Dutch international Jan Kromkamp is on his way out of Liverpool after just six months at the club.


Anfield boss Rafa Benitez made it clear the former Villarreal full-back is surplus to requirements as he targeted Brazilian Daniel Alves as his big money defensive signing. (Click here for Alves article).
Kromkamp joined in the January transfer window in a swap deal which took £3million-rated right-back Josemi back to Spain. But the Dutchman has struggled to make an impression in the Premiership.


Benitez realises the defender will not make it at Anfield, and he wants to ship him out over the summer, with a possible move back to Holland on the cards. Kromkamp is a member of the Dutch World Cup squad and if he has a successful time in Germany then Liverpool will try to sell him to Ajax for around £2.5m. That will give them the funds to pursue Sevilla's highly-rated right-back Alves, who almost joined Liverpool last summer, for a fee of around £5 million.

Follow up:

Barcelona are also interested in the Brazilian who starred in the UEFA Cup final against Middlesbrough, but he is keen to move out of Spain.



Last week he confirmed Liverpool's interest when he said:

"Liverpool have a great team and a great manager. It makes me very proud that they are interested in me, and they are an appetising option because of the Spanish coach and the players they have there from Spain.
"They will help me adapt and that makes it easier. I now have to make a decision. It makes me very proud that some of Europe's big teams have shown an interest in me.
"For every player, playing at the highest level is an objective - and clubs like Liverpool are at the top now. They are one of those big, important clubs with a lot of history."

Liverpool have already secured the services of one Brazilian full-back for next season - Valencia's Fabio Aurelio has agreed a precontract deal.


Alves can play at rightback or right midfield, and Benitez sees him fulfilling both roles, just as Kromkamp was supposed to.


Benitez will not rule out a swap deal with Spurs between his winger Harry Kewell and England international Jermain Defoe. The Spanish coach though, still has Charlton's Darren Bent as his number one striking target and Craig Bellamy as his second choice, and will only move for Defoe if those two are unavailable at the right price.


He will still listen to offers for Kewell in the summer though, and would sell if the price reached around £6m. Kewell is deemed surplus to requirements because Chile international Mark Gonzalez will arrive as the first choice on the left flank next season, and skipper Steven Gerrard admitted yesterday he was excited by the prospect.

"We actually trained with him for a couple of weeks before he went back to Spain earlier in the season and it was clear to us all then that he's got loads of ability," Gerrard said.
"You could see that he's hungry to do well, which is important, and he came across as a good lad as well.
"That's the type of player we want here - people who are good for team spirit and who'll also do a good job out on the pitch."

Source: The Mirror