Benat Etxebarria (Real Betis)

Liverpool Ready to Trigger £16.2m Release Clause as Rodgers Pursues ‘New Xabi Alonso’ Benat Etxebarria

Anfield side set sights on Real Betis midfielder.

Liverpool are set to step up their pursuit of Spanish international Benat Etxebarria, undeterred by Real Betis’s insistence that any prospective suitor must meet the player’s release clause to have any hope of landing the midfielder who has been likened to Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso.

The 25 year old has 18 months to run on his current contract and has a €20m (£16.2m) clause that Brendan Rodgers is keen to meet. The Anfield boss will push Liverpool’s American owners to foot the bill for such a bid as he looks to strengthen his midfield.

The former Athletic Bilbao man has been in fine form over the past 18 months which has led to him being awarded his first senior Spanish cap in May.

Rodgers has had the stylish midfielder scouted on a number of occasions this season and is hopeful he can tempt Benat into making a move to the Merseyside club.

Benat has been a chief assist maker for the Andalusian side, propelling them from mid-table to fifth spot an a genuine push for a Champions League berth. Real Betis boss Pepe Mel would be loathed to lose the in-form playmaker but appears resigned to the prospect of speculative interest leading to a concrete offer for the midfielder.

On the subject Mel stated;

“Benat’s clause is €20million and he will only leave for €20million, to sell him for anything less would be a disaster. The club must defend its position and Benat knows that. To be able to go the market and find a replacement, the only number is €20million.”

Rodgers hopes to beef up a midfield that has looked brittle this term and has at time lacked invention. Loaned in Real Madrid youngster Nuri Sahin has spent time out injured and hasn’t made the impact the Northern Irish boss would have hoped and could well be sent back to the Bernabeu early.

Jordan Henderson has played himself into a decent run of form but is still not a player Rodgers has a great deal of faith in and whilst Steven Gerrard has seen a return to form of late summer signing Joe Allen has had an up and down time of it in his debut season at the club.

This has led to Brendan Rodgers looking to supplement his midfield quota with the addition of Benat and hopes that funds for such a move will be forthcoming this month.

Caught Offside

Can't say I've seen much of Benat but I did buy him on FM 13 and his stats there are bloody brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2-dHfWhgdk

Hmm. He's only been in the Betis first team for two years and he's 25.

Hmm. He's only been in the Betis first team for two years and he's 25.

Late bloomer eh?

I haven't seen much of him but I know Betis have had a good first half of the season so far. I looked on WhoScored.com (http://www.whoscored.com/Players/22811) and Benat has a pretty good ranking, but that's not indicative of anything really.

Heard absolutely massive things about this guy.

Never watched him though.

Again though...WE HAVE ENOUGH CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS.

Again though...WE HAVE ENOUGH CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS.

What is so hard to comprehend about the statement "quantity does not equal quality."

Who can we absolutely rely on, game in and game out, to show up and contribute?

Lucas.  That's about it.

Joe Allen has started to crap out and hasn't looked that great the last few matches.  Stevie has decided to show up for only about half of the games he's played this season.  Henderson we all know about.  Jonjo has the most promise but that's all it is right now---promise.  He's not ready to be our #1 AM.  Sahin has looked direly off the pace.

We need more QUALITY. 

Heard absolutely massive things about this guy.

Never watched him though.

Again though...WE HAVE ENOUGH CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS.

If it's true about Sahin, then we are 1 short imo. I'd bring this lad in. I've watched him play 4-5 times this season and he's been class in all of them. 20m seems a bit excessive, I'd pay maybe 15.

What is so hard to comprehend about the statement "quantity does not equal quality."

Who can we absolutely rely on, game in and game out, to show up and contribute?

Lucas.  That's about it.

Joe Allen has started to crap out and hasn't looked that great the last few matches.  Stevie has decided to show up for only about half of the games he's played this season.  Henderson we all know about.  Jonjo has the most promise but that's all it is right now---promise.  He's not ready to be our #1 AM.  Sahin has looked direly off the pace.

We need more QUALITY. 

I agree that quantity doesn't equate to quality and also the fact that Allen hasn't exactly played well for a fair few games. Referring to your comment about Lucas though, he hasn't been incredibly reliable has he lets be honest, he got injured for a long period of time and then had a poor first few games back and he has only just started to play well again in the game or so. Gerrard even though started poorly is now in fantastic form and it can be no surprise to anybody that whenever Gerrard has been on form we have played well as a team. What we need is more of those types of players that can help us win games. The likes of Allen and Henderson don't necessarily contribute directly to victories but they do help us maintain a lead - if you know what I mean?

A point I must make though is - how do you know this guy will turn up and perform week in - week out? For all you know he could play as inconsistently as Allen...

Will be honest - never heard of the lad.

Not english though so can we please sign him up!

A point I must make though is - how do you know this guy will turn up and perform week in - week out? For all you know he could play as inconsistently as Allen...

I don't know that.  And you're right, unfortunately about Lucas.  But if we cross Lucas off then we basically say we have NO central midfielders who we can absolutely rely on game in and game out.

And yet a few posts above someone said "we have enough central midfielders."

It's shocking, really....

saw him score a brilliant free kick and overall play a very impressive game against Athletic Club last year, I know since then they had been linked with bringing him back to Bilbao. Lot of regret that they let him go, so that's good

Federer think what he's saying is that if we are truly on a budget, there are areas outside of central midfield that need to be addressed first

Will have to take everyone else's word for it that he's the real deal but with any other player I've not heard of and is meant to be "the next big thing since sliced bread" and is linked with us for a whopping 20mill is too steep!

When we have quantity and can choose between Gerrard, Lucas, Allen and Jonjo with Hendo in and around the first team i would like to think we would be looking to add some attackers in to the side and fix our problem of not scoring enough goals.

Will have to take everyone else's word for it that he's the real deal but with any other player I've not heard of and is meant to be "the next big thing since sliced bread" and is linked with us for a whopping 20mill is too steep!

Well he has improved within a short period of time, enough to get some caps for Spain. And with the Spain midfield, must show he is talented.

Damn good in Football Manager as well

He looks a decent enough player from what I've seen but if the only "link" is from "Caught Offside" then I'm not going to get too excited.

I was also amused at the notion of €20m euros to buy the new Xabi - I reckon it'd get the old one too and as i recall he wasn't exactly a shabby Xabi.

I thank you very much.....I'm here all week!

When we have quantity and can choose between Gerrard, Lucas, Allen and Jonjo with Hendo in and around the first team i would like to think we would be looking to add some attackers in to the side and fix our problem of not scoring enough goals.

Exactly!!  We may not have 6 world beaters in midfield, but we do have enough quality and depth to allow us to focus on other more pressing areas right now.  We are short in attack, we are short at LB, and we are short of a top quality CB because it seems Rodgers doesn't trust Coates to step in if one of Agger or Skrtel go down. 

If we were to spunk a large load of dosh on a CM then I'd prefer us to go after a true world class CM like Moutinho, Prince Boateng, Mvila, etc.