Transfer rumours are compliments to Alonso and Mascherano

I was delighted that Liverpool moved quickly to quell speculation linking Alonso and Mascherano with moves to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. As concerning and annoying as such media stories are, the fact they surfaced at all is a compliment to the squad Rafa has assembled.

For years we've had to put up with stories linking Gerrard with moves to other top European Clubs (and Chelsea). Recently there have been mischevious articles suggesting Torres will be targeted by top clubs and Man City. In years gone by, Fowler and Owen were always being linked with moves away. Why? Because all are or were top quality players who big clubs want and who help sell newspapers. For Alonso and Mascherano to be the subject of such speculation as well as Gerrard and Torres shows that we have some real top quality players on our books.