For all the dreamers over there:
Liverpool's £17m for Javier Mascherano
Liverpool's American owners are ready to signal their commitment to the club by funding the £17million capture of Javier Mascherano.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett are confident they will today wrap up the refinancing package that will strengthen their control at Anfield, despite efforts by DIC to buy them out.
And with it, the two billionaires want to offer a message of intent to fans which they hope will put behind them the tension and unrest of the past few weeks. By signing midfielder Mascherano on a permanent basis, it will offer concrete evidence to fans that there is still big money to invest in players, and they intend to spend big in their quest for a successful team.
But more significantly, it will show their backing for manager Rafael Benitez.
Liverpool will have work to do to persuade the midfielder to sign, though, because last night he hinted that he could be ready to move on from England. He has been strongly linked with a move to Juventus or Barcelona.
He said: "At Liverpool I have found my home. However I feel that now the time has come to move on. Maybe I would like to leave the Premier League. A move to Juventus? Well I like
to travel.
"
But there is now real determination to convince the Argentinian to stay. Hicks and Gillett were the subject of protests from supporters at recent matches, who made calls for their removal as owners of the club, and they want to ease that situation.
A source at bankers RBS, who are offering the refinance package, confirmed that the £350million deal should go through today and that, contrary to fans fears, will be stacked largely against Hicks and Gillett, and not the club.
Benitez is hoping to complete the sale of Momo Sissoko to Juventus for £9m over the weekend.
Sunday Mirror