• Premier League

Rodgers given transfer assurances

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he was told by the club's owners he will be able to make "top quality" signings this summer before he committed his future to Anfield.

Rodgers, who steered Liverpool to a second-place Premier League finish with a brand of attacking football, signed a new deal - believed to take him through to 2018 - on Monday.

But the 41-year-old said it was important to have a frank discussion with the club's American owners about their ambitions first as he aims to boost his squad with "five or six" players.

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"The owners have been great," Rodgers said. They're winners themselves. We want to work it in a way that makes the club sustainable and I think we've clearly shown that it's about the top quality.

"It's also about being strategic in those signings as well, bringing in the right players. It's key for me that I can speak to the owners like that.

"The big lure will be Champions League, that's what I've found in my conversations with agents and people. The best players want to play in the big competition. That's the fight and I certainly found that last summer but we've put Liverpool back on the map.

"Everyone sees that we're going to be a threat; that we're going to go into Europe next year and we'll have no fear, we need to pay attention in terms of the teams we'll be playing against, but we'll have no fear. That's what top players want, to play in teams where they can show their talents.

"Yes, it is also about wages, but there was one player who we offered more money to than he took from the club that he went to just to play Champions League football."

While several players could depart the club to boost their transfer kitty, Liverpool expect to make waves in the market and hope to complete a £20 million move for Adam Lallana.

Progress on a deal with Southampton has been slow and the World Cup could yet create a further delay with the player on England duty.

"We're all working hard still in terms of looking to get players in,'' Rodgers told Liverpool's website. "Where we are now the signings are complex, but we need to strengthen the squad and that's something that we're working hard to do over the next number of weeks.''

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Liverpool also have a strong interest in Cardiff central defender Steven Caulker and have been linked with Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno, while the Telegraph reports an approach has been made for Bayern Leverkusen's Emre Can.

"It's a real exciting time," Rodgers added, looking ahead to the club's long-awaited return to Europe's elite club competition next season. "I've been fortunate enough to have been at Anfield on a Champions League occasion and they are truly special occasions.

"You see the support the players get. We had it in the Europa League, when I sensed a little bit of that atmosphere.

"Of course, it's a different competition, but when we needed to get the win against Zenit St Petersburg the supporters that night were incredible.

"Throughout my time here, in the big games, the supporters really show how passionate they are and they show why they are the great set of supporters that they are.

"We'll really look forward to it because we know that in the Champions League, if we can perform well away from home, in the home games we're going to be hard to beat because of the supporters and the quality of the team.''

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