By Football Talk.
Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano will join Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan, Italian agent and transfer market expert Claudio Pasqualin told Goal.com. Benitez left Liverpool after a disappointing season with the Reds and was unveiled as the new Milan manager yesterday. Now one of his first tasks will be to bring in Mascherano who was a key figure at Anfield under Benitez.
Mascherano’s future has been in some doubt since the end of the season, with the Argentine international revealing his family have struggled to settle on Merseyside. Pasqualin is in no doubt that he will soon be an Inter player, while also saying he felt Steven Gerrard would remain at Anfield but the future of star striker Fernando Torres is less certain.
“Liverpool’s financial situation is not the best and so it’s inevitable that they will sell some of their best players. Mascherano will almost certainly be wearing the Nerazzurri shirt next season,”
“As for [Fernando] Torres, no one knows. And for [Steven] Gerrard, he is the symbol of Liverpool so he is likely to stay there.”
II Corriere dello Sport add further weight to the story after reporting that Inter officials have met with Mascherano’s people to begin talks about the transfer, with more talks planned for next week. However, as with many high-profile transfers, price may prove to be a sticking point. Liverpool are wanting at least £25m, a figure that is deemed too high by Inter owner Massimo Moratti.
