Cash crunch at Anfield?

While Europe's top clubs and that crazy entity named Man City have hogged all the news of late, one club in particular that's been awfully quiet is Liverpool. After missing out on signing Gareth Barry for the second season straight, there seems to be concern among Liverpool fans and even former players such as Mark Lawrenson.

And those concerns have not been eased following news Liverpool's American owners lost GBP42.6 million last year.

So far, Rafa Benitez has kept mum over his transfer plans but one wonders if that's because the Spaniard's efforts to sign top players to the Anfield outfit have so far been unsuccessful. In Gareth Barry's case, some reports say Benitez made an 11th hour attempt to keep the England midfielder from signing for Man City.

But when Benitez found out the wages Sparky was offering at City, he withdrew Liverpool's offer. At this point, its anyone's guess if Benitez withdrew his offer for Barry because he felt the former Villa man was not worth all that money or if he just couldn't come up with the funds.

At present, it seems as though Benitez' biggest targets for the summer are David Silva and, believe it or not, Glenn Johnson. And if reports are true Benitez only has GBP15 million, there's no way he'll have enough cash to acquire both players (Yes, Pompey think Johnson's worth some GBP 10 million. Is that inflation or what?)

As such, the popular theory is Xabi Alonso will be sold to raise funds for the acquisition of Silva and Johnson. And if that's the case, Liverpool fans can stop dreaming of Carlos Tevez.

But would it really help Liverpool's cause next season if someone like Alonso were to leave the club? I might be off the mark here but I believe Alonso was one of the best players in Benitez' team last season. Speaking of last season, which was the Reds best season in recent memory, the only thing that stood between them and the Premiership were seven draws against minnows at home. If the Reds had won just three out of those seven draws, they would be champions of England, not Man Utd.

They're many reasons as to why the club failed to beat those inferior teams. In some cases, Steven Gerrard didn't play. In other cases, it was Torres who was absent from the line up. And then there games where both players were unavailable.

Benitez was right last season when he said the biggest difference between Man Utd and Liverpool was the quality of the former's squad. Anyone who doubts that should take a look at Liverpool's bench last season.

And so, Benitez needs more quality players if he wants to take Liverpool to the next level. Not that many. Just a few top notch footballers. But it will all be a waste if he has to sacrifice one of his best players first.