This is a joke, as a Liverpool fan who was in Athens for the final, I find this utterly dispiriting that we have to settle for trying to sign the likes of Darren Bent and United castoff - Forlan. This just signals a lack of ambition that was extremely apparent during the final in Athens and is the reason we cannot & WILL NOT win the league. We need a striker that can score 25/30 goals a season - this is the main reason we haven't won trophies (champions league excepted although it was the reason we didn't win it this year & Milan did - Inzaghi!!!), particularly the league in the recent past. We need to start spending at the level required to get the talent needed, simple as that. That's why our transfer record is 15M & United & Chelsea's are up over 30m, & that's why they've won the league in the last ten years & we haven't. And for anyone who says Arsenal haven't spent like that - everyone knows that Henry is the only reason & how much would you have to spend to buy him now?

Ultan Quin, Limerick, Ireland

As we are after a striker ,eto`o would cost 35m and if he had a good season would score 20 goals a season and along with kuyt ,crouch and Voloron the strikers would prob score 45 goals aseason ,however for the same price we could get Anelka 7m .owen 9m and militon 16m and have 4 proven golascorers who would have no problem adapting to premier league football.

Neil, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND

Forlan can walk alone.............

Sanjeev, Malaysia,

It is a very sad development to any Liverpool fan, I dont think this will take us any where. Dubai Holdings would have beren abetter deal. If what we are hearing is true, then Gillet and his friend are traitors. Rafa is now a hopeless man and selling players like Kewell n' Bellamy is suicide.

Ndatsalapati Msanjama, Lilongwe, Malawi

Not yet more average signings. I can hear reds fans everywhere screaming NOOOO!!!!!
If we cant get the best - stick with the current team and build with them.
We need outstanding players not just good ones.
Come on the YANKS! Do what you said you were going to do - show us the money!!!

Gavin Skelhorn, London, England

I notice that some think that Bellamy, Crouch, Cisse, Kuyt etc are better than Forlan. How can that be? None of them have ever played for Manchester United ,nor have Utd ever shown any interest in them. It stands to reason that Diego Forlan is better, he did play for Manchester Utd!

Steve, Oxford,

I was under the impression that Liverpool were out for a top class striker...
Forlan is just a squad player..besides strikers who did well in Spain failed in England...Morientes and Gonzales are cases in point...I would rather have Owen anytime...

Joe A. Vella, Sliema, Malta

Oh no no no please no!!

JC, Dublin, Eire

If the Premiership is the best and richest league in the world why aren't Eto'o, Torres et al coming here with alacrity and Henry not going the other way? Could it be that the lifestyle of a football millionaire and the physical toll that the Premiership takes on a player's body means that Spain and Italy are still the leagues of choice for the elite?

Paul, Hong Kong,

I thought Forlan had signed for Liverpool as I read the comments that followed the report. The season has just ended except in Spain, so it follows that newspapers will print anything to sell as many copies as possible.

People, before you get too excited you will be well-advised to remember that any report linking a player to Liverpool should be treated as a rumour until the club confirms that the player in question has been signed. Has any journalist from this paper spoken to Rafa? I'll leave to figure that out for yourselves but I do wonder why people seem to be getting carried away about an unsubstantiated report.

Bayo, London, United Kingdom

Forget about the 35 mill pound fragile Striker from Cameroon - in the PL he's nothing more than another Cisse. Unfortunately Forlan resembles the kind of player whom Benitez cherishes however as a Red Fan, I'm hoping the Man U failure is a just red herring. The real talent here is Milito- he's half the price, full of talent, has size and durability and will fit in nicely with fellow Argentine MashMan.

scott, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

I dont understand where this idea that Benitez has a bad transfer record comes from. He has a net spend of 15 million a season at Anfield, and with that he has bought very well. Obviously when you have 3-4million to spend on a player, rather than the 10-15 United and Chelsea can you are more likely to be buying "chance signings", with a high risk of failure.

But most of the signings Benitez has made mistakes with he has recouped at least 70% of the value on, or made a profit e.g. Gonzalez, Josemi, Kromkamp etc

When Benitez has spent over 5 million, he has mainly got it right - you cant suggest that any of:
Reina
Agger
Crouch
Alonso
Garcia
Kuyt
Sissoko
Pennant (just starting to come good)

are major flops, also the two flops he has bought over for over 5 million ( bellamy and morientes) will be/were sold for respectable amounts (9mil?/3.5mil).

I beleive its time the Americans back Benitez, although this may well be a smokescreen to stop people seeing our money and asking for the lot

Mark Philips, Preston, Lancs

what was that original gilette comment? 'liverpool reds soccer franchise'? pity i can't say it in an american accent.

Terry, Oxford,

I am a Man U fan. I hope Benitez stays at Liverpool for years to come and spends as much money as possible because his eye for players makes me laugh so hard I almost cry with joy. I was shocked when he signed Crouch - I thought this was a wind up. I thought Pennant for the price Liverpool paid was crazy. Even the announcer in Greece was saying Pennant had gone missing! The players Liverpool are linked to this summer are second rate. What do you want Bent and Forlan for? They are what I call 'Typical Liverpool Signings' (Babb / Cisse / Clough / Collymore - the list is endless). Its so obvious Liverpool need playmakers and pace (Bent / Milito / Forlan are lumps). I would look at Guily from Barca on the right - surely 10m max - fair price. He would be great in the prem. Maybe Aimar and Saviola as play maker and striker. with all that you wouldn't need anything special on the left except a player who gives balance - Nolan possibly - He would do the Kily role that Benitez liked in Spain???

Matt S, London,

Am I the only one who rates Forlan? Rafa is not stupid and knows Forlan never got a proper chance at man united. He used to play 10 minutes at the end of each game. He has beaten Eto for goals in two out of the three seasons he has been in Spain, and for an extra 16million, Eto is also unproven over here. Give Forlan a good run of starts in the premiership and a bit of service and he will deliver 20 goals a season.

Doc, London, England

Who started this Forlan one, nearly as funny as Henry. More dribble i suspect..

Damien, Bangor,

Gone fishin'? A sprat to catch a mackerel? Move and counter move? I don't think Rafa is interested in Forlan. He's not daft. He may gamble on a player untested in the PL but he won't throw money at a player who has been tested over a 2 and a half year period and found to be wanting. Fergies no fool. Talking of whom how many times over the years has Fergie thrown a grain of sand into the media transfer oyster and stood back? His 'interest' in Tevez is another such occasion. Liverpool are potentially a worthy rival, reportedly with spending power. ManU have just spent £50m so Fergie will try to level the playing field by driving the price up for those still on the market who LFC are supposedly interested in. Nice one Sir Alex. Rafa therefore let's it be known that we are looking elswhere in an attempt to put agents on the back foot, draw fire and hold the price at least steady. It may cost our owners a bit more but don't be surprised if Tevez rejoins his countryman at Anfield.

Jim, Liverpool, England

Oh please give me a break. This story has to be a wind up. Liverpool fans, this is just a rumour and a bad one at that. First of all Benitez's record in the transfer market has been quite good so far. Think Alonso, Crouch, Sissoko, Reina, and Mascherano on loan. Admittedly there have been a few slip ups but I just can't see Forlan coming to LFC. Absolute rubbish.

jack, london, uk

It doesn't take a genius to work out that this is going to be another season chasing 3rd spot. I can see an Arsenal type disaster looming as next season we have disillusioned manager and star players.
Forlan is no better than someone like Morientes who works great in Hispanic leagues (ie South America and Spain) but I worry greatly that even a manager of Sir Fergies class has already rejected him. Why are we even looking at him?? Ciise is better, Bellamy is better, Kuyt and Crouch. Surely if we want to climb up the league to 2nd (or 1st even!!) we need to buy players of that calibre.
If there is not the money available due to stadium expansion why not save the cash for one year, buy owen, play ciise and bellamy as wingers, and then see what happens.
Liverpool makes me despair sometimes!

Arron, Bristol,

i think all liverpool fans can rest easy. it is fact that when hicks buys a new sports team, he breaks the bank for the best player he can possibly get. i think the guy he signed for texas rangers (baseball) is still the highest payed player in that league. clearly, it is not in liverpools interest to shout from the rooftops about how much money they have got. all this does is add a few more zeros on the end of a players price tag. least we forget - our chairman didn't make his (their) money from stealing it all from his fellow countrymen - there's came from the business world - so i hardly think we can find it surprising that they have a very business minded, cards close their chest, approach to transfer dealings.

paul, london, london

I would ask if this was a joke , but considering the distinctly average signings L'pool have made for season after season in recent years , i suspect that it isn't . I guess all the talk of really wanting the title was just that ... all Talk !! Unfortunately it aint gonna happen without action !!

Benzo, Nr Chelmsford,

Getting contract extensions sorted fairly promptly isnt going to win the fans over. Parry (as negotiator) Hicks and Gillette are failing the supporters at the moment and if all they make available if sufficient for the likes of Forlan another 3rd or 4th finish is on the way. Benitez knows what he wants, the fans know what we need why can't those supposedly going to back the manager get on with that job?

Keep Cisse......you must be joking, his first touch would look wayward in the playground.

AD, Lpool,

Forlan is no better than Bellamy or Cisse. I know Benitez has done well in Europe, but he knows that Liverpool do not have enough money so he should work at improving and giving a chance to some of the players he has already. Bellamy could be a very good player if given a regular chance in the side and GOOD SERVICE! No matter who we have up front, they are not going to score if players of the quality of Gonzalez and Zenden are the providers. We should spend the money on 1 or 2 world class midfielders instead on Forlan.

Sam Cooper, Bristol,

As a Liverpool fan, im use to not seeing big money moves, i mean the most we have ever payed for a player was Cisse, and he was under 16M! I like to think the papers do a lot of talking, and we will see the true colour of the americans in the coming weeks, but if we do go down the path of Forlan, a Man Utd reject who could not cut it in the premiership, then we can wave goodbye to the premiership title next season! Someone needs to tell the american owners, that the one key factor in the other 3 top teams in the country, is they have a one or more world class strikers! Henry, Drogba, Shevchenko, Rooney! you cannot win the premiership with anyting less, Alan Shearer did it for Blackburn just to prove my point! If we dont sign a big name striker, and i mean a Eto, Villa, Torres or Tevez, i cant see Rafa staying for long, and if he goes, who knowes who will follow!

Andy Jay, Leeds, United Kingdom

Oh dear god, please no. I'd rather go for Darren Bent for that price. At least he is proven in the PL.

To be honest 35m for Eto'o or Tevez is just too much. I look forward to Milan putting in a bid for Eto'o, I doubt it will be for the 35m mark.

The americans so far have talked the talked and now it is time to walk the walk and they seem to be slow to deliver. We can't say for sure what the arabs would have been like. We can't say with certaintity that they would have bankrolled the clubs, they like the americans were investing ina business.

Joe Singh, Walsall, UK

as a liverpool fan i am very very disappointed by the new owners .Liverpool had done a very bad business in the americans .Dubai holdings would have been better ,look the kind of investment Al Maktoum is doing ,whether in horse racing or any other he is involved .He even put a trust of 2BN into education .Rafa is very hopeless ,that is why he expressed his feeling so louldly.

malk, pampls, mauritius

why rafa cant give cisse a chance or indeed bring owen back i cant understand. but please not forlan, just becausehe scored two against use donest make him a godd striker for us. we are better of with the squad that we have now if at all we will be signing players o the calibre of forlan

kelvin Kachingwe, lusaka, zambia

Eto'o to Forlan, bit of a drop in class and will leave us in the same position - top four side without the cutting edge of a top striker. Please Rafa dont settle for second best.

Simon Lethbridge, Liverpool,

Forlan is no better then Bellamy....probably worse! I'd rather see the money spent on 1 or 2 world class players than a 5 or 6 who are no better than what is already at Anfield!

Lee, Liverpool,

Lets give Cisse another season and see how it goes... he had a bad season due to injury and it seems like he is coming back to fitness. He is a talented striker and would show much better class than Bellamy and Kuyt are showing right now.

Kory, mandeville, England

what the hell are we doing? if we sign forlan - i'd rather we didn't sign anyone...it's a disgrace to lfc where he failed miserably at Man U and we are picking up the scraps from them. We'll be their laughing stock.

Forlan may have faired better in Spain but so was Mori. From 16M, I could get 2 Saints in Owen - 9mil only.

This rumor is really getting into my nerves.

King Kong, PJ, Malaysia

I realise that Rafa is known for his poor signings but this would take the biscuit.

Forlan may have a half decent record in Spain but he's already shown that he can't hack English football.

Please sign him!

Fergus Sira-Lexon, England,

We don´t want Forlan. We are better off without him. Please don´t bring him too Lpool

Thomas, Oslo,

where is the back up from hicks and gillette that rafa was promised,please tell me its not true we need a very good striker forlan can do it in spain because its a slower pace,he never made the grade at united and to sign him would be an insult!.. bring back michael!.. this has to be a wind up

Delaney, merseyside, england