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Benitez trumps rivals with ￡6.75m deal for Babel
By Sam Wallace
Published: 10 July 2007
The Ajax winger Ryan Babel is due in Liverpool tomorrow for a medical with a view to completing his ￡6.75m move to Anfield. The deal to bring the Dutch international to Liverpool is understood to be worth up to ￡10m according to the success he achieves.
The signing of Babel represents something of a triumph for Rafael Benitez, who has secured one of the most highly-prized young players in European football. Coming barely a week since Liverpool's ￡27m signing of Fernando Torres the acquisition of Babel, 20, was sealed despite serious interest from Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle.
Babel has been played as an orthodox striker for Ajax but it is as a wide player that Benitez intends to use him this season. The Liverpool manager may yet move again in the transfer market for another winger before the window closes. He already has a quartet of strikers in Torres, Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt and Andrei Voronin and, after his attack on the club's transfer policy in May, next season's squad is taking shape.
While Babel's agent Winnie Haatrecht claimed yesterday that he was yet to negotiate personal terms for his player that is not understood to be a stumbling block to the deal. Babel was one of the stars in the Netherlands Under-21 team that was victorious in the European Championship earlier this summer but had come to the attention of the Premiership's leading clubs long before then.
Babel has already scored four goals in his 14 appearances for the Dutch national team and Arsène Wenger has been a long-time admirer. However, with the Arsenal manager prepared to concentrate on signing the Croatian Eduardo Da Silva, the Liverpool manager has taken his chance.
Having put pressure on his American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to back him with money, it would appear that Benitez had been given his wish. When the Babel deal goes through, only Manchester United will have spent more than Benitez this summer.
Djibril Cissé has signed a five-year contract with Marseilles after leaving Liverpool.
Steve McClaren has not given up on persuading the Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher to continue making himself available for his country. The England manager has spoken to Carragher twice, and intends to talk to him again before he names his squad to face Germany on 22 August.
Carragher's decision was prompted by being omitted in favour of Ledley King against Estonia, and he said: "I'm 29, and I have to accept if I'm not a regular starter now, I don't think I ever will be. Playing the odd game here and there is not enough. Four or five years ago I was happy to have that role but not now."
Yesterday he hit back at the talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham, who accused him of lacking the stomach to play for his place. He said: "Don't ever call me a bottler on radio with all those thousands of people listening." |
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樓主: 奧雲仔仔
發表於 07-7-10 11:30 AM
發表於 07-7-10 11:33 AM
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