Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is ready to sell big to fund the £17 million permanent signing of Javier Mascherano this month.

The Times says Benitez is prepared to sell players such as Mohamed Sissoko, John Arne Riise and Peter Crouch to raise the funds to sign Mascherano, but, with the manager's long-term future in serious doubt, Hicks and Gillett are reluctant to sanction drastic changes in the transfer window.