Benitez buoyed by Euro success

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez believes the club’s progress to the final four of the Champions League will make Anfield a preferred destination for Europe’s top players.

The former Valencia coach has already brought in star names such as Xabi Alonso and Fernando Morientes and believes the job of recruiting more has been helped by the Reds’ exploits in Europe.

He told the Daily Express: “With the foreign players now, they see Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final and think ‘It’s a good team, a good club’ and that makes it easier for me.

“We have got a better chance of signing better quality players now. We will look at the situation at the end of the season, but it will certainly be easier to sell the club to foreign players, in particular, when they see Liverpool in the last four of the Champions League.

“We have always been a big club, but for them Liverpool is attractive again.”