Rafa Benitez Rubbishes Dollar Demands

Liverpool boss, Rafa Benitez was dismissing claims that he had demand £50 million for transfers from American owners, George Gillet Jnr and Tom Hicks. It was claimed that Benitez demanded the money for transfers to sign Aston Villa's Gareth Barry, Sevilla's Daniel Alves, Valencia's David Silva and David Villa, risking the uneasy peace at Anfield.

Gillet and Hicks' working relationship had been described as impossible and Gillet had been looking to sell his share of the club, although he wouldn't sell to Hicks.

Benitez, who almost lost his job the last time he clashed with the owners over transfer funds, hit back saying,

"The stories are ridiculous. Total rubbish."
 
"They have me trying to sign Daniel Alves, who already has an agreement with Barcelona, so how could I be trying to sign him?"
 
"I am working hard with Rick Parry, who is in regular contact with the Americans, and there are no problems."
 
"The reports are just unbelievable."

But Benitez has made it clear in the past the need to match the spending of Man Utd and Chelsea, Arsenal are finalising the signing of Samir Nasri for £15.8m from Marseille.

Liverpool are closing in on Barry, but Villa are holding out for £20m, the Valencia pair of Silva and Villa are possibilities, but the two of them would cost towards £40m and talk of Alves heading to Merseyside are pure fantasy.

Benitez has been seen as too astute an operator to demand money which the American owners have been struggling to scrape together the funds for the new stadium in near by Stanley Park, which work has just begun on, and along with the credit crunch.

If these demands were made there seems little chance the Americans would have the capital to give Rafa, as shown by their dealings over Barry, with their repeatedly low offers and the over evaluations of Crouch, Carson and Xabi Alonso in a bid to raise funds for new transfer targets.