I am not sure whether this is good news for us or not: George Gillett has sold ice hockey giants Montreal Canadiens to the brewers Molson for £340m - almost exactly double the price he paid them for an 80 per cent share in 2001. This sale means that Gillett has made £178m profit. Now will Gillett pump this money back into Liverpool or is he going to keep it for himself? Really, he is not forced to put a cent of it into Liverpool but if he wants the club to succeed as he told us when he bought the club with Tom Hicks then surely he has to give us atleast some of it!

It is clear for all of us to see that we are struggling with our finances. When Gillett and Hicks bought the club in 2007 they took out a £350m loan and have made no progress with a new stadium which they promised us. The club’s accountants issued a chilling statement about two weeks ago admitting there is ’significant doubt’ whether the company which runs the club can ‘continue as a going concern’ after results showed we made a £42.6million loss last year.

If Gillett has ambitions to remain in control of Liverpool then I hope he will put in some of this cash from Canada into Liverpool. It would be nice if it goes to fund transfers or even if it goes to building a new stadium. Hopefully now that Gillett has done this, Hicks will follow suite and sell his stake in the Texas Rangers and generate more cash! On the other hand, could Gillett use the cash he has made to buyout Hicks??? I may not like these two guys but if they decide to use all the money they make from selling their American sports teams, and put it into Liverpool then I will give them a chance.

It is looking more likely that Mascherano could be on his way out of Liverpool this summer as the reports suggest that his wife is not happy with life in England. I guess if your wife is not happy you have to think about your family first and then football comes second. I do not believe that Mascherano would want to leave Liverpool on his own free will but he may have to if his wife does not want to come back to England. This could mean that Mascherano could end up joining Barcelona this summer. Now how much would we sell him for?

Rafa had said that not even £50m would be enough to take Mascherano from Liverpool but I do not see Barcelona willing to pay that much for him. Mascherano is the best defensive midfielder in the world so he would have to command a fairly high price tag. I was reading a report this morning that suggests that Barcelona could offer us £20m plus Bojan Krkic.

Now when I saw this I thought that this could be good business for us. We could certainly do with the £20m cash and I believe that Bojan is a great prospect and would be the perfect substitute for Torres. That would mean we would no longer need to go shopping for another striker and we could use the £20m from the deal to try and get a replacement for Mascherano. I can not think of anyone right now who would be a straight like for like replacement for Mascherano, that is just how good the guy is. If it were up to me, I would be bold and say that Jay Spearing should replace Mascherano. That way we would not need to spend a cent to get a replacement and use the cash for other positions. Maybe the cash could be used to land David Silva and maybe another central defensive midfielder with a bit more experience than Spearing.

What do you think?

I hate these football agents!! It is reported that Mascherano’s agent spoke to Barcelona officials yesterday to hear them out about personal terms if Mascherano were to join Barcelona this summer. Now what is worrying me is that Mascherano’s agent could not just go and hold talks without getting the permission from Javier himself. So maybe Javier wants to leave and go to Barcelona. I will always be the first to say that if a player wants to leave and play for another team then let them go! There is no point having a player who does not want to play for you. Just ask Manchester United and Ronaldo about that!

I am sure there is not a single one of us who would want Mascherano to leave. Rafa certainly does not want to him to go as he came out and said that we would not sell Mascherano even if Barca offered us 50 million pounds. There are very few players, if any, who are better than Mascherano in the holding midfield position. In the reports, they are suggesting that Barcelona would give us Yaya Toure as part of the deal to take Mascherano to the Nou Camp. Yaya is not a bad player at all but he is not in the class of Mascherano.

What do you make of this Mascherano drama?

Now this deal can not happen! I would be gutted if Reina decides to leave Liverpool and join Barcelona. For some strange reason, it seems like all our Spanish players, besides Torres, are being linked with moves away from Liverpool this summer so that they go back to Spain. I believe that Pepe is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and it would be a disaster if we loose him to Barcelona. Even if we get the 17 million pounds they are suggesting, who could we possibly go and buy to replace him?

Pepe forms the ’spine’ of our team and on many occasions he has been the one to start off our attacks with his lightning quick distribution. Yes he has made some blunders whilst in goal for us but which keeper does not do that? This past season, the major blunder he did was against Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League when he was beaten on his near post to allow Chelsea back into the game.

It is understandable why this transfer speculation is taking place: Pepe once played for Barcelona so a return to his old club is possible. He is Spanish after all so moving back home is always a possibility considering that is father lives in Barcelona.

I am sure Rafa will turn down any bids from Barcelona for Pepe and I hope Pepe himself will turn down Barcelona!

The transfer talk is heating up and we have barely started the summer. It looks very likely now that Glen Johnson will be joining us from Portsmouth. Johnson’s arrival could just signal the end of Alvaro Arbeloa’s time at Anfield. Arbeloa has been our regular right back and I have been impressed with him. His game has certainly improved. But I feel Johnson is a much better right back than Alvaro. I would not have minded if Arbeloa were to stay with us for the upcoming season as he would provide much needed cover for Johnson but reports are suggesting that Real Madrid are ready to offer us 8 million pounds for Arbeloa.

We knew going into the summer that we were going to have to sell some players inorder to generate cash. Arbeloa was not one of the names I thought we would sell but now that we are getting Johnson, it makes sense to sell him if we are going to get some decent money for him. It also makes good business sense, we bought Arbeloa for 2.6 million pounds from Deportivo, that would mean a 5.4 million pound profit.

It would be a shame to loose Arbeloa but if it has to be done it has to be done. I just hope Rafa seals the Glen Johnson deal first and then lets Arbeloa go as we could look very silly if we left Arbeloa go and then we miss out on Johnson!

The reports are saying that Liverpool have virtually beaten off Chelsea to sign Glen Johnson from Portsmouth. I was excited when I heard this news yesterday as I am a big Glen Johnson fan. Johnson is one of the signings I was crying out for this summer and I hope Rafa finally gets him. One thing though that is worrying me a bit about this signing is how much we are paying for Johnson. It is not clear yet what the exact fee is as the deal is not final yet but the initial suggestions are that we are going to pay close to 17 million pounds for him. Now this is a lot of cash but Portsmouth still owe us about 7 million from purchasing Crouch from us which would be offset from the Johnson fee. Then it is also thought that we would sell Dossena and / or Arbeloa to fund the Johnson deal.

I would not mind seeing Dossena leave but I would be sad if Arbeloa were to go. Arbeloa’s game has improved a lot and we would need him as backup to Johnson for the rightback position. Arbeloa’s versatility is also needed for our squad as he can play anywhere along the back four.
But looking at Johnson, he is now England’s first choice right back so he has an element of quality. Johnson would offer us a great attacking threat as he loves to go forward but at the same time he is solid in defence. I think the reason he is costing a lot is because he is English. English players do not come cheap these days especially since UEFA are pushing for the 6 + 5 rule.

I hope the Johnson deal comes through quickly and we get our man. Johnson is just the kind of signing we need to build from last season and really start to challenge.

In the past few days I have been really dejected about Liverpool and our summer transfer plans after hearing that Rafa may not get the money he needs to spend in the summer because of our financial crisis. But still that news has not stopped the transfer speculation going on with some reports saying that even with the bad financial crisis at Anfield, we will still be able to spend money in the transfer market this summer. A name this is making the rounds is that of Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli. Apparently we have already made a 20 million pound bid for the 24 year old Argentinian striker and that has been turned down by Napoli.

I will be honest, I had not heard of this guy before he started to be linked to us. All I have heard is that he is an idol at Napoli and Juventus and Manchester City are also after his signature. It is said that Lavezzi is a striker but can also play on the wings. I am sure this versatility is what Rafa was attracted to. If he can find the back of the net for us when Torres is out then he is what we need. If he can unlock defences with his skill then that is also good.
The fact that he is a full Argentina international bodes well but then again we will not know how well he will do in the Premiership. All too often players are stars in other leagues and then they are average in the Premiership. It would be a huge gamble to take on Lavezzi.

I am not too sure about us spending 20 million pounds on this guy, but he could turn out to be another Torres, who knows. But I guess Rafa knows a lot more about Lavezzi than we do and if he is willing to spend so much money on him then he has to be something special. Could Lavezzi be the big summer signing Rafa wants to make? Let us wait and see.

I have cursed Andrea Dossena many times this season, except, of course, when he scored that audacious goal against Manchester United.
But the Italian, it seems, hasn’t been too happy himself with his time spent at Anfield, and wants to move on this summer, according to a report in Italian newspaper Tuttosport. “I have spoken with Rafael Benitez. He told me that if they receive an offer that satisfies both the club and me, he will facilitate my transfer. I would run to Juve,” he is understood to have said.

The Bianconeri were among Liverpool’s competitors for his signature last season too. I believe this time they are keen to have him move there, despite the fact that he hasn’t been first-choice for Benitez this season. But English football and the Italian game is a study in contrasts, and for a player who lists learning English as the most important thing he has done in the Premiership, this will be a welcome change for him. I’m not particularly sorry to see him go. I only wish he had managed a few more flicks over the goalkeeper like the one that went sailing over Edwin van der Saar this March.

At these times in the world of football, transfer rumours are flying quicker than the time it takes for Cristiano Ronaldo to go down after a feather touch, but amidst all the reported negotiations, Liverpool just sunk deeper into the money crunch mire. The club’s parent company lost 42.6 million pounds according to the most recent accounts, and all indications are that Rafa Benitez may be forced to sell to get in the funds, and also set his sights lower in the transfer market. Gareth Barry is already out of sight, and even Portsmouth’s Glen Johnson will probably not be wearing the Reds’ strip come next season. Benitez mentioned last month how the club’s spending power isn’t able to match up to Manchester United, and though at that time I remember thinking we can’t keep making excuses for losing the Premiership when we were so close, now I realize we really do need some quality signings, and the money to do that too, of course. Tom Hicks and George Gillett apparently have a 350m pound debt, and a deadline of July 24 by which they must clear it. The repercussions from that will obviously tell when Liverpool go shopping for next season.

The worst thing that could come out of this, probably, would be the possible farewell to Xabi Alonso. Last year, the Spaniard was exceptional and didn’t thread a pass wrong even after the transfer rumours had shipped him way out of Merseyside to Juventus, and the situation is the same this time around. But just like the Istanbul dream in 2005 was followed by a feeble fizzle-out in 2007 against the same opposition, I think the whole Alonso drama will end badly now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

This may be a piece of news that is about an Aston Villa player signing for Manchester City but it kinda affects us in a way. It is no secret that Liverpool wanted to sign Gareth Barry last summer but the deal did not happen. It was thought that maybe Barry would join us this summer but now I have just read that he has signed for Manchester City for 12 million pounds and I am sure he will be one one huge salary!

What is funny is that Barry always said that he would only leave Aston Villa to go and play for a team in the Champions League. Well in case someone did not tell him, Manchester City is not in the Champions League! The only explanation I can see here is that Barry was offered a huge pay cheque that he could not turn down.

From our point of view, it is now clear that Barry will not be a Liverpool player and I hope this evening Rafa is not phased by this. I hope this transfer means that Rafa is very confident that Xabi Alonso will stay with us. If Alonso were to leave, Barry would have been the player Rafa would have wanted to sign to replace him. We are not sure if Rafa tried to sign Barry today in a bid to stop him from going to City, I am sure we will find this out in the morning. I am happy that Barry has gone to City….If it only means that Alonso is a certainty to stay with us.