Aston Villa will break bank to sign Peter Crouch!

[Morten_nogamst_Pedersen]

£20m plus

Sissoko £8m-£10m
Carson £10m
Crouch £10m
Riise £5m

£53m-£55m.

I think it's very realistic prices.

And yes, I'm dreaming

Aguero £22m, Ramos or Richards £20m, Mancini £10m.

Sold four players we don't really need and signed three we really need.

[AFII]

I blame Red Hots ghost if my posts sounds weird.

[dww]

£20m plus

Sissoko £8m-£10m
Carson £10m
Crouch £10m
Riise £5m

£53m-£55m.

I think it's very realistic prices.

And no, I don't play FM.

Aguero £22m, Ramos or Richards £20m, Mancini £10m.

Sold four players we don't really need and signed three we really need.

Where is the £20m from?

[AFII]

Where is the £20m from?

Rafa said that he has £20m to spend in January.

[Joe Le Toff]

Crouch and Carew up front for Villa?
Pace personified.

[bobbyfallon]

Rafa said that he has £20m to spend in January.

hope your right

[Nic83]

No deal.

They can have Kuyt and Voronin for 3 mil.

[dww]

Rafa said that he has £20m to spend in January.

Where, when, do you have a link?

[Nic83]

He told him on the blower over the weekend.

[livvy145]

Where, when, do you have a link?

Benitez set for spree

David Maddock 10/10/2007

Rafael Benitez will raid the Anfield war chest to strengthen his ailing squad in January.

The Liverpool manager revealed last week that he still has over £20million to spend after clearing the decks by selling unwanted players during the summer.

And the Mirror has discovered that he has been tracking FOUR players - with a view to signing at least one of them when the transfer window opens at the turn of the year.

The Spaniard's priority is a defender after injury to Daniel Agger and the loss of form of full-backs Steve Finnan and John Arne Riise.

Chief target is Paris St Germain full-back Bernard Mendy, who has been made available and will be sold in January - with Inter Milan, Juventus, Tottenham and Manchester City also interested.

The France international has six months remaining on his contract, and has refused all offers of a new deal, leaving PSG with no option but to try to get as much cash as they can for him.

Mendy, 26, who has been watched all season by Benitez's spies, will cost around £3m, and has already made it clear he wants to leave PSG.

Benitez is still keen on Roma's Amantino Mancini, despite having an offer for the right-sided midfielder rejected in the summer.

The Brazil international has since fallen out with Roma coach Luciano Spalleti in spectacular style and his agent, Gilar Veloz, has been instructed to find him a new club during the transfer window.

Liverpool will face competition from Lyon for Mancini - but they can offer bigger wages. Benitez will be prepared to pay around £8m to land the 27-year old South American.

Scouts from Anfield were at Heerenveen at the weekend to watch Brazilian striker Afonso Alves rattle in an incredible seven goals to set a scoring record in the Dutch League.

The Brazil international was top scorer in Holland last season with 34 goals, but when he demanded a move Heerenveen priced him out of the market at £12m.

Benitez knows Peter Crouch could leave in January and will seek to replace him with Alves.

Liverpool are also keeping tabs on Monaco's attacking midfielder Jeremy Menez, who has taken the French league by storm since arriving as an exciting teenage prospect. Now 20, he has been dubbed the 'new Zidane', and Liverpool know that Manchester United and Arsenal have also watched him closely, which could spark a major transfer scramble in the summer.

Benitez has been disappointed with the form of so many of his players and for the first time in his Anfield reign he has been openly critical of his team.

He knows that he still needs more quality and that is why his scouts have been working overtime across Europe.

[AFII]

Benitez set for spree

David Maddock 10/10/2007

Rafael Benitez will raid the Anfield war chest to strengthen his ailing squad in January.

The Liverpool manager revealed last week that he still has over £20million to spend after clearing the decks by selling unwanted players during the summer.

And the Mirror has discovered that he has been tracking FOUR players - with a view to signing at least one of them when the transfer window opens at the turn of the year.

The Spaniard's priority is a defender after injury to Daniel Agger and the loss of form of full-backs Steve Finnan and John Arne Riise.

Chief target is Paris St Germain full-back Bernard Mendy, who has been made available and will be sold in January - with Inter Milan, Juventus, Tottenham and Manchester City also interested.

The France international has six months remaining on his contract, and has refused all offers of a new deal, leaving PSG with no option but to try to get as much cash as they can for him.

Mendy, 26, who has been watched all season by Benitez's spies, will cost around £3m, and has already made it clear he wants to leave PSG.

Benitez is still keen on Roma's Amantino Mancini, despite having an offer for the right-sided midfielder rejected in the summer.

The Brazil international has since fallen out with Roma coach Luciano Spalleti in spectacular style and his agent, Gilar Veloz, has been instructed to find him a new club during the transfer window.

Liverpool will face competition from Lyon for Mancini - but they can offer bigger wages. Benitez will be prepared to pay around £8m to land the 27-year old South American.

Scouts from Anfield were at Heerenveen at the weekend to watch Brazilian striker Afonso Alves rattle in an incredible seven goals to set a scoring record in the Dutch League.

The Brazil international was top scorer in Holland last season with 34 goals, but when he demanded a move Heerenveen priced him out of the market at £12m.

Benitez knows Peter Crouch could leave in January and will seek to replace him with Alves.

Liverpool are also keeping tabs on Monaco's attacking midfielder Jeremy Menez, who has taken the French league by storm since arriving as an exciting teenage prospect. Now 20, he has been dubbed the 'new Zidane', and Liverpool know that Manchester United and Arsenal have also watched him closely, which could spark a major transfer scramble in the summer.

Benitez has been disappointed with the form of so many of his players and for the first time in his Anfield reign he has been openly critical of his team.

He knows that he still needs more quality and that is why his scouts have been working overtime across Europe.

[Chris]

I'm sure that £20m quote was taken out of context and was actually Rafa talking about us bringing in that roughly that amount in Summer sales then every media outlet just twisted it. I wouldn't get my hopes up on that score.

[RPAS]

If Rafa is not going to play the guy regularly he should be sold as

1) His price/value will be dropping
2) His unhappyness will spread within the squad

For the record I think he should be kept and played and let Dirk Kuyt leave.

[Parm]

I think we should look to keep Crouch but move Voronin and maybe Kuyt on before we even think about moving Crouch. But that said, if Villa offer crazy money to us.

[breffniboy]

im no big fan of crouch but if a player of his calibre is allowed to leave for the likes of voronin or some other makeshift jockey then its time to question what direction this is all going in.

Exactly.

Although Voronin actually looks a better all round option than Kuyt.