Liverpool great Mark Lawrenson fears Rafa Benitez will walk out on the club at the end of the season.

Asked if Benitez would be there next season, Lawrenson said: "If they don't sort the mess out soon I'd have to think he would not be, regardless of whether they win the Champions League.

"The problems off the pitch could give him an excuse to leave. If they win the Champions League there would be no shortage of takers and he probably thinks 'why should I turn up and flog my guts out for this lot when I don't know what is going to happen next week?'

"He must come in every day and wonder what he is going to read about that he didn't know."

It is the nitty-gritty of buying reinforcements for a side currently fourth in the Premier League, however, which could force the hand of the former Valencia coach.

Lawrenson said: "His problem is what about the players he fancies for next year. Who says yes you can buy and who says no you can't? It is very difficult.

"The manager and the chief executive are so important. Nowadays the manager goes to the chief executive and says 'See if you can get me 'X' and the chief executive sorts it out.

"When the owners are 4,000 miles away you are relying on the chief executive to give you every bit of information that relates to you."