Rafa Benitez: Time to act fast on Liverpool FC squad May 26 2009 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo RAFA BENITEZ wants Liverpool’s summer transfer activity to be done and dusted by the time pre-season gets under way. The Reds boss is keen to conclude his business at the earliest possible opportunity in what is expected to be another busy summer at Anfield. Benitez will need to supplement his existing transfer budget with the proceeds from player sales and he is looking to start work on overhauling his squad immediately. But he concedes it won’t be easy to make improvements to what he regards as a high quality squad. “Clearly we want to sign players but we know that it will be difficult to find players who are better than what we already have,†said Benitez. “It is not easy to find this kind of player in the current market and if we do then maybe they will be too expensive or not available. “But we have to sign the right players and make the right decisions during the summer. “We have some targets but right now it is too soon because some clubs do not know what the future holds for them but we will wait and see. “But our idea is to have players signed before pre-season begins because this would be perfect. “It means you can start working with them and training with them with the ideas that you want to get across to them so that they can start putting them into practice on the pitch.†Gareth Barry remains Benitez’s major target and with Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill admitting he will not stand in the England man’s way should a top four club make an acceptable offer for him Liverpool’s move for the 28-year-old is likely to come sooner rather than later. O’Neill is reported to be ready to offer Barry a lucrative new deal in a bid to keep his captain at Villa Park but with the midfielder keen to play Champions League football such overtures are likely to fall on deaf ears. Meanwhile, the likelihood of Real Madrid making an offer for Xabi Alonso has increased after one of Florentino Perez’s main rivals to become president of the Spanish giants pulled out of the race. Perez has made little secret of his desire to sign Alonso should he become president and Liverpool are now braced for a bid from Real. Javier Mascherano is hoping his midfield partner will not be sold no matter how much Real offer, arguing Alonso is a key member of the team. “Hopefully the great players in Liverpool can stay and we can bring in other players to improve the team,†he said. “It’s important when you have the team in good form to keep the key players and Xabi is one of them.†With Parry out of the picture I think this could really happen
It would be great if we managed to get our business done fast the only problem is the clubs we're looking to off load some players too mightn't be as keen which may delay our buying plans! All the same though it will be interesting to see the difference with Parry Gone.
This time last season Rafa was banging this same drum. But with him now in charge of transfer activity, I feel he will have everything in place for No. 19 before pre-season starts. Fingers crossed!