Source: Telegraph
Liverpool face triple wage demands from Javier Mascherano
An agreement has been reached with Portsmouth over a £17 million deal that would see the England right-back on a salary of around £4 million a year.
Mascherano, despite his importance to Rafa Benitez's side, currently remains one of the lowest paid first team players on Liverpool's books on £25,000 a week and the player is demanding closer parity to other high earners at the club such as Fernando Torres, who is paid over three times that amount.
'With Mascherano's Argentina international team-mate Carlos Tevez poised to agree a deal with Manchester City that would see he earn around £120,00 a week, recent developments have only further entrenched Mascherano's belief that he is under valued at Anfield.
According to a report in the Mirror newspaper, Macherano is set to use Barcelona's interest in him as leverage to strike a new deal.
Benitez is insistent that the player will not be sold and has slapped a prohibitive £50 million price tag on his head, a figure the Catalans have balked at.
However, the ongoing uncertainty over Mascherano's standing at Liverpool has given the European champions encouragement that he may yet be available at a reduced fee.
The 25-year-old still has three years left on his current contract after his unhappy time at West Ham was ended when Benitez rescued him from the London club's reserves.
