Liverpool supporters aren’t going to be pleased to hear this bit of news from their goateed manager. It appears that, after some serious consideration, Rafa has finally decided that his dream of building a formidable Spanish strikeforce isn’t going to happen any time soon. You can cross a certain Spanish striker off your Liverpool target list.
[David] Villa has been a long-term target for Benitez, but the former Valencia boss admits it is unlikely the Reds will be signing the Euro 2008 top scorer.
“I said the other day that he is one of the names we had on our list, but I can say at this moment that it is not an option for us,” said Benitez.
“We know Villa is a very good player, we know the price and we know the players we have, so when you consider everything we decided he was one of the names, but at this moment, not our target. (Sky Sports)
Well this a bit of shocking news. True, Villa had made it known he was set to play out his contract at Valencia, but you have to be a bit surprised that Rafa is giving up so easily. For a manager that has a bullish attitude about going after the toughest transfer targets, these comments come as a bit of a letdown. We can assume that if Rafa is giving up the dream, then you can be sure that pretty much every other club will be doing the same thing as well.
Are Liverpool supporters shocked to hear Rafa giving up hope for Villa so easily? Who should the club be targeting now as a potential partner for Torres?