Liverpool bound: Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones
are two of England's brightest young talents
Liverpool are closing
in on a £30million swoop for two of England’s hottest prospects —
Blackburn defender Phil Jones and Sunderland midfielder Jordan
Henderson.
The Anfield giants increased
their initial offer of £13m for Henderson, 20, to £15m yesterday
and are hopeful Sunderland will compromise on their asking price of
£18m.
The moves are part of
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish’s strategy of buying top English
talent, having signed striker Andy Carroll in January for £35m from
Newcastle.
The club have also asked about
the availability of midfielder Lee Cattermole at the Stadium of
Light.
Recruitment drive: Liverpool's new manager Kenny
Dalglish has purposefully targeted young English players since
taking his seat back in the Anfield dugout
Henderson and Jones
are in Spain with the England Under 21 party preparing for this
month’s European Championship in Denmark. Stuart Pearce’s squad fly
home tonight before travelling to Southampton for Sunday’s friendly
against Norway, but Henderson is on stand-by to travel to
Merseyside and complete the deal as soon as the two clubs agree a
fee.
Liverpool’s move for Jones
will alert Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has made it known he
wants to build his back four around the 19-year-old. Wenger was
prepared to wait a year while signing Jones’s Blackburn team-mate
Chris Samba now.
Top target: Much depends on the destination of
Blackburn Rovers' Christopher Samba, with Arsenal keeping a close
eye
That deal is advanced
but Liverpool’s move may force Wenger to rethink his plans for
Jones, who has impressed in the centre of defence and midfield
since making his Premier League debut against Chelsea in March last
year. He signed a five-year deal that May and extended it by 12
months in February.
Blackburn would prefer to keep
their prize asset and sell Samba but accept that they will not be
able to stand in Jones’s way if the right offer comes
in.
Dalglish has already signalled
a change of direction at Anfield since succeeding Roy Hodgson by
handing first-team opportunities to 17-year-old Jack Robinson,
18-year-old John Flanagan and 21-year-old Martin Kelly, and giving
a new deal to Jay Spearing, 22.
