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Javier Mascherano can leave for £25m, Liverpool's Roy Hodgson tells Inter Milan
Roy Hodgson has warned Inter Milan that he would rather see Javier Mascherano run down the final two years of his Liverpool contract and leave on a free transfer than sell the Argentina captain for a cut-price fee.
Mascherano informed Hodgson as soon as he returned to Merseyside, after an extended post-World Cup break, that his family's failure to settle on Merseyside meant he wished to leave the club he joined in 2007 but as yet Inter, now managed by Rafael Benítez, have failed to lodge a bid.
Though Mascherano, who will miss Thurday night's Europa League play-off round first-leg tie with Turkish side Trabzonspor with a calf injury, remains high on the Spaniard's list of priorities, he has been stymied by owner Massimo Moratti's apparent unwillingness to match Liverpool's £25 million valuation.
Hodgson is adamant the player will not be allowed to leave for anything less than that price, while he remains so confident Mascherano will not agitate for a move should no suitable offers arrive that he has not yet ruled out the possibility of the 26 year-old signing the four-year contract, worth £100,000 a week, he was offered in March.
"As far as I am concerned, I would be quite happy to work with him for two years," said Hodgson. "If he then wanted to walk away, then so be it. The nicest thing of all would be if he signed a new contract. It is there for him. But nobody is putting him under any pressure.
"In an ideal world, if it was simply a matter of whether we would be prepared to listen to offers for him, I would say no, regardless of the money on offer.
"It is only this promise made a year ago [that he would be allowed to leave] that lingers over my head.
"We want an offer that meets what we think is his value and Javier is perfectly happy with that.
"He does not expect the club to let him walk out of here. He hopes that a club comes in where he could be reunited with his family – his wife does not live in Liverpool while he is here, which is the root of the problem – that offers us what he is worth.
"But he has made it clear he does not regard it as a hardship to play for Liverpool. He is resigned to one of two possibilities: either a club does not come along, in which case he stays, or we have an offer which meets his valuation, in which case he may go.
"We will not have an unhappy player if no offer comes in or if an offer comes in and it is so ludicrously below what he, I and the rest of the world knows he is worth."
Hodgson may also have to field an offer from Benítez for Dirk Kuyt after Inter's move for Giuseppe Sculli, the Genoa striker, fell through. The Spaniard's replacement, though, is adamant neither Kuyt, nor his international team-mate Ryan Babel, are for sale.
Diego Cavalieri, though, will leave Liverpool after Thursday's game. The Brazilian goalkeeper, who has made just 10 appearances, none in the Premier League, since joining the club from Palmeiras, will travel to Cesena for a medical before completing a £3 million move. Brad Jones, the former Middlesbrough goalkeeper, has already arrived as a replacement.
"Cavalieri made it clear he was worried he would lose his goalkeeping ability if he had another year watching Pepe Reina play," said Hodgson. "Jones was signed with the idea of letting Diego leave."
Hodgson has also admitted his interest in Ola Toivonen, PSV Eindhoven's £8 million-rated Swedish international striker.
"We have discussed his name," said the Liverpool manager. "I know the player and he is a good player. That does not mean we will rush in and buy him, but we are aware of him."