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Mascherano exit 'not imminent' reveals Hodgson

Roy Hodgson could play Fernando Torres against Arsenal on Sunday © Getty Images

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Roy Hodgson insists Christian Poulsen was not brought to the club as a replacement for Javier Mascherano and says he does not expect the Argentina captain to leave Liverpool in the imminent future.

Hodgson brought in defensive midfielder Poulsen, 30, from Juventus this week and many believe the transfer was made as a result of the expected departure of Mascherano to Inter or Barcelona.

However, Hodgson has dismissed those rumours and said Poulsen was simply brought in to give him another option ahead of a potentially busy season.

"It is not a question of Christian replacing Javier," he said. "I believe Javier is going to play for us. We've got a lot of games to play hopefully and we're going to need a lot of players. We didn't take him in to replace somebody - we took him in because we want him to improve the size of our squad and the quality of our squad."

Asked if Mascherano's statement that he had no problem with Liverpool as a club means there is hope he could stay, Hodgson said: "There's no point in me commenting on things Javier has said or supposedly said, because I've had seven or eight training sessions with him now and we talk about football.

"Since our very early meeting where he made it clear that if possible he would prefer to leave, he's been getting on with his work, training properly, playing properly and, as far as I'm concerned, he's a Liverpool player until the day somebody signs him, and that day does not seem to be imminent."

He added: "I don't want to let Javier Mascherano go. At the moment, Javier has shown no signs of going."

Hodgson also said he will be giving Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina tests ahead of the Arsenal game to see whether they are sharp enough to play. The duo returned late to pre-season training due to Spain's successful World Cup campaign.

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