Dudek may be used as bait for Simao bid

Jerzy admitted yesterday that he was considering leaving Liverpool in January. His agent, Jan de Zeeuw, has been speaking about his situation claiming he would be interested in a move to Benfica to be re-united with former coach Ronald Koeman. As we are interested in Simao, and Benfica have a couple of injured goalkeepers, this would represent an excellent opportunity to negotiate a part exchange deal:

"Benfica are well-known in Holland because their coach is Dutch and is frequently on television there," de Zeeuw told O Jogo.
"Benfica would, of course, be an interesting option, not least because Dudek played with Ronald Koeman at Feyenoord in 1996.
"At that time, Koeman said he was an excellent goalkeeper and Feyenoord should hold on to him.
"What's more Benfica is playing in the Champions League and would be an attractive option for any player."

De Zeeuw believes Rafa favours his countrymen and this is likely to be the main obstacle to Dudek regaining his place. He wants to speak to Liverpool to determine their attitude towards Dudek:

"He is under contract for another year, but there are two differing situations at Liverpool," continued de Zeeuw. "There is a Spanish trend - the coach is Spanish and (Jose) Reina is Spanish as well, but behind them the English prefer Dudek.
"Dudek wants to play, but at the moment that is looking very difficult for him.
"Liverpool have never said that they are not counting on him anymore, but in the next week we will go and speak with the coach and the directors to see what future they see for Dudek.
"If Liverpool feel they do not need him then every option is possible, but at the moment everything is in the hands of Liverpool.
"I do not know how much Liverpool will ask for his transfer, but they will probably want quite a large fee."

It is looking increasingly like Simao will be joining us in the transfer window. Hopefully if Dudek is part of the deal the fee will not be too high.

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