Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said he is
ready to move for another defender after
confirming that Sebastian Coates will be out for
“most of the season”.
Coates is scheduled to have surgery on Friday after
suffering knee ligament damage while on
international duty with Uruguay last week. The injury has left Rodgers short of cover in central
defence and raised the possibility that Liverpool
could resurrect their bid to sign Tiago Ilori from
Sporting Lisbon. Rodgers did not name any potential transfer targets
at a press conference on Thursday, but confirmed
that Coates was set for a lengthy absence. “He’ll probably be out for most of the season,” he
said. “It is disappointing for him because he has
never given me a minute’s problem, and this was
probably the year he would go out and play.” Asked whether he would look to bring in another
defender as cover, Rodgers said: “It’s something
that we are looking at -- a player to come into that
position.” Coates was signed by Kenny Dalglish from Nacional
for £7 million in summer 2011, but has played only
12 Premier League games in two years. He rarely
featured during the second half of last season,
making only one start after a poor performance in
the 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round defeat at League One Oldham on January 27. He had been linked with a move to Fulham during
the summer, but the chances of selling him in the
short term have now disappeared. Rodgers, meanwhile, said he was unaware of a
Napoli bid for Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel. “I
haven’t heard anything about that whatsoever,” he
said. “Ian Ayre [the club’s managing director]
always informs me of what’s happening, and I
haven’t heard anything.” The manager admitted that he was disappointed to
miss out on Brazil international Willian, who is
close to completing a move to Tottenham.
Liverpool had been keen to sign the Anzhi
Makhachkala midfielder, and had made good
progress towards a deal last weekend, but he underwent a medical in London on Wednesday. Rodgers said: “Over the course of the summer, we
have been very ambitious in our attempts to try to
get players to improve the team. Some might say
we’ve been too ambitious, but this is Liverpool
Football Club. “We are trying to get the best players we possibly
can. If we can’t get them in, we have to move on.
“If we’re going to climb the league, we have to
have quality -- and that’s our aim. If you don’t get
the players you want, there is always an initial
disappointment. But you can’t dwell on it. “We have got 11 days of the window to go. If we
can get in the players we want, then it will have
been a very good window for us.”
ready to move for another defender after
confirming that Sebastian Coates will be out for
“most of the season”.
Coates is scheduled to have surgery on Friday after
suffering knee ligament damage while on
international duty with Uruguay last week. The injury has left Rodgers short of cover in central
defence and raised the possibility that Liverpool
could resurrect their bid to sign Tiago Ilori from
Sporting Lisbon. Rodgers did not name any potential transfer targets
at a press conference on Thursday, but confirmed
that Coates was set for a lengthy absence. “He’ll probably be out for most of the season,” he
said. “It is disappointing for him because he has
never given me a minute’s problem, and this was
probably the year he would go out and play.” Asked whether he would look to bring in another
defender as cover, Rodgers said: “It’s something
that we are looking at -- a player to come into that
position.” Coates was signed by Kenny Dalglish from Nacional
for £7 million in summer 2011, but has played only
12 Premier League games in two years. He rarely
featured during the second half of last season,
making only one start after a poor performance in
the 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round defeat at League One Oldham on January 27. He had been linked with a move to Fulham during
the summer, but the chances of selling him in the
short term have now disappeared. Rodgers, meanwhile, said he was unaware of a
Napoli bid for Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel. “I
haven’t heard anything about that whatsoever,” he
said. “Ian Ayre [the club’s managing director]
always informs me of what’s happening, and I
haven’t heard anything.” The manager admitted that he was disappointed to
miss out on Brazil international Willian, who is
close to completing a move to Tottenham.
Liverpool had been keen to sign the Anzhi
Makhachkala midfielder, and had made good
progress towards a deal last weekend, but he underwent a medical in London on Wednesday. Rodgers said: “Over the course of the summer, we
have been very ambitious in our attempts to try to
get players to improve the team. Some might say
we’ve been too ambitious, but this is Liverpool
Football Club. “We are trying to get the best players we possibly
can. If we can’t get them in, we have to move on.
“If we’re going to climb the league, we have to
have quality -- and that’s our aim. If you don’t get
the players you want, there is always an initial
disappointment. But you can’t dwell on it. “We have got 11 days of the window to go. If we
can get in the players we want, then it will have
been a very good window for us.”
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