Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson insists Javier Mascherano will not move to Barcelona unless the Spanish giants offer the fee the Merseyside club feel he is worth.
Argentina captain Mascherano was left out of Liverpool’s 3-0 Premier League loss away to Manchester City on Monday because, Hodgson said, “his head was not right.”
Mascherano is desperate to leave Liverpool because his family have failed to settle on Merseyside and he is understood to be keen to move to Spain.
Barcelona have opened talks with Liverpool about Mascherano, who is one game short of making his 100th career Premier League appearance.
“Javier isn’t in the right frame of mind at the moment to play — his head has obviously been turned by the offer from Barcelona,” Hodgson said.
“But unfortunately, at the moment, the fee that the club thinks is the correct fee and the fee that is being offered is very far apart. Unless that can be resolved he might be unhappy for a long time to come,” he said.
Hodgson said he doesn’t want Mascherano to be sold, adding that the matter had developed over the previous three days.
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