Hodgson wants full value for Mascherano

LONDON (AFP) – Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has warned Javier Mascherano he will have to stay at Anfield for the rest of his contract unless a club meets his valuation of the Argentina midfielder.

Mascherano has told Hodgson he wants to leave Merseyside to be closer to his family and Inter Milan, managed by former Reds boss Rafael Benitez, are keen to sign the star.

But the 26-year-old has two years remaining on his current contract and Hodgson has no intention of letting such a valuable asset go on the cheap.

“We haven’t had an offer for him. We want an offer that meets what we think is his value, and Javier is perfectly happy with this,” Hodgson said.

“He doesn’t expect the club to just let him walk out of here. He hopes that a club comes in where he could be reunited with his family, which is the major problem for him, that offers us what he is worth and we accept that.

“But he has also made it clear that he doesn’t regard it as a hardship to play for Liverpool Football Club. In fact, it’s the reverse. It’s because of family matters that he wants to go.

“He is resigned to one of two possibilities — either a club doesn’t come along and offer us his valuation, in which case he stays, or we have an offer that meets his valuation, in which case he may go.”