by anfieldadorer » Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:22 am
Liverpool land £6m Morientes
by SIMON CASS and COLIN WOOD, Daily Mail
13:39pm 8th January 2005
Liverpool have finally agreed a £6million fee with Real Madrid for Spain striker Fernando Morientes.
The protracted transfer could be completed this weekend after Liverpool were forced to go beyond the £5m limit they had set to land their top target.
Morientes, 28, had wanted to link up with former Valencia coach Rafael Benitez at Anfield after having failed to secure a single start with Real in this season's Spanish league. Benitez was determined to bolster his strike force in the transfer window after losing summer signing
Djibril Cisse for the rest of the season with a broken leg.
Coincidentally, it was the arrival of former Anfield hero Michael Owen at the Bernabeu which saw Morientes, last season's Champions League top scorer while on loan at Monaco, starved of opportunities.
Real had been hoping to secure first option on any move for Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard as part of the Morientes deal but Anfield chief executive Rick Parry ruled that out, even though he had to go beyond his initial budget.
Liverpool, whose FA Cup thirdround tie at Burnley was called off last night because of a waterlogged pitch, will initially pay £4.5m, with a further £1.5m to follow over the next two years.
Benitez is also talking to Real about their reserve goalkeeper Cesar. Chris Kirkland is out for three months after back surgery and Benitez wants to take Cesar, 32, on loan for the rest of the season.
The Morientes move rules out a possible bolt-hole for Nicolas Anelka, whose Manchester City career appears to be over after manager Kevin Keegan finally lost patience with the temperamental striker. Keegan is angry that the sullen Frenchman refused to make himself available for Tuesday's 1-1 draw against Arsenal. He has now admitted he would sell Anelka, 25, if the club receive the right bid.
The City boss said: "I need everybody fit at the moment and against Arsenal I put players on the field who were not 100 per cent fit.
"Nicolas did not even feel he could take a fitness test. I was a bit disappointed with that. Now he is not fit for this match.
"I don't think there's any doubt that, if somebody makes a good bid for Nicolas, then we would sell him. We would then use the money to strengthen other parts of the team.
"But he has more than two years left on his contract. As long as people don't think they can steal him then everything will be OK."
Burnley chief executive Dave Edmundson claimed referee Mark Clattenburg's late decision to call off last night's game against Liverpool could cost them £200,000.
The tie will be played on Tuesday week and Edmundson said: "If the rearranged game is not on TV, it will cost us £150,000. Various other costs could make it up to £200,000."
