Liverpool Set to Renew

Liverpool Set to Renew Bid for Villa's Barry With Riise and Alonso Heading to Italy
With Xabi Alonso and John Arne Riise heading for Italy, Liverpool will renew their efforts to sign Gareth Barry Liverpool will look to swell their manager Rafael Benítez's transfer budget by almost £20m and end the impasse over Gareth Barry this week as Xabi Alonso and John Arne Riise edge towards the Anfield exit.

Alonso and Riise have reluctantly accepted that they feature only in Benítez's fund raising plans this summer and have chosen to revive their careers in Serie A, with both deals under negotiation in the coming days. Commencing the Benítez clear-out is expected to be Riise, who has resisted offers from several Premier League clubs in favor of joining Luciano Spalletti at Roma.

Newcastle and Aston Villa were among those interested in the 27-year-old, who joined Liverpool for £4.6m from Monaco seven years ago, but the Norwegian international prefers a new experience abroad and the lure of remaining in the Champions League has swung Riise towards last season's runners-up in the Italian top flight. Liverpool have accepted an offer that could rise above £4m for the left-back, depending on appearances and Roma's achievements over the course of the Norwegian's contract.

Of more significance to Benítez's budget and restructuring of his Liverpool squad will be the sale of Alonso to Juventus, with the Spaniard having been frustrated in his attempt to sell his compatriot before the start of the European Championship. Reports in Italy over the weekend claimed Juventus had succeeded with an improved bid of £14.2m for the Spain international, yet Liverpool have not received an official bid from the Turin club. Negotiations between the clubs have been ongoing for several weeks, however, and the Juventus chief executive, Jean-Claude Blanc, is expected to travel to Merseyside early this week to finalize the fee.

Liverpool have been holding out for £15m for the 26-year-old, a £10.5m signing from Real Sociedad in 2004, and Alonso is understood to have reached a verbal agreement with Juventus on the terms of a four-year contract.

The sales of Alonso and Riise, with Peter Crouch, Scott Carson and Jermaine Pennant also available to leave Liverpool this summer, will give Benítez much needed leeway as he attempts to increase the transfer budget allocated by Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The Liverpool manager has just over £20m assured for transfers out of the £350m refinancing package secured by the Americans in January and has earmarked that for the purchases of the Aston Villa captain, Barry, and Udinese's left-back, Andrea Dossena.

Liverpool are expected to pay an initial £6m for Dossena, in a deal that could eventually be worth £8m to the Italian club, once the legalities of the defender's transfer have been resolved, and will make a renewed bid for Barry this week despite the reluctance of the Villa manager, Martin O'Neill, to enter negotiations for the sale of his captain. Liverpool had a minimum £13m offer rejected by the Midlands club last week and Villa say they will consider only a fee in the region of £20m for the England international.