The fire sale at Liverpool has begun. With rumors doing the rounds of Rafa Benitez’s impending exit, questions have started being raised about the star players in Liverpool’s squad. Big clubs are hovering around the beleaguered Merseyside team which has been left deflated after an underwhelming season in which they managed no pieces of silverware and were deprived of a place in the money spinning showpiece event that is the Champions League.
With Benitez increasingly linked with a move to Italian giants Juventus, rumors have now started swirling around the fate of talismanic club captain Steven Gerrard. The tenacious midfielder has reportedly been made a target of Italian club Inter Milan. Inter who will be playing the Champions League final on May 22nd against Bayern Munich are looking to bolster their squad ahead of next season’s campaign. And the Italian giants believe that Gerrard will make an excellent acquisition in a midfielder to complement Argentine Esteban Cambiasso and Dutchman Wesley Sneijder.
According to Italian newspaper reports, the Champions League finalists are looking for a new midfielder (purported to be Gerrard) and a left back. There are no indications as to what the England midfielder thinks of the proposed move. However, it should be kept in mind that the captain of Liverpool almost joined the Portuguese manager at Chelsea in 2005. That almost incredulous decision was reversed at the very last moment when Gerrard decided he could not go to another English club. According to reports, Mourinho’s number one transfer target is Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas; however the fact that the Spaniard would prefer a move to Barcelona as well as the midfielder’s exorbitant prize tag takes Fabregas out of Mourinho’s reach.
Inter Milan’s interest in the midfielder general has been rivaled by Real Madrid whose has been found wanting in the midfield area. The rumors regarding Gerrard to Madrid make more sense given such a glamorous buy would fit in perfectly with Florentino Perez’s showman style approach to signings.
While Gerrard is being linked to Spain and Italy, his teammate, star striker Fernando Torres is being linked somewhat closer to home. Reports surfaced earlier this week that Chelsea was planning on bringing the Spanish hit man to the capital with a blockbuster 70 million pound bid. As outlandish as the bid seems, given Liverpool’s poor season, the fact Rafa Benitez is posed to leave and the Merseyside Reds’ financial problems, the idea does not seem as preposterous. Now Chelsea’s Ivorian striker Didier Drogba has added his two cents to the debate by declaring that he would love to have Torres jump ship to Stamford Bridge in the summer. Drogba has been in devastating form this term as he claimed the Premier League’s golden boot award ahead of Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney. Drogba acted petulantly for the second goal when Frank Lampard refused to give him the ball to convert the penalty kick. However, Drogba regained his wits in the second half to score a hat-trick as the Blues cruised home to claim the title with a thumping 8-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
Even though he has been partnered by French forward Nicolas Anelka this season, the Ivorian admits he would love to see Spanish Torres make the move to Chelsea. He added that he would be welcomed at Stamford Bridge. He was also of the view that bigger and better players will make the London based club even better.
Drogba has been an instrumental player for the Blues since his move from Marseille and believes that Torres can do the same. Drogba has scored 84 Premier League goals in 166 appearances since his move to London in 2004.
Taking time out, Drogba also talked about the impending FA Cup final against Portsmouth. He said that the match will be tough but that he was confident Chelsea would prefer. He added that he was looking forward to winning the domestic double and joining an elite list of teams to have achieved the feat.
In other Chelsea team news, John Terry who was taken to the hospital for precautionary scans admits he was scared when he suffered a foot injury in training. However, it seemed to be just a scare as Terry might not even miss the FA Cup final, let alone the World Cup.
While teams around England prepare to go on holiday, Chelsea look towards a double, disconsolate Liverpool fans will be hoping for a quiet, quiet summer.
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