Liverpool are in talks with former midfielder Sammy Lee with a view to him becoming Rafael Benitez’s assistant manager at Anfield.

Japanese side JEF United Chiba have refused to rule out the possibility of making a shock move for England and Newcastle striker Michael Owen, but stressed no transfer targets have yet been set by new manager Alex Miller.

Rafael Benitez has slapped a £15m price tag on England striker Peter Crouch on the day that he lost his first-team coach Alex Miller and confirmed that Harry Kewell will leave Liverpool.