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Liverpool to go long-term rather than quick fix transfers

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has hinted the club will not be spending heavily in January but instead focus on a long-term strategy. The Reds boss flatly dismissed speculation linking him with moves for AC Milan's Brazilian Ronaldinho and Ajax captain Luis Suarez.

And although he admitted Aston Villa's Ashley Young had been on his radar Hodgson said no talks were taking place between the two clubs.

"Ronaldinho and Suarez are players who we have never even thought about but I would think there is not a manager in the Premier League who has not given Ashley Young a thought at some stage or another," said Hodgson.

"But giving a player a thought and thinking 'This is a good player' and signing him are two vastly different things.

"I could give you quite a long list of players in the Premier League who I admire and think are very good.

"But there is no truth in the rumour. If you are asking if there are any negotiations taking place between Aston Villa and Liverpool, then there aren't."

The Reds boss brushed aside claims Glen Johnson could be leaving in January.

"Agents and newspapers. You don't have to look very far these days," he added.

"As far as I am concerned Glen Johnson will be a Liverpool player certainly until the end of his contract and possibly beyond it.

"We are very happy with him, he is a top-class player, an England international, so why should we want to lose him? Maybe his agent has other ideas."

Hodgson felt it was unlikely there would be a massive outlay in the next window.

"We have got new owners who are working unbelievably hard and putting in enormous hours at the club, both here physically, as they are at the moment, and even when they are in America spending hours studying games and liaising with us here.

"They are very interested in pushing the club forward but they want to push it forward in the right way.

"I have been impressed with their thoughts when we have discussed the squad, players and transfers.

"But at the moment we haven't got to the stage where we have sat down and said we are going to do this or that - that will certainly feature in our discussions while John and Tom are in the country.

"Going out and splashing a load of money on players who may or may not be the ones for us in the future might not just be the right way.

"We might need to be more logical and certainly do a lot more research and have an approach which not just takes in four months of 2011 but also takes into account 2011 through 2015 to bring this club back up to where it wants to be.

"I don't think we are alone in that situation, I think clubs in the Premier League are being pushed by fans and mass media to go out and splash money.

"But, with the notable exception of Manchester City, most others have a slightly different approach and I don't see why we should be any different to that."

 Need your Liverpool news fix? Click here for all Reds news and transfer rumours.

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