RAFAEL BENITEZ has placed Emile Heskey top of his wish list for January despite facing a monumental task to persuade Aston Villa to grant the striker a return to Liverpool.
An experienced yet inexpensive forward is the transfer priority for the Liverpool manager next month as he attempts to revive the club’s season and improve cover for Fernando Torres, who has not fully recovered from a hernia despite resting the problem for five weeks. Benitez wanted to bring Heskey back to Anfield in January this year before being priced out of it by Villa’s €3.9 million offer to Wigan.
The Liverpool manager remains keen on the England international, who turns 32 in January, and is prepared to test Martin O’Neill’s resolve with an offer during the transfer window despite his prospects of success appearing minimal.
Not only is Benitez operating on limited resources at Liverpool, with his budget more likely to be shaped by any departures of Ryan Babel, Andriy Voronin, Andrea Dossena and Philipp Degen, but Heskey’s situation at Villa Park has improved dramatically since struggling to hold down a regular place in O’Neill’s first-choice side at the start of this season.
The forward has alternated with John Carew during Villa’s impressive rise, and scored three times in his last seven appearances.
Heskey’s lasting affection for Liverpool, where he spent four seasons under their former manager Gerard Houllier, may encourage Benitez but there is also the added complication of his fraught relationship with O’Neill. The pair fell out spectacularly during the Gareth Barry saga in 2008 and having missed out on Champions League qualification last season, it would be a major surprise if O’Neill weakened his squad for the benefit of a Premier League rival.
Benitez intends to explore the possibility of a deal, however, and is understood to be uninterested in Luca Toni of Bayern Munich or Standard Liege’s Milan Jovanovic. Ruud van Nistelrooy has also been linked with Liverpool, although given his injury record and a salary in excess of €168,000 a week at Real Madrid, Benitez would have to be convinced to gamble on the former Manchester United player.
Torres has underlined the bleak future facing Liverpool by admitting the club cannot afford to buy top-class players in the transfer window. The Spain striker conceded Liverpool need new players and insisted replacing Benitez would not solve their current predicament. The club is eighth in the Premier League, their American owners are under pressure to cut their €269 million debt, and they are out of the Champions League.
They are facing a €22 million cut in income if they fail to qualify for the Champions League next season – and they are eight points away from fourth-placed Villa.
Torres, speaking in Zurich after being named part of Fifa’s world XI, said: “Obviously we need players. If we can bring quality players it should be really positive for us, but I think the situation is really difficult because I think we don’t have money to bring in the best players. I have confidence in myself and my team . . . We have to just recover the mentality and the confidence in ourselves and everything will be different.” He added: “I think sacking the manager is not a solution.”
- Guardian Service
