Reasons to be cheerful! Anfield set for new striker and Rafa gets his side back into that all important top four spot.

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Sports - September 25, 2007

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is confident of securing Serbia international striker Milan Jovanovic for next season.

The 28-year-old marksman is out of contract in the summer and early reports suggested The Reds had already secured him on a pre-contract.

However, Benitez has stated Liverpool are yet to agree terms with the Standard Liege ace, although he is hopeful a deal can be reached.

“Nothing is sorted yet, but I’m confident it will be,” confirmed Benitez.

Liverpool face stiff competition for his signature after Standard confirmed Juventus and AC Milan are also in the hunt for his signature.

“I wish Jovanovic all the best,” confirmed Standard’s vice-president Luciano D’Onorfio. “He always did his best for the club.

“AC Milan, Juventus and Liverpool want him. The choice is up to him. I play no role in his decision. (Sky Sports)

Clearly we would have loved to be bidding for a truly big name in the transfer market but this capture, and it looks all but sealed (touch wood) could well be a very intelligent one. Yes Milan Jovanovic has no top level club experience to speak of but he has shown what he can do for club and country and the fact we will be getting the Serbian goal machine for the price of a £10m three year contract sounds like pretty good financial sense to me. Anfield needs more striking options and the Standard Liege may well work out a decent cost efficient answer to the lack of firepower at Liverpool Football Club.

Juventus are being tipped to snap up Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel in the summer as rumours continue to circulate linking the Serie A giants with Reds boss Rafael Benitez.
The Turin outfit have struggled defensively this term and with star man Girogio Chiellini set for a big-money exit at the end of the season and veteran Fabio Cannavaro winding down his career, it appears the bianconeri hierarchy are keen to add fresh blood. It is believed that Skrtel could be lured from Liverpool for a fee in the region of £8 million with the Premier League side in desperate need of cash.
The Slovakian international has made 74 appearances since arriving on Merseyside from Zenit St Petersburg but has struggled to hold down a regular first team starting berth with Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger the preferred first choice defensive pairing.
It is believed that much of Liverpool’s summer transfer policy will depend on their final positioning in this season’s Premier League table. Having finally regained a Champions League spot after a solid run of games the Anfield faithful will be hoping their side can maintain their form and guarantee the riches that come with qualifying for Europe’s premiere club competition. (Sport.co.uk)

I don’t for one second see Martin Skrtel looking to leave Anfield but could the owners seek to sell off a player or two to balance the books? Well that is not beyond the realm of possibility. Yossi Benayoun is another individual we can not afford to lose but I wouldn’t put it past Messrs Hicks and Gillett to see if they could make some money from player sales. The Yanks wouldn’t be crazy enough to cash in on the likes of El Nino and Stevie G but they could very easily look to get their grubby hands on some money from ‘lesser’ stars at the club.

Hopefully Rafa Benitez continues to have the last say on such matters but that may not always be the case.

Anyway, good news. We are in the top four! After a good run of results from matches we have given our all in we have overcome Tottenham to take that coveted spot and there is still a good chunk of the season left to stake our claim for third in my opinion, but lets not get complacent. Bring on Arsenal!

YNWA