Benitez wary of Man City
The Liverpool manager fears that the takeover at City by people close to the ruling family of the oil rich emirate of Abu Dhabi will inevitably force transfer fees up, making the task of securing top level players that much harder for teams like Liverpool attempting to mount a serious title challenge.
Liverpool had a relatively quiet summer on the transfer front despite paying around £20 million for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane and a protracted, and ultimately unsuccessful, pursuit of Gareth Barry.
Addressing expectations that the arrival of Keane could prove the catalyst for Liverpool to be crowned champions for the first time since 1990, Benitez was eager to stress that other teams in the division had spent big, and warned that City may do so again in January.
"Our supporters need to know we are trying to do our best," said Benitez.
"We spent £20 million on Torres. We spent £20 million on Keane so now people say we have to win.
"United has spent £20 million on Nani; £20 million on Hargeaves; £18 million on Carrick; £30 million on Rooney before that and £30 million on Ferdinand before - some of these players are on the bench.
"It is important to understand that it is not easy to win the title."
Benitez went on to highlight that Aston Villa, too, have spent big this term, further strengthening the competition at the top of the table, but refuted the idea that the biggest spenders will naturally be the ones to take the trophies.
"You cannot just win the title by spending money but Chelsea won for two years spending big, big money," he said. "Afterwards Manchester United won spending lots of money too.
"If we are talking about spending money then maybe Manchester City will win the title this year.
"It is not just a question of money but if you have more money it is easier. If you don't have too much money, you must do the job as best you can.
"If we are talking now, maybe they [Manchester City] need time but if we talk in January maybe they will buy five players...then you never know.
"But it is not just a question of 'I will invest more and I will win'. You cannot guarantee anything."
On a dramatic final day of the transfer window news leaked that Manchester City had made a £45 million bid for Liverpool's Fernando Torres, a suggestion the Liverpool manager insisted he had no knowledge of.
Labels: Liverpool, Premiership, Rafael Benitez, transferências
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 05, 2008 at 10:43 AM.
