Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC's Albert Riera sends out warning to Man City ahead of crunch Premier League clash
HISTORY and heritage versus finance and potential: it is a question that certain footballers will have to answer this summer when the transfer window opens.[LNB]With an ever-decreasing band of top class players available, invariably the same clubs competing for the same prizes find themselves chasing the same targets, so what will ultimately prove decisive?[LNB]In the red corner you have Liverpool; 18 league titles, five European Cups but lacking economic firepower. Standing in the blue corner, meanwhile, are Manchester City - their CV is short of silverware but their bank balance is burgeoning.[LNB]Put simply, City - backed by the billionaires of Abu Dhabi - have the potential to blow Liverpool or any of their other competitors out of the water; most clubs are finding it impossible to compete in such a landscape.[LNB]If City decide to draw up a contract with figures that resemble an international telephone number, they will, more often than not, win the race; looking at it rationally, what would you do if someone wanted to double or treble your salary?[LNB]It must be said, however, there are still plenty of top footballers who can see beyond pounds, shillings and pence and just want to be able to say they have pulled on the shirt of one of the world's top clubs - think Fernando Torres, for example.[LNB]So, with that in mind, it is significant to listen to the views of Albert Riera ahead of tomorrow's showdown between Liverpool and City at Eastlands, particularly as he has experienced life on both sides of the fence.[LNB]When he played for City four years ago, the massive turnaround in their fortunes was just starting to begin but Riera never settled and was only too happy to end his loan spell and return to Espanyol.[LNB]Compare that to when he discovered Liverpool were pursuing him. Despite more money being offer elsewhere, Riera only had eyes for the Reds and if he was asked to choose between his current and former employers now, his decision would ever alter.
