Benitez reveals interest in Hull defender Turner

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admitted on Saturday that he has held talks with Hull boss Phil Brown over a bid for defender Michael Turner.

Benitez desperately needs a centre-back after Jamie Carragher limped off with an ankle injury early in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Atletico Madrid at Anfield.

The Spanish coach is short of defenders as Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel are also nursing injuries, while Sami Hyypia and Alvaro Arbeloa joined Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid respectively during the close-season.

Benitez is believed to have offered six million pounds for Turner, with Hull demanding closer to 12 million pounds.

“I was talking with (Hull manager) Phil Brown, but I will not talk about figures. But maybe I was just talking to Phil about the weather!” Benitez said.

There was another injury scare for Benitez ahead of next Sunday’s Premier League opener at Tottenham as Spain striker Fernando Torres limped off with an ankle problem late on against Atletico.

Benitez said: “Carragher twisted his ankle, and because we have problems with injuries to our centre-backs, we decided to take him off as a precaution.

“We will have to wait to see how the injured players improve, but I feel they will be ready for our next game.

“We have two options. One is to bring in someone at the back and the other option is to keep working with the young players we have.

“We have three centre-backs to get fit and will need one more as a fourth. We have to decide what to do, but the one solution we can achieve is to work with the youngsters.

“Jamie will come in for treatment, and we will assess the situation then.

“For a twisted ankle you need two or three days to see how the injury settles down. I do not believe he will need a scan.

“Fernando Torres also came off with an slight injury on his ankle, but he also came off as a precaution because this was only a friendly.”

Sergio Aguero scored one for Atletico and created a second for Diego Forlan in the first half, with Lucas Leiva replying for Liverpool in the final minutes.