SOCCER:JAVIER MASCHERANO'S desperation to leave Liverpool led the Argentina captain to take a pay cut to complete his €24 million move to Barcelona. The midfielder has claimed broken promises – and not his family's failure to settle on Merseyside – prompted his decision to force a move from Anfield.
The 26-year-old joined the Spanish champions on Monday night amid suggestions he refused to play in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City to secure an exit.
Mascherano rejects that allegation and has denied his main motivation for leaving Liverpool was to be reunited with his wife and young children, who have lived in Buenos Aires for most of his time on Merseyside.
Instead, Mascherano, who was refused a move to Barcelona last summer but promised he could leave if Liverpool received an acceptable offer this year, and who was offered a new contract last season, has blamed his former club for the split.
“When they started to involve my family, I obviously suffered,” he said. “They’d promised me something for a whole year and they never fulfilled their promise. And that didn’t have anything to do with my family. When you read or hear lies, you obviously get angry.”
In announcing their agreement with Liverpool last week, Barcelona praised “the intensive efforts made by the club in the final hours and through the player himself in the negotiations”, and it is understood Mascherano accepted less than his €85,000-a-week wage at Anfield to secure a four-year contract at the Camp Nou.
The midfielder said yesterday: “I’d also like to thank the club for their efforts. They’ve spent a lot of money and it was my duty to give way a bit to make this dream come true. I’ve joined the best club in the world and the best team in the world.”
Mascherano expressed his gratitude to the former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez for rescuing him from a miserable spell at West Ham United in 2007. He said: “Rafa taught me tactics. He’s one of the coaches who have taught me the most in my career.
“He had confidence in me at a time when, perhaps, nobody would have dreamed of giving me an opportunity. I’ll be grateful to him all my life.”
Liverpool’s new €4.2 million signing Paul Konchesky is to make his debut in Jamie Carragher’s testimonial against an Everton XI at Anfield on Saturday.
Meanwhile, West Ham’s hopes of avoiding a relegation struggle after losing their opening three league games were dealt a further blow by their precarious finances preventing the purchase of Yakubu Ayegbeni and Marc Wilson during the transfer window.
While €6 million would have bought Yakubu from Everton, only €4 million was required to take Wilson, the Portsmouth captain, to Upton Park as Avram Grant, the manager, sought to strengthen his squad.
Under the Israeli West Ham have scored only once in the league and their next match is the visit of Chelsea, on Saturday week, which suggests they could reach mid-September still pointless.
Following a net spend during the summer of €7.5 million for the Mexico forward Pablo Barrera, the New Zealand defender Winston Reid and Lyon’s Frederic Piquionne, loan deals or the sale of an established player were Grant’s only viable options for further recruitment.
Barrera and Reid are 23 and 22 respectively and Grant has said they may need time to settle in.
There was better news for Grant, though, after the Premier League confirmed that Lars Jacobsen, a 30-year-old right-back, could join on a one-year deal from Blackburn Rovers after paperwork for the free transfer arrived close to Tuesday’s 6pm deadline.
