Scott Carson and Danny Guthrie became the latest players to move towards the exit at Anfield last night as Liverpool braced themselves for a game of patience with Tottenham Hotspur over Robbie Keane that they hope will not prove as protracted or painful as their continuing pursuit of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

Liverpool have been receiving mixed signals from Tottenham about Keane, with as many suggestions that the London club are unprepared to do business as there are claims that the Ireland striker would be available for the right price.

With Rafael Benítez having made clear this week that funds are limited, it is hard to envisage how Liverpool could muster the £20 million it would take to tempt Tottenham to sell, especially as there is thought to be little appetite at White Hart Lane for a cash-plus-player deal that would suit the Merseyside club, but Benítez remains hopeful of snaring Keane.

Liverpool are unlikely to step up their interest in Keane until Tottenham have completed the capture of Luis García, whose £8 million move from Espanyol is expected to be ratified next week, but any transfer would be dependent on a number of factors, not least Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the Liverpool owners, loosening the purse strings.

Benítez will be given the £11 million received from the sale of Peter Crouch to Portsmouth to put towards the signing of a replacement striker, but with Liverpool still struggling to meet Villa’s £18 million valuation of Barry, the England midfield player, the situation remains far from clear-cut.

Much as Barry has made clear his desire to move to Anfield, so Benítez’s hopes of luring Keane may hinge on the player’s determination to seek a move, although a complicating factor is that Tottenham would be far more comfortable countenancing the sale of two other strikers, Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent, than their talisman and vice-captain.

Liverpool’s hand would be strengthened financially if they can offload Xabi Alonso, but despite lengthy negotiations, Juventus have still to table an offer for the £15 million-rated Spain midfield player.

Benítez’s frustrations have at least been partially offset by the sale of Crouch, with Guthrie and Carson expected to follow suit. Newcastle United have agreed to pay Liverpool £2.5 million for Guthrie, the midfield player who impressed on loan to Bolton Wanderers last season, and the deal should be concluded early next week once the player has agreed personal terms and passed a medical.

Carson is another whose days at Anfield are numbered. Stoke City and another Barclays Premier League club, thought to be West Bromwich Albion or Middlesbrough, have tabled offers for the England goalkeeper, who is likely to fetch about £4 million.

Villa had originally been keen to sign Carson, who spent last season on loan at the Midlands club, but the goalkeeper’s downturn in form and confidence in the wake of England’s Euro 2008 qualifying defeat by Croatia last November, coupled with Liverpool’s high valuation, prompted Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, to look elsewhere.

Carson has accepted that he has no long-term future at Anfield, especially after Liverpool completed the £3 million signing of Diego Cavalieri from Palmeiras on a four-year deal yesterday. The 25-year-old, who was born in Brazil but recently gained an Italian passport, will serve as understudy to José Manuel Reina.

Liverpool fans will get their first glimpse of Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena when the newly signed full backs line up in the club’s first pre-season friendly, against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park this afternoon.

Dossena, an £8 million capture from Udinese, will be asked to bolster Liverpool’s troublesome left side in the wake of John Arne Riise’s departure for AS Roma, but it is a burden that does not appear to faze the Italian. “I have broad shoulders and I believe I can take that responsibility,” Dossena said yesterday.