Iâd rather if you didnât, sweetheartâŚ
May not have been a good tournament for him, but he should his true colours last night 
Liverpool round up;
Palermo have been linked with Lucas Levia
The Italian club had been rumoured to be preparing a ÂŁ5m bid for the Liverpool midfielder. Their Sporting Director, Walter Sabatini, has confirmed their interest in Lucas, but denies being prepared to offer the Reds that amount of money.
âWe made a first offer to Liverpool for Lucas Pezzini (Leiva),â said Sabatini.
âBut I deny that we have offered six million euros. That is too much.â
Javier Mascheranoâs agent Walter Tamer has spoken about the appeal of moving to Inter Milan.
"Heâs happy to be a target of top clubs in the transfer market. Last season it was euopan champions Barcelona who wanted him, this year itâs Inter the current Champions League winners.
âFor him to be linked to Inter has a magical taste. Itâs a dream. The strongest team in the world want him, a team where some of Mascheranoâs compatriots play, a side that is guided by a coach whom Mascherano has a personal bond.â
But Rafael Benitez has played down the latest transfer rumours, insisting: âIn England I was a manager. Here I am a coach. We know Mascherano well but that responsibility is down to the president and sporting director Marco Branca. I want to work with players we have already.â
David Ngogâs agent has dismissed reports linking the Liverpool striker with a loan move to West Brom.
âThere has been interest in David, but he will not be leaving on loan,â said Bruno Satin.
"He is only 20 years old and he played in 37 matches for Liverpool last season so why would they let him go?
"I know Roy Hodgson likes him as a player as he mentioned him before at Fulham.
âDavid wants to stay at Liverpool and fight for his place this season.â
I saw Michael Bradley was linked with Blackpool today. Iâd certainly take him as a cheap alternative to Mascherano/Lucas. Thought he was excellent in the WC.
Two other players that caught my eye during the WC were Salcido of Mexico and Alexis Sanchez of Chile. Salcido could be got on the cheap, Sanchez probably not but worth a punt. Badly, badly, badly need a left back.
Buying players on the evidence of a good international tournament is dangerous business Clarkey. Jordi Cruyff and Poborsky spring to mind for me anyway.
Or El Hadji Diouf in Liverpoolâs case.
Donât remember Jordi doing anything at international level. Or any level really. Poborsky was a fine player I thought.
Any thoughts on signings gola? Itâs pretty difficult to think of decent, cost effective players. I think farmer is very biased towards Duff but he could be worth taking. Hard to forgive him for the Newcastle move though.
Paul Konchesky?
Agreed, even it is only for a season or two. I am not completely ruling out Insua, but he is young and should only be integrated into the team gradually. He played something like 40 odd games last season due to lack of cover and his inexperience was costly⌠I still think at times he showed promise particularly going forward.
Cruyff and Poborsky were both signed by United off the back of decent peformances at Euro 96. Poborsky was better in that tournament but never really made it at United but wasnât complete shit either. Poborsky scored a classically unique imitated-in-schoolyards type of goal where he scooped it over the keeper that definitely got him the move above his performances though Iâd say. An awful lack of unique goals like that in the latest world cup.
On Liverpool I always thought they should make more signings of proven Premiership players as that is the competition they are most trying to win. Should be buying even the likes of Defoe or Darren Bent, proven goalscorers at that level ahead of foreign players like Kuyt and Voronin even if they are a bit cheaper. Suppose they tried that with Robbie Keane and it didnât work but didnât give him a full chance either. Some players came from abroad with huge reputations too and were inexplicably shit like Morientes and Babel.
If they are trying to win the Premiership and win it quick buy players they know for a fact are good players in that league. Theyâve probably missed their chance of winning it in the near future now anyway with the money Chelsea and City have but they had a couple of years there where with proper signings they could easily have won it.
Spanish football experts, whatâs the verdict on Banega?
According to reports in both the Spanish and Argentine press Liverpoolâs interest in signing Valenciaâs talented young midfielder Ever Banega has not ended despite Rafa Benitez leaving.
Roy Hodgson is keen on adding his predecessorâs target to the Anfield ranks. The young Argentinean had been a long-term target of Benitez but also David Moyes who attempted to sign the 22-year-old on loan last summer.
However, it would seem that Liverpool rather than Everton are still in the race for his signature with an ÂŁ8.5m fee being touted.
Last summer Everton attended a home office meeting in London to push through the necessary paperwork to seal a late transfer window move but the deal could not be agreed.
The Toffees loss could still be Liverpoolâs gain as he could be a very exciting signing for the club and fill the role that was vacated by Xabi Alonsoâs exit last summer.
The 22-year-old joined Valencia in January 2008 but after just 48 League appearances for the club (40 starts) the Spanish side are likely to offload the youngster.
Valenciaâs financial problems are well documented but they are set to take a loss on a player signed for ÂŁ14m. Despite selling David Villa and David Silva, Valencia are ready to do business.
Ironically, Banega has had his best season with the club in 2009-10 after making 35 league appearances (33 starts) which is a major breakthrough considering in his first season he only started seven league matches and then was loaned out to Atletico Madrid.
However, despite a tough start to his time in Europe, Banega has shown enough talent to impress Benitez and now Hodgson who is keen to bring him to Liverpool to form a new central midfield with Standard Liegeâs Steven Defour.
Banega is a central midfielder very much in the Michael Carrick mould rather than Roy Keaneâs.
His main attributes are his excellent passing ability, tactical discipline and ability to read the game. The Argentine is not afraid to tackle as 25 bookings and 4 red cards in 100 career League games perfectly illustrates and could turn out to be a key signing for Liverpool who are looking to bounce back from a poor season with a new-look side next season.
Hodgson is expected to make a number of changes at the Liverpool this summer and Banega looks set to be one of the first new arrivals at Anfield as the Reds rebuild.
Decent footballer from what I have seen of himâŚSimilar enough style of footballer to Gago from Real Madrid, comfortable on the ball and always looking for to link things upâŚ
That sounds good. Exactly what we need.
Hopefully Hodgson decides to let go of Lucas.
Correct. Heâd be a good signing for Liverpool I think.
He was bought before the tournament started.
No youâre wrong. That was Diao. Diouf was linked and Houillier decided to âmove quicklyâ after the France match.
Diouf scored twice in his first outing I think. I remember thinking weâve signed a serious player here. :lol:
So did Nigel Clough :lol:
Stan Collymore scored a wonder goal against Sheffield Wednesday as well on his debut.
He wasnât as bad as the other two though.