Liverpool reject £9m Portsmouth bid for Peter Crouch
LIVERPOOL have rejected a £9m bid from Portsmouth for Peter Crouch.
And the FA Cup winners suffered a double blow when Yossi Benayoun moved quickly to knock reports tipping him for a summer switch to Fratton Park.
Portsmouth have been linked with Reds striker Crouch all summer, but last night made a concrete offer of £9m.
But Harry Redknapp was stunned when Rafa Benitez immediately rejected the bid.
The Anfield boss is holding out for £10m, but Pompey seem unlikely to increase their offer.
“I think Liverpool want a bit too much money for him,” said Redknapp. “If that’s the case we’ll move on to the next option.”
Redknapp also looks like being frustrated in his interest in Yossi Benayoun.
Redknapp admits he is an admirer of the Israeli international, but doesn’t fancy his chances of prising him away from Anfield.
Benayoun has now confirmed that impression, saying: “There are three or four clubs in England willing to buy me after the season I have just had.
“But I want to stay at Liverpool until the end of my career. It really moves me when I go out on to the pitch at Anfield and the crowd start singing.”
Benayoun enjoyed an influential debut season at Anfield, making 47 appearances, although only 26 from the start, and scoring 11 goals, including two hat-tricks – against Besiktas in the Champions League and Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup.
There is no suggestion that Benayoun is on the list of players Benitez is preparing to offload.
The Reds, meanwhile, have added one more pre-season friendly to their busy schedule. Liverpool will travel to Oslo to face Valerenga on Tuesday August 5 (kick-off 6pm).
The Norwegians are currently 10th in the 14 team Tippeligaen table, but with the Norwegian league set to reach a climax by then, should give the Reds an energetic work-out.
Liverpool’s pre-season programme kicks off against Tranmere on July 12 and now includes trips to FC Lucerne (July 16), Wisla Krakow (July 19), Hertha Berlin (July 22), Villarreal (July 30), Glasgow Rangers (August 2) then Valerenga, before hopefully entertaining Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Friday, August 8 – a fixture not yet confirmed.
Uefa, meanwhile, will to try to get English clubs to accept a smaller chunk of the Champions League pot after it revealed the figures they earned from last season.
Liverpool’s run to the semi-finals netted £21.1m, while Manchester United collected £33.9m.
Uefa spokesman William Gaillard said: “We are well aware there are some imbalances in the revenue distribution which have a negative effect in national leagues by widening the gap between the rich and not so rich.
“We will talk to the clubs and see how they feel, and try to convince them that in the longer run it is not in their interest if, because of the way money is distributed, national leagues become too imbalanced.
“This is something we have to bring to the strategy council and find a consensus, but we will have a very wide consultation policy.
“But we’ve a situation fixed until 2012, so that’s plenty of time to review it.”
The figures did not include gate receipts or matchday revenue.
我開始懷疑賓蛇個心係咪要留高治....9M 既報價諗都唔諗竟然立即拒絕 |
發表於 2008-6-25 04:45 PM
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