Source: Daily_Mail
Benitez's problems all add up to some clever accounting at Anfield
Money to play with: Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has been splashing out on new players this summer[LNB]Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow claims Rafa Benitez had a transfer budget of £20million this summer which, on initial scrutiny, does not quite add up.[LNB]Liverpool sold Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa and Sebastian Leto for a total of £36m and bought Glen Johnson, Alberto Aquilani and Sortis Kyrgiakos for a total of £39m, leaving £17m apparently unspent.[LNB]Even for a club whose accountants were forced to warn over thesummer their income might not be sufficient to meet their debts, thisseems a maths error too far. The explanation is that Liverpool havetaken a cue from Arsenal's management, which presents Arsene Wengerwith a transfer budget that is also expected to cover the cost ofextending the contracts of current players. [LNB]Thus, Robin van Persie's signing-on fee and wages came out of Wenger's £15m summer transfer budget. [LNB] [LNB] [LNB]So Benitez saw £17m spent on new contracts for Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Nevertheless, given the majority of Johnson's £18m fee was forgiven debt on Peter Crouch's move to Portsmouth, it could be argued Benitez had no new money to spend. Bolton 2 Liverpool 3: Gerrard screamer silences critics as Reds bounce backRafa's call to arms: Liverpool's rivals will suffer soon, says BenitezCARLING CUP: Holders United handed Wolves as Leeds await LiverpoolLIVERPOOL FC
