Middlesborough midfielder Bolo Zenden could become a new Liverpool player by the end of the week or early next week. The Dutch international officially becomes a free agent on July 1st and looks set to sign for the European Champions as soon as he is technically allowed to. The Bosman ruling differs slightly for moves within the same country so Zenden wasn’t allowed to personally open talks during January as he would have done for a move overseas. None of this of course stops Liverpool discussing matters with his agents – and as Zenden’s personal manager is his father then talks are reported to be quite advanced. Without naming a future team for his son, Pierre Zenden said, "We expect to announce something early next week”.
It’s also been reported that Luis Figo is still talking to Liverpool about a possible move. The Real Madrid player would be available on a free transfer, but the club and the player are still some way apart on wage demands, with Figo reportedly looking for £90,000 per week.
The contract negotiations between Liverpool and the representatives of captain Steven Gerrard are set to start today (Wedneday) with Gerrard’s weekly wage expected to be around £75,000. Gerrard’s agent, Struan Marshall of SFX, was booked in to meet with Liverpool’s Chief Executive Rick Parry. Despite stories in the media that hint at Gerrard considering a move to Spain, the captain is expected to come to an agreement to continue playing for the club he’s supported all his life. It is however the job of his agents to try and find the best deal for their player, however their own interests are probably their biggest concern, and they’d probably make more money if Gerrard did join Real Madrid.
José Manuel Reina, is another name expected to be announced as Liverpool player within the next seven days. The Villarreal keeper had drawn interest from Arsenal but prefers a move to Anfield where he’d become the number 1 keeper. The transfer fee is expected to be around £6 million although it is still subject to a medical.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez has been given a sizeable amount of money to spend this summer, but feels that Liverpool’s poor league form means he needs to make a sizeable amount of changes. He’ll continue pressing Southampton and Feyenoord for Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt, and is also looking for players to strengthen his defence. Milan Baros’ decision not to leave after Valencia changed their minds about buying him means Benitez has a little less to spend than he would have liked.
Still strong links suggesting that Liverpool want to sign Greek winger Stelios Giannakopoulos, from Bolton Wanderers. His contract is relatively short at Bolton which means they won’t take a chance on him leaving on a free, but Sam Allardyce does want to keep him as he prepares for their UEFA Cup campaign.