Tuesday 14 July 2009

Benitez will to tell Mascherano he’s staying

Rafa Benitez will tell Javier Mascherano he will not be allowed to leave the Reds when the player returns to pre-season training later this week, reports the Echo.

Mascherano is due to join his team mates at the Switzerland training camp on Thursday after becoming a father for the second time at the weekend. Mascherano’s future has been widely speculated upon in the past weeks with Barcelona publicly acknowledging they want the Argentine midfielder.

The story also claims “the 25-year-old told the Reds boss that his wife was suffering from homesickness.” But “with the likelihood of Xabi Alonso quitting Anfield increasing with every passing day, Benitez would be loathe to lose Mascherano as well and see his entire first choice central midfield wiped out in the space of a few weeks,” says the article.

Benitez has no intention of selling “a player he regards as one of the finest defensive midfielders in world football.”

When Mascherano joins up with his team mates in the coming days “Benitez will take the opportunity to tell the former West Ham man that he won’t be going anywhere because he is needed for Liverpool’s assault on the Premier League title in the coming season.” Benitez is hoping the “lure of possible glory with Liverpool will be enough to convince Mascherano that his future remains at Anfield,” reports the story.

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