Brendan Rodgers is doing a good job of nurturing the talents of Raheem Sterling, according to one of the winger's former tutors.

Andy Evans, CEO of the Queens Park Rangers Community Trust, has helped develop young players for over 20 years - and he oversaw Sterling's early development at the London club.

A near constant in the Reds' first team before Christmas last season, Sterling was then used sparingly during 2013.

And Evans believes that Rodgers and the Liverpool staff are taking the right tact in managing the 18-year-old's expectations.

"I think the manager has probably managed him quite well," said Evans.

"He will be seeing and working with him every day throughout the year and it's a big jump going from a youth player to becoming a first-team player in the Premier League at a big club.

"I'm sure Brendan and his staff will be managing his workload accordingly and that is probably why they took him out towards the end because it is difficult for a young player like that to maintain his level over the course of a whole season."

Evans knows that in the modern game, performing on the field is perhaps not the whole picture - and that off the pitch, footballers are scrutinised more than ever.

"It's not just about skill level and fitness it's also about how young players handle the media glare and everything that goes with the challenge of playing at the top level," he explained.

"It's about how they handle their life off the field as well, not just what they do out there on the park during 90 minutes but how are they coping with all the other pressures that go with that.

"It falls on the staff at those clubs who are close to them and working with them to manage that side of their development as well."

Sterling was brought to Merseyside in February 2010 by former Reds boss Rafael Benitez.

He was handed his first start in a friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach in August 2010 - and in March 2012, Kenny Dalglish introduced Sterling to first-team competitive football for the first time.

"Raheem came into the academy here at QPR and at the time the club was quite challenged financially, as it was a few years before the big takeover," said Evans.

"Liverpool came in for him with an offer the club couldn't really turn down and obviously it was a great opportunity for Raheem and his family as well.

"It was a shame we couldn't hold onto him and see him wear the blue and white hoops because it would have been great to see a real local kid go from the academy to the first team."
 
Kolo Toure's level of experience and leadership makes his free transfer to Liverpool an 'astute' signing according to two of his former colleagues at Barclays Premier League rivals Manchester City.

The Ivorian defender plied his trade with City for four seasons, winning a championship medal and the FA Cup as well as sharing a dressing room with Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott.

"Kolo will be a great signing. I think it's an astute signing by Brendan Rodgers because he has got so much experience," Barry told LFC TV.

"He will always give 100 per cent, he will never give up. Kolo will win over the fans straight away.

"Losing Jamie Carragher's experience from the dressing room will be a huge loss for Liverpool and the fans.

"But Kolo, with his experience and his work-rate, the way he goes about his training, will do a good job of replacing him."

That's an opinion shared by City teammate Lescott, who had the opportunity to watch Toure at close quarters during their time together in Manchester.

The England international explained: "He's energetic, he's full of life and he's always smiling every day in training.

"I know he's a good player - he's quick, he reads the game well and he's a leader. You can't replace Jamie Carragher but that will be as close as you're going to get."
 
Liverpool have a new No.9 - Iago Aspas.

The club confirmed today that the Spaniard would take the shirt vacated by Andy Carroll - and you can buy your 'Aspas 9' shirt now.
Our greatest No.9s include Ian St John, Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Fernando Torres.

Simon Mignolet, meanwhile, will take the No.22 shirt last worn by Danny Wilson.

This was his number at Sunderland. Buy your 'Mignolet 22' shirt now.

 
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed that he is 'feeling strong' in his recovery from shoulder surgery and expects to return for pre-season training.

After playing every minute of the Reds' 2012-13 Barclays Premier League campaign until April, the skipper required an operation to solve a shoulder problem.

The 33-year-old is now approaching the conclusion of his rehabilitation, however, and explained why he cannot wait to begin kicking a football in earnest once more.

"It's going well and feeling strong," the midfielder told LFC TV at his foundation's charity golf day in Portugal.

"I'm six weeks down the line with the rehabilitation from surgery.

"I'm not too far away, maybe a couple of weeks away from contact and being back in full training if everything goes well. I'm looking forward to it.

"It's probably the longest break I've had at this time of year - being out of the game for six weeks is enough, I'm itching to get back."
 
Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is keeping his cards close to his chest as speculation continues over an impending move to Liverpool.

Mkhitaryan, 24, has been linked with a transfer to Liverpool throughout this month ahead of the reopening of the international transfer window is thought to be close to completing a £20 million switch. But it believed to be a slow moving deal with complications over the player's ownership.

The Armenia international is happy to honour his contract with Shakhtar, and last week the Ukrainian club insisted that Liverpool had made no approach for a player who scored 25 goals last season - but they did not rule out a deal.

Mkhitaryan told his official Facebook page: "I am happy to see that people show keen interest in my career but I would like to ask all not only to refrain from making comments but also to prevent the spread of unverified and false information. I am not meddling with these affairs. If have a contract with a club, I just fulfil it.

"If an agreement is reached between clubs I will be informed of the details and then will accept or reject it. I'm not planning any media communication because I cannot comment on things of which I have no information. Professional players have rules in life and I'm obliged to respect them.

"I promise that you will hear any news first on my Facebook page or the official club website."

Shakhtar chief executive Sergei Palkin told Russian newspaper Izvestia: "Henrikh is an important player in our team. Shakhtar want to keep him but we are willing to listen and consider all proposals for his transfer."
 
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has already begun spending this summer - and could add Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama to his ranks, according to the Liverpool Echo's rumour mill.

Rodgers has had his eyes set on Wanyama for a while now, but with even more transfers already on their way, Rodgers needs a way to fund the Celtic star's move.

Rodgers sold Andy Carroll to West Ham earlier this summer, before bringing in some new signings. Rumours suggest this is what he plans to do with midfielder Jordan Henderson, but it is unlikely that the Liverpool manager will recover the full £20m invested in the former Sunderland midfielder.

Celtic box-to-box midfielder, Wanyama, could be seen as a better option that Brazilian Lucas Leiva, who hasn't seen a recovery to his previous form since his return to injury. 

Wanyama will undoubtedly prefer a move to the Premier League in his bid to become Kenya's first player in the Premier League - and Celtic will make a huge profit on the £900,000 they shelled out on the youngster.

We've seen glimpses of his ability to perform on a higher level during Celtic's longer-than-expected Champions League run last season. Wanyama was by far one of the most impressive players from Celtic's point of view.

Is his ability worth offloading a young and talented England international, though?

Henderson has improved massively in the 2012/13 Premier League campaign, scoring vitals goals against teams like Arsenal and Newcastle. His movement has improved drastically and he's clearly working on finding the net more. 

Not to mention, he's currently captain of the England U21 team. Surely, Rodgers sees the young playmaker's potential.

In other news, Liverpool have successfully signed Armenian international attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk, according to reports in Armenia. 
 
Premier League opinion: The intense focus of the media could drive the league's best players away from England

The passion which the Premier League provokes all around England makes it one of the best leagues in the world, warranting an overwhelming amount of coverage from the media.

However, it is this coverage which could ironically be causing our top players to leave the country.

Papers, reporters and pundits alike have dominated the news with stories linking two of the best players in the Premier League: Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez, with moves away from England. These players have been under speculation as having impending moves to big European clubs such as Real Madrid, PSG and more fictitiously AC Milan and AS Monaco.

Poignantly, these two players have both come under criticism in the press over the last couple of years.

Bale has had much scrutiny regarding the fact that he has appeared to have 'dived' on numerous occasions, picking up over five yellow cards in the process, last season. And even though the media has portrayed Tottenham as a one-man team, complementing Bale's talent, this indirectly could not have worked wonders for the team's morale, prompting Bale to wonder if he should employ his talent in a team of higher quality.

As for Suarez, well, the controversial events calendar is eternal. Having come to England in 2011, in light of his infamous handball against Ghana at the 2010 World Cup, and initial bite on someone's neck whilst at Ajax, he wasn't exactly given a banner and balloons welcome to the country.

Plus, after quickly installing his own 'diving' fiasco into the Premier League, amidst an alleged racial attack and second episode of 'biting the opposition', lets say Suarez is not usually complemented by opposition fans.

Subsequent to all of the speculation regarding Bale and Suarez, papers have unleashed an unprecedented amount of reports linking them all to different clubs. This is leaving people to forget that the vast coverage is happening in such a hurry, that Tottenham and Liverpool are being left with nearly no time to negotiate terms with their players, in order to keep them at the club.

It is the way in which the media conduct themselves, jumping like a dog to a bone on stories, which causes players to doubt there existence at a club, which may be the proving point on whether they stay in the country. Suarez has already said, he feels he has been treated unfairly by the press, with Bale also saying his reputation (built from the press) precedes him on issues of 'diving'.

Both players are entertaining and exciting performers, having lit up the Premier League on numerous occasions over the last few seasons. Yet, maintain the weak-based stories of their apparent big money moves to France and Spain, come August, the Premier League could be a dimmer place.
 
Picture
Liverpool are being linked with a move for Eljero Elia, one of Juventus’ worst ever players.

Elia currently plays for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga but there was a reason Arsenal didn’t make a stronger push to sign him back in 2011 and that seems to be because of what happened with him at Juventus.

He played just four games at the Italian club after signing from Hamburg and being swiftly moved on to Werder Bremen.

At one point Elia was considered the most exciting talent to come out of the Netherlands, placed up alongside the likes of Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben among others.

Brendan Rodgers is now keen to add him to the Liverpool squad according to TalkSport. With a number of wingers at their disposal already and the younger Christian Atsu of Porto linked, this is one move we are certainly not taking at face value.

Here are five facts about him.

1) He was a product of the ADO Den Haag where he spent nine years, with a brief move to Ajax sandwiched in between.

2) He was sold in 2007 as a result of discipline problems he had with his manager at ADO Den Haag. However, he won the Dutch Footballer of the Year award with Twente.

3) He turned down the chance to stay in the Netherlands in 2009, rejecting approaches from Ajax and PSV Eindhoven to go and play for Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

4) He was in the Netherlands’ 2010 World Cup squad, which made it to the final of that tournament before losing out to Spain in a tense match.

5) He is rated by Juventus fans as one of their worst ever players, playing four times and not scoring a goal. He was also in trouble with the police during his time with the club, after he was caught speeding, prolonging his history of problems with authority.

He did score some stunning goals, take a look in the video below.
 
Sharon Tuff has been appointed head of global partnership sales at Liverpool FC, bringing previous sports sector experience to the role from her position as head of commercial partnerships for the Volvo Ocean Race. 

In her role at Volvo, Tuff was responsible for selling global race partnerships and raising investment for team sponsors. She said she was "thrilled" to be joining Liverpool, a brand with "huge international potential" for new partnerships. 

Chief commercial officer at Liverpool FC, Billy Hogan, said: "Sharon has an excellent track record of creative deal making and delivering results for her clients. 

"As part of our commercial strategy we have been working hard to bring on board the right mix of people to help us develop partnerships across the world, which will help bring the club closer to fans." 

Liverpool FC announced in April that the club would take part in a friendly match against Glasgow's Celtic Football Club in Dublin's Aviva Stadium in August - the first time the two clubs with a strong following in Ireland will have played each other in the country.
 
THE Liverpool Daily Post believes that Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet is set to put the finishing touches on a £10 million deal today.

The Belgian is meant to be meant to be undergoing a medical at Melwood and will agree a five year deal if he passes.

If the deal goes through, the 25 year old will become the fourth signing of this summer window and will bring Liverpool’s spending up to £24 million in a summer that Brendan Rodgers hopes will boost Liverpool back into top four contention, signing players with potential.

Liverpool will initially pay Sunderland a £9 million, but there is the possibility of another million in add-ons, based on appearances and achievements. This deal means that Mignolet will be the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of Sunderland, thus showing the potential of the player.

However, if Mignolet does make the move to Anfield it will raise more questions over the future of Liverpool’s current number one Pepe Reina who has been at the club since 2005 – where the Spaniard has maintained that number one spot between the sticks since he arrived.

Rodgers has previously announced that Mignolet was brought in as competition for Reina, as opposed to a direct replacement, but the club are rumoured to still be bracing themselves for his departure.