Kewell poised for Anfield switch

Harry Kewell looks set to confirm today he will be playing for his boyhood heroes Liverpool next season.

The Australian international has been the subject of transfer speculation for most of the summer – with Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona also having been linked with the Leeds midfielder.

The 24-year-old is to make public his intent on Channel 9 News in Sydney, with the television station yesterday running a promo ahead of their exclusive interview.

“I have been speaking with them [the club concerned] for over six months and everything just seems to be right for me to go there,” states Kewell.

The news will finally bring to an end a transfer saga which has this summer dragged on longer than that of David Beckham’s protracted move from Manchester United to Real Madrid.

Kewell, who has turned his back on the offer of becoming Leeds’ highest-paid player on £48,000-per-week (€70,000-per week), is understood to have agreed a £60,000-per-week (€87,000-per-week) five-year package with the Reds.

The two clubs, who held talks over the weekend, have been finalising the fee, believed to be in the region of £7m (€10.2m), and the structure of the payments to ensure there are no last-minute hitches.

Despite Liverpool being unable to offer Kewell Champions League football for next season, the chance to join the club he supported as a boy has proved too irresistible a lure.

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier will be delighted to have pipped Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson and Claudio Ranieri to Kewell’s signature, underlining the Merseyside giants still have pulling power, regardless of the fact they are only in the UEFA Cup.

Arsenal initially missed out on signing Kewell as they were unable to find the cash, both in terms of transfer fee and wages, allowing Liverpool to jump in.

Manchester United and Chelsea are both understood to have made late offers for the Australia international, but have also lost out to the Anfield club.

Kewell has long secretly voiced his concerns about moving across the Pennines to Leeds’ bitter rivals in United, while he was also apparently unhappy at the way Beckham was treated in relation to his move to Real Madrid.

Chelsea, despite being armed with the millions of billionaire Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, were still a less attractive proposition for Kewell than Liverpool, whom he used to watch on television when growing up in New South Wales.