Liverpool to Splash Out £35m On Brand New Centre Back Pairing: Dalglish to Build New Anfield Generation

Anfield boss keen on talented defensive duo.

KENNY DALGLISH’S Liverpool are lining up a £15m summer move for Blackburn starlet Phil Jones.

Kenny Dalglish and director of football Damien Comolli watched the centre-back face Manchester City on Monday.

The club are searching for a top-class defender to strengthen the Anfield squad and Jones, 19, would provide perfect cover for Jamie Carragher, 33. (Daily Star)

Tottenham and Liverpool are in a straight shootout for Bolton defender Gary Cahill.

The England centre-half has been linked with moves to every side in the top five, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal also said to be in the running.

But Harry Redknapp and Kenny Dalglish are believed to be the only two managers chasing the £15million-rated 25-year-old. (Daily Mirror)

As Kenny Dalglish looks to put together transfer plans this summer he appears to have one eye on the homegrown regulations and is seemingly seeking to pick up talented English stars who can help in his attempts to build for a bright future.

The Liverpool boss is likely to be well backed in the transfer market by the club’s owners and FSG (Fenway Sports Group) are keen that the Anfield manager looks to bring in young players with great potential and good sell on value and this defensive pair meet those criteria.

Phil Jones has shown maturity beyond his years and is now a regular in the Blackburn Rovers first team and given that the Ewood Park side has struggled since Sam Allardyce was sacked the teenager may well be tempted by the prospect of a move to Merseyside, and clearly if the Lancashire club avoid the drop then the chances of a move increase significantly.

Gary Cahill could be a harder nut to crack. The England international is wanted by a number of big clubs and the good season that the Trotters have had may make it harder to sign the former Aston Villa man, however the financial problems that Bolton reportedly find themselves in may mean they have to sell their prized asset but are apparently looking to get at least £20m for the determined centre back.

Liverpool currently have a lack of strength in depth in the central defensive area and given the ages of Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos, 33 and 31 respectively, and the injury concerns over Daniel Agger, it makes great sense to bring in reinforcements.

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Liverpool Plan £16m Bids for New Centre Back Pairing

Anfield side look to bring in defensive duo.

Roger Johnson has emerged as a target for Liverpool after director of football Damien Comolli ran the rule over Birmingham City’s centre back.

Kenny Dalglish is in the market for a defender this summer and Johnson, who was recently called up to the provisional England squad, is nearing the end of a second impressive season at St Andrew’s.

The 27-year-old, who has only one year remaining on his contract after signing from Cardiff for £5million in 2009, is refusing to talk about contracts until Birmingham’s Barclays Premier League future is secured. Coincidentally, City face Liverpool on Saturday.

SOURCE: Daily Mail

As well as potential moves to bring in Birmingham City defender Roger Johnson Liverpool are also strongly linked with a move for Wolfsburg’s highly rated Danish international Simon Kjaer who moved to the Bundesliga last summer only to see his former title winning side nosedive dramatically as well as seeing the boss who purchased him, Steve McClaren, axed.

Kenny Dalglish is looking to make significant changes to his Anfield squad for next term and appears to have earmarked his defence as an area that needs improvement. Given that Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos are both getting on a bit and that Daniel Agger has constant injury concerns, moves to bring in reinforcements makes a great deal of sense. The club can at least rely on reliable Slovakian international Martin Skrtel and also have youngster Danny Wilson to call upon.

Roger Johnson has been a hugely consistent performer since his move to St Andrews’ two years ago and it is largely down to the 27 year old and his partnership with Scott Dann, another Liverpool target who is now injured, that Alex McLeish’s side are so hard to beat. Whilst the former Cardiff and Wycombe man may not be the most spectacular of signings he is a player who gives 110% and could provide some extra steel at the back.

Simon Kjaer at 22 has the footballing world at his feet and looks like he may push to leave Wolfsburg this summer after seeing the club perform disastrously this term. Felix Magath has returned to the club but has not been able to arrest the slide down the table that has left the title winners of 2008/09 sitting in 16th place in the relegation play-off zone.

Liverpool’s new owners appear ready to offer Dalglish significant financial backing this summer having brought in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll using the money accrued from the sales of Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel and these two potential signings are realistic and relatively inexpensive ways to improve their defence.

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Arsenal Boss Prepares £22m Bids for Relative Unknown Strike Pairing

Emirates boss targets Bundesliga and Ligue 1 aces.

Arsenal will need to part with at least £13million if they want to solve their goalscoring crisis with Papiss Demba Cisse.
Arsene Wenger’s side have scored just seven goals in their last seven games – a poor return for their usually prolific free-flowing football – and have all but surrendered the title to Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Freiburg’s 25-year-old striker has scored 20 goals in 28 Bundesliga appearances this season putting the Senegalese forward at the top of a number of Europe’s top sides’ shopping list.
But German newspaper TZ claims the club has told anyone interested in the striker not to waste their time with any bids below £13m.

SOURCE: talkSPORT

Whilst there is no denying that Papiss Demba Cisse is in a rich vein of form it is also true that the Senegal international striker is a player that most football supporters had not have heard of prior to his Bundesliga exploits this term.

Arsene Wenger is known for opting to cut costs by spending relatively small amounts on rough diamonds that he can then hone into the finished polished article and it’s a process that may help Arsenal to keep the club on a sound financial footing, however it does require these players longer to bed in than established stars, which has in some ways left the North London club to be in a continual state of transition.

25 year Cisse has done fantastically well this season but it is worth noting that prior to this term the Dakar born striker had scored a grand total of six top tier goals having previously played predominantly in France’s Ligue 2.

Wenger is also tracking £9m rated Lorient forward Kevin Gameiro who has been very consistent over the past three seasons and is currently the second top scorer in France’s top tier, again though, he is not a big name. Clearly Arsenal have bought Laurent Koscielny from the same club last summer, could that signing be considered a success? Perhaps a month ago it could’ve been but the Frenchman has been shaky of late.

There has been much speculation that the Gunners boss is keen to chop and change his front line and such action seems much needed. Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela may be offloaded and there is even talk of a return to France for Marouane Chamakh, the Moroccan started the season with a bang but has looked out of his depth since November.

Arsenal supporters would probably like to see the club chase relative big names, maybe an offer for the likes of Karim Benzema, but Wenger seems happy to continue his tried and tested pattern of expenditure and in the main that plan of action has been a huge success but after six seasons without silverware, as it may well turn out to be, perhaps it’s time for the Emirates Stadium side to look for immediate returns on their investments?

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Arsenal Boss Prepares £22m Bids for Relative Unknown Strike Pairing, 4.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

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Newcastle United In Talks to Sign £40m New Strike Pairing

Pardew wants to bring Lille duo to St James’ Park.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is understood to have approached French club Lille about the possibility of securing both Moussa Sow and Gervinho on a deal which would see the pair spearhead a £40m-rated Toon attack next season. Sources close to Pardew say he has been monitoring the progress of both players, who are yet to be locked into long-term deals at the table-topping Ligue 1 club. Sow has been a revelation for Lille this season and is the current French top scorer with 19 goals.
His contract comes to an end in 2013, but after signing on a free transfer from Rennes, Sow’s value could see the club cash in when the window reopens in the summer. Strike partner Gervinho meanwhile offers a flexible option to Newcastle with both his ability to play upfront and on the wing an asset. The Ivory Coast star shone in the World Cup and has also contributed with 12 league goals this season.

SOURCE: Metro

Clearly Newcastle United could do with some fresh attacking options following the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool in January but is £40m a tad steep for this pair of Ligue strikers? Well Lille are riding high at the top of the table and looking good for their first domestic title in over 50 years and a big reason for this, as well as young starlet Eden Hazard, has been the form shown by Moussa Sow and Gervinho up front.

Lille have outscored all French sides and Sow has netted 19 league goals in his first season at the Stade Lille-Metropole and Gervinho has put in a good deal of support and is perhaps the more well known of the two, having done pretty well at the World Cup last summer with Ivory Coast.

Pardew currently has to count on the fairly limited attacking offering that he gets from the likes of Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands, Leon Best, Nile Ranger and Shefki Kuqi, none of them being the most prolific of finishers.

In relation to thsi Lille swoop, one has to wonder whether Magpies owner Mike Ashley will shell out to this extent, especially if you take into account Alan Pardew will be looking to tie down key players with lucrative contracts as he did recently when Cheik Tiote signed on the dotted line on a long term deal.

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