Yossi Benayoun's Departure Sets a Worrying Precedent For Liverpool

Liverpool stand at something of a crossroads. The club has a limited budget with which to improve upon the squad which finished seventh last season but are in possession of some highly marketable players.

New manager Roy Hodgson is faced with a dilemma; does he stick with a side which, with key players in form and fitness, is as good as any in the league or does he cash in on a couple of his major assets in order to strengthen the threadbare Liverpool squad?

The problem for Liverpool has never been that their first choice side is not up to scratch. With Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano in the side they are a match for anyone. The problem has been that Gerrard and Torres in particular are injury prone and Liverpool do not have a strong enough squad to cope with the temporary loss of either player.

A good indication of whether Hodgson intends to stick or twist this summer came with the recent departure of Yossi Benayoun to Chelsea. This move must have set alarm bells ringing on Merseyside because it is very rare for players in the Premiership to move from one of the 'big four' clubs to another. Arsenal lost Ashley Cole to Chelsea a few years ago but Cole had only a year left on his contract and the club could not afford to keep an unsettled player for an additional 12 months and then let him leave for free.

Selling Benayoun to a rival club for what, to Chelsea at least is small change at £5.5 million, sends out a worrying signal. Benayoun signed a contract extension with Liverpool just 12 months ago so the club had no need to sanction this deal.

One inference which could be drawn from this particular piece of business is that Liverpool are so desperate for cash they are willing to risk strengthening a rival club for the sake of £5.5 million. A second, even more negative interpretation, is that Liverpool simply no longer see Chelsea as direct rivals. Could the club which has traditionally made up one quarter of the big four be prepared to accept its loss of elite status quite so quickly?

These are thoughts which will undoubtedly be on the minds of Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. There are likely to be big money bids for all three in the coming weeks and whether they are accepted or not will in no small part be due to the wishes of the players themselves. The money which would be raised from these sales could be reinvested in the squad but players of this quality are few and far between. Liverpool would probably be better off with these three in the squad, rather than £100 million in the bank.

Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres would all presumably want to see evidence that Liverpool were going to be a more competitive side than last year. The unenforced departure of a first team player like Benayoun's would suggest that this is probably not going to be the case.

Liverpool have a glorious history which, save for a couple of Champions League finals, they have not been able to live up to in recent years. The club have not won the league for twenty years and if they continue to allow their most talented players to join Premiership rivals that situation is unlikely to change anytime soon.