Liverpool target Carson in quest for safe pair of hands
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Your support makes all the difference.Jerzy Dudek will be in goal for Liverpool against Burnley in the FA Cup third-round tie tonight, but his future at the club beyond the summer looks to be over after Rafael Benitez confirmed that he has pinned his hopes on signing Leeds' teenage goalkeeper Scott Carson this month.
Jerzy Dudek will be in goal for Liverpool against Burnley in the FA Cup third-round tie tonight, but his future at the club beyond the summer looks to be over after Rafael Benitez confirmed that he has pinned his hopes on signing Leeds' teenage goalkeeper Scott Carson this month.
Dudek's mistake that let in Wayne Rooney's match-winning goal for Manchester United on Saturday has strengthened Benitez's resolve to move for Carson, 19, but the player is understood to favour Chelsea. Both clubs, as well as West Bromwich Albion, have had bids rejected by Leeds, who are waiting for fresh offers this week.
With Dudek's position now precarious, it would be likely that Carson, should he join, would be thrown in as the club's No 1 for a possible Carling Cup final, the Champions' League match against Bayer Leverkusen and the Premiership run-in. It is understood that the England Under-21 goalkeeper has been advised that such immediate pressure - he has not started a game for Leeds this season - could prove too much for him.
At the beginning of the month, Liverpool were leading the chase for his signature. However, their preoccupation with Fernando Morientes' transfer allowed Chelsea to steal in and invite Carson to their training ground to meet manager Jose Mourinho.
Benitez said: "We've been talking about Carson for some time. After the problem with Chris Kirkland, we continued talking with Leeds, but we had been talking before that. The question is that he's young. We need a young goalkeeper for the future - or we need a goalkeeper with experience.
"Carson doesn't have experience, but he would have the quality. I feel that coming here would be a good opportunity for him because here he can play more games. If you see the other team [Chelsea], they have a very good young goalkeeper. If I had to make that decision, I would go to Liverpool."
Benitez added that Dudek had his "confidence". "I said to Jerzy after the game 'do you think it was a mistake?' He agreed and I think that is the best way. If you say, 'No, no, no' it is worse. We all have to accept mistakes happen.
"When a forward makes a mistake it is not always important. With a goalkeeper a mistake is always important. For big clubs against big teams it is even more important."
Benitez will show how low the FA Cup is on his list of priorities by resting Steven Gerrard for the match against Burnley and is set to play a team of young, inexperienced players. Morientes and Mauricio Pellegrino are both ineligible.
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