Rafa: Mascherano set for title tilt despite Barca move upset

RAFAEL BENITEZ insists Javier Mascherano will shrug off the disappointment of his aborted move to Barcelona to help spearhead Liverpool’s title challenge.

The Reds begin their Barclays Premier League campaign against Tottenham tomorrow and Benitez is relieved to be able to call upon Argentina captain Mascherano for the match, having lost fellow midfield lynchpin Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

While Alonso was eventually granted his dream £30million (€34.8m) move to Spain, Mascherano was told he would not be leaving Anfield despite expressing his preference for a switch to Barcelona.

Benitez admits now that there were many times during a fraught summer, during which he believes Mascherano’s head was turned by his international colleague Lionel Messi.

But with the player still having more than three years left on his contract, Benitez was in a position of strength when refusing to do business.

Speaking about the saga, Benitez said: “Javier has a very good friend in the national team and that is Messi.

“Messi was on to him every day and that is not easy, but Javier knows what we think of him and he will be okay.”

Now that Mascherano has opted to stay, Benitez is expected to work out a new contract for the player, who had appeared to fall out of love with life in England in the light of Barca’s interest.

Benitez added: “I talked with Javier, his agent and Barca. It is normal they see him as such a good player, and an option for them.

“We told Javier he was so important for us and we wanted to keep him. We were not talking about any price.

“He was a bit disappointed as it was a fantastic opportunity with a big club. But he is happy here, and you can trust him 100%.”

Benitez added: “We had 86 points last season to finish second, and we have more or less the same squad, so maybe we can do the same again or better.

“As for our title chances, the players know we were very close last season and they want to improve. We know what this team can achieve and they will be ready.”

Meanwhile Tottenham centre-back Sebastien Bassong would have stayed at Newcastle if Alan Shearer was given the manager’s job, Harry Redknapp has revealed.

Bassong was one of the few players to impress at St James’ Park last season — and the 23-year-old wanted to move for the sake of his career when Newcastle lost their Barclays Premier League status.

Shearer and assistant Iain Dowie spoke highly of Bassong to Redknapp in April after Newcastle were defeated at White Hart Lane, with the Magpies caretaker boss at the time insisting he would keep the centre-back at any cost.

“When we played Newcastle last year I spoke to Iain Dowie and Alan Shearer after the game and they spoke about the team, they were in desperate trouble,” Redknapp said.

“Iain said if they didn’t stay at the club and one player did become available, Sebastien was the player to take. They couldn’t have recommended him any higher.

“Alan as well. He said ‘if I stay at the club there is no way he’ll ever leave’. Alan didn’t get the job and he (Bassong) was the first person we went for. He’s a young player with a fantastic future.”