Liverpool & Arsenal On Alert As German Midfielder Considers Foreign Move

Werder Bremen star Marko Marin has suggested that he could be on his way out of the club but only to a team abroad, putting the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal on alert.

The 22-year-old midfielder has attracted the interest of a host of top European clubs with the Gunners and Liverpool both reportedly sending scouts to watch him this season.

Arsenal is keen to bolster their midfield following the departures of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas and have reportedly identified Marin as a possible long-term replacement.

Meanwhile, Liverpool is eager to increase their attacking options and is thought to be impressed by the German international's creativity and versatility.

And Marin, who can play either as an attacking midfielder or on the wing, has admitted that he could leave Bremen but would only make a move for a a foreign club.

"Werder Bremen is a top club in Germany and I am under contract with Werder Bremen. Therefore I would just consider top clubs from outside Germany," he said.

"But I am actually focused on Werder Bremen and I do not plan to move on. We want to get back to Europe this season via success in the Bundesliga. This is of utmost importance for me."

Liverpool Bid For Angelo Ogbonna Expected By Torino

Torino is reportedly waiting for Liverpool to formalize their interest in Angelo Ogbonna.

The 23-year-old defender has consistently been linked with a move to Merseyside in recent days as the Reds line up potential targets for the January transfer window.

Now, according to various reports in the Italian press, Torino are expecting Liverpool to make an offer of €16 million in attempt to bring Ogbonna to Anfield in the New Year.

A move to Liverpool would certainly appeal to the Italy international who, over the weekend, revealed he was flattered by the Reds' interest.

"I am flattered by the interest from clubs, but I will continue to work hard for Torino in Serie B," he told skysports.com.

"Liverpool is a dream club. If they are interested in me, that is awesome. I love the Premier League and one day I might play in that league."

Tottenham To Rival Liverpool In Bid To Sign Senegal Striker

Tottenham and Liverpool are currently going head-to-head in a battle to sign Lille's prolific striker Moussa Sow, according to caughtoffside.com.

The 25-year-old Senegal international, with Gervinho and Eden Hazard, formed part of a lethal attacking trio last season that secured Lille's first Ligue 1 title in 57 years.

He finished the French season as top scorer with 25 goals and his fine form has not gone unnoticed with Spurs and Liverpool both reportedly circling.

Reds manager Kenny Dalglish is eager to add more firepower to his squad to support first-choice strikers Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli is thought to be in close contact with Lille and is confident that Joe Cole's loan move to the French club will work in their favour when it comes to negotiating Sow's transfer.

Meanwhile, Spurs are reportedly eager not to miss out on another forward target and will rival any attempts by Liverpool in the January transfer window.

Although the club brought in Emmanuel Adebayor on-loan, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is desperate to sign a permanent striker and is reportedly willing to sell Roman Pavlyuchenko to fund the deal.

It is thought Lille will reluctantly listen to offers as Sow has already expressed a strong desire to leave for the Premier League and the club will accommodate offers of around £12m.

Man Utd Rival Liverpool & Arsenal For Plymouth Argyle Starlet

Plymouth Argyle youngster Matt Lecointe is attracting interest from England's biggest clubs.

The Mirror claims Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are all chasing the 16-year-old right winger who has made ten appearances already despite his young age.

Lecointe has been attracting a host of top flight scouts and all of the clubs are likely to begin a battle to snap him up as quickly as possible.

Plymouth-born Lecointe has been compared to Arsenal sensation Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain because of his style and age.

Liverpool Defender Sebastian Coates Biding His Time At Anfield

Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates is biding his time at Anfield as he fights for a first team place under Kenny Dalglish.

The Uruguayan international centre back, signed from Nacional in the summer transfer window, has made two appearances for the Reds thus far, with a start in the League Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion and substitute appearance against Tottenham Hotspur his two tastes of English football thus far.

Whilst things didn't go according to plan at White Hart Lane (Liverpool lost 4-0), Coates believes he's a better player for the experience but understands that he will probably have to wait for more opportunities to come his way as he tries to settle into Merseyside life.

"I'm trying to adapt as quickly as possible. I had to play [against Spurs] and that was very good, although I understand that I will have to wait for my time as there are very good players at Liverpool who have many years in the club," the 21-year-old told Uruguayan paper Ocavion.

"Over the last week we've luckily played on very nice days, but the climate is quite strange. Learning the language also takes quite a lot of time, and we're both helping each other learn."

Coates is, of course, referring to club teammate and international compatriot Luis Suarez.

Having joined Ajax in 2007, the 24-year-old has much more experience when it comes to living and working away from home, and more importantly settling quickly to life in a new environment.

As well as helping the youngster, Suarez has taken his own steps to integrate with colleagues and fans of Liverpool, and took a major step against Everton after claiming the man of the match award at Goodison Park.

"I'm Seba's godfather here but it seems by now he's become a son. I think I have two kids now, a girl and a boy!" said Suarez when talking to the same paper.

"In the Everton match I had been voted man of the match and they asked me if I wanted to talk. I decided to try it and it turned out I did pretty well.

"It's part of what we have to experience there. I was emotional and excited, so some of it came out well and some came out wrong. I need to experiment further."

Liverpool Consider TV Future

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre believes the option for Premier League clubs to sell their overseas television rights on an individual basis would be a 'game-changer'.

The league's broadcast rights outside of the United Kingdom are presently sold in a joint package, which is worth £3.2billion for 2010-13 to be shared equally among the 20 clubs.

But Ayre claims the system is unfair on the higher-profile clubs, arguing they attract more viewers and more subscriptions, and he has advocated the adoption of the Spanish model.

There, individual clubs have the freedom to negotiate their own packages, meaning Real Madrid and Barcelona's earnings will dwarf those of the lesser Primera Division teams - and those of the top English sides, who are restricted to their share of the league's earnings.

Ayre said: "Personally I think the game-changer is going out and recognizing our brand globally. Maybe the path will be individual TV rights like they do in Spain.

"If you're a Bolton fan in Bolton, then you subscribe to Sky because you want to watch Bolton. But if you're in Kuala Lumpur there isn't anyone subscribing to Astro or ESPN to watch Bolton, or if they are it's a very small number. The large majority are subscribing to watch Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal.

"What we are actually doing is disadvantaging ourselves against other big European clubs. If Real Madrid or Barcelona or other big European clubs have the opportunity to realize their international media value potential, where does that leave Liverpool and Manchester United? We'll just share ours because we'll all be nice to each other? The whole phenomenon of the Premier League could be threatened.

"If they just get bigger and bigger and they generate more and more, then all the players will start drifting that way and will the Premier League bubble burst because we are sticking to this equal-sharing model? It's a real debate that has to happen."

Clubs Unimpressed With Ayre TV Claims

Rival clubs have distanced themselves from Liverpool's demand for more cash from television rights - with one top-flight chairman claiming the move would "kill the heart and soul" of English football.

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre said the bigger clubs should get a greater share of the £1.4billion overseas TV cash - currently shared equally between all 20 clubs.

Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are all understood to be against a change to the collective selling principle.

Manchester City chief communications office Vicky Kloss said: "The subject has never been up for debate either inside the club or externally.

"We are well aware of the benefits of the collective selling of Premier League television rights."

United has always been a supporter of collective selling and chief executive David Gill told a Parliamentary committee earlier this year: "The collective selling of the television rights has clearly been a success and it has made things more competitive."

Meanwhile, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan reacted with outrage.

He told goal.com: "I have just read his [Ayre's] comments and I find them diabolical - I just can't believe what he has been saying.

"They are thinking 'how can we get more money?' You won't get more money by killing the heart and soul of the Premier League and killing the heart and soul of football in England.

"We invented the game and we have still got the finest league in the whole world and some of the finest supporters in the whole world and they want to rip the whole thing up."

Ayre pointed out that Barcelona and Real Madrid sell their own TV rights and earn considerably more.

He said: "Is it right that the international rights are shared equally between all the clubs?

"At some point we feel there has to be some rebalance on that, because what we are actually doing is disadvantaging ourselves against other big European clubs."

Whelan added: "The worst thing for English football is for teams like Liverpool - the top four let's say - who want to get rid of virtually half the Premier League. We will finish up like the Spanish league with just two teams in it, no competition, no anything, no heart and soul in the league.

"What we have is the finest league in the whole world and what Liverpool is calling for would absolutely wreck it. The likes of Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Wolves, Sunderland and Newcastle couldn't compete."

Henry Knew Little About Reds

Liverpool owner John W Henry admits he knew 'virtually nothing' about the club or English football before completing a takeover in October 2010.

His Fenway Sports Group (FSG) helped to oust fellow Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks from the Anfield boardroom last year.

Their arrival was greeted with much fanfare in the red half of Merseyside, with it felt that changes at the top were vital if the club were to move forward on and off the field.

FSG are set to celebrate their one-year anniversary as Liverpool owners on Saturday and believe they have made progress during that time.

New players have been drafted in, Kenny Dalglish has returned as manager and results have started to improve.

Henry is pleased with how his first 12 months at Anfield have unfolded, especially as he came into the post virtually blind to the challenge he was taking on.

He has, however, been a success in his homeland with the Boston Red Sox baseball team and believes parallels can be drawn between his two sporting enterprises.

Henry believes he can help revive Liverpool's fortunes both at home and abroad, but concedes that he knew little of the financial difficulties and the size of the task facing him when he arrived.

"We knew virtually nothing about Liverpool Football Club nor EPL (the Barclays Premier League)." He told The Guardian.

Tom Werner, who is now Liverpool's chairman, also had limited knowledge of the Reds, but claims to have been aware that FSG were buying into a global brand.

"I had been in sports so I was aware of the EPL and its strength globally," Werner said.

"But I didn't know the inner workings of it. I certainly knew about Manchester United."