Rafa Benitez explains need to sell Liverpool stars in order to compete

Rafael Benitez has stated that the major difference between his time at Liverpool and the present reign of Jurgen Klopp is that the Reds are not being forced to sell their top stars in order to bring in young blood. The Merseyside club are on the edge of ending the club's 30-year wait for a top-flight title, with the Reds following up last season's Champions League success with a near perfect Premier League campaign in 2019/20. Despite their loss to Watford this Saturday, Jurgen Klopp's side still stand 22 points clear and four wins away from the title, something Benitez - whose biggest success with the Reds was the Champions League secured in Istanbul in 2005 - almost achieved in the 2008/09 season, when his side finished second, four points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. The Reds sold Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid that summer though, and when Benitez left in 2010 he was swiftly followed by the likes of Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres as the club struggled under unpopular - and eventually proven to be unfit - owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Speaking to Marca Benitez said: "We had no money. Our transfer budget in my last year was 17 million euros, and you can't compete with that. "We had tried to sell and buy, it was the only way to close in on our rivals. "This (current) team have had two or three years of very good investment and a lot of successful signings. "As well as that, there's a coach whose opinion is valued by the owners." Source- Mirror

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