Gerard Houllier has reacted to Liverpool's costly failure to qualify for the Champions League by pledging to lure the France international striker Djibril Cisse from Auxerre for what would amount to a club record £13 million.
The Liverpool manager also hopes to secure Blackburn Rovers' Damien Duff to play alongside Cisse, with the pair costing a combined £25 million, a bold outlay given the depressed transfer market and that the £18 million spent at Anfield last summer failed to earn even a top-four finish. The extra funds required will be generated by sales from the squad, with Emile Heskey, Vladimir Smicer, Markus Babbel and Dietmar Hamann most likely to move on.
Houllier will meet his close friend Guy Roux after Auxerre play Paris St Germain in the French Cup final on May 31st to discuss Cisse, who is being courted by Marseille and Barcelona, though understood, like Duff, to favour a move to Anfield.
The 21-year-old has scored 14 goals this season and has four years to run on his contract, with Roux having already stated that he will follow the striker out of Auxerre should he be sold.
The 24-year-old Duff has been a long-standing target for both Liverpool and Manchester United, though the Frenchman appears to have pipped Alex Ferguson to his signature.
"We made an offer last season and they said he wasn't for sale," said Houllier, who is aware that, while Duff boasts an £18 million get-out clause in his current contract at Ewood Park, Rovers are likely to accept around £12 million as they pursue their own summer-spending plans ahead of a UEFA Cup campaign.
Guardian Service
