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Philippe Mexes’s agent has warned the Italian giants to tie up the defender or risk losing him
The centre-half enjoyed an excellent season in Serie A and his omission from the French squad for the World Cup caused surprise in his homeland.
Liverpool are one of a number of clubs keeping tabs on the former Auxerre man, who is contracted to Roma until 2008.
“Philippe is happy in Rome,” said the player’s representative.
“However, I can’t hide the fact that we have received a number of offers from different top clubs in both Italy and abroad.”
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Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has received offers from a couple of Premiership clubs.
The former Coventry City shot-stopper is set to leave Anfield on a permanent basis this summer, after spending last season on loan at West Bromwich Albion.
Although injuries yet again blighted his season, he was set to make the move to the Hawthorns permanent yet had a change of mind when they were relegated to the Championship.
Kirkland believes he still has a future in the top-flight and also with England, and his agent Colin Gordon has revealed there are a couple of offers for him at the moment.
"There are a couple of clubs interested in Chris," Gordon told Sky Sports. "They are both Premier League clubs and Chris is weighing up his options.
"He is training now and is flying right now after recovering his fitness. Chris is ambitious and wants to be playing in the Premier League as he wants to get back in the England squad."
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Djimi Traore is a target for Stuart Pearce according to weekend reports
The 26-year-old Frenchman has been with Liverpool since 1999 but was once again on the fringes of the Anfield first team for much of last season.
Traore has been linked with Everton in the past and now City are showing an interest as Pearce attempts to strengthen his squad on a tight budget.
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Steven Gerrard will not rest until he has lead Liverpool to the Premiership title.
The FA Cup success on Saturday followed last seasons’ UEFA Champions League triumph, yet the midfielder has now set his eyes firmly on wrestling the title from Chelsea next term.
"The reason this club is so successful is because we never dwell on our victories," said Gerrard. "This will be no different. We could have lived off the European Cup win, but everyone can see how hungry we are for more.
"We know we're capable of going very close to the title next season and that's going to be the target. The more trophies like this you win, the more you want. We'll be giving it everything we've got to win the title next season."
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Shaun Wright-Phillips is Rafael Benitez's top target for the summer as he builds a squad capable of challenging for the Premiership title
Wright-Phillips has had a season to forget at Chelsea, who signed him for £21m from Manchester City last summer.
The 24-year-old has been on the fringes of the first-team for most of the campaign, and his World Cup chances hang in the balance after starting just 15 games for the champions.
He remains a proved top-flight performer however, and could be the perfect man to fill the gap on the right-hand side of Liverpool's midfield.
Benitez is planning to offload Djibril Cisse, Chris Kirkland, Scott Carson and possibly even Harry Kewell in the summer, in order to bring in some big names at Anfield.
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This Sunday one of the most prestigious Leagues in the world comes to an end, which is the English Premier League. It’s been a fierce competition all season long, especially between Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United fighting for the first three places. Even though Chelsea is already the champion with one fixture left, the fight for second place is fierce between Manchester and Liverpool for a chance to get into next year edition of the champions league.
A team that should’ve figure among the first places and didn’t was the Arsenal with an impressive campaign in the Champions League they couldn’t do the same in the Premier League 25 points behind first place Chelsea unless they win the Champion League Final they will not enter next years edition due to their current position in the Premier League.
The situation with Arsenal in the Premier League has left the fans and the team very disappointed because everybody had great expectations. Although they couldn’t play as well as everybody expected in the Premier League, they still have the comfort of being in the final of the Champions League.
Let’s talk about the new Champion Chelsea; they didn’t have a good campaign in the Champions League like their counterpart Arsenal. Still they managed to get the title in England without any major dispute towards the end of the season. They have a great team that maybe doesn’t have so many stars like other teams, but they managed to get the formula needed to have a balanced team both in offense and defense. This has allowed them to be at the top of the table most of the season.
After the defeat against Blackburn Rovers, three days after winning the Championship, Chelsea coach Mourinho admitted, he wouldn’t have been quite so philosophical over the outcome had the lost points been of greater consequence. “I am laughing now because I am champion, but if today I was not champion, I think it would be the end of my career in England because I would be suspended forever!” he said, painting a picture of how he would have reacted.
If you like sports betting don’t miss the chance to bet on this weekend’s final game for it will be the last match day of the season and will be a long time before we have English soccer again.
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Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool will win The Premiership within the next couple of years.
The Reds have made giant strides of progress since Rafael Benitez took over the reigns at Anfield, with the UEFA Champions League won last season and an FA Cup final on the menu this.
However, the one honour Gerrard wants more than anything is the Premiership title, and the England international believes the Merseyside men are close to launching a serious bid for the crown.
"Yes I've been quite successful and things are going well, but I want more trophies and winners' medals and I believe I will achieve that with Liverpool," he told The Daily Star.
"It was a big decision to stay at Liverpool, but I made that decision on the basis that I felt we had the right manager in charge in Rafa Benitez and I haven't regretted that for a moment.
"I believe in him and have full confidence in him. I know I can achieve my ambitions at Liverpool. There's only one thing missing from my collection and that's The Premiership.
"That's the one I badly want and I know the fans do too. But that doesn't mean I don't want others. I'm very greedy for trophies. Chelsea are a fantastic team and then you also have Manchester United and Arsenal, so winning The Premiership is going to be really difficult.
"But we have a hungry manager and a hungry set of players and I know Rafa is going to strengthen in the summer. I think if you look at the points gap last year and you look at it this year we are a lot closer.
"That makes me know we can have a go at the league in the next couple of seasons and we feel we can really achieve our objectives in the coming years."
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The UEFA Cup is handed over to the Dutch city of Eindhoven, and in preparation for hosting this season's final, golden memories of 1978 will come flooding back.
It was on 9 May 1978 that local side PSV Eindhoven established themselves as a major force in European football as they beat SC Bastia 3-0 at the Philips stadium - the venue for this season's final - to win the UEFA Cup, following a goalless draw in the first leg in Corsica two weeks earlier.
By that time, PSV had already broken the cast-iron grip that the big clubs from the west of the Netherlands - Feyenoord and AFC Ajax - held on the Dutch title by winning the Eredivisie in 1974/75 and 1975/76, but in taking the UEFA Cup, they announced their presence to the whole continent.
With the final being contested over two legs in those days, PSV had not enjoyed an easy time in the opening fixture against Bastia. Heavy rainfall turned the first leg into a boring show. But the second leg, however, was much more one-sided, and with the elements no longer blocking their route to goal, PSV shone with Willy van de Kerkhof, Gerrie Deijkers and Willy van der Kuylen finding the target as they secured a famous victory in front of 27,000 fans.
With Feyenoord and Ajax both having won major European competitions in the early 1970s, PSV were the third Dutch club to triumph in UEFA competition, and added to their trophy cabinet by winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1987/88 before reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2004/05.
The memories of that first success back in 1978 will be celebrated as 2004/05 UEFA Cup, against all the Sportsbooks odds. Winners of last year’s cup PFC CSKA Moskva hand the trophy to Eindhoven, with goal scorers Van de Kerkhof and Van der Kuylen in attendance. Sadly Deijkers died of heart failure at the age of 56 back in October 2003.
Deijkers' story was an odd one. He had played as a defender in previous seasons but coach Kees Rijvers - who will also be at the handover - decided to hand him a chance to become a striker as PSV were having attacking problems in 1977/78. He went on to score 18 league goals and six in the UEFA Cup that season.
While Deijkers will be missed at the ceremony at the Evoluon building in Eindhoven, plenty of other PSV stars of 1978 will be there to make up the numbers. Among them will be Willy's twin brother René van de Kerkhof, Jan Poortvliet, Adri van Kraay and Kees Krijgh all eager to get their hands on the trophy again.
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Robbie Fowler remains a target for Bolton Wanderers if he does not earn a new Liverpool deal.
The former England international striker returned to Anfield in January on a short-term deal, and has been in good form in front of goal recently.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has yet to make public however whether he will extend Fowler's stay and Bolton manager Sam Allardyce hinted recently that he would be keen on a deal for the player.
A Bolton spokesman told BBC Sport: "If Robbie Fowler does become available we would certainly be interested in him."
He added: "Some of Sam's comments have been blown out of proportion but Robbie is a player we'd consider."
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Peter Crouch has made it pretty clear he hopes Robbie Fowler is rewarded with a new contract to keep him at Liverpool after this season.
The former England man admits he is sweating on whether boss Rafael Benitez is going to extend his short-term deal which runs out on July 1.
But Crouch's comments that it is an "honour" to play alongside Fowler underline his opinion on the subject of whether Fowler - who has now overtaken Kenny Dalglish in the club's all-time scoring list - stays at the club.
Crouch said: "For me personally it's an honour just to be in the same team as him because he's been such a great player over the years, and obviously with myself being a striker you watch players like him and learn from him."
Crouch told the club website, www.liverpoolfc.tv. "It's a pleasure to play with him and if I can learn things from him in training and take parts of his game to mine then it can only benefit myself.
"He has proved over the years what good movement he has got and what a good finisher he is. Even in training you can see by his finishing just how top quality he is, and hopefully I can learn from him."
Crouch revealed he was also at last happy with his own scoring form after scoring 12 goals in his last 25 games.
He said: "A lot was made at the start of this season when I wasn't scoring but it's taken me time to settle in.
"I feel really settled now and when I go into games I'm thinking I am going to score which is a good feeling to have.
"I must thank the fans for their support and that is what has been so good for me. When you come to a new club you hope to have a good rapport with the fans and hopefully I have got that.
"They have been top class with me ever since I arrived and walked through the door, it is a pleasure to play for a club like this."
Another striker aiming to make his mark at Anfield is 17 year-old trialist Lee Tomlin, who got his first taste of action in a Liverpool odds shirt when he came on as substitute for the final 26 minutes of the reserves' 1-0 soccer line spread win over Birmingham on Monday at Wrexham.
Tomlin is on a week's trial from Rushden and Diamonds.
Liverpool won the match with a last-minute goal from another 17 year-old, Paul Anderson netting and continuing to impress following his transfer window move from Hull.
Anderson, who was on the bench for the Champions League game with Benfica last month, is expected to be the key figure in the FA Youth Cup Final against Manchester City which will be played over two legs on April 13 and 21. |
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Wayne Rooney scored twice as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 to put some distance between themselves and Liverpool in the race for second place in the English Premiership.
Liverpool, who began the day two points behind United in third, slipped back after they were beaten 2-1 at Arsenal, who moved up to fifth, thanks to two goals from Thierry Henry.
At Old Trafford, Rooney netted his first after just eight minutes, latching on to Peter Ramage's woefully underhit back-pass before lifting the ball over the approaching Shay Given.
Eight minutes later United were two up as the England striker slotted the ball home from just inside the area after a pass from John O'Shea.
United missed a host of chances to increase their lead, including Rooney hitting the post after rounding Given but the scored remained 2-0 as Newcastle suffered their first loss in six matches under caretaker manager Glen Roeder.
"We could have scored more - we should have," Rooney said. "We should have taken a lot more of our chances and won by a bigger margin but I'm happy to get the two goals.
"I'm happy with the first one because it got us up and running, but it's always nice to score any goal. I've been playing well enough although I haven't been scoring. I thought I did well, the whole team did well, and the only disappointing thing was not to score more."
At Highbury, Henry put Arsenal ahead with a sweet right-foot curled effort after 21 minutes after a superb pass from Cesc Fabregas, but Liverpool could have been level at the break had Luis Garcia or Peter Crouch done better with their chances.
Henry squandered two good chances to double Arsenal's lead and Dietmar Hamann made a fabulous tackle to deny another goalscoring opportunity.
Liverpool brought on Robbie Fowler in search of the equaliser and though he was not involved directly, the change did the trick as Steven Gerrard fired in a shot that Jens Lehmann could only parry and Garcia outjumped Kolo Toure to head into the empty net.
Xabi Alonso was then sent off for a second yellow card ten minutes from time and Liverpool's woes were compounded when Gerrard played a terrible back-pass straight to Henry, who rounded Jose Reina to score the winner.
In the day's other game, Darren Bent scored both goals - the second in the last minute - as Charlton Athletic beat Middlesbrough 2-1. |
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