Liverpool Eye Two Dutch Wingers For Carroll

£35 million is a lot of money, and as Liverpool are finding, if you spend it all on one player but don't use his main asset to your advantage, you won't always get your moneys worth. It could be worse though - they could still have Fernando Torres. Anyway, Liverpool will reportedly look to exploit Andy Carroll's heading talents by purchasing two natural wingers - something severely lacking a Liverpool; both Barcelona's Ibrahim Afellay and Hamburg's Eljero Elia.

In October of last year, Afellay, a now 25 year old Barcelona player said:

"Playing in the Premier League would be best for my prestige. I'd like to play for Liverpool or Manchester United , the top-level prospect for any player.

In the January transfer market however, he completed a move to Barcelona - a move which was quite an odd move for the player. Surely if an inexperienced attacking midfielder wanted to play games, they wouldn't attempt to push players like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets out of a side by joining Barcelona. Nevertheless, the deal was done, and unsurprisingly, Afellay has since found that his game time has been limited to only 9 League games.

Liverpool held a keen interest in Afellay before his move to the Nou Camp, and as the summer window approaches, talkSPORT claim:

"talkSPORT understands Afellay will speak with officials at the Nou Camp regarding his future in the coming weeks and if there are no assurances over his future, he will be free to leave this summer."

You may ask why Barcelona will want to sell a player they have only just purchased. Some say that it was simply a money making ploy on Barcelona's half. They recognised his potential, and saw that his contract at PSV was almost up, they had a tiny three million euro offer accepted, and signed the player to a long term contract. They now hope to sell him on for a lot more than they bought him for, due to the length of his contract at Barcelona. It's intriguing, but certainly a possibility.

On to Eljero Elia now, and another player that Liverpool were reportedly very close to signing in the January transfer window. His club, Hamburg confirmed a bid was received for Elia, but not from Liverpool, rather Wigan Athletic. However, a £13 million bid for the 24 year-old was quoted in certain publications, and Liverpool remain interested with Damien Comolli eyeing possible promising transfers.

There is no doubting that Elia has potential. In 2009 he was awarded the Johan Cruijff Award for "Young Player of the Year" in the Netherlands - an award that has previously been won by Arsenal legends Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars as well as Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart.

It seems Elia's services will be available in the summer too, as Hamburg's Technical Director Bastian Reinhardt admitted that he would be available if a “good offer” was submitted:

"In sporting terms we would like to keep him. But when we receive a good offer..."

So, this may be music to Andy Carroll's and Liverpool fans' ears. Next season may see the start of a new Liverpool, thriving on wingers' crosses into the box to be headed down expertly by the big Englishman to the predatory Luiz Suarez to finish with a goal. It looks like a recipe for success. But Liverpool need the investment first.

Man United, Arsenal & Liverpool target agrees Barca Move

PSV Eindhoven have announced that Ibrahim Afellay, a reported target for some of the top Premier League clubs has agreed to sign for Barcelona.

Despite interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, the talented Holland International who plays in the attacking midfield role as well as the wings is now currently negotiating personal terms with Barcelona over his proposed move to the Spanish giants.

A statement on Barcelona's website read:

 "PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona have reached an agreement on a deal to bring Ibrahim Afellay to Barca, subject to successfully settling personal terms between the player and the Catalan club over the coming weeks.

"Until the deal is finally settled, Ibrahim Afellay wishes to concentrate on the upcoming important games for PSV."

The players' agent Rob Jansen has also confirmed that personal terms are in progress but admitted that this section of the deal could take a while:

"That [agreeing personal terms] is definitely going to take some time," Jansen told Sports Promotion's official website.

"There is certainly no final agreement. When the time comes we will notify the media and the fans through our website."

If the deal is completed, as it is likely to, Afellay will join Barcelona in the January transfer window for an undisclosed fee, but one that some reports claim to be only around 2 - 4 million euros.

The talented Dutchman has played for PSV since 2003 and has scored a total of 34 goals in 154 games. After watching videos of the 24 year old, it is easy to understand why there is so much interest in the young man. It is also easy to see why he has chosen to play for Barcelona over Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, with the Spanish clubs fierce attacking force suited to Affelay's attacking play.

He is a creative player, and someone who would certainly walk into the current Liverpool side, while Manchester United - still looking for a future Paul Scholes and with a recent reliance on Nani, would welcome him to Old Trafford. Arsenal's excellent passing ability and attacking play would also suit Afellay, but the lure of playing alongside players such as Lionel Messi among others would have probably swayed his decision. Along with the rather more pleasant weather of Spain.

Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool fight for Dutch playmaker

You may not of heard of Ibrahim Afellay before, but by the summer transfer window, that will have changed. Above is a video of Afellay scoring for his native Holland in the recent International break against Sweden, in which he scored two good goals, as well as delivering a scintillating cross to assist his team-mate.

His talent has not gone un-noticed either, with all of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton all interested in the 24-year-old, who will be available on a free transfer in the summer as his contract will have expired at PSV Eindhoven.
He returned this interest with this:

"Playing in the Premier League would be best for my prestige. I'd like toplay for Liverpool or Manchester United , the top-level prospect for anyplayer. The transfer deadline is closed, so nothing new will happen now. All I can do is focus on PSV and I will continue to do so. And it looks now as if I will stay at Eindhoven until the end of the season."

Manchester United may be looking to add to their attacking options in the summer - if the rumours regarding Wayne Rooney leaving are true - so where better to start for the debt ridden club than with a free and talented youngster?

New ownership of Liverpool will mean that Hodgson - or whoever is in charge by the summer, will have lots of money at their disposal. A talented and creative player would be very attractive to Liverpool, who so far this season have lacked those very qualities - hence the reason they are 19th in the Premeir League with not many good signs in performance on the pitch.

Wherever this Dutchman goes, one thing is for sure - he will add something different to the team. As you can see from the video above, he has the finishing touch, but can also set up team-mates with fantastic crosses. Who doesn't need a player like that?