NEWS STORY
RAFA: I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE WARNOCK
Paul Eaton 01 September 2006
Rafael Benitez today admitted he wasn't prepared to lose Stephen Warnock in his bid to bring Lucas Neill to Anfield.
The Reds' boss was hoping to agree a deal with Blackburn Rovers to bring Neill to Liverpool before the transfer window closed last night.
Blackburn boss Mark Hughes was keen to sign Warnock as part of the deal but Benitez wasn't happy to sacrifice his defender, even though he knew he was short for cover at right back with Jan Kromkamp having left for PSV Eindhoven earlier in the day.
"It was disappointing. We tried but in the end the situation was impossible," explained Benitez.
"Blackburn wanted to sign Warnock, but we made it clear we wanted to keep the player.
"They asked to sign Warnock and receive a fee, so we had to say forget it.
"Warnock is a good 24-year-old player who was in the England squad last year.
"The conversations I had with Blackburn were friendly and they are good people, but in the end we had to say 'okay, we cannot do it'."
Benitez admits the Reds are now short for cover on the right side of their defence, with only Steve Finnan available as a recognised right back.
"We had to wait until the last minute with Lucas Neill because we needed the money from the Kromkamp deal, although we made our first approach before Kromkamp was sold.
"We knew there was a small risk doing this, but maybe we can do more business with a right-back in January. I know Lucas Neill really wanted to come here, and maybe there will be a possibility in the future, but we must also analyse the market in January.
"We can manage with Carra and Paletta if we have a problem at right-back, but the situation is going to be more difficult for four months."
RAFA: I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE WARNOCK
Paul Eaton 01 September 2006
Rafael Benitez today admitted he wasn't prepared to lose Stephen Warnock in his bid to bring Lucas Neill to Anfield.
The Reds' boss was hoping to agree a deal with Blackburn Rovers to bring Neill to Liverpool before the transfer window closed last night.
Blackburn boss Mark Hughes was keen to sign Warnock as part of the deal but Benitez wasn't happy to sacrifice his defender, even though he knew he was short for cover at right back with Jan Kromkamp having left for PSV Eindhoven earlier in the day.
"It was disappointing. We tried but in the end the situation was impossible," explained Benitez.
"Blackburn wanted to sign Warnock, but we made it clear we wanted to keep the player.
"They asked to sign Warnock and receive a fee, so we had to say forget it.
"Warnock is a good 24-year-old player who was in the England squad last year.
"The conversations I had with Blackburn were friendly and they are good people, but in the end we had to say 'okay, we cannot do it'."
Benitez admits the Reds are now short for cover on the right side of their defence, with only Steve Finnan available as a recognised right back.
"We had to wait until the last minute with Lucas Neill because we needed the money from the Kromkamp deal, although we made our first approach before Kromkamp was sold.
"We knew there was a small risk doing this, but maybe we can do more business with a right-back in January. I know Lucas Neill really wanted to come here, and maybe there will be a possibility in the future, but we must also analyse the market in January.
"We can manage with Carra and Paletta if we have a problem at right-back, but the situation is going to be more difficult for four months."
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