Benitez Unlikely To Add To Liverpool Squad In January

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Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has revealed that it is unlikely that the Reds will be active in the transfer market this month, with the Spaniard admitting that it would be difficult and expensive to add better players to the squad at the Merseyside club.

Despite not having star striker Fernando Torres available for more than half of the 20 Premier League games played to date through injury. Liverpool are still three points clear at the top of the Premiership as they head into 2009, with Benitez claiming that due to the good squad already at Anfield he feels that any new acquisitions are unnecessary and would not be easy to come buy in January without a significant price tag attached.

“It will be difficult to bring anyone in January because we have a good squad,” Benitez told the BBC.

"To bring in anyone better than what we’ve got isn’t easy and could be expensive.”

Benitez had been linked with a move for former Liverpool player Emile Heskey at Wigan Athletic along with Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon, who is also reportedly a target for Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Andrea Dossena and Jermain Pennant both look destined to leave Anfield, with Pennant also linked with Real and Dossena failing to impress since his summer move from Udinese.

Villa Boss Warns Real Madrid Off Young

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Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has moved quickly to warn La Liga Champions Real Madrid off winger Ashley Young, with the former Celtic boss insisting that Young “is certainly not for sale”.

23-year-old Young had become the latest Premier League player wanted by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos, who is now in charge of Los Merengues, with a £25million swoop for the former Watford player in January being mooted by the new Bernabeu boss.

Ramos is keen to add some fresh faces to his injury deleted squad at Real, with his former charges at Spurs, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Didier Zokora, David Bentley and Aaron Lennon also reportedly on the Ramos radar.

Young however, will not be leaving the Villans, according to O’Neill, who managed to keep hold of Liverpool target Gareth Barry in the summer, with the Irishman also revealing that he didn’t “know anything about” the interest from the Spanish side.

Talking to the official club site O’Neill said “I don't know anything about it but he's certainly not for sale.”

England International Young joined Villa from Watford in 2007 for £9.75million, with the winger scoring 16 goals in 75 appearances while at Villa Park and also chipping in with 28 assists. Young along with Villa captain Martin Laursen, Barry, James Milner and striker Gabriel Agbonlahor are all due to be left in England for the Midlands club crunch UEFA Cup tie in Hamburg on Wednesday.

Would Spurs Really Miss The 'Argos Beckham'?

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The New Voice Of Football column at FootballFancast.com

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos has not even been in the hotseat at Real Madrid for a week and already the media have linked the Spaniard with January moves for his former charges Didier Zokora, Aaron Lennon and the ‘Argos Beckham’ David Bentley along with Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Now while Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has reportedly said that only Lennon will be allowed to leave White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu at top-dollar of course at £20million. Would it not make more sense to offload Bentley to the La Liga Champions?

You see I feel that under Harry Redknapp, Lennon has started to show the sort of form that propelled him into the England squad a couple of years ago, while ‘Argos Beckham’ might have scored a wonder-goal against bitter rivals Arsenal at the Emirates, but apart from that isolated incident has really flattered to deceive in the White shirt of Tottenham since his big-money move from Blackburn Rovers in the summer.

No doubt that ‘Argos’ is a good player with excellent technique, but does he do enough for the full 90 minutes game in game out? The answer is no, Bentley is quick to drift out of games when the going gets tough. Lennon on the other hand although tackling is definitely not his forte is willing to track back and do his bit for the good of the team, while Bentley seems to have somewhat of an allergy to his own penalty area at times and can often be seen jogging behind an opponent, who is busting his gut to get forward to score against Tottenham.

The other thing that Lennon possesses that ‘Argos’ does not have is blistering pace. Pace can unsettle any defender, just ask Manchester United starlet Rafael, who Lennon gave a torrid time to in the clash against the European Champions on Saturday.

So if Ramos truly does want to bring the ‘Argos Beckham’ to Los Merengues to follow in the footsteps of the ‘Real McCoy’? Should Spurs not bite their hand off stick Lennon back on the right and then use the bundle of cash they receive from Real to get a naturally left-sided player in at White Hart Lane, which would give Spurs better balance.

Even though selling Lennon would represent a massive profit on the measly £1million they paid Leeds United for the speedster in 2005. I feel that it is Bentley, who is the expendable one and not Lennon, should Ramos be able to prise any cash out of Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon next month.

Tottenham To Swoop For £8million Babel?

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp is considering a January swoop for Liverpool’s unsettled Dutch International Ryan Babel, with the former Portsmouth manager set to offer £8million to lure the winger away from Anfield, according to the Daily Mirror.

21-year-old Babel is unhappy at the Merseyside club after finding limited opportunities in the Reds starting-eleven since the arrival of Albert Riera at the Premier League club in the summer. This led the Dutchman to ask Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez for a loan-move back to his former club Ajax, but this move was blocked by Benitez, who has insisted that Babel’s future is on Merseyside.

Although Babel has featured in most of Liverpool’s matches this season. Most of them have been from the bench and now Spurs are set to test the resolve of Benitez, who has been told by the American co-owner’s that he will have to sell players before any fresh faces arrive at Anfield in January.

Redknapp has identified the left side of the squad at White Hart Lane as an area that needs strengthening, with the Spurs boss deploying Aaron Lennon on the left wing in recent matches, who is naturally right footed and is understood to see Babel as the solution to that problem.

Whether Benitez is ready to cash in on Babel in January remains to be seen, but with the winger unsettled and not a regular starter, Benitez might decide that selling Babel to Tottenham would raise the necessary funds to bring in transfer targets of his own next month.

Spurs Tell Real Madrid Lennon Will Cost £20million

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Tottenham Hotspur have told La Liga Champions Real Madrid that they will have to pay £20million for winger Aaron Lennon, but have also insisted that Lennon is the only player that will be allowed to leave White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu in January, according to the Daily Mirror.

Since former Spurs manager Juande Ramos took over at Los Merengues earlier in the week the former Sevilla coach has been linked with a number of his former charges at Tottenham. Lennon along with David Bentley and Ivory Coast International Didier Zokora are all reportedly on the radar of the Spaniard.

However, according to the Daily Mirror, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has told the Spanish side that only Lennon will be allowed to leave the Premier League club. With Spurs determined to get top-dollar for the former Leeds United player in a similar stance that saw strikers Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov leave for Liverpool and Manchester United respectively in the summer.

Should the North London club manage to get the full £20million asking price for Lennon off Real Madrid? Then it would represent a massive profit on the winger, who cost Tottenham just £1million in 2005, when he arrived from Elland Road.

21-year-old Lennon has scored 11 goals in 137 appearances in all competitions during his time at White Hart Lane and his performances for Spurs propelled him into the senior England set-up in 2006, with the winger being capped 9 times by his country. Lennon was also the youngest player to play in the Premiership, while at Leeds, when he made his senior debut for the Whites against Tottenham aged 16-years and 129 days in 2003.

Zokora Joins Spurs Players Bentley & Lennon On Ramos Wish List?

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Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos, who replaced the sacked Bernd Schuster at La Liga Champions Real Madrid on Tuesday, has revealed that Ivory Coast International Didier Zokora was the player that “impressed” the Spaniard most during his time in charge at the Premier League club.

Since taking up the post Ramos (left) has already been linked with January bids for Spurs wingers Aaron Lennon and David Bentley in the Spanish media. With the new coach at the Bernabeu needing to strengthen the right hand side of Los Merengues midfield.

Now Ramos has declared that 27-year-old Zokora was his most trusted player during his tenure at White Hart Lane, with the former St Etienne midfielder able to play in a number of positions for the former Sevilla coach at Spurs.

When asked, who his favourite player at the Premiership club was by Marca, Ramos replied: “The player that impressed me most was Zokora.”

An offer from Real could be forthcoming in January for Zokora due to an injury to Mali International Mahamadou Diarra being ruled out for the rest of the La Liga season, which has left the new Bernabeu boss short of numbers in the centre of the La Liga sides midfield.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will be reluctant to let Zokora leave Spurs, despite the former Portsmouth boss preferring England Under-21 International Tom Huddlestone to Zokora since his arrival from Pompey, when fit.

However, should Real make a substantial offer for Zokora, who cost Tottenham £8.5million from Les Verts in 2006. Then a switch to La Liga could materialise, with Redknapp needing to raise transfer funds to land targets of his own in January as he looks to stamp his own mark on the squad at White Hart Lane.

Redknapp Ready To End Keane's Liverpool Hell?

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Tottenham Hotspur are ready to offer former striker Robbie Keane a way out of his Liverpool nightmare, when the transfer window opens in January, according to the Daily Mirror.

28-year-old Keane left White Hart Lane for Anfield in a £20million deal in the summer, but despite featuring in the first 15 Premier League games for the Merseyside club has only found the back of the net twice in the Premiership. This led to Reds boss Rafa Benitez dropping the Republic of Ireland International from the starting line-up that beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 on Saturday at Ewood Park.

Keane did not even make it off the bench against Blackburn, despite Liverpool’s top-scorer from last season Fernando Torres being injured. This has led to speculation about Keane’s future on Merseyside, with Spurs boss Harry Redknapp reportedly ready to bring the striker back to the North London club.

The paper suggests that Redknapp is ready to offer £5million for Keane plus midfield duo Aaron Lennon and Jamie O’Hara in order to bring Keane back to White Hart Lane, with the former Portsmouth boss a big fan of the Irishman.

However, Benitez has always maintained that Keane will not be leaving Anfield and that the player just needs support to help him through this difficult period. A sentiment echoed by Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry.

On the other hand, Lennon has featured heavily for Spurs since Redknapp took over and as much as the Tottenham manager might want Keane back in North London it remains to be seen if he is willing to part with Lennon or indeed O’Hara, who has impressed this season to achieve that.