Kenny Dalglish back at Liverpool with Rafael Benitezs blessing
03 Jul 2009 - 20:10:15
Dalglish, Anfield's greatest ever player and the man who won a league and cup double in his first season as manager, will also work with the club's marketing department as a roving ambassador for Liverpool, in a similar role to the one enjoyed by Sir Bobby Charlton at Manchester United.
Liverpool's managing director Christian Purslow said: 'In our very first meeting, Rafa and I agreed we wanted to try and bring Kenny back to the club to help Rafa really drive forward our academy, which is at the heart of our plans for the future.
We are delighted he has agreed to join us and I am sure he will be successful in his new role back at the club.'
The appointment, first mooted in April, comes as part of a rigorous restructuring of Anfield's backroom landscape, with Benitez sacking more than a dozen staff as he looks to rejuvenate the club's coaching set up at all levels.
Meanwhile, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina revealed on Friday that he does not believe Benitez will countenance selling Javier Mascherano or Xabi Alonso despite concerted interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid.
'The manager has very clear ideas and at the moment he is not thinking about selling,' said Reina. 'He wants to keep a team he knows very well together. Anyone who wants to affect the team's structure will have to pay an awful lot of money.'
Sources close to the club insist neither Alonso or Mascherano will be sold for financial reasons, despite reports in the United States on Friday that the MLB, baseball's governing body, has loaned co-owner Tom Hicks millions of dollars to help run his Texas Rangers franchise. Liverpool's finances are not believed to be linked to those of Hicks's other sporting interests.
Real believe a bid of £35 million will be enough to tempt Hicks and his partner, George Gillett, to force Benitez to sell Alonso and it had been suggested Liverpool had asked for the chance to study their books before negotiating a price. But those close to the club insist any decision on Alonso or Mascherano will be based on football, rather than financial, issues.
