Rodgers on Carroll And Aquilani

Brendan Rodgers has played down the recent speculation that has linked Andy Carroll with a loan move to AC Milan, the manager said: “He’s a good player, Andy, so he’ll always be linked whether he’s here or not.

“I’ve spoken to Andy on his holidays. He knows exactly where he stands. I’ve had the chance to speak to a lot of the players.

“He is a very good young player and, like I said, he will be linked with clubs because he is such a good player.

“I haven’t had anything (enquiries) from them (AC Milan) at all.”

Meanwhile, asked about the future of Alberto Aquilani, who spent the 2011-12 season out on loan, Rodgers said: “I had a good chat with Alberto the other day”.

“He’s a good guy. It obviously hasn’t really worked out for him as of yet, but he’s a player who’s got the quality in terms of technical and tactical ability to play.

“But what’s going to be important for every player is that they have the steel and mindset to play. It will be very important and that’s something I’ll find out over the course of pre-season about all the players.”