£40m KOP OUT FOR BENITEZ

By Chris Bascombe

RAFAEL BENITEZ'S plan to keep a grip on his Liverpool job involves a £40million summer bloodbath at Anfield.

As many as 10 players are earmarked for the cull, providing the Kop boss can convince new-owners-in-waiting DIC to give him another season to transform Liverpool's Premier League form.

Benitez's patience has finally run out with the enduring mediocrity of John Arne Riise, Peter Crouch, Harry Kewell and Andriy Voronin.

Most surprisingly, Benitez will allow Xabi Alonso to return to Spain after the midfielder fell out of favour with the boss.

Alonso signed a new long-term contract last summer and is valued at over £15m by Liverpool — but he's long attracted the interest of La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Visit

And the capture of Javier Mascherano on a permanent deal will keep Alonso below the Argentinian and skipper Steven Gerrard in the pecking order.

Alonso, Riise and Kewell were all left out of the Liverpool squad for Saturday's visit of Sunderland.

And although out-of-form Steve Finnan, who only recently signed a new contract, still has time to change Rafa's mind, long-serving legend Sami Hyypia is out of contract in June.

Striker Dirk Kuyt's position is under threat after a poor goal return since his £10m move from Feyenoord two years ago. Injury-prone Fabio Aurelio and calamity reserve keeper Charles Itandje are also in line for the axe.

Whether Benitez can convince his employers he's the man to lead yet another summer of rebuilding is a different matter altogether.

Chaos

Players such as Crouch were denied a January move because of the continued uncertainty surrounding the boss.

Matters off the pitch have been echoed by ongoing chaos on it — and while Benitez is inevitably making long-term plans, whether he'll be given the chance to see them through looks less certain.

A change of ownership AND manager remains more likely before the start of next season.

After admitting the plot to sack Benitez, revealed by the News of the World last November, co-owner Tom Hicks has now delivered a U-turn and promised he'll allow Benitez to see out the last two years of his contract.

However, few at Anfield believe the relationship between the Americans and Benitez is workable.

Prospective owners Dubai International Capital also recognise Benitez's popularity on The Kop and may give him a final chance — but that's not guaranteed.

Ally

The off-field political battle is crippling the club, with Hicks believing he's overcome the initial storm of protest against his leadership.

The Texan's chief ally at Anfield is commercial director Ian Ayre, who was appointed last summer with a view to eventually replacing chief executive Rick Parry.

Ayre has been briefing Hicks the fans have been won over by the recent £350m refinancing package — a claim which will be undermined by further demonstrations in the coming weeks.

The scale of the Anfield turmoil is unprecedented, but there remain hopes a DIC move will happen in ‘days rather than weeks'.