Rafa's treble swoopJan 31 2007
by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPOOL were today hoping to finalise a treble deadline day swoop.
Deportivo La Coruna defender Alvaro Arbeloa is expected to complete a £2.5m switch, while the saga of Javier Mascherano's move from West Ham will also be concluded.
Manager Rafa Benitez has also added Spanish youngster Francis Duran to the reserve ranks for a compensation fee.
Arbeloa, 24, can play right-back or centre-half and there have been discussions about the possibility of Gabriel Paletta going on loan to Deportivo as part of the move, but indications from Spain suggest the La Liga side would rather have a straight cash transfer.
Benitez said today: “We will know more news about this deal later this afternoon, but we are hopeful there will be no problem.
“Francis is an 18 year old, from Malaga, and we're waiting on Arbeloa and Mascherano.”
Arbeloa is a former Real Madrid defender who moved to Deportivo two years ago.
Meanwhile, Benitez is confident the Mascherano deal will proceed after all after Fifa indicated they wouldn't block the transfer.
However, the Premier League must give the final go-ahead for the Argentine's documents to be registered at Anfield.
Mascherano is to join on an initial 18-month loan.
Why the hell have we waited till the last day to sign this Arbeloa bloke when it seemed so easy for us to negotiate with deportivo. sounds like a panic buy to me.
by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
LIVERPOOL were today hoping to finalise a treble deadline day swoop.
Deportivo La Coruna defender Alvaro Arbeloa is expected to complete a £2.5m switch, while the saga of Javier Mascherano's move from West Ham will also be concluded.
Manager Rafa Benitez has also added Spanish youngster Francis Duran to the reserve ranks for a compensation fee.
Arbeloa, 24, can play right-back or centre-half and there have been discussions about the possibility of Gabriel Paletta going on loan to Deportivo as part of the move, but indications from Spain suggest the La Liga side would rather have a straight cash transfer.
Benitez said today: “We will know more news about this deal later this afternoon, but we are hopeful there will be no problem.
“Francis is an 18 year old, from Malaga, and we're waiting on Arbeloa and Mascherano.”
Arbeloa is a former Real Madrid defender who moved to Deportivo two years ago.
Meanwhile, Benitez is confident the Mascherano deal will proceed after all after Fifa indicated they wouldn't block the transfer.
However, the Premier League must give the final go-ahead for the Argentine's documents to be registered at Anfield.
Mascherano is to join on an initial 18-month loan.
Why the hell have we waited till the last day to sign this Arbeloa bloke when it seemed so easy for us to negotiate with deportivo. sounds like a panic buy to me.
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