Rafael Benitez appears to have had to compromise over his demands for complete control over his club's transfer budget, with Liverpool's owners unwilling to hand over a sum that he is free to spend on players as he sees fit, as part of his new contract.
Benitez appears to be close to ending the drawn-out contract process which has created such uncertainty at Anfield, by putting pen to paper soon on a new £3.5m-a-year deal, and though it would appear that he will be able to answer more directly to the club's owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks under the auspices of the contract, the desire he expressed last month for a budget with which he is free to work does not appear to be one the club can satisfy.
Benitez has said he wanted a budget he could spend at his own discretion. "If you have £20m you can sign four players at £5m, one for £20m or one of £15m and another of £5m," he said recently. "Who will know how the money should be spent? One person – the manager, because he knows who he wants for his squad. Who will know the value of the player? The manager."
But the idea of the Americans handing over such a sum does not seem realistic, with Hicks and Gillett apparently insistent that they will expect to take each request for a player on merit, this summer. It was the Americans' decision that £18m was too much to lay out on Gareth Barry which has been a source of such rancour to Benitez, though the Spaniard's original estimate of the Aston Villa midfielder's value – at least £6m less – contributed to a belief shared by both owners that the Midlands club's demands were unrealistic as the process drew out.
Though Hicks is more amenable to Benitez's demands than Gillett, who will not countenance the idea of a manager being free to spend money as he choses, neither will allow a position to arise where he can spend such a sum without recourse to them. A clue to Benitez's acceptance of the need to compromise seemed to come in a recent Spanish interview, in which he said: "I never asked for complete control. I did, however, ask for the power to be able to make my own decisions and run the team the way I see fit. That is not the same thing." But it remains to be seen whether a more direct line to the Americans will be enough to satisfy him, should they decline him any given player this summer.
There are conflicting views on whether control over Liverpool's youth academy is the outstanding issue to be resolved before Benitez signs his new deal. Sources within the club suggest that control over the academy has never been realistic and is not an issue, though others suggest that the Spaniard is intent on being allowed to oversee that side of the club's overall development.
Meanwhile, UEFA are considering a request from Liverpool to move a Champions League match to avoid a clash with the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
Liverpool have asked if the second leg of their quarter-final – should they reach it – can be brought forward from its currently scheduled date of 15 April. That day marks exactly two decades since 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives at Hillsborough before and during an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool would like the game to be played on 14 April, allowing players and staff to attend a memorial service at Anfield the next day.
The club have alerted UEFA to this potential clash but European football's governing body will not make a firm decision until after the last-16 ties are played and the quarter-final draw made.
A UEFA spokesman said: "We have received a request and we will try our best to accommodate it, but we cannot guarantee at this stage that we will be able to."
Liverpool must first win a two-legged tie against Real Madrid to reach the quarter-finals.
Benitez appears to be close to ending the drawn-out contract process which has created such uncertainty at Anfield, by putting pen to paper soon on a new £3.5m-a-year deal, and though it would appear that he will be able to answer more directly to the club's owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks under the auspices of the contract, the desire he expressed last month for a budget with which he is free to work does not appear to be one the club can satisfy.
Benitez has said he wanted a budget he could spend at his own discretion. "If you have £20m you can sign four players at £5m, one for £20m or one of £15m and another of £5m," he said recently. "Who will know how the money should be spent? One person – the manager, because he knows who he wants for his squad. Who will know the value of the player? The manager."
But the idea of the Americans handing over such a sum does not seem realistic, with Hicks and Gillett apparently insistent that they will expect to take each request for a player on merit, this summer. It was the Americans' decision that £18m was too much to lay out on Gareth Barry which has been a source of such rancour to Benitez, though the Spaniard's original estimate of the Aston Villa midfielder's value – at least £6m less – contributed to a belief shared by both owners that the Midlands club's demands were unrealistic as the process drew out.
Though Hicks is more amenable to Benitez's demands than Gillett, who will not countenance the idea of a manager being free to spend money as he choses, neither will allow a position to arise where he can spend such a sum without recourse to them. A clue to Benitez's acceptance of the need to compromise seemed to come in a recent Spanish interview, in which he said: "I never asked for complete control. I did, however, ask for the power to be able to make my own decisions and run the team the way I see fit. That is not the same thing." But it remains to be seen whether a more direct line to the Americans will be enough to satisfy him, should they decline him any given player this summer.
There are conflicting views on whether control over Liverpool's youth academy is the outstanding issue to be resolved before Benitez signs his new deal. Sources within the club suggest that control over the academy has never been realistic and is not an issue, though others suggest that the Spaniard is intent on being allowed to oversee that side of the club's overall development.
Meanwhile, UEFA are considering a request from Liverpool to move a Champions League match to avoid a clash with the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
Liverpool have asked if the second leg of their quarter-final – should they reach it – can be brought forward from its currently scheduled date of 15 April. That day marks exactly two decades since 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives at Hillsborough before and during an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool would like the game to be played on 14 April, allowing players and staff to attend a memorial service at Anfield the next day.
The club have alerted UEFA to this potential clash but European football's governing body will not make a firm decision until after the last-16 ties are played and the quarter-final draw made.
A UEFA spokesman said: "We have received a request and we will try our best to accommodate it, but we cannot guarantee at this stage that we will be able to."
Liverpool must first win a two-legged tie against Real Madrid to reach the quarter-finals.
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