Anfield Red

Here’s a quick round up of Liverpool’s dealing in this transfer window. This could change if any last minute deals go through!

Players In:
Philipp Degen
Andrea Dossena
Diego Cavalieri
Emmanuel Mendy
David N’Gog
Robbie Keane
Albert Riera
Vincent Lucas Weijl
Nikola Saric
Peter Gulasci

Players Out:
Andriy Voronin (loan)
Sebastian Leto (loan)
Paul Anderson (loan
John Arne Riise
Anthony Le Tallec
Harry Kewell
Peter Crouch
Danny Guthrie
Scott Carson
Steve Finnan

Rafael Benitez confirmed the signing of Albert Riera from Espanyol.

The transfer was today completed for an undisclosed fee; with the winger signing a 4 year contract much to the delight of Rafa Benitez : “Riera has the qualities we were looking for, He’s a left footer who normally plays on the left wing, he’s good in the air, strong, powerful and a good crosser of the ball.”

“He’s the kind of player we have been talking about. He can beat players and get good deliveries into the area for our strikers.

“We’ve known about him for a long time, since he was at Mallorca and then through his career with Bordeaux, Manchester City and Espanyol.

“He can talk English and of course he knows the Premier League, which is a big bonus. Usually foreign players need time when they go to a new country, but Riera already knows the league and the style of football

“He also had offers from other English clubs but he said no to them because he wanted to come and play for us. That means a lot to me because it shows the commitment he has to play for Liverpool.”

Fernando Torres has been ruled out for 2-3 weeks after tearing his hamstring against Aston Villa.

Torres now faces a race against time to be fit to face Manchester United on 13th september. A club official confirmed the injury fears today : “A scan this afternoon has confirmed a hamstring tear in Fernando’s right leg. He is expected to be out for between two and three weeks,”

Steve Finnan has today left Liverpool to join Spanish side Espanyol.

Espanyol wanted Finnan as part of the Riera deal, and today the right back who was no longer part of Rafa’s plans has joined the Barcelona-based side after 5 years at Anfield.

Andriy Voronin has left Liverpool on a year long loan

Voronin was down the pecking order at Anfield, so has opted to join Hertha Berlin on loan.

With the transfer window due to shut at midnight this evening, who do you want us to realistically bring in?

Rafa admitted last night the club might try for other players, and througout the summer we were linked with the likes of Silva, Villa and of course Gareth Barry, but now on transfer deadline day who do you want us to sign?

With Fernando Torres out injured, and Andriy Voronin seemingly frozen out at Anfield; is it time we went after Michael Owen again?

Owen has yet to sign a new contract at Newcastle; and has only one year remaining on his current deal, so is it worth doing what Real Madrid did four years ago and offering around £8million for him?

We do have back up strikers at the club : There’s Keane, Voronin, Kuyt, Babel and Nemeth, aswell as David Ngog – but Voronin has not been in the squad for a few weeks, Babel is usually on the wings as is Kuyt, Keane is normally in the second striker role, so that only leaves Ngog and Nemeth.

It was no secret that Liverpool tried to sign him when Newcastle eventually secured the deal, but maybe now is the right time to bring the former number 10 back to Anfield? Everyone knows he can score goals and with better players around him, surely he can only be a good acquisition?

Kevin Keegan has not ruled out selling Owen by saying : “I don’t think any player is untouchable.” so let’s get in there and try and sign him on the cheap!

If you have not seen much of Albert Riera, or you are not sure he is going to be a good signing; then check out this video and then make your mind up!

There’s some decent crosses and good skills on show, along with the odd goal too. Look what Rafa’s money is bringing in :

Rafael Benitez says he is hopeful Albert Riera’s move to Liverpool will be completed tomorrow; and did not rule out going for any other targets.

Riera is expected to complete his move from Espanyol before the transfer window shuts, and also confirmed that Liverpool might try for other players too : “The deal is nearly done and hopefully it will be on Monday, I have confidence. It will be good for us because he is a good player and he will give us balance. In terms of bringing in other players if we can do a deal then we will try.”

Liverpool Boss Rafael Benitez has confirmed Fernando Torres will have a scan to assess his hamstring injury picked up in the Aston Villa game.

Torres went off injured in the first half against Villa after twisting awkwardly chasing after a stray ball from Mascherano; and will have a scan on the hamstring tomorrow according to Rafa : “We don’t know how long Torres will be out for yet, We’ll have to wait for the results of the scan on Monday.”

“It could be he is out for seven to ten days, but until he has the scan we won’t know.”