Christian Purslow rules out star departures from Anfield
Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow is adamant that the club will not be forced to sell their star players to help alleviate the club's debts.
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Manager Rafael Benitez, who oversaw a shock defeat to Reading in the FA Cup on Wednesday night, recently hinted that a failure to finish in the top four could force the club to consider selling top scorer Fernando Torres, who was substituted in the first half at Anfield due to a knee injury.
However, Purslow has reiterated that Liverpool are not a selling club and has dismissed suggestions that the sale of Torres, or captain Steven Gerrard, could be used to ease the financial pressures which exist at Anfield.
"Nothing could be further from the truth than reports which suggested the club would choose to sell its star footballers. Full stop," Purslow said. "The idea that we would ever wish to sell our top players is completely against the interests of this club.
"In fact our key priority since the summer has been to secure our senior players on long term improved contracts.
"We remain of the view that our starting XI compares with anybody in the Premier League. Our plan is to try and improve the team, not to be so stupid as to reduce the quality of our squad."
Torres is due to undergo a scan on his knee on Friday while captain Gerrard will also be examined after being substituted due to a hamstring injury in the defeat to Reading.
