The Reds have been chasing the Villain for some time now, having previous bids of £12.5million and £15million rejected. The former Middlesbrough man was also a target for Arsenal‘s Arsene Wenger, but Downing indicated that he would prefer a move to Anfield.

Liverpool released a statement on their official website: “Liverpool FC tonight announced they had agreed a fee with Aston Villa for the transfer of Stewart Downing.

“Liverpool have now been granted permission to discuss personal terms with the player and arrange a medical.

Kenny Dalglish have already signed Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam.

Pic: skysports.com

Liverpool made a last gasp attempt to acquire the services of the 25 year old midfielder during the Premier League‘s January transfer window, but an inflated price tag and little time remaining for Ian Holloway to find an adequate replacement led the Reds to a failed pursuit. Being a boyhood Liverpool fan and having his heart set on a move to Anfield being widely reported, it has been expected that Adam would eventually do so.

Adam made a huge unexpected impression in the Premier League last season and even though Blackpool were relegated, staying in top-flight was inevitable for him. A huge boost for Liverpool fans, after discontent has been voiced about the clubs failed attempts to secure Phil Jones and Connor Wickham, as well as a rejected second bid of 15 million pounds for Aston Villa’s Stuart Downing. Liverpool are believed to be preparing an improved bid around £18 million.

It seems there is much to celebrate at Anfield, but with so many new faces arriving, whats happening with the surplus? The future doesn’t look bright for the remnants of Roy Hodgson’s rather short stay. Milla Jovanovic was given permission to find a new club to join. Wolves have made an enquiry about Paul Konchesky who could leave for a considerably lower fee. Joe Cole has been somewhat of a phantom at Anfield and his ‘use-or-lose’ status is still very unclear. With the influx of central-midfielders much trimming will need to be done.  Christian Poulsen has proved to be a strip of deadwood, while Jonjo Shelvey has been offered as a pot sweetener on more than one occasion now and surprisingly Raul Meireles has been linked with a move to Juventus.

All talk and little transfer out is should be a worrying factor for Kenny and the men from Fenway. It’s almost a month from season start and I’m sure Kenny would prefer a near complete squad to work with. All I know is, if the culling doesn’t begin soon, the club is going to have to buy another bus.

Nic Hoekstra

@theKaptiv

Pic: guardian.co.uk

Rodriguez put Liverpool ahead after 32 seconds, and volleyed a second before Dirk Kuyt made it 3-0 on 16 minutes.

Moussa Dembele gave Fulham hope with a crisp finish from Bobby Zamora’s pass.

Rodriguez smashed a spectacular third from 25 yards and Luis Suarez rounded Mark Schwarzer to make it 5-1 before Steve Sidwell fired a late consolation.

It was a sensational display from Liverpool, who have now scored 13 goals in their last three games and have climbed from 12th to fifth in the table since Kenny Dalglish took over from Roy Hodgson in January.

The Reds are two points clear of Tottenham, who play Manchester City on Tuesday and travel to Anfield on Sunday for a game that is effectively a play-off for the Europa League spot.

Suarez broke clear down the left and advanced into the penalty box before trying to pick out Kuyt.

The low cross was deflected towards goal by Carlos Salcido and although Schwarzer stopped it creeping in at the far post, Rodriguez was on hand to lash into the opposite corner.

Six minutes later, Glen Johnson found space behind Salcido and crossed to the far post, where Rodriguez volleyed low past Schwarzer.

There was a moment of controversy on 14 minutes when a long ball found Suarez bearing down on goal. The irrepressible Uruguayan took a tumble after an apparent push from Brede Hangeland but the officials rejected the visitors’ penalty appeals.

Any sense of grievance on Liverpool’s part was short-lived as Kuyt received the ball in space on the right and drilled a speculative effort towards the near post, which Schwarzer inexplicably allowed to slip through his fingers to gift the Dutchman a ninth goal in his last eight league games.

Suarez and Rodriguez both missed presentable chances before Clint Dempsey had Fulham’s first opportunity of the game just after the half-hour mark – but his low volley from a corner was cleared off the line by Johnson.

Fulham boss Mark Hughes brought on Zamora for Simon Davies at half-time and the change paid dividends as the home side began the second period in the ascendancy.

First Zamora had a goal-bound header blocked and then Dempsey fired narrowly over the bar from the edge of the area.

Fulham briefly threatened a comeback but Rodriguez’s superb drive from outside the area guaranteed Liverpool the points and allowed the Argentine to depart to a standing ovation.

Five minutes later, substitute Jonjo Shelvey threaded a pinpoint pass through to Suarez, who coolly took the ball around the goalkeeper and tapped in.

Despite being on the receiving end of a fearful hammering, Fulham refused to throw in the towel and Sidwell’s superb chest down and half-volley from the edge of the box would have graced any fixture.

As it was, the goal merely reduced the deficit to three and there was still time for Suarez, Shelvey and Kuyt to go close to adding a sixth.

That would simply have added further gloss to a superb display in a game in which captain Jamie Carragher made his 666th appearance to go second behind Ian Callaghan (857) in the Reds’ all-time list.

Source + Pic: news.bbc.co.uk

With new majority shareholder Stan Kroenke watching from the directors’ box, Wenger’s side appeared to have snatched a stoppage-time victory when Cesc Fabregas was tripped by Jay Spearing in the penalty area.

Robin van Persie scored from the spot but Arsenal couldn’t keep their composure and there was more drama to come, with Lucas Leiva bundled over by Emmanuel Eboue in the 12th minute of added time and Kuyt converting the spot-kick.

It leaves Arsenal six points behind leaders Manchester United with six games for each side to play and the Gunners’ confidence sure to dip even further after three consecutive draws on their own turf.

“Essentially we have cup final after cup final now,” was Wenger’s assessment of his team’s title chances when he wrote his programme notes.

But they were unable to rise to the occasion and a season that at one stage could have delivered a quadruple will now almost certainly end up with nothing to celebrate.

The hosts were able to recall Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny after a finger injury, while Switzerland defender Johan Djourou returned from a dislocated shoulder despite being ruled out for the season when he picked up the problem.

Djourou could have given a penalty away in the opening stages of the match when Spearing went over his challenge in the area, but referee Andre Marriner waved play on.

Another goalless draw for Arsenal appeared unlikely during a burst of goalmouth action which started when Pepe Reina parried Theo Walcott’s drive and John Flanagan had to clear desperately when Van Persie hooked the rebound into the danger area.

From the resulting corner from Van Persie, Laurent Koscielny jumped above Jamie Carragher and headed against the crossbar, with Walcott claiming a handball against Lucas when his follow-up shot.

Van Persie also had the ball in the net when he volleyed home Fabregas’s long pass over the Liverpool defence, but the Dutch forward had been ruled offside.

Liverpool soaked up the rest of the first-half pressure without conceding, although Flanagan and Skrtel were given yellow cards for rash challenges.

Fabio Aurelio also picked up an injury and needed to be replaced by Jack Robinson, meaning the visitors had youngsters in both full-back positions.

After the break Kenny Dalglish’s team threatened to take the lead when Uruguay forward Luis Suarez went on a run and curled his finish just wide. He also tested Szczesny with a long-range effort.

England striker Andy Carroll had looked a threat and Liverpool were breathing a sigh of relief when he went over his ankle but was able to play on.

Carragher, however, needed to be substituted after smacking into Flanagan and getting carried off on a stretcher in need of oxygen and a neck brace.

That accounted for the long period of injury-time, with Van Persie opening the scoring before Kuyt’s leveller with the final kick of the game.

Wenger responded by stalking towards Dalglish to protest that Lucas had dived but the Scot’s angry response quickly brought an end to the coversation.

Source + Pic: timeslive.co.za

Carroll, the most expensive English player after his 35 million pound ($57,28 million) transfer from Newcastle in January, lashed in the opener from the edge of the box after 13 minutes and added his second shortly after Dirk Kuyt’s strike.

City’s first half went from bad to worse after striker and captain Carlos Tevez hobbled off with a hamstring injury and is set to miss the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United on Saturday.

Kuyt slotted the ball neatly into the net on 34 minutes before Carroll’s second, a header from a Raul Meireles cross, left Liverpool in sixth place on 48 points with six games remaining. City remain fourth on 56 points from 32 matches.

“The fans have been fantastic ever since I’ve been here,” a beaming Carroll, who made his debut against United on March 6 after a long spell out with injury, told Sky Sports.

Fellow forward Kuyt said the signing of Carroll and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez in January had made a huge difference to Liverpool.

“It makes it a lot easier if you get more quality in the team,” the Netherlands forward said.

“We were very happy with the signings of Andy and Luis and I think you can already see the quality.”

Liverpool will now seek to beat Tottenham to fifth place, and possibly even City to fourth, though Kuyt said the task would be a difficult one.

“We like to look up to fifth place. I know it’s very difficult but we have to try,” he said.

An apologetic Roberto Mancini said his team would put the defeat out of their minds ahead of the FA Cup derby, Man City’s last realistic chance of silverware this season.

“It’s important to forget this and we prepare for the semi-final,” the Italian said.

“Tonight I made a mistake, it’s my fault. I’m very sorry for the fans.

“We conceded a lot of chances in the first 20 minutes, after that we played.”

Source + Pic: timeslive.co.za

Captain Gerrard was set to be sidelined for a month but could feature at West Brom in the Premier League on 2 April.

Reds first-team coach Steve Clarke said: “They are all improving. Fingers crossed, we will have Martin Kelly and Steven Gerrard back training next week.

“We hope the same for Jonjo Shelvey, who has been out for a long time. Fabio Aurelio is also making good progress.”

Gerrard suffered the injury in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 6 February.

Hamstring injuries have sidelined both Kelly and Aurelio while Shelvey underwent a knee operation in February.

The news of the imminent return of several of his squad will come as a timely boost to Reds manager Kenny Dalglish ahead of crucial games against Manchester City at Anfield on 11 April and a trip to Arsenal on 17 April.

Clarke said the returning players will give the rest of the squad a lift going into a key month in their season.

“It will be a difficult month in April with a lot of tough games, but if we can have our full squad ready to go then we’ll look forward to the challenge,” Clarke added.

The former Chelsea and West Ham assistant was impressed with the manner in which the Merseysiders bounced back from last Thursday’s Europa League exit with a 2-0 Premier League win at Sunderland on Sunday that allowed them to further cement sixth place.

“Everybody at the football club was disappointed when we went out of Europe at such an early stage, but I think they bounced back at the Stadium of Light which is a difficult place to go and get a result,” Clarke commented.

“The players have proven they can bounce back from disappointments and as everybody in football knows, that’s very important.”

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Liverpool and Manchester City both failed to overturn first-leg deficits as they were dumped out of the Europa League on Thursday night.

Liverpool were trailing Braga 1-0 from the first leg of their last-16 tie and, although Andy Carroll started his first game for the club, the Reds struggled to produce clear-cut chances and were held to a 0-0 draw.

Liverpool, who have qualified for Europe every year since 1999, will have to finish fifth or above in the Premier League if they are to be involved next season.

Mario Balotelli was sent off as Manchester City failed to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit against Dynamo Kiev, with a 1-0 win on the night not enough to prevent them crashing out of the Europa League.

Balotelli was issued a straight red card for a crashing 36th-minute challenge on Goran Popov, but City gave themselves hope three minutes later when Aleksandar Kolarov hit a low free-kick under Oleksandr Shovkovskiy.

The Ukrainians defended deep in the second half and restricted City to few chances, threatening to make the game safe themselves when Denis Garmash had a header cleared off the line but holding on for their last eight place.

Rangers – having secured a 0-0 draw in the Netherlands in the first leg – were defeated 1-0at home by PSV Eindhoven. Jeremain Lens scored in the 13th minute and it proved enough to send the Eredivisie side through as the hosts struggled to provide a response.

Santi Cazorla and Giuseppe Rossi teamed up brilliantly to help Villarreal ease into the quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at El Madrigal.

Holding a slender lead following their 3-2 win in Germany last week, the Spanish side made sure of their progression thanks to Cazorla’s first-half goal and Rossi’s strike after the break against a spirited Leverkusen side who clawed one back through Gonzalo Rodriguez’s late own goal.

Porto’s pursuit of the treble continued as they progressed with a 2-1 home win over CSKA Moscow.

Having taken a one-goal lead back to Portugal with an impressive win a week ago, Andres Villas Boas’ men got off to the perfect start when Hulk gave them a first-minute lead. Things improved 23 minutes later when Fredy Guarin put them 3-0 up overall and, despite Zoran Tosic pulling one back for Moscow, Porto’s pursuit of the league, cup and European trophies remains intact.

Spartak Moscow hammered Ajax 3-0 at the Luzhniki Stadium to wrap up a 4-0 aggregate win with a free-kick from Brazilian Alex adding to first-half strikes from Dmitri Kombarov and Welliton.

Spartak, who had suffered an embarrassing 4-0 loss at Rostov in their Russian League opener on Monday night, dominated although Christian Eriksson hit the bar for Ajax and was also denied by Spartak goalkeeper Andriy Dikan.

Reigning Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg staged an heroic comeback bid at home toFC Twente, but their 2-0 win on the night was not enough and they slid to a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

Roman Shirokov and Alexander Kerzhakov gave Zenit hope with first-half strikes but Twente defended well and ought to have put the game out of Zenit’s reach when Oguchi Onyewu missed a fine chance late on.

Benfica nudged through 3-2 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw with Paris St Germain in the French capital. Nicolas Gaitan opened the scoring for Benfica on 27 and Mathieu Bodmer’s 35th-minute equaliser was not enough.

Source + Pic: soccernet.espn.go.com

United suffered their second league defeat in a week after losing 2-1 at Chelsea on Tuesday, leaving them just three points ahead of Arsenal having played a game more.

Kuyt opened the scoring after 34 minutes from point-blank range after some trickery by Luis Suarez and the workaholic Dutchman doubled Liverpool’s lead five minutes later after a terrible mistake by the unfortunate Nani.

The Portuguese playmaker was then carried off on a stretcher before halftime after a bad tackle by Jamie Carragher.

Kuyt put the game beyond United midway through the second half, again with a simple finish, after keeper Edwin van der Sar failed to hold a curling Suarez free kick.

United substitute Javier Hernandez scored a consolation in stoppage time.

United have 60 points from 29 games. Arsenal have 57 from 28 with third-placed Manchester City on 53 from 29.

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

The 22-year-old, whose £35million price tag is a record for a British player, has not had chance to turn out for his new club as he has been sidelined with a thigh injury.

His last game was for Newcastle on December 28.

Dalglish has always insisted he would be patient, but with the striker taking part in full training sessions this week, there is a chance he could be in the squad to face Liverpool’s arch-rivals at Anfield.

The Reds boss was giving nothing away, however, at his pre-match press conference on Thursday morning.

“His training is always progressing but he has not yet progressed to a game yet,” said Dalglish, who celebrates his 60th birthday on Friday.

“We have said all along we have been delighted with his progress and what he has done. There have not been anything which he has done which has not been encouraging.

“Whether he will be involved on Sunday, I’m sure Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) would love to know, but we don’t know yet.”

And after he and Carroll were pictured at a concert in Liverpool last week Dalglish joked: “He might not even be a substitute – he might be going to see Boyzone.”

Source + Pic: football365.com

Ten months ago the Spaniard signed a fresh six-year deal with the club but warned that he could follow international team mate Fernando Torres, who completed a £50million switch to Chelsea last week, out of Anfield in a bid to further his ambitions.

United are actively scouring Europe for a successor to Edwin van der Sar after he announced he will retire from the game at the end of this season and Reina, one of their main targets, has admitted that Liverpool’s absence from the Champions League has given him food for thought.

“Van der Sar is hanging up his gloves [at United] and people say that Arsenal are [also] looking,” Reina told Spanish radio station Onda Cero.

“I can’t do or say anything; I renewed my contract with Liverpool last year. But what a player wants, logically, is to challenge for titles.”

He added: “I would like to think that the departure of players does not mean that we are slipping.

“I think Liverpool will always be a big club but we have to be realistic and the reality is that right now we are not at the level of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal. That’s the truth.

“We used to fight to be amongst the top teams and to be in the Champions League but sadly in the last two years that has not been the case.

“Obviously, I want to play in the Champions League and I want to aspire to win titles.”

Source: bleacherreport.com