According to Barcelona’s official website, Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta confirmed how much the club offered for Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. He said,

“We paid Liverpool 20 million euros plus the 4 million that came from the player by reducing his salary.”

“Both the Club and the player did as much as possible [for Cesc Fabregas]. Our second offer was 40 million euros. From the moment Arsenal said they didn’t want to negotiate we respected their position … We would have liked to have signed him but we weren’t able to negotiate. It wasn’t a disappointment – it was simply impossible … Thanks to the conversations we have re-established contact with Arsenal”.

According to Ian Doyle at the Daily Post, Liverpool defender Paul Konchesky talked about why he decided to join the club. Konchesky said,

“It’s not a big decision when a club like Liverpool comes in for you … It also helped me with the manager being here who I know well … I know what the manager is about and he knows what I am about. Hopefully I can bring that to Liverpool and make the team stronger.

“I had a great time with the manager at Fulham for two-and-a-half years. He did really well for Fulham and hopefully we can have great success at Liverpool and we can achieve bigger and better things.”

“I want to win silverware. I believe this club is capable of doing that and hopefully we can start this year … Liverpool have a great tradition in Europe. We got to the final with Fulham last season but hopefully we can go one step further this year and win it with Liverpool.”

According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have agreed to send Nabil El Zhar on loan to Greek side PAOK for the rest of the season.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool were unable to afford West Ham striker Carlton Cole because a deal to sell Ryan Babel to Tottenham fell through.

Due to their lack of funds, Liverpool offered to sign Carlton Cole on loan until January for £1million and they were willing to send Ryan Babel to West Ham on loan for the same time period.

According to Galatasaray’s official website, Galatasaray have signed Liverpool defender Emiliano Insua on loan for the season with the option of making the deal permanent at the end of the loan.

Insua was set to join Fiorentina on loan earlier in the summer but a deal fell apart as Insua could not agree to personal terms with the club.

UPDATE: According to Ryan Babel’s Twitter Page, Ryan Babel admitted that he is not leaving. He tweeted,

I’m going no where….

Just want to note that I am not sure if this Twitter account is verified.

August 31st 2010: According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool are willing to add Ryan Babel in a deal for striker Carlton Cole. It is also reported that Liverpool are not going after Fulham striker Bobby Zamora. A source close to the deal said,

“The possibility of Zamora going to Liverpool was a non starter, not even worth going there. But Liverpool remain interested in Carlton Cole.”

August 25th 2010 According to Alan Nixon at MirrorFootball, Liverpool have made a £6million bid for West Ham United striker Carlton Cole. It is also reported that add-ons have been included in the offer as Liverpool would like to protect themselves due to Cole’s past injuries.

UPDATE: According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have completed the signing of Fulham defender Paul Konchesky. Konchesky signed a four-year deal with the club.

Liverpool sent youngsters Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic to Fulham as part of the deal. 

August 29th 2010 According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson hopes to complete the signing of Fulham defender Paul Konchesky soon. Hodgson said,

“One of our young players [Lauri Dalla Valle], a very talented young lad that Fulham have fancied for a long time, is going in the other direction and that’s holding it up a little because he has to have a medical … I’m sincerely hoping it’s just a technical hitch and that Paul will sign in the next couple of days.”

Also, according to Liverpool’s official website, Roy Hodgson is looking to sign a new striker. Hodgson said,

“We’ve got space to add a player. We’d like another striker, we’ve said that all along and there’s no point me denying it. But we still haven’t found the right man and time is running out for us.”

UPDATE: According to Barcelona’s official website, Barcelona have completed the signing of Javier Mascherano for a fee thought to be around £18million . Mascherano signed a four-year deal with the club that has an escape clause worth €90million.

August 27th 2010: According to Liverpool’s official website, Barcelona have agreed on a transfer fee with Liverpool for midfielder Javier Mascherano. Mascherano will not travel to Spain to work out a personal deal.

August 23rd 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Roy Hodgson admitted that the club did not select Javier Mascherano for today’s match as his mind was not in the right place. Hodgson said,

“I don’t know where he is tonight, but he’s not with us here anyway … He’s not here tonight because obviously there is some speculation about his future and at the moment his mind isn’t right, so it wasn’t correct to select him.

“Hopefully matters will get resolved, certainly before the end of the transfer window and I’ll have a chance to pick him again, but tonight would not have been a good time to select him.”

“I don’t have a gut feeling about it, basically speaking the club has got a position … Of course, we are under pressure from another club who wants to buy him, but we are in good company as it has happened to a lot of clubs during this period of time.

“It will happen, I guess, a day when the offer for him matches our valuation, but until that day he stays with us.”

August 23rd 2010: According to James Callow at The Guardian, Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has agreed to personal terms with Barcelona although the two clubs have yet to agree on a transfer fee. It is reported that Liverpool wants £25million for Mascherano while Barcelona have offered £12.2million + Alexander Hleb and Martin Caceres.

Also, ESPN Soccernet is reporting that Mascherano is refusing to play in today’s match against Manchester City as he wants the club to transfer him.

According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have completed the signing of FC Porto midfielder Raul Meireles for €14million. Meireles signed a four-year deal with the club.

Today Ben Thornley at the Daily Post wrote in interesting article that discusses how Liverpool should not have loaned out Alberto Aquilani, especially when at the time when it seemed like Javier Mascherano was on the way out. I felt this is a good read for all you Liverpool fans out there.

UPDATE: According to Juventus’ official website, the deal is now complete and official. Juventus will also have the option of purchasing Alberto Aquilani at the end of the loan for €16 million.

August 21st 2010: According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have agreed to loan out midfielder Alberto Aquilani to Juventus for one-year. Aquilani will take a medical for the club Monday.

August 20th 2010: According to Dominic King at the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is considering loaning out midfielder Alberto Aquilani. Hodgson said,

“At the moment we are considering possibly loaning him to an Italian club … Nothing is sure about that yet so I don’t have anything definite to report.

“I didn’t want to use him (against Trabzonspor) just in case the loan goes through, because for Aquilani this year it’s very important that he plays regular football.

“Every week he has to be the number one man on the teamsheet. I can’t promise him that here so a loan move to Italy could help him in that respect.”

According to ESPN Soccernet, PSV Eindhoven striker Ola Toivonen is not for sale despite interest from Liverpool. It is reported that Liverpool ambassador Kenny Dalglish was in the stands the other day scouting Ola Toivonen and Carlos Salcido. However PSV sporting director Marcel Brands told fotbollskanalen.se,

“I also read about that (Dalglish’s trip) in the newspaper, but I didn’t see him at the stadium and it is not important. We don’t want to lose Ola during this transfer window.

“They called us last Thursday, in the morning, and asked how much we wanted for Ola Toivanen, but our answer was clear: we will not sell him at this point. We have not heard from them since.

“To have people from other clubs in the stands is quite normal. PSV are a big club and we get visits like that every week.”

According to Ian Doyle at the Daily Post, Inter Milan are set to end their chase of Liverpool footballers Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt. Manager Roy Hodgson said,

” … I spoke to Massimo Moratti on Wednesday about the fact they are not going to buy Liverpool players, and Dirk comes into that category doesn’t he?

“I believe they (Inter) were only interested in two of our players and they are not going to buy them. Moratti said they are not going to do that.”

According to Marseille’s official website (link in French), Marseille have confirmed the signing Nice striker Loic Remy. Remy signed a five-year deal with the club.

The deal is thought to be around £12.4million for the young striker, who was linked with Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke City, and West Ham.

According to Ian Doyle at the Daily Post, Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson won’t let midfielder Javier Mascherano leave unless he receives a top offer which meets his valuation of him. Hodgson said,

“We want an offer that meets what we think is his value, and Javier is perfectly happy with this, he doesn’t expect the club to just let him walk out of here … He is resigned to one of two possibilities – either a club doesn’t come along and offer us his valuation, in which case he stays, or we have an offer that meets his valuation in which case he may go.

“I don’t care what money is offered. It’s only this promise that was made a year ago that lingers over my head which means I am even prepared to go as far as this … If we reneged on what we’d said to him earlier, then we’d have an unhappy player. But we won’t have an unhappy player if no offer comes in of if the offer comes in and is so ludicrously below what he, I and the rest of the world knows he is worth.”

“He has a new contract offer, so that’s up to him. As far as I am concerned, I’d be quite happy to work the two years with him. If he then wanted to walk away, then so be it.”

It is reported that the club values Mascherano at around £25million.

UPDATE: According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool completed the signing of Brad Jones. Jones signed a three-year deal with the club.

August 16th, 2010: According to Liverpool’s official website, Brad Jones underwent a medical, which he passed, after the two clubs agreed to a deal worth £2.3million. The signing will be completed tomorrow as there is still some paperwork left.

August 16th, 2010: According to Graeme Bailey at Sky Sports News, Brad Jones is undergoing a medical today for Liverpool as the two clubs have agreed to a deal worth around £2.5million. It is reported that Jones has agreed to sign a three-year deal with the club.

August 12th, 2010: According to Middlesbrough’s official website, Middlesbrough have not agreed to a deal to sell Brad Jones to Liverpool. A statement was made that said,

Boro have this afternoon confirmed that they have not reached an agreement with any club for the sale of goalkeeper Brad Jones. Despite reports elsewhere, there has been no deal agreed for the Australia international

August 9th, 2010: According to Alan Nixon at MirrorFootball, Liverpool are prepared to increase their original offer for Middlesbrough keeper Brad Jones.

August 5th, 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Liverpool made a £2million bid that was rejected for Middlesbrough goalkeeper Brad Jones. It is unknown whether Liverpool will increase their bid or look for another goalkeeper elsewhere.

According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel signed a two-year contract extension with the club that will keep him there until at least 2014.

According to The Independent, Barcelona have denied that they have made a bid for Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano. Sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said,

“There is still nothing with Mascherano, in fact he is a player who does not fit into our season plan … He is a great player but there is nothing.”

UPDATE: According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have completed the signing of Christian Poulsen for an undisclosed fee. Poulsen signed a three-year deal with the club.

The fee is thought to be around €5.5million.

August 9th 2010: According to Dominic King at the Liverpool Echo, Christian Poulsen has pulled out of the Denmark friendly against Germany so that he can travel to Liverpool in the hopes of completing this deal.

August 6th 2010: According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool will sign Christian Poulsen next week. Joern Bonnesen told Ekstra Bladet,

“It won’t take more than a week before this is sorted out … It might be already in the beginning of next week. Christian Poulsen is Roy’s man.

“He will be playing as a defensive midfielder at Liverpool. I returned home with a good and positive impression.”

August 5th 2010: According to the Express and Star, Joern Bonnesen, the agent of Christian Poulsen, claimed that he had talks with Liverpool recently. Bonnesen told tipsbladet.dk,

“I don’t know if we have an agreement … Things haven’t been decided as yet, but we will proceed when I arrive home.”

“This is a big issue that cannot be resolved in two minutes. I was over there to negotiate Christian’s personal terms and to hear what Liverpool had to say.”

August 4th 2010: According to David Maddock at MirrorFootball, Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson confirmed that he is interested in midfielder Christian Poulsen. Hodgson said,

August 2nd 2010: According to Matt Monaghan at Goal.com, Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen has not had any contact with Liverpool. His agent Joern Bonnesen told Calciomercato.it,

“I’ve also read the voices on newspapers but I can’t comment on the rumours … I have not heard from anyone from Liverpool. Juventus have not called me and I have not found it necessary to do it … How many chances does Poulsen have to leave Juventus? No comment.”

July 31st 2010 According to Nadia Carminati at Sky Sports News, Liverpool are looking to sign Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen. Juventus general director Guiseppe Marotta told Mediaset,

“Liverpool have shown interest in Poulsen …But the fact that he did not play in this game [against Shamrock] is only due to a technical decision.”

According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher expressed his desire to continue playing with the club. Carragher said,

“Of course it’s nice to hear [that Hodgson wants to discuss Carragher's future with the club]. I am desperate to finish my career at the club and I’m sure that will be the case … If the manager has said these things, great. Once he’s finished bringing people in we’ll sit down and sort things out with no problems … It’ll take two minutes, I think.”