SOCCER ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:RAFAEL BENITEZ is engaged in another stand-off with Liverpool's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, after demanding that the terms of his new contract include complete control over Anfield transfer policy.
Talks between Benitez’s agent, Manuel Garcia Quilon, and Liverpool’s co-owners have come to a standstill over the fundamental issue of who dictates transfer policy at the club, with neither party currently willing to back down. The new contract, which will extend Benitez’s career at Anfield until 2013 and provide an increase on his current €3.8 million-a-year salary, is now at risk of collapse unless a compromise can be found.
At present Benitez recommends who is bought and sold to Hicks and Gillett plus the Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, who then decide the player’s value, what the club can afford – in relation to purchases – and divide the transfer budget accordingly. In future, however, the Liverpool manager wants to dispense with the existing chain of command and operate on his own terms.
Benitez is, in effect, trying to ensure there is no repeat of last summer’s exhaustive and unsuccessful pursuit of Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa midfielder he envisaged as a replacement for Xabi Alonso but missed out on when Liverpool’s owners refused to meet Villa’s €20 million asking price. Hicks and Gillett said the Barry deal collapsed over the price tag and not because they lacked the necessary funds, having agreed a €22 million deal for Robbie Keane, and the Liverpool manager believes his judgment was undermined.
The manager’s stance also draws parallels with his reign at Valencia, where he sought greater control over transfers from the director of football, Jesus Garcia Pitarch, before leaving for Liverpool in 2004 having failed in that regard. Hicks and Gillett have relented on one contractual issue in the negotiations so far, namely the length of the deal, with the Americans improving their initial two-year extension to the 4½ years that Benitez had sought. His existing contract expires at the end of next season. The co-owners are not prepared to grant the manager total control over transfers and how to spend the club’s budget, however.
Personal terms and the length of the deal were agreed in early December only for talks to be placed on hold by Benitez’s kidney stones problem – he will undergo a third operation tomorrow – and then stall over transfers. The Liverpool manager is also believed to want more influence over the club’s youth academy.
Benitez revealed on Friday that negotiations had reached an impasse, although the development was overshadowed by his attack on Alex Ferguson. The English FA, meanwhile, is not considering investigating the Spaniard’s comments on the referee Steve Bennett or that there is a conflict of interest between David Gill’s role as Manchester United chief executive and his place on the FA board.
“I was talking with my agent this morning and he didn’t have any news. So he is not very happy,” Benitez said on Friday. “I won’t talk about this. My agent is talking and is in charge of this.”
The Liverpool manager has earmarked Emile Heskey for a return to Anfield on a free transfer in the summer and could, should he raise funds by selling the likes of Jermaine Pennant this month, test Wigan’s resolve to keep the England international before the transfer window closes. That possibility diminished yesterday, however, when Steve Bruce claimed Heskey would remain at the JJB Stadium and would put his World Cup place in jeopardy by rejoining the Premier League elite.
Meanwhile, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres claimed yesterday that Manchester United are the favourites to win the Premier League this season but he is confident that Rafael Benitez’s side will determine the destination of the title when the teams meet at Old Trafford in March.
“United are the champions right now; they are the favourites,” the 24-year-old said.
Guardian Service
