Liverpool to Sell Seven to Help Fund £30m Summer Spending Spree

Anfield boss ready for a clear-out.

Liverpool are preparing a clear-out as the Anfield side looks to generate funds for significant signings this summer. Kenny Daglish and director of football Damien Comolli have reportedly been considering which players in the club’s squad they are willing to offload and perhaps unsurprisingly a number of those are players brought in by Roy Hodgson.

Milan Jovanovic has failed to make an impact at the club and will be allowed to leave should a decent offer come in for the Serbian who is being chased by a string of Bundesliga sides. Philipp Degen is currently on loan at Stuttgart and the signs are that the Swiss international is unlikely to return to Liverpool.

Paul Konchesky has had a dire time at Liverpool and was sent out on loan to Nottingham Forest where he has proved a success and there is talk that Fulham may be interested in buying the 29 year old back and given that he cost the Merseyside club nothing in the first place it could take as little as £1.5m to take the defender back to Craven Cottage.

Christian Poulsen came in for a torrid time during the Hodgson reign and has barely featured since Kenny Dalglish arrived on the scene and the defensive midfielder will be offered at a reduced price of around £3-4m and there is reported interest from some Serie A sides including from Genoa and Cagliari.

Emiliano Insua is also very much up for sale and looked likely to join Fiorentina last summer until the deal stalled but a move to Florence may be back on although the Argentine may seek to stay at Galatasaray where he is currently in the middle of a loan spell.

Alberto Aquilani is having a great season at Juventus and has fought his way back into the Italian national team set-up but the Turin side are unwilling to pay the £15m that Liverpool are demanding, although the 26 year old has stated that he would be open to a return back to England the signs are that there are a number of other Serie A sides who may well be willing to pay the asking price.

Finally Joe Cole stands on something of a precipice. Dalglish is keen to give the former Chelsea man a chance to prove himself and the England international has not really had a run of games to show the Liverpool boss what he has to offer. There is apparently a queue of clubs who would jump at the chance to sign the attacking midfielder with West Ham and Everton apparently willing to take the 29 year old on if he is indeed offloaded.

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Manchester United Targets Seven as Sir Alex Plans £60m Spending Spree

ALEX FERGUSON reckons he can land as many as THREE of his top transfer targets in the summer. Big changes are expected at Manchester United, with a clutch of players retiring or seeing their contracts end. And Fergie has insisted the cash will be there for him to bring in top-class replacements during the close season.

He said: “We have certain targets in mind and I think two or three will be fulfilled. There’s no question of that. The Glazer family have always been supportive of our desires to improve the team.”

Top of his list is likely to be a goalkeeper, with either Schalke’s Manuel Neuer or Atletico Madrid’s David De Gea in the frame to replace Edwin van der Sar. The Scot is also likely to boost his midfield. Wesley Sneijder, Jack Rodwell and Blackpool’s Charlie Adam are all in the running.

Fergie could look for a new centre-back, too, with Bolton’s Gary Cahill and Thiago Silva of Ac Milan among the group of possibles.

SOURCE: The Sun

This is an interesting list of targets, some of which seem far more realistic than others, and Sir Alex Ferguson does seem to realise that this summer is the right time to make sweeping changes. Given that a number of the Old Trafford squad is nearing the end of their careers, with Edwin Van der Sar and Gary Neville already retired or set to retire and that Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs can have not much left in the tank, it would make sense to bring in more young talent.

Ferguson already began the rebuilding with the captures of Javier Hernandez and Chris Smalling last summer and Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen are unlikely to be handed new deals and then you have the likes of Rio Ferdinand, who is also getting on a bit and having numerous injury issues.

Of the players listed moves for Wesley Sneijder and Thiago Silva seem unlikely, both are at teams who are on the up, under new management and doing very well indeed in Italy. Some reports earlier in the week seemed to suggest that Atletico Madrid were likely to sell their young keeper De Gea to United and that deal could well still be on.

Bolton centre back Gary Cahill would also be a very effective purchase, but not a cheap one as the Trotters look to cash in on the England international. David Moyes has made statements about Jack Rodwell that would suggest that the Toffees boss is resigned to losing the Everton youngster, but like Owen Coyle, will not sell for anything less than their valuation.

Charlie Adam is being chased by Tottenham and Liverpool but may well see a move to Man United as his dream option. Sir Alex has cleverly moved to confirm that the Glazers will finance deals in the transfer market but I guess the proof will be in the pudding.

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