From the Guardian
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lfc et le bayern sont proches de se mettre d'accord pour £2.5m pour hargreaves.
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Rafael Benítez will continue to reshape his Liverpool squad by moving to sign the England international Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich this summer, reviving the midfielder's hopes of featuring in next year's World Cup finals in the process.
The two clubs are close to agreeing a £2.5m deal for the 24-year-old, who won his 25th cap in the 4-0 trouncing of Northern Ireland at Old Trafford at the end of March. Hargreaves is on £45,000 a week, which Liverpool would be prepared to match, and has a year left on his contract.
The Calgary-born midfielder has been a regular in the Bayern side who won the Bundesliga this season and who will compete in the German Cup final next weekend, though Hargreaves' international career has effectively dictated his future.
It is understood that the England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has intimated to the player that he should move to, and impress in, the Premiership if he is to be guaranteed a place in the squad for the tournament in Germany next summer. There has been tentative interest from both Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers in the past, though Liverpool have now emerged as favourites to recruit the utility player.
"Liverpool are a very interesting club," said Hargreaves, who has operated across midfield and at right-back for Bayern. "They are a very strong team and it is clear they have a bright future under Rafael Benítez. But, really, I don't want to say any more until the cup final against Schalke is out of the way."
Talks are planned to discuss personal terms after that match in Berlin next Saturday, with Hargreaves' arrival expected to pave the way for Dietmar Hamann to join Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer. The Germany international, who moved to Liverpool from Newcastle six years ago, is out of contract this summer and has only been offered a year-long deal with an option for a further 12 months. Bolton, recently qualified for the Uefa Cup, are prepared to offer the 31-year-old two years up front.
Sami Hyypia has identified the Liverpool striker Djibril Cissé as the key to unlocking Milan in next week's Champions League final, despite the France international having made only one first-team start since the end of October.
Cissé suffered a double fracture of his leg in a 2-2 draw at Blackburn Rovers last autumn yet, and although there were initial fears that he might lose his limb he underwent surgery and was back in contention for selection within six months. There have been eight appearances as a substitute since his return in mid-April before he started the final day victory over Aston Villa, scoring both of Liverpool's goals.
"That gave him the confidence, but he's back to full fitness now and is looking so sharp in training," said Hyypia. "I think he might be the key to winning the game. He is an athlete and we will need pace to break down Milan, and Djibril is like a sprinter. I know a few players who have suffered the same injury as him, but none has come back as quickly or at the same level as Djibril.
"It says a lot about his character that he's come back from such an injury. You can see he's an athlete, and that helped his recovery, but he might have been expected to lose some strength in his leg. Yet the pace he had before is still there.
"As a centre-half, you never like to play against pace and he's shown with his speed he's always a threat. If we can learn to use him even better, he could be even more effective, but for the moment he's an unknown quantity to many of us as much as Milan, and that can be to our advantage."
The French striker's inclusion would most likely be at the expense of Milan Baros, who is expected to leave in the summer. The Czech has scored twice since mid-December and has been regularly substituted in recent weeks with a closed season move, possibly to Benítez's former club Valencia, becoming ever more likely.
"We don't know who is going to start because that is the manager's choice, but he has a good problem for the final now," said Hyypia.
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