Today`s press reports suggesting that Juventus are aiming to tempt Rafa Benitez away from Anfield have triggered a number of emails from concerned Liverpool fans...

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 For example, one reader has asked: “Guillem, care to comment on the news that Rafa is a target for Juventus. It hasn`t been ruled out by his agent and given the current situation at the club, a lot of fans are worried. Can you shed any light on what`s going on? Is Rafa off?”

Guillem replies:
Don`t panic. Lots of fans seem to be picking up on certain comments made by Benitez` agent - fuelling their fears -while ignoring the context along with other things that were said.

Benitez and his representative have had no contact with Juventus. It is easy to see why the quotes, which were originally published in La Stampa, can be taken either way; but when Rafa`s agent said: “Benítez to Juventus? In football you never know....but right now, that hypothesis is not correct,” he wasn`t suggesting that it was going to happen.
 And, while you certainly cannot ever rule anything out in football, the plan at Anfield if for Benitez to oversee a major squad overhaul in the summer.

As Hicks suggested the other day, the club will be investing on the playing side in the summer rather than in January and players will leave to help finance purchases. At the moment the aim is to sell approximately 5-6 players and to bring in half a dozen new faces.

As I was saying here on the website last week, Rafa`s management style requires an injection of fresh blood to maintain forward momentum and the strategy this summer will be focused upon shaking things up by bringing in new faces on the playing side to re-invigorate the dressing room.