Liverpool owners target Asian market

Liverpool will be expected to play friendlies in Japan and China now that they have been taken over by the Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The club's chief executive Rick Parry has flown to the United States for talks about the club's future with the new owners, and he is likely to be told the "brand" needs to be promoted more in the Far East.

Rafael Benitez took his players to Portugal yesterday for a week of warm-weather training before their Champions League match against Barcelona next Wednesday while marketing plans for the Premiership club were being discussed on the other side of the Atlantic.

Gillett has been outlining, in a newspaper interview in Canada, how he and Hicks are planning to capitalise on their £450 million investment. That will include Benitez flying his team to Asia for friendlies.

Gillett said: "Liverpool is the number one brand in Europe. If you go to the Far East, where Manchester United has historically been the number one brand, Chelsea has recently become quite popular. They have a global branding concept which involves playing a number of games in the Far East. In that part of the world, Liverpool is number two and growing. We have had conversations with management in the last several months and I believe you will see Liverpool playing some friendlies in Asia. I think you'll see Japan first in this coming year and then others beyond that."

While Liverpool are in Portugal, they can expect to hear the outcome of their loan move for West Ham's Argentinian midfielder Javier Mascherano. The decision to allow the deal has been delayed for almost a fortnight by a Premier League inquiry, but it is believed nothing irregular has been discovered.

Samuel Eto'o made a controversial return to Barcelona's squad when he refused to go on as a late substitute in the 2-0 victory against Racing Santander on Sunday night at Camp Nou. The Cameroonian had been warming up for 15 minutes when coach Frank Rijkaard called on him to replace Juliano Belletti in the 83rd minute. But Eto'o refused to go on and Rijkaard had to play Oleguer Presas instead. "(assistant coach) Eusebio told me he didn't want to go on," Rijkaard said. "I don't know why. He didn't tell me."