Rafa Benitez patience has worn thin with a number of players on his squad recently. With summer transfer signings not living up to their expectations and former starting XI players still loafing around, Benitez has come to the realisation that it’s time to trim the fat at the club. He’ll start by offloading this waste-o-space to the highest bidder!
Jermaine Pennant is on his way out of Liverpool after being axed from their Carling Cup squad by the club’s manager Rafa Benitez.
The 25-year-old winger would normally have been sure of a starting place for their fourth-round tie with Tottenham.
It is understood Benitez has run out of patience with Pennant’s lifestyle and erratic timekeeping and will step up efforts to offload him in January.
Pennant alienated himself from Benitez in the summer by stalling over moves to Blackburn, Stoke and Everton. Two clubs agreed to meet a £4m asking price but pulled out over wage demands. (Daily Mail)
This really is a tough story. Pennant, who was once considered the next great thing at Liverpool, has all but given up on his dream of being a lynchpin in the starting XI. It would seem that Benitez has done the exact same thing, moving Pennant from the bench, to the Carling Cup squad and then off the squad completely.
Benitez would really do good by offloading Pennant in January. Unless the winger makes 15 first-team appearances before the end of the season (which is highly unlikely), he’ll be able to walk away during the summer as a free agent. If he can’t find a suitor, then Liverpool would stand to miss recouping any of the £6.7 million fee Liverpool they paid to Birmingham for his services. That would definitely go down as a bad business deal.
So what do Liverpool supporters think? Will he be offloaded in January?