英超利物浦队主教练贝尼特斯日前得到俱乐部的授权，动用1000万英镑用于在明年1月转会期内购买球员。

    据《卫报》12月20日报道，尽管在英超联赛中，切尔西队大有一骑绝尘之势，然而为了下赛季欧洲冠军联赛资格，利物浦队并没有放弃缩小同联赛“领头羊”之间差距的努力。贝尼特斯在接受记者采访时表示：“下个月我们会很忙。签约球员永远都是非常重要的一项工作，特别是在现阶段，我们的成绩还不错，在这种情况下，购买新的球员就显得格外重要。”他说：“购买球员不仅仅是你有多少钱的事。我总是喜欢将不完善的球队阵容比作三条腿的桌子。为了给这个桌子再配上一条腿，你心里一定已经有了合适的尺寸。但这时人们总是喜欢在你耳边喋喋不休地劝说你买这个或者那个，说这个便宜或者那个更好。但如果不合适又有什么用呢？重要的是你必须得到最合适的那一个。足球同样如此。建设一支队伍，你必须拥有那些相互间能搭配合适的球员。”

    利物浦希望通过购买球员提高球队战斗力的努力早在2002年时就曾经有过。那一年“红军”在联赛积分榜上名列第2，并且杀入了欧洲冠军联赛四分之一决赛。为了进一步提高实力，俱乐部为当时的主教练霍利尔划拨了2000万英镑，用于购买球员。用这笔钱，霍利尔买来了塞内加尔球员迪乌夫和迪奥以及法国球员切尤。然而三名球员的到来并没有如俱乐部所愿为球队实力的提升带来任何的帮助，而霍利尔也从此再也没有从这笔失败的夏季收购行动中缓过劲来，只能眼看着2000万英镑打了水漂。虽然这次俱乐部给主教练提供的1000万英镑的球员转会费远不能同当年霍利尔得到的2000万英镑相比，但考虑到俱乐部在近两年投资进帐很少的情况，这笔钱应该说是俱乐部的一次大手笔了。而如果贝尼特斯用这笔钱买来的球员不能派上用场，那么其结果同样将是灾难性的。

    “在冬季转会期购买球员总是很困难，因为这时好的球员都已经有了好的球队”，贝尼特斯表示，“可是如果你等到世界杯以后再买，那时他们的身价恐怕已经随着他们在世界杯上的表现而上涨了不少”。

    在用有限的资金购买必需的球员方面，考验的不仅仅是贝尼特斯的眼光，同时还有他讨价还价的能力。据悉，贝尼特斯看中的葡萄牙本菲卡队前腰西芒·萨布罗萨目前已经被俱乐部标出了1220万英镑的价格，这比贝尼特斯手中所有的资金还要多。现年26岁的西芒在今年夏天曾经非常接近于转会安菲尔德，而利物浦据说正在努力将这一可能在明年1月变成现实。由于本菲卡队将在冠军联赛8分之一比赛中同利物浦队对阵，因此这笔买卖现在变得有些微妙起来。而本菲卡俱乐部主席维埃拉这时也公开表示决不会“贱卖”西芒。

    “我们并没有打算在1月球员转会期内卖掉西芒或者任何其他球员”，维埃拉表示，“除非有人愿意出比1220万英镑还要高的价钱，否则这件事根本不在我们考虑范围之内”。

    据报道，利物浦队目前希望将替补门将波兰人杜德克转会本菲卡，希望通过用这样的方式来降低收购西芒的门槛。然而维埃拉坚持认为杜德克的转会必须同西芒的转会分开来做，并且买不买杜德克还要看主教练科曼的意见。

    Rafael Benítez intends to use the January transfer window to strengthen his Liverpool side and will have ?10m to spend as he looks for those elusive pieces he believes will complete his jigsaw. Though Chelsea appear to have disappeared over the horizon at the top of the Premiership, he is keen to keep up the chase and at least secure a Champions League place for next season.

    "We want to be busy next month and, always, signings are important. But now we are in a good position it will be even more so," he said. "It won't just be about the money, either. I always say it's like having a table with three legs and you need to get one more which will fit properly. You want a certain size, the right size, but people may be saying: 'Have this one, it's cheaper and it's better at this or that.' But what use is that if it doesn't fit? You have to make sure you get the right one. It is the same in football - if you want to build a team, you have got to bring players who fit in.

    "But I knew Pepe [Reina] who is very positive, and Momo [Sissoko] who is a good worker. Bolo [Zenden] had the experience of playing here already and was a good option for us, and [Peter] Crouch is English and we'd been talking about him for months before the end of last season. In this case we have done it with four players, but we want more."

    Liverpool have been here before. In 2002, having finished second in the table and carried their first Champions League campaign through to the quarter-finals, Gérard Houllier spent almost ?20m on El Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou, players he hoped would establish the club at a higher level. Yet the trio failed miserably to make their mark and Houllier never recovered from that wasted summer of lavish expense.

    Benítez's ?10m is modest in comparison but represents a hefty sum given the club's inability to attract new investment in the past two years. Failure again could be catastrophic.

    "It is always difficult to sign players in January because the best are playing in good teams already, which makes it harder mid-season, but then after the World Cup prices go up if they have had a good tournament," added Benítez.

    "At the moment the team trusts each other. When you build a team and change players, but they keep winning, they all have more confidence in their team-mates. That makes it easier to build things long-term. I have got it right a lot of times over my career, but also made a lot of mistakes." The Spaniard can ill afford to make another next month.

    Apart from choosing the right players it will also be a test of Benítez's bargaining skills. He has already been told that one of his targets, the Benfica winger Simao Sabrosa, will cost ?12.2m, more than his entire budget. The Portuguese player almost moved to Anfield in the summer and has been widely tipped to join them in the new year.

    Benfica's president Luis Felipe Vieira, however, has warned Liverpool they will not get the 26-year-old on the cheap. Any deal has also been complicated by the fact the two clubs have been drawn against each other in the Champions League. "It is not in our thoughts to sell Simao or any other player in January," said Vieira. "We would only be ready to study the matter if somone offered more than [?12.2m]."

    Second-string Reds keeper Jerzy Dudek has been linked with a move in the opposite direction and his transfer fee could help bring down the cost of Simao. But Vieira insists that any deal for the Poland international would be dealt with separately and would be up to the manager Ronald Koeman and his staff. "Dudek is a question for the coaches, but him and Simao are independent matters."