Italian giants Internazionale FC have confirmed that they have made a bid for Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano (12/1 Inter Milan – Champions League outright).

The Argentina captain has confirmed that he wants to leave the Anfield club in the current transfer window after becoming disillusioned on Merseyside.

Mascherano has not travelled with his team-mates to their Europa League qualifier against Turkish side Trabzonspor and he could have played his last game for the club.

The 26-year-old has been linked with a move to follow former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez to Inter all summer and according to the club’s sporting director, Marco Branca, the San Siro outfit have made a firm for the player.

He said: “I sent an offer to Liverpool by fax on Tuesday and I am waiting for a reply from them.

“We’re not speaking to the player at the moment because we want to do this in the right way and make sure that Liverpool are happy.

“We’ve made a very good offer, around the amount they are asking for. We have a strong team here, the best in Europe, but we would like to add one or two players to make us even stronger.”

Inter (Evens – Serie A outright) have reported to have made a bid of around £20m for the defensive midfielder as they look to retain their Serie A title.

The blue side of Milan had an outstanding campaign last season, winning the domestic double and the Champions League under former manager Jose Mourinho.

Benitez will be keen to continue that success with Inter and the bid they have put in for Mascherano is understood to be more than a rival offer from Barcelona.

The Catalan club made an offer of around £16m for the midfielder – which Liverpool have rejected – however Barca star Lionel Messi has urged the Premier League club to sell the player this summer.

He said: “Javier won’t play for the club again, I can assure you of that, and I think the Liverpool coach knows that now.

“Javier’s family are unhappy and the pressure of seeing that is making him depressed. Liverpool must act humanely and let him go.”

Mascherano was a favourite of Benitez and he could be persuaded to join the Italian club because he would face a tough challenge to break into Barca’s star-studded midfield, which includes the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.

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