and you need to accept his situation, understand it and move on.
"But you want to keep the players who are your key components. That gives us stability and a base to work from, and then, hopefully, the new players can give us the things we were looking for."
While espousing the perceived virtues of his own team, Benitez did admit that shaking things up - whether by design or not - can have its own benefits.
"When you talk about these players like Ronaldo, Adebayor, Lampard, they are very good players and their prices will be high," the Spaniard added.
"If they leave, the clubs will have more money and could bring in better players. But we will have all our big names still in place, and that could be more important. They will have confidence, too.
"When you have players winning trophies, that's important for their mentality.
"Sometimes you can see a good player who isn't winning trophies, and you have doubts about his mentality.
"But the Spanish players have shown they have it by winning a trophy, and we have others here who have shown it as well."
Benitez then turned his attention to young players at the club whom he is expecting big things from this season, with specific focus on Dutch star Ryan Babel.
"Babel will now be more settled now and more experienced, and maybe we can see the best from him this season," he added.
"I can see Babel emerging this season, we know his potential, and he is a player that can change a game.
"We know Ryan prefers to play as a striker, but it's important to have experience in other positions, and we can use his versatility.
"With him improving, Daniel Agger coming back, and the younger players coming through to add to those with experience, we have a good balance."
