Xabi Alonso Cleared For Liverpool's Derby Double

Xabi Alonso has returned to training for Liverpool after sustaining a foot injury in last weekend's FA Cup tie against Preston North End, The Daily Mail reports.

The Spanish midfielder's fine display at Deepdale was cut short when he was stamped on in a challenge with a Lilywhites defender. He hobbled to the sidelines for treatment late in the first half and did not reappear after the interval.

A nasty cut on the Basque star's instep required seven stitches, but it was the severe swelling and bruising which most concerned the Liverpool medical staff and manager Rafael Benitez.

Alonso has been hampered by a number of foot and ankle problems through his Anfield career, and it was initially feared he had suffered a reoccurrence of the metatarsal fracture which ruined his 2007-08 campaign.

However, scans taken yesterday have cleared the 27-year-old of any breaks or structural damage, and he is even a slim chance to feature this Saturday when the Reds take on Stoke City.

But most important for Benitez and his side is the fact Alonso will be available for the back-to-back derby dates with Everton. The Merseyside rivals will clash in the Premier League on January 19, before meeting in the FA Cup fourth round the following week.

Rafael Benitez Rules Out Dossena Sale

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has refuted claims that full back Andrea Dossena will be sold in the transfer window.

The Italian, who was a £7 million summer signing from Udinese, has struggled to make an impact at Anfield this season and is behind Fabio Aurelio in the pecking order for the left back slot in the Reds’ defence.

Speculation had linked him with a return to Serie A but Benitez has moved to dispel these rumours.

With Liverpool top of the Premier League as 2009 starts, the Liverpool boss is keen on keeping his squad intact as they look to clinch their first title since 1990.

"I am not considering selling Dossena," Benitez said in the Daily Star.

"I think it is important to keep the squad together."

Liverpool Reject Milan Bid For Agger

Milan may have to turn their attention to a different defender, as Liverpool have reportedly rejected the Rossoneri's bid for Daniel Agger.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti is looking for a new recruit to solve his club's defensive woes this season, but it appears the 24-year-old will not be the one to join the Italian club.

The Reds have rejected Milan's €8.5 million bid, according to the Daily Star, as Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez considers the Danish stopper a key memeber of his squad and does not want to let him go.

Agger arrived at Liverpool in 2006 and has been in and out of the line-up since that time, often taking the place of the injured Martin Skrtel this season.

Milan have been linked with a number of defenders, including French internationals Philippe Mexes and William Gallas, so they may now go after one of those players before the winter transfer window ends.

Liverpool's Torres Dedicates Goal To Gerrard

Fernando Torres made his long-awaited comeback from hamstring injury in Saturday's FA Cup third round tie with Preston North End, coming on as a second-half substitute and sealing a 2-0 win with a late goal.

Torres was grateful to Steven Gerrard for setting up his strike and dedicated the goal to his captain, currently under police investigation for his alleged part in a nightclub brawl last week.

"I was pleased to score for the team and for the fans because it guaranteed the result and took us into the next round," Torres told The Liverpool Echo.

"I might have scored the goal but it was created by Stevie and I would like to dedicate my goal to him. He is our captain and he is also a great guy and he has helped me ever since I came to the club and moved to this area.

"Everyone at Liverpool is behind him."

The striker hadn't featured for the Reds since the Champions League tie with Marseille back in November, and made his return after undergoing an intensive rehabilitation programme in recent weeks.

He also revealed that the backing of the Liverpool fans provided him with timely boosts to his morale as he worked to return to full fitness.

"I am very pleased to be back in the team," the Spaniard continued. "I have been very frustrated at not being able to play but the lads have been in great form and the results they have achieved have kept my spirits up.

"The relationship I have with the fans is special. I know that.

"When I was injured to hear them still singing their song was special. I could hear it on the TV when I was at home. It’s fantastic."

Milan Set To Announce Pennant Move

The Corriere dello Sport reports this morning that Milan have completed an incredible swoop for Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant and have reached an agreement to sign him next July when his contract with the Reds will run out and the 25-year-old will become a free-agent.

The newspaper considers the move a done deal and reveals that the Rossoneri will soon make it official.

Arsenal snapped up the midfielder from Notts County in 1999 and he was handed his Premier League debut at the age of 16.

He has been with Liverpool since 2006 and turned down moves to Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers over the summer, but the Premier League leaders have decided not to take up the option to invoke a one-year-extension on his current deal and he will be free to walk away in the summer.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Beckham has shaken off his muscular problem and will make his debut in a Diavoli jersey in the game with Hamburg.

FA Play Down Capello's Off The Cuff' Criticism Of Liverpool Midfielder Gerrard

The FA have been forced to defend Fabio Capello over remarks that the England manager made about Steven Gerrard's 'recent behaviour'.

Capello appeared to criticise the Liverpool captain in Italian press reports - with Gerrard to appear in court on January 23 after being charged with assault and affray over an incident in a Southport nightclub.

The coach's comments came in response to an interview by Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo, who said he modelled himself on Gerrard.

Capello replied by saying: 'Let's hope he doesn't want to imitate Gerrard in every way, especially his recent behaviour.'

However, an FA spokesman told the Daily Telegraph that the remark was merely 'off the cuff' and not intended as criticism.

Gerrard is expected to feature in England's squad for the friendly against Spain on February 11.

Rafa Happy With Reds Squad

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has given a strong indication he has no plans to sign any new faces in the January transfer window.

Benitez insists he is happy with the squad at his disposal as he looks to maintain Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League.

The Reds have been linked with the likes of Emile Heskey and Glen Johnson, but Benitez has played down the rumours, saying he is happy to stick with the players already at Anfield.

Benitez believes the return to fitness of key quartet Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio has boosted his options and no new signings are required.

"We finished 2008 very well, we played with style and have scored a lot of goals," said Benitez. "I am very pleased and happy with the situation and hope it will be the same in the new year.

"We have other players apart from Torres coming back from injury. There is Skrtel, Aurelio and Arbeloa all fit now. It will be like signing three new players.

"We do not need to go into the transfer market, we are certainly not desperate to do so.

"If we find we need something we will try, but it is always hard in this window and very expensive.

"But we are in a good position and I am happy to use the players we have now plus the ones returning from injury."

Trying Week For Stevie

Liverpool will face neighbours Everton twice inside a week – with Steven Gerrard’s court case sandwiched in between – after the recent FA Cup draw.

The Merseyside rivals were the first names out of the hat for the fourth round and meet in the competition for the first time since a trilogy of games in 1991, during which Kenny Dalglish resigned as Liverpool boss.

Everton make the short trip to Anfield in two weeks time for a Premier League match, with Gerrard due to appear at North Sefton Magistrates court to answer charges of assault and affray the following Friday.

The FA Cup tie will be televised, with Sunday, January 25 the likeliest date.

“It’s a terrific draw for everyone, especially the fans,” said Phil Jagielka, who was on the receiving end when Liverpool won at Goodison Park in the league in September.

There will be a special atmosphere I’m sure and the fact that we play them just a few days earlier in the league makes it even more interesting. We didn’t do ourselves justice at Goodison Park earlier in the season but we’ve got two chances to put that right now.

“Derby games are always fantastic occasions and so to meet each other in the FA Cup is great for the supporters.”

The clash will trigger memories of the end of Dalglish’s reign. The first game was a goalless stalemate and Dalglish quit when a replay ended 4-4. Everton won a second replay 1-0 with caretaker-boss Ronnie Moran in charge of Liverpool.

Ian Rush: Premier League The Priority But FA Cup Win Would Be Massive Boost

One thing which can safely be said about the FA Cup draw is I’m sure both Liverpool and Everton would have preferred to have avoided one another.

It is an absolutely massive tie and the players, staff and fans at both Merseyside clubs will be really looking forward to it, particularly as it will be the second derby of the week with the league meeting taking place just a matter of days beforehand.

But the fourth round draw could have been an awful lot kinder because everyone knows just how fiercely contested this game will be and just how much will be at stake.

Merseyside derbies do not need any extra spice and neither do FA Cup games, so combining the two is an explosive concoction and I’m sure everyone in the country will be keeping an eye on the match at Anfield.

The big disappointment is that only one Merseyside team will be in the draw for the fifth round because it is always good when both clubs are doing well and making progress. But the only way for the players to approach it is to give absolutely everything for the cause in both the league and cup games.

People will talk about fatigue but I played in enough Merseyside derbies to know that you don’t feel tired in games like these.

You get through on adrenaline and on the energy that the crowd gives you – you just keep on going, it is as simple as that.

For me, Liverpool have the advantage because they are at home and also because they have a stronger squad.

When you play two games of such massive importance in the space of a week you are going to need to dip into your squad and Liverpool definitely have more strength in depth.

But there is also no doubt that the league derby is Liverpool’s most important of their two games and they cannot be deflected from that, even by an FA Cup tie.

Rafa Benitez and his team are in the perfect position to challenge for the title. and doing that has to be their priority.

It’s probably the other way around for Everton because realistically the FA Cup is the only trophy they can challenge for this season. So it will be interesting to see how both teams approach the two games.

But should Liverpool win both it would be a massive boost at a key time in the season.

Hyypia Is Still The Hero 10 Years On

From Sunderland to Serie A, Blackburn to the Bundesliga, Tottenham to Turkey, the glut of enquiries for Liverpool’s evergreen centre-half are persistent enough for a small call centre to be housed in one of the offices at Anfield.

Manager Rafa Benitez remains adamant the defender is too valuable to let go, yet it is testament to Hyypia’s enduring appeal that Liverpool could still almost double the £2.5million fee they paid to Dutch side Willem II for the player a decade ago.

Hyypia is in line to make his 700th career appearance on Saturday at Stoke – just another of the clubs who would pay a king’s ransom to recruit the veteran – and his importance to the cause in recent weeks has merely highlighted why he still retains such a fanatical following.

It was former Liverpool chief executive and Vice-Chairman Peter Robinson who first received a tip-off about Hyypia in 1998, with then manager Gerard Houllier and assistant Phil Thompson quick to act on the information.

Thompson, a central-defender who won seven league titles and two European Cups among other honours in 477 first-team appearances for the club, is better placed than most to pass judgment on Hyypia’s longevity.

“It doesn’t surprise me that so many teams would want Sami,” said Thompson. “He has been, and still is, brilliant for Liverpool.

“When you consider how much he cost then pound-for-pound he is up there with the £440,000 the club paid for Kenny Dalglish.

“I remember going to watch him playing for Finland against Oliver Bierhoff and Germany in Nuremberg. Bierhoff’s strength was in the air and Sami never let him win a header.

“We signed Stephane Henchoz at the same time as Sami and he was the better known of the two and people probably expected more from him.

“But after a couple of days on the training pitch with Sami, I was thinking we’ve signed a central midfielder here because he was that authoritative and comfortable on the ball.

“It always makes me laugh when people started saying a few years ago his pace had gone. Sami Hyypia never had any pace to lose! What he has got is an incredible ability to read the game and that has been his biggest asset. More often than not he is in position.

“I’d be lying if I said that when we signed him I thought he’d still be going strong 10 years later. That’s incredibly difficult to do, especially for a foreign player in the Premier League.

“He’s a legend and, for me, Sami is in Alan Hansen’s ilk.”

If Hyypia’s immediate future remains at Anfield, then Liverpool still have two major decisions to make over his prospects in the coming weeks.

The first is whether to hand him another one-year extension to his present deal which expires in the summer.

Given the uncertainty remaining over Daniel Agger’s long-term prospects, Benitez must wonder where he would find someone as reliable and also as willing to adopt Liverpool’s team-first ethos as Hyypia.

Secondly, and more pressing, Benitez must decide whether to find room in his Champions League squad for 35-year-old Hyypia, having controversially omitted him at the start of the season.

Hyypia is likely to push for clarification over where he now stands, with Liverpool having to resubmit their squad to UEFA for the knockout stages by midnight on February 1.

The perennially-injured Philipp Degen is taking up a place in the squad, although the emergence of Argentine left-back Emiliano Insua, who is also not presently on the list, complicates what is a sensitive issue.

Pourie Seals Germany Return

Striker Marvin Pourie is back in his native Germany after joining Schalke from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee.

The teenager joined The Reds' academy in the summer of 2007 and had been a consistent scorer for Hughie McAuley's Under-18s side.

However, after failing to make the breakthrough at the Premier League giants the former Borussia Dortmund youngster has been allowed to leave.

Pourie has signed a four-a-half-year contract with Schalke that ties him to the Veltins-Arena outfit until the summer of 2013.

The 17-year-old, who won his first youth international cap for his country while at Anfield, will train with Schalke's first team but is expected to play in their Under-19s side for now.

Liverpool Unlikely To Swoop For Heskey, Johnson

Premier League leaders Liverpool may not be adding any reinforcements to their squad in January after all, according to a report in the British broadsheet the Independent.

Apparently, Reds manager Rafaael Benitez has revealed that they must sell before they buy, but the chances of Jermaine Pennant leaving the club during this transfer window are looking more and more faint.

The former Birmingham City winger failed to negotiate a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid recently, rejecting their contract offer, and has turned down offers from the likes of Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers.

Wigan Athletic and Hull City are thought to be interested in the €3.8 million-rated midfielder, as well as Italian club AC Milan, so a deal could yet go through.

However, Liverpool are believed to have told the Rossoneri to forget about making an offer of €9.2 m for Danish centre-back Daniel Agger.

It appears that Italian full-back Andrea Dossena will not be moving to the San Siro either, with Benitez quoted in the Guardian as saying: "I have not considered selling Andrea Dossena, I think it is important to keep people together now."

It is claimed, therefore, that the Reds will not be making a move for Portsmouth's England international right-back Glen Johnson, who is apparently set to agree a new contract at Fratton Park.

Wigan's England international forward Emile Heskey had been linked with a return to Anfield, but it is thought that Benitez has no plans to move for the player whose contract will expire in the summer, paving the way for Aston Villa to capture the 30-year-old.

Liverpool Owners Granted Extra Time To Repay £350m Loan

Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been granted a six-month period of grace to repay £350.5m to Liverpool's lenders. Those funds, provided last January as "working capital" to run Liverpool and including £60m towards constructing a new stadium, were due to be repaid or refinanced by 25 January. But the banks – the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland and the US investment bank Wachovia – have deferred the deadline.

That came following a written request from Liverpool's American co-owners and their holding company, Kop Football, with the new deadline now set at 24 July. "The loan does not mature on 24 January," said an insider involved in the deal.

The Anfield club are currently the Premier League leaders but with £30m in annual interest repayments required, the supplementary income from Champions League participation is critical to their business. By July, Liverpool hope, those revenues will be guaranteed.

Although this provides breathing space in the short term, it is unclear how RBS-Wachovia will deal with the loan in the summer. The loan currently earns little more than 5% a year in interest, despite the risk involved with football clubs. City sources expect that even if RBS-Wachovia agree to renegotiate the debt in July they are likely to demand a very large fee, which will further increase Liverpool's indebtedness.

Another imponderable is the financial health of George Gillett's portfolio. Reports in the US say his Nascar team has been scaling back its activities after a drop in sponsorship. His Booth Creek Management Corp is exposed to the ailing automobile industry as the owner of dealerships. Although both Hicks and Gillett regularly stress their continued commitment to Liverpool, one route out of repaying the debt has now closed. Takeover interest from Dubai has been withdrawn following the collapse in the world economy.

Benitez: FA Cup Derby Clash Won’t Distract Liverpool FC From Title Bid

RAFAEL BENITEZ is confident Liverpool will not be detracted from their quest for the Premier League crown by the forthcoming FA Cup derby against Everton.

The Merseyside rivals will meet in the competition for the first time in 18 years after being paired together in the fourth round.

The game, which is due to take place on either January 24 or 25 at Anfield, comes in the middle of a critical run of league games for the Premier League leaders.

Liverpool are already hosting Everton in the league on Monday, January 19, before which they visit struggling Stoke City on Saturday.

They follow the Cup showdown with a trip to Wigan Athletic in midweek before the Reds entertain title rivals Chelsea.

And Benitez has moved to quell the growing excitement at the prospect of the FA Cup tie with their neighbours by insisting Liverpool are looking no further forward than the weekend clash at the Britannia Stadium.

“It is a draw which will excite everyone in the city because everyone knows about the great rivalry that exists between the two clubs,” said the Liverpool manager.

“But we must remember that we have some big games coming up in the league before the cup tie and we will be taking one game at a time.

“Only when the cup game comes around will it become our focus and before then we play Stoke and Everton in the league so we must keep our focus on those matches.

“But it is good to have so many important matches because it shows that your team is doing well.”

Everton defender Tony Hibbert believes the atmosphere for the Cup game will be “electric”, with the Goodison outfit expected to be handed their largest official ticket allocation at Anfield since the FA Cup fifth-round clash there in February 1991.

“To be first out of the hat was unbelievable,” said Hibbert. “It’s a great draw for the city but probably not one that either team would have wanted at this stage of the competition.

“The atmosphere in derby games is electric at the best of times but this will be something else again and we are all looking forward to it.

“The FA Cup is something we have grown up with and all the lads here would love to get into a final but there is a long, long way to go yet before we can think about that.”

Everton earned progress to the fourth round for the first time in three years with a 1-0 win at League Two outfit Macclesfield Town.

And Hibbert added: “It’s never easy going to those places. The pitch in places was very icy and hard, which made it even more difficult, but I thought the lads did a brilliant job coping with it.

“The performance was good but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves by missing a few chances and that’s something we will have to improve on.

“But the main thing was getting the win and getting through to the next round. We really wanted to put a show on for the fans and we should have done that with the chances we created.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s assistant boss Sammy Lee hailed skipper Steven Gerrard as a “top professional”.

Gerrard, who was charged with assault and affray after an incident at a bar in Southport, fully justified Benitez’s decision to play him against Preston on Saturday with a commanding performance in the 2-0 win, which set up the clash with Everton.

Lee said: “Steven is a great footballer and he produced a terrific performance. Things have been written about him, but we know that he is a top professional.”

Albert Riera’s first-half strike put the Reds in the driving seat before Gerrard unselfishly squared for substitute Fernando Torres to make it 2-0 late on.

“That second goal sums up this football club,” Lee said.

“Whoever scores is not important. It’s all about the team and that goal epitomised our team spirit.”

Mark Lawrenson: Nuisance FA Cup Tie Is Last Thing Everton Or Liverpool Would Want

MY first reaction when I heard the first tie out of the bag in the FA Cup fourth round draw was “Oh no – surely not!” And I bet that was how Liverpool and Everton reacted to it as well.

It’s a nuisance tie and the last one either side needed.

The sort that make you want to turn the clock back a few seconds and start the whole draw again.

For Liverpool, when they heard their name come out of the bag first and they knew had a home tie they must have been hoping for Kettering or Hartlepool to be next out.

Okay so they lost at home to Barnsley last year, but the odds of something like that happening again are remote and getting a similar draw is far more preferable than being paired with Everton, or anyone else from the top 10 of the Premier League for that matter.

You’d take awkward over tough any day.

As for David Moyes, well he has had some shockers but he’s also had some stinkers in his time in terms of draws.

Yes, you do have to knock out the best to win a cup but you also need luck as well so getting the top of the league away from home, whoever that might be, suggests that’s not on your side this year.

While the managers and players won’t like the draw, I’m not convinced the supporters will be too keen on it either.

I do think it is great that some of them have recognised the significance of a repeat of the 1989 final and are making the most of this opportunity to commemorate the 20th anniversary Hillsborough disaster.

But that is the closest I think anyone will come to creating any kind of a sense of occasion.

After all, the game will come just a few days after they have met in the league at Anfield.

These games are rarely spectacles anyway and I don’t see that changing just because they happen to be playing in the FA Cup.

It’s still a Merseyside derby and nobody wants to lose. Expect it to be cagey. In fact, expect a draw.

Which is the last thing Liverpool need when you’ve got a title to go for and a Champions League campaign ready to start up again.

Everton? Well, that won’t concern them. But it does all make me think that they could actually do quite well out of this draw.

Moyes is more than capable, as he has proved in the past, of going to Anfield and coming away with a draw.

On this occasion, he could still be suffering a severe shortage of players but when his tactics have been dictated to him because of availability, its usually worked out quite well.

There’s no reason to think he won’t go there with a 4-5-1 and maybe hedge his bets on giving his rivals that pesky extra fixture on their list.

There’s no doubt that, considering how many teams were still left in that bag when Liverpool came out first, that Moyes will be cursing his luck at being handed such a tough trip.

But aside from that, there are no problems with fixture pile-ups for them so they have no reason to be fearful of the tie.

They need to turn it in their favour and make the best of what at first seemed a bad situation. And it’s their ability to do that over and over again that has got them into such a strong position at this stage of the season.

Whatever happens, there is no denying that this is the tie of the round.

But a derby is a derby and the players will all be treating the tie the same way. In fact it’s the same way I treated the Cup final of 1986.

Just get through it and make sure you win it.

Liverpool Left-Back Emiliano Insua To Miss Five Games After Argentina Call-Up

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is fuming after Argentina called up Emiliano Insua for an Under-20 tournament that will put him out of five matches.

Insua has made a name for himself as the first-choice left-back at Anfield in the past few games, but he has been named in his country's squad for the mini Copa America in Venezuela.

The gifted youngster, who will turn 20 tomorrow, will miss Liverpool's double header with Everton then the games against Wigan, Chelsea and Portsmouth.

Insua will face Stoke on Saturday before jetting off for the tournament which ends on February 8.

Penannt Set For Sun And Sangria

Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant is set for talks with Spanish giants Sevilla according to sources in Spain. A bid in the region of £3 milllion is rumoured to have been accepted by Rafa Benitez and Pennant is rumoured to favour a move to the warm climate of Seville.

Wigan, Real Madrid, Hull City and Stoke City have been linked with a move for the winger, however despite increased speculation no concrete offers were received by Liverpool.

Pennant has struggled to gain a starting berth in Benitez's first team and Liverpool would be keen to cash in on a player whose contract expires in the summer.

AC Milan Target Liverpool FC Stars During Transfer Window

AC Milan look set to fail in their attempts to sign Daniel Agger during the transfer window – but are giving Anfield outcast Jermaine Pennant a chance to kick-start his career.

Pennant, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has been offered a pre-contract agreement by the Italian giants to sign on a free transfer in the summer.

The winger is no longer part of Rafael Benitez’s plans with Liverpool keen to off-load the 25-year-old for a fee this month.

Real Madrid had a bid in the region of £3m accepted a fortnight ago but the deal is believed to have floundered over the player’s personal terms.

Pennant, also a target for Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur, has previously expressed a desire to play in Spain.

But he may now opt to sit tight and walk away for nothing at the end of the campaign and join Milan, against whom he was the star performer in Liverpool’s 2-1 Champions League final defeat in 2007.

However, the Italians will not be able to prise Pennant’s team-mate Agger away from Anfield this month.

Milan have been tracking the Denmark international since it emerged talks have stalled over a fresh deal for the centre-back, who has less than 18 months remaining on his current contract.

With no agreement yet in sight, the Italian giants are preparing to take advantage by lodging an £8.5m bid for the 24-year-old.

But Benitez has no intention of losing any key squad members as his team press for silverware both home and abroad.

Rafa Rules Out Dossena Exit

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has insisted that he wants to keep hold of Andrea Dossena.

The Italian arrived at Anfield from Udinese over the summer for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £7million.

He was given the opportunity to establish himself at left-back but failed to impress and lost his place to Fabio Aurelio.

Aurelio suffered an injury at the end of November but Benitez turned to Argentine youngster Emiliano Insua rather than Dossena.

Dossena has been linked with a January move away from Liverpool but Benitez has ruled out a departure.

He does not want to lose any of his players as the Reds continue to mount a challenge for the Premier League title.

"I am not considering selling Dossena," Benitez said in the Daily Star.

"I think it is important to keep the squad together."

Liverpool Join The Hunt For Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing

Liverpool have reportedly joined the race to sign Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing, who it was today revealed, is ready to hand in a written transfer request to Boro manager Gareth Southgate tomorrow.

Reds manager Rafael Benitez is reportedly ready to offer Boro £12 million for the services of the talented left winger.

Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in acquiring the 24-year-old's services, and have had several bids for the player turned down by Boro, but Downing is now apparently ready to move on from the Riverside, and the list of clubs interested in him is growing by the day.

Spurs have already failed with bids during this transfer window and have now seen Downing's transfer request as their opportunity to pounce for the England international.

Liverpool bought Albert Riera during the summer transfer window and already have Ryan Babel in their squad, but Benitez seemingly wants Downing as a squad player, which he will inevitably be should he move there.

Downing has been playing for Boro for his entire professional career, only playing seven games for another team, at Sunderland during a loan spell in 2003.

Since he was promoted from the infamous Middlesbrough youth team, the 24-year-old has made a total of 154 Premier League appearances and scored 17 times in the process.