Soccer:Inter Milan have bid for Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt despite Roy Hodgson receiving assurances from his old club that they would not be bidding for the Dutch forward or midfielder Javier Mascherano.
Kuyt has been made aware of the offer and is now weighing up his options in what he has described as a “luxury situation”.
The Dutchman's agent revealed earlier in the week that the Serie A giants were keen to take his client to Italy. The reigning European champions are currently managed by ex-Anfield chief Rafa Benitez, who has also been linked with Mascherano, who wants to leave England for family reasons.
The bid, which was received during the week, is thought to be in the region of €18.3 million.
"On Thursday night, during the Europa League game against Trabzonspor, the board of Liverpool informed me officially that they have received a fax from Inter,” Kuyt, who has 70 international caps to his name, told Dutch media yesterday.
"You can call this a luxury situation for me now."
It is far from a luxury for Hodgson, however, who appeared convinced yesterday there would be no bids from his former club after being reassured by the Nerazzurri president.
"I spoke to Massimo Moratti on Wednesday about the fact that they are not going to buy any Liverpool players, and (Dirk) Kuyt comes into that category," Hodgson told liverpoolfc.tv. "I believe Inter were only interested in two of our players and they are not going to buy them. Moratti said they are not going to do that. Kuyt is not for sale."
Hodgson appeared to have been doing a reasonable job of steadying the ship at Anfield but Alberto Aquilani’s loan move to Juventus and the possible departures of Kuyt and Mascherano will leave Liverpool very light in midfield.
Should both go, there appears no guarantee Hodgson would receive the funds to rebuild the squad even if he could put adequate deals in place with nine days remaining in the transfer window.