Liverpool have agreed to sell Javier Mascherano to Barcelona for a fee rumoured to be £18 million.

Almost immediately after the deal was announced rumours started to surface in reputable places that Raul Meireles, of Porto, is close to signing as a replacement for around £10.7 million. The 27 year old Portuguese international midfielder has similar tenacious tough tackling qualities to the Argentinian he is replacing but offers more offensively. Meireles is evidently not as capable by comparison as a holding midfielder, Mascherano is after all perhaps the best in the world at that role, but the added goal threat he offers will help Liverpool in a different way.