Football
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Liverpool ready to break £100m barrier

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has pledged to continue looking for players to strengthen his squad this summer as he still has the cash earned from the sale of Luis Suarez to spend.

Liverpool have already spent around 60 million pounds on Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic in preparation for their return to the Champions League, and now Rodgers wants to use the 75 million pounds that Barcelona paid for Suarez to bring in further quality.

"Obviously, Luis going gives us the clout to go and spend more and we are getting the right type of player in," Rodgers told British newspapers.

"The signings we have made were players that were earmarked to come in. We felt last year we just never had the depth and we are in the Champions League this year, so we have to ensure we have as strong a squad as possible.

"We certainly won't spend just for the sake of spending -- it has to be the sort of player who is going to improve us."

According to The Times, Rodgers has been given permission by owners Fenway Sports Group to further improve his squad.

Rodgers is not short of targets, having had a 20 million bid for Southampton defender Dejan Lovren turned down despite the player indicating his desire for a move to Anfield.

Interest in Swansea's Ben Davies has been reported while the Reds remain in the hunt for Lille striker Divock Origi, who impressed for Belgium at the World Cup.

One player Rodgers has missed out on, however, is Alexis Sanchez, who instead opted to swap Barcelona for Arsenal. Sanchez was said to have preferred a move to London, which scuppered plans for him to be included in the deal for Suarez. However, Rodgers insists he has no trouble in attracting world class players to the club.

"That was one where geography dictated where he wanted to go," Rodgers said. "It's actually been the other way: Lots of players are really impressed by what we are doing as club and really excited about coming to Liverpool.

"It was not lack of ambition from the club [that Sanchez went to Arsenal]. The player and his family want to choose to live wherever that is. Sanchez is a fantastic player and would have suited us; his profile would have been great but it was not to be and we move on."

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