England midfielder Steven Gerrard will not be leaving Anfield, Liverpool's chief executive Rick Parry reiterated yesterday.

"He ain't for sale," Parry said. "I don't know how many times we have to say it. We are actually getting rather bored with this now."

Gerrard recently questioned whether his future remained at Anfield, just months after making a u-turn on a decision to join Chelsea. His public doubt attracted interest from Europe's major clubs.

Rather than off-loading players Parry says Liverpool are likely to add to their squad. "Losing a striker at the beginning of the season was clearly a blow," he said, referring to Djibril Cisse breaking his leg. "We are looking all over the place."

Betis begin to relent

Real Betis winger Joaquin believes it will be difficult for the Spanish side to resist the temptation to sell him after the club president revealed he had received a huge bid from Chelsea.

"I've heard a lot of rumours but no firm news yet, but if they are going to pay that sort of money for me then I could be leaving soon," said the 23-year-old Spanish international.

Betis president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera said on Thursday that he had received a major bid for the player from the English side, which Spanish media reported was in the region of £27 million.

Bulykin deal incomplete

Dinamo Moscow insist striker Dmitri Bulykin has not signed a contract with Bolton. The 25-year-old Russia international had a trial at the Reebok Stadium recently but Dinamo spokesman Alexander Lvov maintains no deal has been struck yet.

"The information that Dmitri Bulykin has signed a contract with Bolton isn't true," Lvov said. "We've received no official documents from Bolton. Dmitri has said that Bolton were going to sign him right now but there are some problems at the moment."

UEFA draw big guns

Yesterday's UEFA Cup draw threw up some reminders of how prestigious the competition can be with Sporting Lisbon playing Feyenoord, Ajax taking on Auxerre and holders Valencia tied with former European champions Steau Bucharest.

UEFA CUP DRAW

First knockout round: First round: Match 1: Graz AK v Middlesbrough. 2: Heerenveen v Newcastle United. 3: Basel v Lille. 4: Parma v VfB Stuttgart. 5: Sporting Lisbon v Feyenoord. 6: Alemannia Aachen v AZ Alkmaar. 7: Austria Vienna v Athletic Bilbao. 8: Partizan Belgrade v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. 9: Valencia v Steaua Bucharest. 10: Ajax v AJ Auxerre. 11: CSKA Moscow v Benfica. 12: Fenerbahce v Real Zaragoza. 13: Panathinaikos v Sevilla. 14: Shakhtar Donetsk v Schalke. 15: Olympiakos v Sochaux. 16: Dynamo Kiev v Villarreal. (First leg: February 16th-17th; Second leg: February 24th)

Second knockout round: Winners match 1 v Winners 5; Winners 13 v Winners 4; Winners 9 v Winners 16; Winners 3 v Winners 10; Winners 15 v Winners 2; Winners 14 v Winners 6; Winners 8 v Winners 11; Winners 7 v Winners 12. (First leg: March 10th; Second leg: March 16th-17th)

In brief . . .

Bolton's Senegalese international Khalilou Fadiga has been given medical clearance to resume training provided his heart condition continues to be monitored by cardiologists . . . Rangers manager Alex McLeish yesterday declared it would require a "ridiculous" offer for the club to part with Jean-Alain Boumsong. The Scottish club have already turned down a £7.5 million offer from Newcastle for the French defender . . . Mark Bosnich is considering a comeback with Paul Merson's Walsall. The Australian goalkeeper has been out for two years after being sacked by Chelsea and banned by the English FA for nine months for failing a drug test . . . And finally, former England defender Chris Powell has completed his free transfer from Charlton to Championship side West Ham after spending the last three months on loan at Upton Park.