The signing of Gareth Barry looks a formality as soon as Liverpool and Villa can agree on a fee to suit both parties. But is Barry our big-name summer signing? Or does Rafa have a Torres-esque deal up his sleeve?
No disrespect to the Villa captain. I think most Reds would agree that his goalscoring presence in the squad alongside Stevie G and Masch, regardless of whether Xabi decides to stay, would give us that extra competitive edge in the centre of midfield next season. But is it the signing to make the Premiership's other big hitters sit up and take notice of Liverpool as a genuine title contender next season.
Last summer, the Reds were being linked with strikers galore including the likes of Samuel Eto'o and David Villa, but ultimately Rafa surprised almost everybody with the acquisition of the prolific Senor Torres. But will this summer prove the same? With the wide areas in particular need of attention at the moment, will Rafa deliver a name as big as Torres at some point before the end of the summer transfer window?
We've all heard the names Silva, Joaquin and Quaresma being touted as potential arrivals at Anfield over the past few weeks, but do YOU think we can a) afford one of the aforementioned, and b) does Rafa even want a winger?
Let us know what you think by clicking on the comments box below.
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Former Reds great John Wark believes Rafa Benitez will need to sign another two players at least to forge an assault on the Premiership title.
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, the former Scotland international said: "I think a good signing would be Robbie Keane if that comes off,But I still think they need another defender and another midfield player.
"They still need two or three players to be where the Liverpool fans want them to be and that's winning the league,"
There has been widespread conjecture that Reds boss Benitez is targeting the recruitment of various wide players to bring more creativity to his squad.
But who do you think will he bring in? van der Vaart? Bentley? Riera? Who do you think Rafa will deliver ahead of the big kick off? And how many new signings do we really need?
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Rev Ben Swift Chambers. Who you may well ask. Well if it wasn't for this gentleman of the 19th Century our beloved Liverpool FC and less beloved Everton FC probably wouldn't exist.
Yesterday, the grave of Mr. Chambers was rededicated after being discovered by amateur historian Peter Lupson near Huddersfield. Representatives from both sides of the Merseyside divide were present as Mr. Chambers memory was marked at a remembrance service in Shepley.
Ex-Everton great Graeme Sharp who was present at the service, said: "When you look at the history of both clubs and how they started, he was so influential. This is an ideal opportunity for us to get together and remember that.
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Reports in today's Liverpool Echo have confirmed that next season it will not be necessary for fans to join the club's new membership scheme in order to buy tickets to attend matches at Anfield.
The new scheme has quite obviously been set up to counteract the fall in e-season ticket subsciptions since the advent of the club's own television station available through Setanta. However, many fans including myself had expressed concern that in addition to quite significant rises in ticket prices for next season (£39 for Class A matches and £37 for Class B matches) plus the cost of ringing ten trillion times to get through to a sales operator, it would be necessary to pay £29 to join the new Liverpool membership scheme. However, Reds bosses have today denied this.
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So Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry has been suspended from pre-season training for questioning his gaffer's refusal to discuss his much-publicised transfer situation. I've got to ask myself - why?
Villans boss Martin O'Neill has openly admitted that he will allow his wantaway captain to leave Villa Park for Anfield if Rafa Benitez gives the go-ahead for an £18 million swoop. So why suspend him?
Yes, he has told the Villa hierarchy that he wants to play Champions League football next season but is that such a bad thing? Surely not. I'm 100 percent sure that if the Reds were to refuse to pay what Villa are demanding for the England international, Barry would remain the consumate professional and give his all for his lifelong club.
Which begs the question why suspend him from training? It just smacks of sour grapes. Barry obviously wants to leave for a bigger club to test himself on the biggest stage, and O'Neill (who I have to admit I am a fan of) can't handle it. Come on Martin, grow up, you're better than this!
What do you make of the situation? And what do you make of O'Neill's latest actions?
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Rafa Benitez has revealed that winning the Premiership title with Liverpool would be his greatest achievement as a football manager.
Speaking to the club website, Benitez admitted that despite winning two La Liga titles during his time at Valencia and the Champions League in his first season at Anfield, winning the league in England is a bigger and more difficult challenge than any other.
He said: "Winning the title would be the biggest achievement of my career. It's more difficult than in Spain because teams here spend big money.
"We will do our best. The key is not to talk about winning the title but to talk about doing a good job so we can be close, so we can be contenders. If we are close I think that we can win the title."
"The key is to sign the right players with the right mentality - a winning mentality - competitive players, players who are desperate to come here to win something.
"That is the key for me. We have been analysing a lot of things this summer. For example, we were conceding a lot of goals last season from set pieces. We need to know why because the previous season we only conceded six, but this year it has been 16. We need to know why so we can improve in these areas, but keep the team scoring goals in open play.
"We have been really good in defence for three or four years but we need to improve a little bit if we want to be in contention."
But what do you think? Can next season be the year that the title finally comes back to Merseyside after almost two decades of watching the Mancs and the capital clubs' hauding domestic glory? Let us know your opinion below and who you think Rafa will sign to make the difference next season.
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Hello there all our faithful Pie-eaters. Firstly, I'd like to issue a heartfelt apology to the legions of faithful Pies readers out there who must have been wondering where on earth we'd gone, and if we'd ever be returning.
Well the answer is, Austria and Switzerland for a week with no internet then back to L3 (Liverpool for all non-residents of our great city) and again no internet connection thanks to our great provider BT.
But now we're back, well in the Lloyds Bar in central Liverpool at least, until BT get their act together, ready and extremely excited about our club's prospects ahead of the 2008/09 season. Are you excited? Personally I can't wait! 50 days and counting! Come on!
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