After spending what seems an eternity negotiating with Feyenoord for striker Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool look to have come about as close as they can to making the deal happen.
Despite some sites and some newspapers falling for some nonsense from a Newcastle website, Kuyt does not want to move to Newcastle, in fact he’d rather stay in Holland than sign for the team that was heading for relegation for a good part of last season.
Liverpool have been intending to make this week the last push for signing the player, and now reports say that Feyenoord have finally given them the permission to speak to the striker. Kuyt’s valuation from the point of view of the two parties differed by about £4m at one point, but now it seems they’ve finally agreed on a fee of close to £10m. The only stumbling block now is how the payments might be made, but reports in Holland are saying that this is now a minor issue and should be resolved.
Kuyt is on international duty across the Irish sea in Dublin tonight for Holland’s friendly against Steve Staunton’s Irish side. He was in England at the weekend for a friendly with his club.
According to reports, Kuyt has spoken about personal terms with the club but has also been chatting informally with Rafael Benitez about how the manager sees him fitting into plans for the new season.