A round-up of the latest Liverpool news as Rafa Benitez lauds a ‘rarely talked about’ transfer target and Darren Bent tells Arne Slot the one thing he ‘can’t do’ at Anfield.
Liverpool have an ‘amazing’ young talent in Scotland gem Ben Doak
Scotland assistant manager John Carver believes Liverpool have an ‘amazing’ young gem in Ben Doak. The 18-year-old has left a big impression on the coach after settling straight into the senior Tartan Army squad. Doak got in their squad for the first time ahead of Euro 2024.
Steve Clarke is still to trim his provisional 28-man team down to the final 26 players who will represent Scotland in Germany. But Carver has no doubt that Doak would deliver if Scotland have to rely on the Liverpool gem. They play friendlies with Gibraltar and Finland next week.
Doak has earned his maiden senior call-up despite the winger not playing a second since he tore his meniscus in December. Clarke still wanted to see what Doak can offer Scotland, and Carver would not hesitate to throw the Liverpool gem in at the deep end if his fitness holds.
“Nothing fazes him,” Carver said, via BBC Sport Scotland. “He’s fitted into the group straight away, which is quite amazing because I remember when I was a young lad with the first-team for the first time and I was petrified.
“He’s come in and fitted into the group, it’s like he’s been here for 10 years. If we have to rely on him and he has to go on and perform, we don’t fear that he’s going to let himself or the team down. He’ll gain from the experience, just like Billy Gilmour did.”
Read more about what Carver has said about Liverpool prospect Doak, here.
Rafa Benitez feels Liverpool target Rodrygo does ‘everything right’
Former Reds boss Rafa Benitez feels Real Madrid forward Rodrygo does ‘everything right’ as Liverpool now target his transfer. Mundo Deportivo has named the Anfield team as the club most keen on coaxing the 23-year-old to the Premier League in the upcoming summer sales.
Rodrygo faces an uncertain future at Los Blancos as the Brazilian is the most likely player to leave once Kylian Mbappe arrives at the Santiago Bernabeu. Half of the Premier League are also in love with the right-winger, who is unlikely to be short of offers across the off-season.
Carlo Ancelotti held the 22-cap dynamo in high regard during the 2023/24 campaign as the Galacticos won La Liga. Rodrygo started 28 of his 34 appearances in a possible 37 games and scored 10 goals plus five assists. His ability to be the difference has astounded Benitez.
Benitez told The Times: “The question is always raised, ‘Who is the best player for Real Madrid?’ Some will say Jude Bellingham, someone else Vinicius Jr. But I like Federico Valverde and Rodrygo.”
The former Reds boss added: “Rodrygo plays alongside Vinicius Jnr in attack but is rarely talked about. For me, he is doing everything right. His movement is clever, his passing and the positions he takes up are good and we have seen his finishing can be the difference.”
Read more about what Benitez has said about Liverpool target Rodrygo, here.
Darren Bent warns Arne Slot of the ‘biggest mistake’ he can make at Liverpool
Darren Bent has warned Arne Slot that the ‘biggest mistake’ he can make after taking charge of Liverpool is to try and change ‘everything’. The Merseyside natives have hired the former Feyenoord boss as their head coach to replace Jurgen Klopp, with his first day this Saturday.
Slot officially starts his tenure at Anfield on June 1 but Bent fears how the 45-year-old might look to begin his reign. The ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland striker has also likened it to when David Moyes replaced Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and rewrote every rule.
Taking away the creature comforts that the Liverpool players are accustomed to after years with Klopp in charge could have a catastrophic effect on Slot’s chances of succeeding. Bent even describes it as the one thing the Dutchman ‘cannot do’ in his first weeks at their helm.
Bent told talkSPORT: “The biggest mistake he can make – and I hope he doesn’t do it, well I kind of do because I’m an Arsenal fan – but what I hope he doesn’t do is what I heard David Moyes did [at Manchester United]. He came in and tried to change everything.
“Like the menu, things like that. If [Slot] comes in and slowly starts to tweak one or two things, change a little bit of this [and a] little bit of that, I think it will have a better effect.
“But if he comes in day one and tries to be like, ‘Right, I’m in charge now, no more this, no more that’, and the players have been used to it for the last decade, you can’t do it.”
Read more about what Bent has warned Slot as he takes charge of Liverpool, here.