Roy Hodgson has bolstered his Liverpool side (12/1 Premier League Outright) with the £2.3million signing of Middlesbrough goalkeeper Brad Jones, who qualifies as a ‘home-grown’ player under the new league rules.
The Reds boss has drafted the 28-year-old Australia international into his Anfield squad to provide cover for number one Jose Reina for this campaign.
Jones, who has made 75 first-team appearances for Boro and spent time on loan at Blackpool, Rotherham, Stockport and Sheffield Wednesday, qualifies as a home-grown player as the Teessiders signed him from Australian amateur side Bayswater City.
Jones signed for the Reds on a three-year deal on Tuesday after the two clubs agreed a fee and he passed a medical with the Merseyside giants on Monday evening. But, despite his arrival, Hodgson is unlikely to pitch him into the side to face Manchester City in the Premier League next Monday.
Reina remains his number one, despite his bizarre own goal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal, as the former Fulham boss looks to bring silverware to the club in his first season (Liverpool 2/1 To Win A Major Trophy).
Following the match Hodgson said: “Pepe Reina is very disappointed. I thought he did very well as he’s struggled with a shoulder injury.”
Meanwhile, Hodgson is hopeful that Javier Mascherano will stay at Anfield, despite confirming that he will sell the Argentine midfielder if a good offer is made for his services.
On Mascherano, who has been linked with a move to Italian giants Inter Milan (Evens Serie A Outright) to be reunited with former Reds boss Rafael benitez, Hodgson said: “As yet we haven’t had any offers. There’s two weeks to go in the transfer window and some of these clubs for some reason like to come in with offers on the 28th or 29th of August.
“But we want to keep him here and we will keep him here unless an offer comes along that is correct – one that is commensurate with his value and one where we would think it would be wrong to turn down because we’ve said to him if that offer comes in we’ll accept it.
“At the moment it’s not there, it’s not even on the horizon. If all these clubs are interested it would be nice if they contacted Liverpool one day.”
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Cardiff boss Dave Jones has warned his players they cannot use the much-criticised Wembley playing surface as an excuse if they struggle against Blackpool (Cardiff 13/10, Blackpool 21/10, draw 9/4 90 Minutes) in Saturday’s Championship play-off final.