From the Mirror...
Ruud van Nistelrooy is ready reject a move to Arsenal to rescue Liverpool's season.
The Real Madrid striker needs to play regular football to secure his place in Holland's World Cup squad and is expected to be allowed to leave the Bernebau at Christmas.
Rafa Benitez will not be allowed to spend his way out of Liverpool's current crisis, so must raise any funds he wants to splash in the January transfer window - or make loan signings.
Benitez was told his job at the club is completely safe, even after his team crashed out of the Champions League - with a game still left to play - on Tuesday night.
He has also been told that former Manchester United star Van Nistelrooy is ready to turn down interest from the Gunners in a bid to secure a move to Liverpool.
Liverpool's budget planning means they will not make funds available until next summer, when Benitez will have at least £20million to spend on squad strengthening.
The Anfield boss has, however, identified a pressing need to enhance a strike force that has managed just four goals in their five Champions League games so far, a meagre total rendered even less impressive by the fact they have twice played Debrecen, the worst team in the competition.
Van Nistelrooy has already fielded some discreet enquiries from the Emirates Stadium, but he has told his advisors that he would prefer a move back to the north west of England and a switch to Anfield, if - as seems likely - he is allowed to leave Real Madrid at Christmas.
The Dutch striker knows he must play more football if he is to feature in next summer's World Cup finals, and has little chance of doing that at the Bernabeu, where he is behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain and Raul in the Real pecking order.
As back-up to injury stricken Fernando Torres at Liverpool, he would get more opportunities to play, and Benitez is now weighing up his options as he creates a blueprint to sort out his impoverished attacking options.
No money will be available for a high profile signing, but he can raise funds by selling the likes of Andrei Voronin - who has been axed from the squad completely despite the lack of cover for Torres - Ryan Babel and Andrea Dossena.
The flaw in that plan, of course, is that the trio of Anfield fringe players are hardly in demand across Europe, and it may be difficult to offload big money-earners with such a patchy recent playing record.
Instead, Benitez may be tempted to let the three misfits go out on loan, at least creating a gap in the Anfield wage bill to bring in a loan player until the end of the season when he can turn the deal into a permanent signing.
Madrid may be prepared to accept that sort of deal for Van Nistelrooy or Rafael van der Vaart, and Tottenham will consider a similar plan for their out of favour Russian centre =-forward Roman Pavlyuchenko, providing a fee is agreed for the summer.
In the short-term, Benitez is praying he has Torres back for the visit to Everton on Sunday, a game he knows he dare not lose if he is to keep a sceptical Anfield support behind him.
The Spanish coach is aware that ,even though he has received complete backing from Liverpool's owners and MD Christian Purslow, if he loses the fans, then that support could quickly change.
And defeat at Goodison is unthinkable now, after crashing out of the Champions League in such embarrassing style, because losing to the Old Enemy would put the current crisis into stark context for the silent majority who are beginning to waver in their backing for the current regime.
There have been few murmurings of discontent so far, but Benitez has already twice been booed by his home support this season, and nothing is designed to create unrest more than defeat to Everton, especially at such a sensitive time.
Torres though, has made real progress in his recovery from an abdominal injury, and has trained for much of this week while his team-mates have been away in Hungary, and Benitez is now quietly confident he will have his main striking option back for the absolutely crucial showdown on Sunday.
I'd be happy enough taking RVN and VDV on loan for the rest of the season. As much as Ruudy is getting on, he's never relied on blinding pace (unlike Owen) and has that uncanny "knack" of being in the right place etc. his record for Madrid had been pretty exceptional, no? VDV is a bit of an enigma to me. He's one of those players you fantasise as being a creative gem, yet his failure to establish himself at madrid under two different managers and strange transfer to Hamburg (when seemingly having his pick of suitors) leads me to believe there's a character flaw there somewhere. He'd still be worth a cheap punt given he can play anywhere across the "3".
Add Pavlyuchenko into the mix as a potential loanee (I can't see 'Arry sanctioning a loan move to a top 4 rival) and january might not be that bad.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is ready reject a move to Arsenal to rescue Liverpool's season.
The Real Madrid striker needs to play regular football to secure his place in Holland's World Cup squad and is expected to be allowed to leave the Bernebau at Christmas.
Rafa Benitez will not be allowed to spend his way out of Liverpool's current crisis, so must raise any funds he wants to splash in the January transfer window - or make loan signings.
Benitez was told his job at the club is completely safe, even after his team crashed out of the Champions League - with a game still left to play - on Tuesday night.
He has also been told that former Manchester United star Van Nistelrooy is ready to turn down interest from the Gunners in a bid to secure a move to Liverpool.
Liverpool's budget planning means they will not make funds available until next summer, when Benitez will have at least £20million to spend on squad strengthening.
The Anfield boss has, however, identified a pressing need to enhance a strike force that has managed just four goals in their five Champions League games so far, a meagre total rendered even less impressive by the fact they have twice played Debrecen, the worst team in the competition.
Van Nistelrooy has already fielded some discreet enquiries from the Emirates Stadium, but he has told his advisors that he would prefer a move back to the north west of England and a switch to Anfield, if - as seems likely - he is allowed to leave Real Madrid at Christmas.
The Dutch striker knows he must play more football if he is to feature in next summer's World Cup finals, and has little chance of doing that at the Bernabeu, where he is behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain and Raul in the Real pecking order.
As back-up to injury stricken Fernando Torres at Liverpool, he would get more opportunities to play, and Benitez is now weighing up his options as he creates a blueprint to sort out his impoverished attacking options.
No money will be available for a high profile signing, but he can raise funds by selling the likes of Andrei Voronin - who has been axed from the squad completely despite the lack of cover for Torres - Ryan Babel and Andrea Dossena.
The flaw in that plan, of course, is that the trio of Anfield fringe players are hardly in demand across Europe, and it may be difficult to offload big money-earners with such a patchy recent playing record.
Instead, Benitez may be tempted to let the three misfits go out on loan, at least creating a gap in the Anfield wage bill to bring in a loan player until the end of the season when he can turn the deal into a permanent signing.
Madrid may be prepared to accept that sort of deal for Van Nistelrooy or Rafael van der Vaart, and Tottenham will consider a similar plan for their out of favour Russian centre =-forward Roman Pavlyuchenko, providing a fee is agreed for the summer.
In the short-term, Benitez is praying he has Torres back for the visit to Everton on Sunday, a game he knows he dare not lose if he is to keep a sceptical Anfield support behind him.
The Spanish coach is aware that ,even though he has received complete backing from Liverpool's owners and MD Christian Purslow, if he loses the fans, then that support could quickly change.
And defeat at Goodison is unthinkable now, after crashing out of the Champions League in such embarrassing style, because losing to the Old Enemy would put the current crisis into stark context for the silent majority who are beginning to waver in their backing for the current regime.
There have been few murmurings of discontent so far, but Benitez has already twice been booed by his home support this season, and nothing is designed to create unrest more than defeat to Everton, especially at such a sensitive time.
Torres though, has made real progress in his recovery from an abdominal injury, and has trained for much of this week while his team-mates have been away in Hungary, and Benitez is now quietly confident he will have his main striking option back for the absolutely crucial showdown on Sunday.
I'd be happy enough taking RVN and VDV on loan for the rest of the season. As much as Ruudy is getting on, he's never relied on blinding pace (unlike Owen) and has that uncanny "knack" of being in the right place etc. his record for Madrid had been pretty exceptional, no? VDV is a bit of an enigma to me. He's one of those players you fantasise as being a creative gem, yet his failure to establish himself at madrid under two different managers and strange transfer to Hamburg (when seemingly having his pick of suitors) leads me to believe there's a character flaw there somewhere. He'd still be worth a cheap punt given he can play anywhere across the "3".
Add Pavlyuchenko into the mix as a potential loanee (I can't see 'Arry sanctioning a loan move to a top 4 rival) and january might not be that bad.
