In the Papers: 24th August

Even though transfer deadline day is just one week away, the newspapers appear to be surprisingly quiet on any activity at Anfield. Instead, most of the headlines have focussed on the Reds’ narrow 1-0 victory over Hearts. A lot of newspapers have also run stories on the whole Clint Dempsey saga, after Fulham decided to report the Reds and Brendan Rodgers over their interest in the player.

In fact, the only significant transfer rumour to hit the newspapers is Nuri Sahin’s proposed switch from Real Madrid. Practically all of the major outlets are running the story and bearing this in mind, it looks very likely that the former Dortmund midfielder will be joining Liverpool in the near future.

Other than the Sahin speculation, there appears to be just one other story. According to Setanta Sports Ireland, Manchester United are attempting to close a deal as soon as possible for midfielder Hector Herrera, and beat Liverpool to the player in the process. The paper is running quotes from Pachuca’s sporting director Andres Fassi, who has stated that both United and the Reds have held discussions with them about the future of Herrera.

There was a report in the Daily Mail that cleared up some speculation regarding Andy Carroll as well. While the former Newcastle striker was widely tipped to feature against Hearts, in the end the Liverpool team did not include him. However, the Daily Mail have run quotes from Brendan Rodgers that highlight that Carroll was not able to play due to a late injury.

It is clear to see that the media have run out of transfer rumours to report on for Friday, which is certainly strange considering some of the stories that have occurred in newspapers over the past week. However, with next week being the final one before the transfer window closes, expect Liverpool to be back in the headlines again.