Brendan Rodgers hopes Philippe Coutinho will sign a new contract with Liverpool in the near future.
Coutinho has made a big impact at Liverpool since he moved to Anfield from Inter Milan in an £8.5million transfer 18 months ago.
Rodgers views the 22-year-old Brazilian as an important part of his side’s future and he is hoping the playmaker will sign the new deal he has been offered shortly.
“I am not sure when it will be done. I haven’t spoken to any of the directors in the last few days so I am not sure where we are on that, but obviously he is someone we want to tie up for a period of time,” the Liverpool manager said after his team’s friendly defeat to Manchester United in Miami.
“I am sure I will hear more about it when I get back on Tuesday.”
Coutinho scored five goals in 37 appearances for the Merseyside club last season.
Sunderland
Jack Rodwell’s underwhelming Manchester City career appears to be drawing to a close after he visited Sunderland’s training complex on Monday.
Rodwell arrived at City two years ago in a £12million deal from Everton, a highly-rated homegrown talent who had only recently made a promising debut for England.
But the dream move never really got off the ground, hamstring problems hampering his early progress and more established performers regularly keeping him out of the side when fit.
In his two seasons at the Etihad, the 23-year-old made just 25 appearances in all competitions - a figure that includes just seven Barclays Premier League starts and two goals, both in a losing effort against Norwich.
Having gone backwards since Manuel Pellegrini replaced Roberto Mancini at the City helm, it seemed inevitable Rodwell would move on this summer and Wearside appears his likeliest destination after manager Gus Poyet was not deterred by a £10million price tag.
Rodwell was filmed at Sunderland’s Academy of Light facility, where he was thought to be discussing personal terms on a deal that should go ahead as soon as he passes a medical.
Black Cats boss Gus Poyet’s transfer business so far this summer has been of the low-key variety, with Jordi Gomez, Billy Jones and Costel Pantilimon signing on free transfers and Chelsea fringe player Patrick van Aarnholt also arriving.
A £14million move for Liverpool’s Fabio Borini, who spent last season on loan at the club, has thus far come to nothing but Poyet said over the weekend he was confident of surprising fans with some exciting developments.
A box-to-box midfielder has been top of his priorities for much of the close season and, with previous target Jordon Mutch set for QPR, Rodwell would fit the bill.
Tottenham Hotspur
Steffen Freund has been appointed international technical coordinator at Tottenham, the English Premier League club have announced.
Former Tottenham and Germany midfielder Freund formed part of Tim Sherwood’s back-room coaching staff, but has been handed a development role under new boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino brought his coaching team from Southampton to the north London club after making the switch from Saints in the close season.
The former Argentina defender now has Jesus Perez as assistant manager at Spurs, with first team coach Miguel D’Agostino and goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez also moving to the capital from the south coast.
Freund will be responsible for developing Tottenham stars on foreign loan deals, supporting the club’s international projects, academy partnerships and scouting potential new recruits.
Freund made 102 Spurs appearances between 1998 and 2003, and joined the club’s coaching staff in July 2012 under then-boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Hellas Verona
Aston Villa have allowed Antonio Luna to join Italian Serie A side Hellas Verona on a season-long loan.
The 23-year-old Spaniard was signed by Villa last summer for £2million from Sevilla, going on to make 18 appearances in all competitions.
The last of those appearances, however, came in mid-January as Luna fell out of favour under Lambert, with the Scot now allowing the full-back to move on.
Turks Trabzonspor
Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozo has joined Turks Trabzonspor from Benfica, the Portuguese club said in a statement.
Last season’s Portuguese triple winners will receive 4-million euros ($5.36m) with up to another 1.65 million euros of possible add-ons depending on the Turkish club’s results.
The 31-year-old joined Benfica from Argentines Newell’s Old Boys in 2007.
Rennes
Experienced Swiss international midfielder Gelson Fernandes became Ligue 1 side Rennes’ ninth signing of the close season on Monday as he joined them from Bundesliga outfit Freiburg.
The 27-year-old Cape Verde-born player -- a member of the Swiss squad at the World Cup -- signed a four-year contract with last season’s beaten French Cup finalists.
Fernandes, who also played for Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup finals, will be playing for his ninth club, his longest stay at a team being two years with English side Manchester City from 2007-09.
Rennes, boosted by money from new club president Rene Ruello, have been busy in the transfer market with coach and sporting director Philippe Montanier bringing in a whole raft of new players.
His new recruits include including highly-rated Franco-Bosnian 20-year-old midfielder Sanjin Prcic from relegated Sochaux.
Torpedo
Russian Premier league club Torpedo Moscow have boosted their line-up by signing Australian international right-back Ivan Franjic and Croatian goalkeeper Goran Blazevic, the club announced Tuesday.
Torpedo, who won promotion to the top flight last season for the first time since 2006, said both players had signed up until May 31, 2017.
The 26-year-old Franjic, who won three Australian titles with Brisbane Roar, signed for 200,000 euros ($270,000). He has also won 10 caps with Australian national side.
Blazevic, 28, who previously played for Croatian giants Hajduk Split and Bulgarian high-flyers Levski Sofia, joined as a free agent.
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