Anfield Red

Rafael Benitez spoke of his delight today after finally completing the transfer of Javier Mascherano.

Benitez made no secret of wanting to keep Mascherano at Anfield after being on loan at the club, and today Liverpool announced the deal much to the delight of Rafa: "We must be really pleased with the situation now,"

"He has been a key player for us since he has been here and now we know he can be a key player in our future.

"From the start we knew Javier was a player with quality and a fantastic mentality. We knew the player when he was in the reserves at River Plate but was playing for the senior national team and we had been monitoring his career since then.

"He is young but he has great experience having played for his country. We knew he would be a good signing for us.

"It's clear that he is one of the best midfielders in the world but he can get better with us. We now have a lot of good options in the centre of midfield and that's good news for the club. "

Liverpool FC have today announced the signing of Javier Mascherano on a permanent basis.

Finally, the longest ongoing transfer saga ever can be put to bed, Javier Mascherano is officially a Red for the next 4 years.

Apart from Fernando Torres, it is hard to think of a player who has had such a big impact at Liverpool since signing, and Mascherano is a firm fan's favourite due to his outstanding performances week in week out.

"I am very, very happy and now I can concentrate just on playing football,"Mascherano said

"I said all along that I wanted to stay at Liverpool and now that I have signed I can say this is the best and the biggest moment in my career so far. "From the first day I arrived at Liverpool the feeling was good and I knew this was where I want

ed to play my football. It's good news for me and my family that everything is sorted and I know where my future is going to be. I just want to do my best for the fans and the people of the club. I am at a top side and I know I can win titles here. That's the big thing for me. I want to be at a club where we can win trophies and have success. "

A fee has not been announced, and to be honest i dont think anyone cares! the main thing was getting the transfer completed, and it has now been done.

Apart from winning the European Cup, and Gillett & Hicks selling up, Liverpool are close to announcing the best news of the season: Signing up Javier Mascherano.

Rafa has made no secret of his desire to sign up Mascherano, and now the Argentinian midfielder has come out and said that a deal is close, and he expects the move to be completed within the next week.

Speaking about completing the transfer, Mascherano said : "We are really close. Maybe this week or next week we will be able to say everything’s finished.

“We can’t say it just yet but hopefully in a few days everything will be okay. There are no problems with the fee or with the contract, it’s just getting the papers finished.

“I have always said I want to stay here and so it hasn’t been a difficult time for me. I have wanted it to be finished because I have my family behind me and I want to know what my future is going to be. I am calm and relaxed because I know that everything is almost over.

“I am very happy that in the next week I will be able to say I have signed for Liverpool. It will be the best moment of my career to be able to say I will be playing my football with Liverpool.”

Mascherano has become a vital part of the team since signing from West Ham on loan over a year ago, and will more than likely be a key member for years to come.

Check out Fernando Torres scoring 3 goals today against Middlesbrough!

Liverpool won the game thanks to Fernando Torres scoring 3 goals, including a screamer (goal number 2), check out the goals below!

Torres' first goal

Torres's Second goal

And the hattrick

Fernando Torres scored 3 goals against Middlesbrough today at Anfield as Liverpool won 3-2.

Middlesbrough took a surprise lead through Tuncay as he headed in a free kick, but then 1 goals in 90 seconds from Torres turned the game around and put the Reds in charge.

Fernando's first came after Julio Arca tried to head back to his keeper, Torres got to the ball first, one on one with Schwarzer he rounded and tapped into the empty net.

Just 90 seconds later, Liverpool were in the lead. Kuyt sent a ball to Torres who unleashed a screamer from the edge of the box that Schwarzer had no chance of saving.

In the second half, Boro thought they had equalised, only for referee Lee Mason to correctly point out that it had gone in off Tuncay's arm. Torres completed his hat-trick when another defensive cock up, this time Wheater and Schwarzer involved resulted in the ball falling to the Spaniard who shot into the empty net from the edge of the box. A ball came over, Wheater was chasing Torres, then Schwarzer charged out of his goal to get the ball for no reason, leaving his goal totally open for Fernando to score.

Boro got a late goal back through Stewart Downing, but it was too little too late, then Aliadiere was sent off for slapping Javier Mascherano.

Steven Gerrard took a late free kick from about 30 yards out, but Schwarzer made a good save as he stopped the ball going straight into the top corner.

Martin Skrtel may be out of this weekend's match against Barnsley in the FA Cup after picking up an injury in training.

Rafa is already without Daniel Agger, while Sami Hyypia has been out injured and faces a fitness test before the FA Cup tie. Skrtel has picked up a calf injury, and with Jack Hobbs out on loan, Benitez has to make a tough decision on if to include a youngster from the reserve team or try a makeshift defence with someone else alongside Carragher at the back.

Dirk Kuyt hopes that Liverpool can get to their 4th successive cup final this season.

Liverpool have been in a cup final for the last 3 years running: 2005 Champions League final, the 2006 FA Cup and the 2007 Champions League final, and with Liverpool still in the FA Cup and the CL, Kuyt is hoping another final is awaiting the Reds this season.

"There are only 16 teams left now, and only six of those are from the Premier League, so we must have a great chance, With the quality we possess I don't see why we can't go all the way.
"But it's okay saying we want to win the trophy – we know Wembley is still a long way off. Before that we have to take care of Barnsley on Saturday. That's all we can think about at the moment.

"You always have to be 100 per cent focused for every game, no matter who the opponents are, and that's the attitude we must take into this tie. Otherwise we could get punished."

Kuyt also says that Liverpool wont take Barnsley for granted, especially after the scare against Havant and Waterloovile: "When the draws for the third and fourth rounds took place, I'm sure plenty of people thought Havant and Luton would be easy ties for Liverpool, but as players we never thought like that.

"You can't afford to do that, and so it proved. Luton gave us a scare in the first game and we all know what happened against Havant. That's what makes the FA Cup so special."

Javier Mascherano says he is desperate swap his runner up medals for winner's ones this season, either in the Champions League or FA Cup.

Mascherano was part of the side that lost 2-1 to AC Milan in last season's Champions League final, he then went onto the Copa America final with Argentina, only to lose to Brazil, and now he is ready to change the trend and hopefully pick up a winner's medal this season.

"When you lose any final, it's painful, But suffering defeat in such a massive game as the Champions League or Copa America last year was really hard to take.

"Even when I was back in South America I always watched the European Cup games and loved it. It's the most important title you can win in club football and we were so close to doing it. This time winning one would be really nice. Hopefully it will happen this season in the Champions League or FA Cup because I don't want another silver medal – I prefer gold!

"I just love playing in these big cup games with Liverpool. I went from not playing at West Ham to being involved in such huge occasions. It doesn't really get any better than this. Hopefully there are a few more great days and nights around the corner"

If you beleive the latest transfer speculation, then Liverpool are after Real Madrid's Mahamadou Diarra, but does anyone know anything about him?

Real Madrid paid 26 million euros to sign Diarra from former Liverpool manager Gerrard Houllier's Lyon side in August 2006. He faces stiff competition in midfield for a place at Madrid, from the likes of Sneijder, Robben, Guti, Julio Baptista and Fernando Gago, but has still made 19 appearances for Los Merengues this season.

He is a right footed defensive midfielder, a position that he would have to fight off Mascherano, Lucas and Alonso if he were to sign for the Reds. Here are some stats about Diarra based on this season's performances:

Appearances :19
Minutes played: 1559

Fouls Committed: 37

Yellow cards: 2

Total number of times lost the ball: 108
Total number of times he has recovered the ball : 112

Total Passes: 1036

Successful passes: 885
Unsuccessful passes: 151

Total shots: 6 (0 goals)

Assists: 1.

Diarra is 27 this year, he has won 4 French titles, 4 French cups and 1 Spanish League Championship.

Fernando Torres will be fit to face Inter Milan next week, but faces a fitness test ahead of Saturday's FA Cup tie against Barnsley.

Torres picked up an injury on international duty playing for Spain in a friendly, and missed the league game against Chelsea, but Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez says Torres will be back for next week's massive Champions League tie. Hyypia, Aurelio and Arbeloa are also expected to return this weekend.

I need to consider both games but I know it's important to progress in the FA Cup, so I will try to use a strong team, Sami Hyypia is improving. He did the warm up and could be available, but we will have to analyse the situation.

" Torres also did the warm up, as well as Fabio Aurelio and Alvaro Arbeloa, and they are really close. Now it is about whether we will take the risk or not. For Inter, Torres will be okay. We will have to check before Barnsley"