Brendan Rodgers bolsters Liverpool's attacking options with £2.3m Oussama Assaidi
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Your support makes all the difference.Liverpool are set to make their third signing of the summer with the addition of Heerenveen's Morocco forward Oussama Assaidi for a fee of around £2.3m.
Assaidi, 24, has been linked with Fulham, as well as Ajax, Spartak Moscow and Galatasaray, this summer but is set for a medical at Melwood and the deal could be completed today.
The former De Graafschap player would give new manager Brendan Rodgers a variety of forward options and is likely to join new arrivals Italy striker Fabio Borini and Wales midfielder Joe Allen at the club.
Liverpool, whose first Premier League match under Rodgers is at West Bromwich Albion tomorrow, are also confident of tying up a season-long loan deal for the Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, who was previously expected to join Arsenal.
The Real Madrid coach, Jose Mourinho, has recommended that the Turkey international, who struggled with injuries after moving to the Bernabeu from Borussia Dortmund last summer, switches to Merseyside. Former Liverpool player Xabi Alonso has also attempted to persuade Sahin that he should head to Anfield.
Rodgers was given a transfer budget in the region of £20m this summer but he is adamant that his playing system can help Liverpool bridge the gap to the Premier League's top four.
Liverpool are facing a third successive campaign out of the Champions League and, while there is realism at Anfield after last season's eighth-placed finish, Rodgers is sure progress will be made. "The top four is certainly not something we'll shy away from," he said. "It's where a club of this status wants to be, but it's always easier said than done. The reality over the past three seasons or so hasn't been that.
"It's important that if you don't have the money, you have got to be different. That's the idea of trying to find a style. One of the ways in which we can, hopefully, gain an edge is in how we play and control and dominate games.
"I've got some wonderful players here, some world-class players, and I'm excited about the young players that are coming through. There are always ways in which you are trying to make the difference.
"Everyone wants the money but you can't always have the money. But it won't stop our hunger and desire to improve and be better, and one of the ways in which we'll look to do that is to define our model of play."
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