Roy Hodgson has admitted some of the Liverpool squad are “disenchanted” following last season’s poor form but he has vowed to bring the magic back to Anfield – Liverpool are valued at 12/1 to win the Premier League - and says the club are working hard on signing new players.

Hodgson is currently preparing for his first game in charge of the Reds – a pre-season friendly against Al-Hilal in Switzerland on Saturday evening – and, just a few weeks into his new job, says the search for new players to improve the squad is about to be stepped up.

Liverpool have been linked with a whole host of players so far this summer, including the likes of Paraguay ace Victor Caceres, Fulham defender Brede Hangeland and even former Everton forward James Beattie, but Hodgson has said the club’s fans should not believe everything they read in the papers or on the internet.

Among the former Fulham boss’ most-important tasks, however, before he can add new talent to his squad, is persuading star duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres that the future is bright at Anfield. So far Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea) has been the only first-team departure since the end of the season, but Emiliano Insua (Napoli) and David Ngog (West Brom on loan) could be the next players to leave.

Hodgson is prepared to give all of his youthful squad a chance to impress out in Switzerland before he begins to chop and change before the start of the new season, which kicks off with a tough encounter at home to Arsenal on August 15 (Liverpool to win 3-0 – 20/1).

“We are working very hard on making certain the players we have at the club who you would call the ‘good players’ are going to be with us for next season,” Hodgson told the club’s website.

“The board are working very hard in that area. Some players are a bit disenchanted after what happened last season and we want to make sure we get that enchantment back.

“We are looking to add to and improve the squad, but I prefer not to talk or say what we are doing until we have something concrete to announce.”

It is obvious that Hodgson needs to sign several players, most notably in defence and attack, ahead of the new season but he is well aware some of the names doing the rounds in the media are way off his list of targets.

“We are being linked with players left, right and centre and it amuses me that we are sometimes linked with players we haven’t even heard of,” he added.

“I have great faith in the Liverpool public that they will see through the snippets of information they may read in the newspapers, take it with a pinch of salt and wait for an official announcement.”

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