Some transfer news regarding Liverpool and Chelsea.
• Blackpool captain formally tells club he wants to leave
• Liverpool had £4m bid for midfielder rejected last week
Blackpool have rejected a transfer request that was submitted by captain Charlie Adam on Monday.
Adam's decision, first suggested in the Guardian on Friday, comes after his current club rejected a £4m bid from Liverpool for his services. Aston Villa had an offer of the same amount thrown out by Blackpool.
Adam is eager to try his luck on a bigger stage and was particularly riled by Blackpool's unwillingness to negotiate with Liverpool. The former Rangers midfielder's transfer request may force Ian Holloway to lower his valuation of the player - thought to be £8m - to nearer £6m.
Rangers, who are desperate for money to supplement their squad, are keeping a close eye on Adam's situation; the Ibrox club are due 10% of his next sale.
Liverpool failed with a £4 million offer for the player on Saturday and it appears Blackpool's decision to spurn an approach from Kenny Dalglish's side forced Adam's hand.
Manager Ian Holloway said in a press conference on Monday: "I expected it really, Liverpool are a massive club. He can't force the issue, so until there is an acceptable offer made, he won't be going anywhere.
"If I was the Liverpool manager now, I'd have bought him. But I'd have some up with an acceptable offer. Either put up, or shut up. It's as simple as that."
Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has fought an often bitter battle to retain the services of Adam in January, particularly when criticising Aston Villa for their conduct in making a "derisory" approach for the player.
"I had a pact with Charlie when he first came here that if one of the big four clubs came in for him - and Liverpool are one of the big four, though unfortunately for them not at the moment in terms of league position - then he could go," Holloway said. "So when Liverpool came in, I thought, fantastic. What a great club for him to go to next."
"With Kenny Dalglish in charge, the club is so stable. Charlie deserves to play for them one day. But that day, for me, isn't right for this football club at this moment in time. Maybe in the summer because it's a much better time to do business."
Dalglish meanwhile was cagey when asked about Adam today. "If we have some business to discuss we will discuss it," the Liverpool manager said. "We will try to adopt the way of Liverpool Football Club and certainly one of our ways is to be respectful of other clubs and certain players at other clubs. The most important people we have are the people at this club."
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Ryan Babel will not leave Liverpool
Ryan Babel will remain at Liverpool for the foreseeable future after his proposed move to Hoffenheim broke down.
Kenny Dalglish confirmed this morning that the £5.8million deal that appeared to have signalled the end of the winger's three-and-a-half year stay at Anfield has faltered, which had prompted fresh speculation that he could return to Ajax in a part-exchange deal for Luis Suarez.
Both clubs had continued to remain locked in negotiations over the highly-rated Uruguay international as their valuations differed. .
But reports in Holland claim that Damien Comolli, Liverpool's director of football strategy, left Amsterdam this morning following fruitless discussions with Rik van den Boog, Ajax's general director, after Ajax were understood to be demanding €35million (£29.8M).
No appointment has been made to continue transfer talks because of the huge gap between Ajax's asking price and Liverpool's first offer and it appears unlikely that Suarez will move to England this winter following the most recent developments.
Suarez's current contract with Ajax runs until the summer of 2013 and the Amsterdam side are in no hurry to cash in on their star player.
When asked about Babel's deal to Hoffenheim, Dalglish simply replied: "He is staying here."
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Chelsea hope David Luiz transfer to be agreed today.
• Application for work permit heard on Wednesday
• £21.5m deal with Benfica to be confirmed
Chelsea hope to agree the terms of David Luiz's transfer from Benfica later today with their application for a work permit for the Brazil international to be heard on Wednesday.
Talks are on-going with the Portuguese club's chairman, Luís Filipe Vieira, with agreement close on a move that is expected to cost the Premier League champions around £21.5m, their biggest outlay on a player since Andriy Shevchenko's £30m arrival from Milan five years ago.
Luiz, who was omitted from the Benfica side that beat Nacional 4-2 on Saturday night, will travel to London for a medical and, all being well, could be confirmed as a Chelsea player tomorrow subject to the work permit being granted.
Discussions have centred on the possibility of Benfica taking a youngster on loan as a makeweight in the deal. The Londoners' Dutch duo Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt have both been mentioned, as has the Serb defender Slobodan Rajkovic, who is currently on loan at Vitesse Arnhem.
Fulham attempted to sign the latter last summer only to be frustrated when he was denied a work permit, prompting Chelsea to loan him to the Dutch club along with his compatriot Nemanja Matic.
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