John W Henry concedes no player will be kept at
Liverpool against their will - but is surprised at how contracts
matter so little in England.
There has been speculation this week over the futures of the
Reds' star men Fernando Torres, Jose Reina and Dirk Kuyt, with
reports suggesting the trio could leave the club in either January
or at the end of the season.
And while Reds owner Henry concedes he wouldn't want to keep
hold of an unhappy player, he is surprised at contracts in the
Premier League are barely worth the paper they are written on.
"It is a completely different system here to what we are used
to," he said. "If a player has a contract in the United States they
fulfil the contract. Over here, it seems players have much more
say-so about where they are.
"Frankly, we don't want a player at the club who doesn't want to
be at the club. It's really up to us to provide the kind of
leadership, on and off the field, that any player at the club or
who is coming to the club wants to be here."
Nonetheless, he said of the key trio: "I was upset about the
assertion that they were leaving. There was one day when I read
reports that we were not going to be involved in the transfer
window because we do not have the funds. The next day I read that
Torres and Reina were leaving.
"I have spoken with a number of our top players and was really
heartened by the response. I was heartened by the intelligence of
these players, who understand more about Liverpool than we do. They
were good discussions."
teamtalk.