Ryan Babel today agreed personal terms and passed his medical but unusually the two clubs are yet to agree on a fee. Liverpool have offered £10m and Ajax want £13m. I guess he’ll sign for £11.5m!

I’ve been holding off on posting because of the strangeness about the fee. The picture to the right convinced me it’s a done deal though.

Ryan Babel is a Dutch U-21 player who Van Basten said was the “next Henry.” I don’t like it when people call someone the next anything but I can see the similarities. At Liverpool he will be used mostly as a left-winger but there’s no reason why he can’t emulate Henry who started his Arsenal career on the left wing too.

It looks like Babel’s signature means the end of the attacking purchases for Liverpool this summer. I’m refusing to give up on Quaresma until the transfer window closes but it’s highly unlikely that there will be anything other than some defensive cover brought in between now and then.

Whether Babel is the answer, only time will tell. I would have preffered to see a more experienced out-and-out winger brought in but I trust that Rafa knows what suits his plans best. Ryan Babel is a good player and I’m glad to see him arriving. He might just turn out to be the biggest signing of the summer!

This signing continues a trend of goalscorers joining Liverpool this summer. Goals from all over the pitch was another problem last season. Rafa has addressed nearly all the problems from last season now.

Roll on August and Villa away…

Apparently Liverpool signed Yossi Benayoun today. I take a few hours off and I miss a signing! We all knew it was coming I guess, but still happened kind of suddenly. Although it does appear that he may not have passed his medical yet…
I for one am delighted with this deal. He’s moving from West Ham for an initial £3m, rising to £5m depending on certain clauses. While West Ham often used him as a winger I believe he is the replacement for Luis Garcia and that he is a step up in class.

Despite all the crucial Champion’s League goals Garcia scored in his time at Liverpool he never really adapted to life in the Premiership and was never able to break down stubborn defences. Benayoun is already suited to the Premiership and will be able to add that missing bit of creativity in the center of the park. I expect him to be used mostly as a substitute but that he will prove his worth.

Another great piece of business by Rafa! Now, who’s next…?

Fernando Torres has agreed a £26m transfer from Athletico Madrid to Liverpool. He will get around £90,000 a week in a 4 or 5 year deal. I’m hearing he has agreed personal terms and is in Liverpool as I type. So, you heard it here first! Torres has signed.

You can see my views on the Liverpool attack and the signing of Torres here. His statistics below show that he is what Liverpool are looking for. He’s a goals scorer, quick, good in the air and has a good touch. In signing Torres Benitez has solved the biggest problem Liverpool had last season. Putting the ball in the net when it counts! My only fear would be that too much would be expected of this young man in the season ahead. A new country, a new style of football and a very big transfer fee. Add to that the expectations that myself and Biff have been discussing and you get a very difficult situation indeed.

One Torres does not a title bring, but it’s a start!

Continuing my analysis of the Liverpool squad I today turn my attentions to the Midfield. The engine room, the heart beet, the creativity, the shield for the defence, and let’s not forget the wingers. It’s all in today’s look at the squad Benitez has assembled.

Center-Midfield

I thought I’d start with the center of midfield as it is the easiest to analyse. In Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Momo Sissoko, Liverpool have four central midfielders that would walk into just about any team in the World. They are truly top class. The trick for Benitez is to keep them all on his books and to keep them all happy.

Half of that job is almost complete now that Gerrard and Alonso have signed their contract extentions, but there seems to be a delay with Sissoko’s contract and Mascherano is only on loan for the next 12 months, although a fee has been agreed should Liverpool decide to buy him. Keeping them all happy will be a job that takes all of Benitez’s skills as a manager, but it might be as simple as those who perform play.

Despite the high quality of player in this position there was a lack of goals from them last season. Gerrad’s 11 was a healthy figure but nothing compared to the 20 plus he scored the previous season. Alonso is capable of many more goals than he has produced so far and the pressure must be put on him to score. Mascherano can scroe a few goals a season whil Sissoko seems to lack confidence in front of goal. Assists must also be increased but I believe that we have the right players in the squad for this position.

Of course Benitez didn’t feel he had enough headaches and added the highly rated Brazilian Lucas Leiva to his squad this summer. His reputation promises goals, asisits and tackling but being only 20 and coming straight from South America I think he should be given next season to adapt.

Right-Wing

Right-wing is one of the areas I want Liverpool to strengthen the most. Sure they need goals up front as a matter of some urgency but if you create better supply then the strikers you have will score more. Gerrard playing on the right-wing is not the answer. Considering the squad of players available for the last 3 years I agreed that he was most useful to the team out there, but you don’t get the best out of Gerrard when he is wide-right and there are better right-wingers out there. And yet there have been very few right-wingers linked to Liverpool so far this summer.

I wrote Jermaine Pennant off a long time ago, and if I’m honest I never really gave him a chance. He clearly wasn’t the number one target (Alves was the priority last summer) and he needed time to settle, despite playing in the same league as he did with his former club, Birmingham. His form improved near the end of the season and I was impressed with his displays in the latter rounds of the Champion’s League. Now that I want to keep him, I still feel that he is a squad player rather than first choice right-winger. Luis Garcia is not a right-winger for me, so in my eyes Liverpool have one right-winger on their books and he’s not first choice.

Roma’s Mancini is the only name that has been linked publicly so far. From the little I have seen of him he looks a skilful player who likes a few tricks, likes to take players on, can put crosses in and scores goals. Aaron Lennon would be my personal choice but I don’t think he’s within price range. There aren’t a glut of right-wingers out there of the standard Liverpol would need. Maybe Pennant will continue to surprise me and find some consistancy in his crossing and his performance. I would still like to see a second right-winger signed.

Left-Wing

The left-wing has been a problem area for Liverpool for some time. I am not, however, as worried about it as I am the right-wing. Bolo Zenden has left and Mark Gonzalez is near to completing his departure to Spain or Portugal. Even if no more left-wingers come in Harry Kewell - a player who has infuriated me to the point of hatred on many occasions - looked good near the end of the season and John Arne Riise provides an option for the left-wing that I really like.

Having said that I’d cash in on Kewell if anyone offered £3m or more and I’d sign another 2 left-wingers if the money was available. Florent Malouda is still an option. The reports are saying that either he isn’t first option or the money isn’t available to complete the transfer yet. I choose to believe the first theory as in previous seasons Benitez has lined up his second (or lower) choice option first before trying to push his first choice deal through. Just look at Pennant last season. So if not Malouda then who? David Silva of Valencia seems the favoured option. Simao Sambrosa’s name has come up again and since he can play left or right, he would be an excellent signing. Sambrosa and Silva with Kewell given one last year to prove himself and both wings are sorted. Seems to easy doesn’t it? One thing’s for sure, Benitez wouldn’t have let Gonzalez go so early if he wasn’t confident of bringing in a new left-winger. Just why Benitez has put more priority on the left than the right I do not know but I’m sure it will all become clear soon.

In terms of exits I have no problem with Zenden going, I wouldn’t have a problem with Garcia or Kewell leaving either, but I would have liked Gonzalez to be given another year. I feel he has more to offer. Maybe his attitude wasn’t up to scratch but I never heard any rumours of trouble with him. Sending him on loan for a season to build up him confidence and bringing him back into a more attack minded team might be the answer. If Bentiez chooses to sell him I’ll trust he knows something I don’t. Once he brings in good wingers I won’t care!

With the soap opera in full swing I thought I would take a look at what areas we can expect Benitez to look to strengthen this summer. Considering it was a lack of goals that cost Liverpool so dearly last season I thought I’d start with the attack.

To say the lack of goals is the fault of the strikers is true, but a little unfair. Crouch’s 18 goals, Kuyt’s 14, Bellamy’s 9 and Fowler’s 7 are a healthy enough return. If the rest of the team had chipped in with their fair share of goals it might have even gone unnoticed that none of the four strikers at the club had passed the 20 goal mark.

The midfield needs to look at itself as while Lampard and Ronaldo scored bucket loads for Chelsea and Man Utd respectively, Liverpool’s highest scoring midfielder was Steven Gerrard on 11 with the next being Luis Garcia on 6. The supply to the strikers must also be a concern for Benitez this summer, but the fact remains that of the four strikers on the clubs books last season none of them could be relied on to score the big goals regularly.

Since Michael Owen’s departure in the summer of 2004 Liverpool have lacked a number one striker. Someone who stands up and takes the responsibility to score the important goals. It is vital that Benitez finds this kind of striker this summer.

Fowler has already been released and replaced by Andriy Voronin, and Bellamy is waiting, with his golf clubs packed, for someone to match Liverpool’s £12m valuation. Kuyt and Crouch are sticking around, but their involvement will depend on the type of striker that is brought in, and indeed on how many.

So what are Benitez’s options? If the media are to believed it’ll be someone from David Villa, Samuel Eto’o, Fernando Torres, Michael Owen, Darren Bent, Diego Millito, Jermaine Defoe.

The Villa deal seems a non starter as he has a very high buy out clause and neither the club nor the player have expressed any desire to part company as of yet. Eto’o looks ready to leave Barcelona but there are sure to be plenty of takers even if the price goes as high as £35m. Just how much money Liverpool have to spend on a striker is unclear so I have my doubts that they can compete at that price. Of course if the likes of Chelsea don’t get involved it might be a more reasonable £25m. Still, it might be out of Liverpool’s price range.

Fernando Torres on the other hand looks very likely. He’s been linked with a move away from Athletico Madrid for the last few years now and their failure to qualify for the UEFA Cup should be the final straw for player and club. His price should be the right side of £20m and therefore has to be within range. Having “You’ll Never Walk Alone” writen on the inside of his captain’s armband and accidently letting it be seen earlier in the season is as clear a “come and get me” as you will ever see. I think that he is up for the move if Benitez decides to take him.

It’s hardly a secret that Michael Owen and Darren Bent would like to move to Liverpool. Owen’s return would, I believe, be a good thing for Liverpool. I don’t go along with the “he screwed the club” way of thinking or the “injury prone” nonsense. Michael Owen has always scored goals and is proven in the Premiership. Liverpool know what they would be getting with Owen and at £9m only a fool wouldn’t be interested. Bent is younger than Owen but isn’t proven at the highest level. I doubt he is Benitez’s no.1 target, but he is certainly under consideration. £17m is a ridiculous price for a player who has struggled to score against the big teams and who is unproven at the highest level. Rumour has it that Liverpool bid £10m for him (and that is why he rejected West Ham) and are willing to go to £12m. The fact that Bent was willing to reject £75,000 a week for a chance to play for Liverpool is a sign he has the type of character we like at Liverpool, but Owen still seems a better option.

Millito is the one I know least about. Those who have seen him play tell me he has a good eye for goal, is good in the air and while he isn’t the quickest is not slow either. He has a good goal scoring record in La Liga, but I find what passes for defending over there to be most amusing! A story emerged on the net yesterday that Liverpool have offered £13m for him so he looks to have done something to impress Benitez. The name of Jermaine Defoe keeps cropping up whenever the transfer window opens. I would be surprised if he was signed. He looks a decent player, but he has done so for a few years now without much improvement.

Goal scoring ability has to be what decides the striker Liverpool buy this summer. With Bellamy leaving they have a front line that isn’t exactly blessed with speed so some pace would also be a nice addition. Whether that means signing two strikers or whether they can land a man who has both in his locker remains to be seen.

For me it would be Eto’o and Owen. Eto’o is big and fast and knows how to use those attributes. His goal scoring record is one of the best in the World so in short he is just what Liverpool need. There is the danger that it could take him a while to adapt to the Premiership and he is off to the African Nation’s Cup in January/February so I would also sign Owen to take the pressure off him and cover for him during the Cup. The signing of Eto’o is unrealistic but Torres would do fine. I’d still sign Owen as well to give Torres time to adapt.

There is one other striker who has been linked to Liverpool this summer and that is Thierry Henry. Obviously this would be a dream signing. I don’t care that he is nearly 30 or that he was injured for large parts of last season. Thierry Henry is one of the best strikers the Premiership has ever seen and he would link the midfield and the attack beautifully at Liverpool. It’s one of those transfers you should not let yourself even consider. If the price was right though, you just never know in football…