Thompson is the first casualty of Benitez era

Soccer: Rafael Benitez's Anfield shake-up began yesterday when Liverpool announced that assistant manager Phil Thompson was leaving the club.

Thompson's departure - which brought to an end his on-off 33-year relationship with the club - had been widely expected in the wake of Benitez's appointment.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said: "Following talks between Rafael Benitez and Phil it has been decided that Phil will leave the club. We will obviously be sitting down now with Rafa to discuss his backroom team and will make further announcements in due course."

Liverpool coach Sammy Lee could be in line for a promotion in the wake of Thompson's departure.

Benitez also indicated yesterday he would follow through a task left unfinished by Houllier and complete the signing of French forward Djibril Cisse. Cisse is expected to formally complete his move from Auxerre to Anfield on July 1st.

Meanwhile, Birmingham have agreed "an undisclosed but substantial" fee with Chelsea for Danish midfielder Jesper Gronkjaer. The club is in the process of agreeing personal terms with the player, who is currently participating in Euro 2004.

Back at Liverpool, former Anfield striker David Johnson has undergone life-saving surgery after suffering a heart attack in Singapore. The 52-year-old ex-England international and 1981 European Cup winner was on a coaching trip to the Far East with other former Liverpool players when he collapsed.

Also in the Far East, Thai media mogul Paiboon Damrongchaitham will fly to England this weekend to discuss buying a 30 per cent stake in Liverpool, his spokesman said yesterday.

"There will be a lot of negotiations involved and we are unsure when the deal will be signed. We have to wait for him to come back," said a spokesman for GMM Grammy, Thailand's biggest music firm, headed by Paiboon.

Paiboon is putting together a consortium and his bid replaces that of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who confirmed yesterday his government had pulled out of talks.

Finally, Real Mallorca's Uruguayan striker Fernando Correa has been suspended for a year after testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine after Uruguay lost a World Cup qualifier 3-0 at home to Venezuela, FIFA revealed yesterday.