Inter Milan boss Rafael Benitez seems desperate to land Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano and reports suggest that he is even willing to offer Esteban Cambiasso in a player plus cash deal. Should the Anfield club be biting Inter’s arm off for this deal?
If it was true I’d think Liverpool would have to be mad not to.
Cambiasso was one of Jose Mourinho’s midfield stalwarts last season and helped the San Siro side win the treble. Despite having a great season he was somehow left out of Diego Marandona’s 23-man Argentina World Cup squad along with his team-mate Javier Zanetti.
I’m not denying that Mascherano is a quality defensive midfield player, but it seems as though he is unwilling to stay in England and most Premier League fans see him as a red card waiting to happen.
Last season Mascherano made an incredible 66 fouls (3rd highest in league), he was shown 10 yellow cards and was sent for an early bath twice. So, you’re always running a risk with a player who gets booked in quite a high percentage of matches. In comparison Cambiasso has a great disciplinary record and was only booked three times in 30 Serie A appearances last season.
The one thing that may put the Reds’ fans off of Cambiasso would be his age as he is almost 30-years-old, but a player of his position has many years left in him and is regarded as one of the finest defensive midfielders in the world.
It seems odd that Benitez would be willing to sanction such a transfer as he is running the risk of upsetting a close unit, especially one which has proved to be so successful.
Inter captain Zanetti opposes the mooted swap deal:
“Mascherano’s value is without question as any team would want him, but you can’t talk about swapping him with Cambiasso.”
“You cannot touch Cambiasso and Inter could not do without him. Both players can play together as they have different characteristics.”
(Il Corriere dello Sport)
However, it’s not like Benitez is a stranger to upsetting his players, remember the Barry saga? He made it clear when pursuing the then Aston Villa captain that he would be willing to sell Xabi Alonso (a much better player) to raise funds for the England international. Subsequently the Spaniard had one of his best seasons in a Liverpool shirt as the Anfield club enjoyed their best Premier League season (2008/09) finishing runners-up and could consider themselves quite unlucky not to win the big prize.
The following season Alonso unsurprisingly left the manager who undervalued him and Liverpool struggled. Although losing him wasn’t the reason they did so poorly it was definitely a contributing factor and Benitez never even got his hands on Barry, who signed for Manchester City.
Liverpool want to wait until they bring in a new manager (looks like it’s to be Roy Hodgson) before they sanction any transfers, but this one could be a no-brainer as they’d be getting a great defensive midfielder and cash for a player who really does not want to be there.
Is this the sort of deal the Liverpool fans would like to see as they seek to rebuild their squad?
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Click on image below to look at the SPANISH babes at the World Cup