Do the ridiculous transfer rumour stories never end? Here's yet another news bulletin of tittle-tattle from the tabloids - it also includes Bolton, Aston Villa, Rangers, Newcastle, Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus and Barcelona.
''It's certain if he (Benitez) goes many players will think about their futures'' - Fernando Torres
It seems that even though Rafa Benitez has just guided his Liverpool side to a splendid 4-0 win, and continued his unbeaten start to the Premier League season, he may still be in fear of the axe. And this potential sacking has led Fernando Torres to make it perfectly clear that a number of stars may follow Rafa out the Anfield doors should he be relieved of his duties (various).
Following yesterday's victory over Bolton, Torres said: "He cannot leave. The fans have given their verdict and it was clear. Benitez has created a team of people who are indebted to him. It's certain if he goes many players will think about their futures. Benitez is not just another manager. He created a team and put his faith in players who owe him a lot."
That's good to hear, but will it prevent Rafa being axed? Any sane board wouldn’t even consider sacking Rafa so let's hope that the huge talents who would leave - and £100m wouldn’t even get you Torres, Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel at today’s prices.
Basically, if Liverpool's American owners have any sense they will give Rafa at least some funds to help with defensive cover, otherwise the former Valencia man and his top talents may cost far more to replace.
Staying with Liverpool, it appears they face stiff competition for their Argentinian midfield dynamo Javier Mascherano, with European giants Juventus and Barcelona waiting in the wings should the Reds not come up with the cash to make the former West Ham man a permanent Anfield player (Daily Mirror). Once again cash is on the agenda; however, the £17m needed to secure Mascherano can be made easily enough by selling off squad players such as Scott Carson.
Of Tottenham's recognised quartet of strikers it appears that bids may be made for threequarters of them, with only Robbie Keane seemingly free to continue his successful White Hart Lane career. Apparently Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is planning a January bid for Darren Bent (The People).
It would be interesting to see what kind of loss Spurs would accept on the £16m man as it seems unlikely that Villa would bid more than half that amount for a striker who hasn’t exactly shone this season. But to be fair, the former Charlton man has only been restricted to seven starts across all competitions and has netted five times, which isn’t too shabby.
The People are also reporting that Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson is interesting in bidding for either of or indeed both Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov. How likely these moves are I am not sure, but to be honest whenever I see the Bulgarian in action he seems to have a permanent irritable scowl across his face, as though he doesn’t rate the service he is being given.
United have of course tried to prise him away before and it remains to be seen whether Juande Ramos is keen on a wholesale clear-out, or indeed whether significant funds would be available should he decide to do so. In many ways, Liverpool and Spurs are in a similar position in that regard, both having spent freely in the summer, albeit with Liverpool making cash back on some of their outgoing players. That said, it is also being reported that a consortium is looking to takeover from Daniel Levy and Co. That surely can’t be a bad thing considering the way in which Levy and his cohorts conducted themselves during the whole sorry Martin Jol saga.
Alan Hutton is a good player but I am beginning to wonder if he has an even better agent. A day doesn’t go by without another club apparently keen on signing the Rangers and Scotland full-back, and today those clubs are Man United and Arsenal. And let's face it, they don’t get much bigger than that! (The Sun). Newcastle are also said to be adding to the previous reported interest from Tottenham and Man City. If I were you Alan, I would stay at Rangers!