James H

But that's not the issue here. This thread is about what the reaction would if such a transfer did happen.

Or, they were the only two clubs desperate enough for publicity to come out and say it.

I have lots of Manc mates. I can assure you Ince is as popular with them as he is with us.

I think a better comparison would be Beckham signing for us.

Marlo, no question. Phil at least had the classic line: "My estimation of Johnny Sack, the man, just fucking plummeted. Crying like a woman - it's a fucking disgrace."

Aye, Spurs with Berbatov last season being a prime example to learn from.

The Mancs start with Birmingham at home, finishing with Stoke at home.

Spurs away, apparently. Finishing with Hull away. We haven't started at home since '03. Ridiculous.

Better than 20 wins out of their last 24 league games? Christ.

They were 4th.

Mascherano's been brilliant since January.

Ah, I see. In that case I agree with you, that would be much fairer.

Wouldn't that just encourage people to buy them to sell them on?

He's 25!

I don't think he's good enough anymore but on those terms it's worth the gamble.

Four years have passed and he's had a serious knee injury since then though.

No, he was brilliant for where we were at that time, but that moment has passed and he isn't the player he was five years ago anyway.

22 - 15 league, five European, one FA cup, one Carling Cup.

REDS CONDEMN HILLSBOROUGH RADIO LIES Liverpool Football Club have today issued a statement in response to the recent ill-informed and inflammatory comments made about the Hillsborough disaster by the London-born, US-based Radio presenter Steve Cohen. The official statement reads: Liverpool Football Club totally condemns the comments regarding the Hillsborough disaster made by the radio and TV broadcaster Steve Cohen. Mr Cohen has obviously never taken the time to read the Taylor Report which stated clearly that ticketless fans were not a contributory factor or responsible for the events of that day. To use the 20th anniversary of the disaster to repeat false claims about Liverpool fans (which Mr Cohen first broadcast and then apologised for in 2006) is even more unacceptable.

He's been a bit-part player for them this season so I suspect he'll be moving on in the summer.

From the offal: Liverpool are set to face Atletico Madrid at Anfield for their final warm-up game before the 2009-10 season. Fernando Torres' former club will arrive on Merseyside on Saturday, August 8 - a week before the new Barclays Premier League campaign gets underway. The sides met twice in the 2008-09 Champions League, with both group stage clashes ending in a draw. Injury meant El Nino featured in neither. Ticket details for the 3pm kick-off will follow. Liverpool have now announced seven pre-season friendlies, with their schedule thus far looking like this: July: 15 v FC St Gallen AFG Arena, St Gallen Kick-off 8pm 19 v Rapid Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna Kick-off 7.15pm 22 v Thailand National Stadium, Bangkok Kick-off 8pm 26 v Singapore National Stadium, Singapore Kick-off 8pm August: 2 v Espanyol Cornella-El Prat Stadium, Barcelona Kick-off time to be confirmed 5 v FC Lyn Oslo Kick-off 7pm 8 v Atletico Madrid Anfield Kick-off 3pm

Carragher Gerrard Reina

Team: Reina, Carragher, Agger, Arbeloa, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Alonso, Riera, Babel, Ngog, Skrtel.

It would be satisfying to finish above Abramovich's Chelsea for the first time.

Loved that game. Seems a much more innocent time. Our club - and football in general really - seems to have changed so much since then. We had a cracking squad that season, definitely good enough to challenge for the league, but I don't think we realised how good we were until the last few months.