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Paper Round
Posted by Jon Carter on 03/01/2009

Most of the papers are mulling over the implications of Liverpool’s slip up against Middlesbrough on Saturday, with Rafa Benitez’s future looking increasingly unsecure.

The Daily Star think Benitez will be offered the Real Madrid job in the summer, especially if his Anfield side beat Real in the Champions League second leg. And to top it all, Dirk Kuyt is apparently waiting for clarification before he signs his own new deal.


But the People have an altogether different solution to Liverpool's woes and it has nothing to do with Rafa. With Fernando Torres' well documented injury problems, the paper claim that Liverpool will sign Brazilian 21-year-old Diogo from Olympiakos and are willing to pay £12m for his services. You do have to wonder if another young signing is really what the club need, but at least it can't happen until the summer.

As the Benitez saga rolls on, it's interesting to see Cristiano Ronaldo's situation rear its ugly head again before the Carling Cup final. Various papers, and we'll pick out News of the World at random here, have the winger being lined up for an incredible £200,000 a week new deal.

Obviously trying to ward off interest from Real Madrid (who might be better off spending their £100m on Franck Ribery and a decent defender), United could risk upsetting the dressing room with such a huge offer, but then they would get to keep the world's best player - for another few seasons at least.

On the other side of the Wembley pitch on Sunday will be Luka Modric, but the News of the World think he won't be at Spurs for much longer. Failing to impress as he did at the Euros, the Croatian looks set to be given the heave-ho, with Juventus circling like vultures - although they may choose Chelsea flop Florent Malouda instead.

Another saga to appear again is that of Kevin Keegan and Newcastle. The The Daily Star have King Kev ready to return to the club, but Mike Ashley isn't so keen. Preferring instead to splash out on a stomach churning £9m pay-off .

According to various papers, Joe Kinnear is set to be offered a two-year deal to continue his job at St James's, providing his health doesn't get worse; but the real nugget is Nicky Butt's assertion that Michael Owen is happy and will stay on for another few years. He couldn't, could he?

Chelsea's manager search looks set to become the next long running saga of the football world and Frank Rijkaard is keen to be the next man in the spotlight according to the News of the World. The Dutchman is out of a job at the moment and focused on family life, but could be tempted in the summer as long as Jose Mourinho doesn't pip him to the post.

Although it could be usurped in the tabloids by Real Madrid's manager search, especially if it includes the likes of Arsene Wenger, Zinedine Zidane and Rafa Benitez.

Transfer news hasn't stopped despite the window being open and heading the list this weekend is the departure of Sol Campbell to Monaco. News of the World claim Campbell, who tried to move abroad in his last transfer and ended up in Portsmouth, will be targeted by the French club once his contract runs out.

The Sunday Mirror think that Stewart Downing will appear on the radar of Harry Redknapp again pretty soon, although you'd think David Bentley has proved that a £15m price tag doesn't necessarily guarantee you've bought a good player.

The People don't really want to throw calamity goalkeeper Gomes in Harry's face, but they do reckon he should offload the Brazilian and opt for Carlos Kameni instead after he rejected a new deal at Espanyol. Fulham and Newcastle are also said to be keen.

West Ham are set to be taken over by a group of Asian investors, say the Sunday Mirror, and the deal could be worth as much as £90m. Currently run by some cash-strapped Icelandic owners, the Hammers could be set for a windfall, although a hefty sum of that will probably be spend on the longest running saga of them all, the Carlos Tevez affair.

And finally, The People have found a real gem, although we hope it never happens. Fulham's American midfielder Clint Dempsey, or 'Deuce' as he likes to be known in rapping circles, says he'll record a song if the club reach the FA Cup final. Please God, no. But then it couldn't be worse than the Anfield rap now, could it?

Comments

Posted by KR on 03/01/2009

To be fair, Deuce is a fairly talented rapper, and to be honest, I'd rather have him record do a song if we make the FA Cup than have someone like Lil Wayne, Fiddy Cent or Soulja Boy

Posted by mike on 03/02/2009

it seems like liverpool will be stuck with rafa from the way things are going. hope am proved wrong in the long run but as earlier said on this post rafa is not the best manager for livepool in the long run period!!

the loss on sunday was just to hard to bear but we were hit coz of some very bizarre selections by rafa but all the same i dunno y the kop players cannot just play their natural God-given skills to use coz it seems like the system they use seems not to work and all it needs is some flair to add on am sure the games will be won all i urge the gaffer to let players like agger/babel/ngog/yossi/el zar play with self belief as they seem to play like robots who have been programmed to just do one task and yet they are players who can change the course of a game if given some independence and plenty of playing time and not cameo roles
all the same managers come and go but i remain a kop supporter for life and urge the players not to give up till the end

LETS GO LIVERPOOL!!!!!!

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