Tevez snubs Liverpool again - Report

Carlos Tevez: Wanted at Anfield

Liverpool have been knocked back in their attempts to try and lure Carlos Tevez back to the Premier League, according to reports.

The Juventus striker looks set to leave the Serie A club this summer and the Turin giants are believed to have put a £15million price tag on his head.

Brendan Rodgers is a big admirer of the 31-year-old striker and after trying to lure him to Anfield before his switch to Juventus in June 2013, he is once again believed to have recently tried to sign the former Man City and Man Utd frontman.

But that move, according to the Daily Star on Sunday, appears to have failed with plenty of rival clubs vying for his signature.

Paris St Germain, Boca Juniors and Atletico Madrid are also interested in Tevez, who has one year left on his deal in Turin. And it's believed Argentinian outfit Boca, the club where Tevez started his career, are in pole position to re-sign the striker.

Tevez blasted 29 goals for Juve last season as the Italian giants reached the Champions League final.

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Adam Lallana pleased to see Brendan Rodgers staying at Liverpool

Adam Lallana (left): Delighted that Brendan Rodgers (right) is staying at Liverpool

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is delighted the club have kept faith with Brendan Rodgers and was surprised there was even any talk about the manager being forced out.

Rodgers now has something to prove to the club's owners after a disappointing sixth-place Premier League finish, but Lallana is pleased the Fenway Sports Group have given the Northern Irishman another opportunity to impress.

"Of course I am delighted he's still here," said Lallana. "In my eyes, there wasn't really any doubt in him being here for next season.

"It's been an up and down season. We reached two semi-finals and we were disappointed that we couldn't get to the final.

"At one point we were closing in on the top four but missed out there.

"It's been an up and down season but we've got a lot of new players and, off the back of such a promising year last year, when they nearly won the league, the expectation was always going to be really high.

"He's a great coach. He's very good tactically and I am always going to learn - players are always going to get better when he is coaching."

Rodgers kept his job but the fall-out from Liverpool's end-of-season review saw assistant manager Colin Pascoe and first-team coach Mike Marsh exit.

Lallana was disappointed to see them leave, describing them as "great coaches", but those changes pale into insignificance compared to starting a campaign without Steven Gerrard.

"He's irreplaceable because of the type of player he has been," Lallana said of the long-serving captain's move to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"You won't want anyone to have the weight on their shoulders that they are coming in directly to replace Steven - it's just impossible.

"So we are going to have to find a different way of winning games and playing games."

Lallana, himself, knows he has something to prove after an injury-disrupted first season at Anfield following his move from Southampton last summer.

"It has been frustrating as far as injuries are concerned, especially as the season before I was available every game for Southampton," the 27-year-old said. "It did not start off well in pre-season with injuries - it was stop-start.

"Every time I felt I was picking up rhythm or Liverpool were picking up rhythm I got another knock and was out for two weeks or so.

"I have a lot more to give next season and can't wait to get going again."

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Raheem Sterling's ability is the only thing that interests Roy Hodgson

Roy Hodgson: Says it's common for good players to get booed

Roy Hodgson is not concerned about Raheem Sterling’s state of mind ahead of England’s European Qualifier against Slovenia and says he is only interested in the Liverpool winger’s footballing ability.

Sterling was singled out by sections of the crowd during last weekend’s lacklustre goalless draw with Ireland in Dublin as uncertainty surrounding his club future continues to rumble on.

But Hodgson revealed he is not unduly concerned by the heckling Sterling was forced to endure at the Aviva Stadium, insisting it will not be a factor in his team selection for Sunday’s game in Ljubijana.

“I think it’s fairly common practice that good players get booed by opposing fans so I don’t find that tremendously unusual,” Hodgson told reporters at the Stozice Stadium on the eve of the Group E clash.

“I would be more concerned if it was England fans booing him, but even if that were to be the case I’m sure it would be for other reasons than his footballing ability.

“What interests me is his footballing ability and not his contract disputes.”

England have five wins from five qualifying matches ahead of the return fixture with Slovenia, who they beat 3-1 at Wembley last November.

The match falls exactly 12 months after England’s World Cup opener against Italy last summer and Hodgson is optimistic his side have a bright future ahead of them.

“I don’t think self-assessments are the best assessments as we may be seeing this through rose-coloured spectacles,” he said.

“There have been a lot of changes. A lot of young players have come into the squad and a lot of young players have come into the team.

“It’s a very different team to the team we had a year ago. I believe it’s an exciting team, I believe it is a team with a large margin of progression and I believe it is a team that will grow and will get better.”

With just under a year to go until the European Championships in France, Hodgson is determined to help his young squad adapt to the demands of modern-day international football.

He added: “When you have got a team as young as we have got - who play for us but don’t play for their club sides - when you still have players who are making their way as Premier League players, let alone international players, everything is there to be improved.

“We need the experience, the work, the games - we need all the challenges that will come our way during the next year and our aim as coaches will be to try and help the players deal with those challenges.

“We want to improve on all fronts not least of all to deal with the stress of major tournaments and the expectations and pressures that come with it.

“That alone is something we’d like to improve upon but then I think all the coaches before me would have been saying the same thing.”

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