According to a well-respected Liverpool fanzine, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has told John Welsh that he’s welcome to leave Liverpool on a permanent deal should the right offer be made for him.
Welsh has been an extremely promising player for Liverpool but now looks to be way out of line for a place in Liverpool’s midfield. Welsh captained the England under-21s last season and was rated very highly.
Today’s unveiling of Momo Sissoko by Rafael Benitez means that Welsh is going to have to compete for a place in centre midfield with Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Dietmar Hamann and Bolo Zenden.
The fanzine, The Liverpool Way, claims that Welsh met with Benitez to talk about a possible loan move in order to gain experience, and in that meeting Benitez suggested that he could move on permanently if the right bid was made.
There’s no indication that Benitez is telling the player he wants him to leave, it could be literally that Benitez feels that Welsh needs to move in order to fulfill his potential. The article suggests that the player is still more likely to leave on loan, but that if he were to be sold then a fee of £1 million would be required.
Another player that could be about to leave on loan is right-back David Raven, in a move across the water to Tranmere. The Prenton Park club sold last season’s main right-back Ryan Taylor to newly-promoted Wigan Athletic, and Raven is now being linked as a replacement. Raven was on Tranmere’s books before moving to the Liverpool academy aged 14. Raven could be second choice right-back at Anfield this season – rumours of Josemi moving on continue to circulate, and Benitez won’t be keen on playing Carragher back out at full-back again as his centre-back performances have been too important for the Reds.
Jamie Carragher and Neil Mellor have given interviews to the fanzine for its special Summer 2005 issue, which has just come out. In it Carragher talks about the European Cup final, and gives the full insight into what he said to Jerzy Dudek prior to the penalty shootout. As a friend of the fanzine’s editor, Carragher reveals more than he perhaps would to the national newspapers or the official site.
This issue of the fanzine is a special edtion – they don’t normally bring one out at this time of the year, and it’s not normally got as many pages in it. In many ways this edition of the fanzine is well worth buying – not a bad price for a souvenir of Liverpool’s glory in Turkey. For more information check out the Liverpool Way website.