Rafa ready for double swoop

Rafa Benitez is keen on Lille defender Adil Rami, and Rennes full-back Rod Fanni.

Manchester United are set to rival Liverpool and Arsenal for Lille defender Adil Rami.

Rami has been a long time target of Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez but Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to snatch the defender from under the noses of their rivals.

Benitez has reportedly had scouts track Rami at Lille matches for most of the year but is yet to follow up his interest in the 24-year-old.

Whilst neither of these Anfield targets are exactly household names they are both players who are currently in form and playing the best football of their careers. 24 year old centre back Adil Rami is a relatively late developer in the game and only got his first taste of Ligue 1 football at the age of 21 but has progressed rapidly since and is on the verge of his first French cap having declined the chance to play nationally for Morocco.

The well build defender could be a good squad player for us but I don't see the Lille man as a player likely to brush aside the likes of Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger or Martin Skrtel, but that being said he could offer us useful cover, much as Sotiris Kyrgiakos has done so far this season. It could be that further down the road he could emerge as a player who is ready for Premier League football and perhaps most importantly he wouldn't cost a great deal.

Fanni would presumably come in to offer cover for marauding right back Glen Johnson and is a full French international who has a great deal of experience in the French League and has previously been strongly linked with a move to Everton and West Ham. Again a relatively cheap back up player.

Rafa is only too aware of the financial constraints that may well be placed on him this summer so it is likely that we should expect moves for seasoned pro's or youngsters coming through rather than any big name signings. We all know that our best eleven firing on all cylinders can be a force to be reckoned with, but its only when injuries and poor form comes in to play we don't have the means to cope and our squad as a unit is not in the same league as the big three.

However I would have thought that the Liverpool boss would be most interested in bringing in attacking talent as defensively we have managed to steady the ship a little since the early portion of the season when we were conceding silly goals at an alarming rate.

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