Liverpool close in on Dempsey with £10m Fulham hitman likely to seal Carroll exit


Brendan Rodgers is on the brink of bolstering his Liverpool strike force after agreeing a £10million fee for versatile Fulham forward Clint Dempsey.

The new manager expects the deal to be concluded before the end of the week and sees it as a significant breakthrough after his recent frustration over Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Convinced Sigurdsson would join him at Anfield after the attacking midfielder’s successful loan spell at Swansea last season, Rodgers was dismayed when Tottenham beat him to the punch.

Sigurdsson even flew to Germany earlier this summer and pleaded with Markus Babbel to let him link up with Rodgers on a permanent basis. Yet when the Hoffenheim manager sanctioned an £8m permanent transfer, Sigurdsson chose White Hart Lane.

It left Rodgers short of attacking options, particularly with Andy Carroll available to anyone willing to meet a £20m asking price, but he has wasted no time in finding a remedy in the form of Dempsey.

The 29-year-old has an impressive scoring record, as a striker or attacking midfielder, and is due on Merseyside to complete the formalities in the next few days.


Though Newcastle have failed with a loan move for Carroll, and are loathe to match Liverpool’s valuation, manager Alan Pardew is pinning his hopes on owner Mike Ashley finding some common ground with his Anfield counterparts.

Newcastle sold Carroll to Liverpool for £35m in January last year and Pardew admitted striking a compromise for the Geordie front-runner’s return is out of his hands.

He told Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle: ‘That whole process is a little bit more involved with the chairman and the board at Liverpool. We have got a great team here, a great squad, and if Andy Carroll comes it will only add to us.

'It’s been said that he’s available and if we are involved, then we will be involved because of the figures, not anything else, because we know he’s good enough.’

Here's Oscar... Brazil star jets in to seal £25m Chelsea move


Brazil sensation Oscar arrived in London for a medical on Tuesday ahead of his £25million move to Chelsea.
The 20-year-old midfielder will join the European champions after the Olympics from Brazilian side Internacional.
He has been named in his national squad for the Games and is expected to play against Team GB at the Riverside in Middlesbrough on Friday.

Oscar, the rising star of South American football, has established himself at international level with six full caps and is expected to play a key role at the 2014 World Cup in his home country.

Chelsea will give him some time off after the Olympics before slotting him into a free role in Roberto Di Matteo's new system.
He is adept as a playmaker or in the role behind the striker and equally comfortable on the left or right of midfield. He is described as a 'typically brilliant Brazilian No 10'.

Oscar is also a proven goalscorer. He hit a hat-trick in last year's Under 20 World Cup final victory over Portugal and has a strike rate of a goal in every three matches for Inter.

After landing at Heathrow, Oscar had his medical in the southwest London suburb of New Malden before joining his Brazil team-mates.

His arrival brings Chelsea's spending this summer to £63.5m following the capture of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin.

Manchester United have failed with a £29.8m bid for Sao Paulo midfielder Lucas Moura, 19, according to the Brazilian club.