Here are your Liverpool morning headlines for Friday, January 13.
John Henry flies out to seal £257m deal as Liverpool wait on FSG promise
It was the first time in nearly three years that reporters in Boston got to speak to one of the two most prominent people in Fenway Sports Group on Wednesday, writes Dave Powell.
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner sat alongside Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Red Sox president Sam Kennedy as they paraded star Rafael Devers to the assembled media after the Dominican had inked an 11-year $313.5m (£257.3m) deal to remain with the team after it had looked at one stage like he would be heading out of the exit at Fenway Park.
FSG had to nail the Devers deal in Boston. Having lost star man Xander Bogaerts last month to the San Diego Padres after being unable to make a competitive offer, and three years on from them trading All-Star and World Series winner Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers after being unable to come to an agreement to keep Betts in Boston for the long haul, getting Devers to commit saw them take some of the sting out of the criticism that had been coming their way for some time. Devers commitment to being a Sox player for the next decade gives fans the cornerstone franchise player that they craved, and it required FSG to commit some serious funds in order to get it done.
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp's perfect Liverpool midfielder has just been 'put up for sale'
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While Werner was there to field questions there was one notable absentee; John W. Henry.
Henry was booed last week when he took his seat at Fenway Park to watch the NHL Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and the FSG-owned Pittsburgh Penguins, fans in Boston making their feelings known towards the 72-year-old that they were unhappy with the lack of investment in the team at a time when, as is being mirrored in Liverpool, their rivals were willing to spend much more.
Werner was quick to explain away Henry's absence as a prior 'conflict', but he did stress that Henry, who has been accused of being something of an absentee owner when it comes to communicating with the fan bases of the teams he owns on both sides of the Atlantic, had been active in getting the deal for Devers done, even being in the party that flew out to see him in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, over the festive period.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Liverpool 'keeping an eye' on Bundesliga star available for free
Liverpool could make a move for a new defender in the coming months, if the latest reports are to be believed.
The January transfer window is open, and the Reds are continuing to be linked with potential new signings. Midfielder remains the area of the pitch which is getting the most attention in terms of need of strengthening.
Jurgen Klopp has already brought one new face to the club this month. Cody Gakpo has arrived from PSV Eindhoven in a deal that could be worth more than £40m.
Now a fresh report has claimed that a new defender could be on Liverpool's radar. According to journalist Ben Jacobs, the Reds are showing an interest in Eintracht Frankfurt centre-back Evan Ndicka.
Jacobs, speaking on the Football Terrace, has claimed that Liverpool are one of a number of clubs who are showing an interest in signing Ndicka in the summer. It has been claimed that Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are all in the race to sign the player.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
READ NEXT:
- Joao Felix red card means Liverpool ban after horror tackle on Chelsea debut
- Darwin Nunez hands Liverpool injury scare as reason for training absence confirmed
- Liverpool midfielder was mentored by Steven Gerrard after turning down Manchester United - but can't tackle one team-mate
- 'There's no way' - Jude Bellingham delivers blunt message amid Liverpool transfer links
- Liverpool were 'in the race' to sign midfield wonderkid before £12m 'snub'
