By Jake Watson
11 Jun 2011 09:25:00
Sporting Director Damien Comolli (Getty Images)
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Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli has revealed the club will continue to spend as Kenny Dalglish continues to build his team for next season.
Liverpool secured the signing of Jordan Henderson last week and despite reports that David N’Gog was originally part of the deal bringing the Sunderland midfielder to Anfield, Comolli says the striker is now in talks regarding a separate deal.
“Sunderland have had a strong interest in David, so we’ve agreed to let David speak to Sunderland about his future to see if he’s interested in going there. They’ve expressed a strong interest, so we’ll see what’s next for him.”
Liverpool have been linked with lots of big money moves for players this summer and Comolli insists their summer transfer activity is far from finished after the Henderson deal.
“I’m very pleased because he was one of the targets we had and when you get your first target it’s always a good sign because you think the others will come through as well.
“The earlier the better because we can then readjust our strategy or decide we aren’t going to do any more – which won’t be the case now!”
Liverpool have been linked with many young British players though Comolli says nationality is not the criteria for their transfer targets.
“It’s not because a player is English and young that we are going to go for him. We go for a player because he ticks all the boxes.
“It’s what we need at this time in this window. If a player is English or British or has played in the Premier League we’ll look at that over someone who is abroad but it could be any nationality as long as they tick the boxes and is what we need for this window and going forward.
It has been reported in many sections of the media that Jordan Henderson cost the club up to £20 million, though Comolli has dismissed those reports.
“On the fee, I’ve read and heard a lot of things. There was a lot of speculation on how much we would pay for Jordan and none of the figures I’ve seen are correct so far. We’ve paid a price that we are comfortable with, otherwise we would not have done the deal.
“We are very, very pleased. He has got all the skills technically that we needed. He’s good with the ball, he’s creative, he’s got good passing, he’s physically very good. That’s everything we wanted in a midfielder and he’s versatile as well. For Kenny he will be the player we wanted.
“We know we are building for the future, a bit like with Luis and Andy in January, but we are also signing a player who is going to be effective from day one.
“It is very difficult to believe you are talking to a 20-year-old. You think you’re talking to a 25-year-old.
“He’s very passionate about football, very committed, a top professional. He’s the type of player who’ll stay behind after training and do extra work.
“When you talk to him it’s not about money or anything related to off the pitch. Everything is on the pitch: where am I going to play, have I got a chance to play, where can I develop most as a player.”
Henderson has already had a taste of International football and Comolli believed his experience of playing with Steven Gerrard was key to the player wanting to push through his move to Anfield.
“I think that was a key factor for him. I spoke to Stevie about Jordan before we signed him.
“Stevie was very positive because obviously they have been together in the England camp. I know Jordan really appreciated the fact he was able to play next to Stevie with England.
“He will learn from players like Jamie Carragher or Stevie or Dirk Kuyt.”