Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is desperate to bring the Dutch international to the San Siro before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.

Kuyt, 30, seems to be interested in a possible move to the Italian giants, calling it a “luxury situation” for himself to be in right now.

Roy Hodgson knows he needs to sell if he is to bring anyone else to Anfield this summer and with a £15 million bid now on the table from Inter, I for one reckon Kuyt will be leaving Merseyside in the coming days.

If Kuyt does leave, who do you think Liverpool should spend the £15 million on? Comments below please.

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The Argentinian international is desperate to leave Anfield before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month and with Barca still in the market for a new midfielder following their failed pursuit of Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, it is suggested the Spanish giants will make a £22 million bid in the coming days.

Inter Milan president, Massimo Moratti today said that at the moment, the current European Champions cannot afford to buy Mascherano. Just hours later, Mascherano, 26, was quoted as saying that he would “love” a move to the Camp Nou and a move is likely to be completed early next week.

It will be fascinating to see how Mascherano adapts to life in La Liga. Even Liverpool fans, who have clearly lost a lot of respect for the player, would have to admit that he is a world class midfielder who deserves to be playing at the very highest level. We would love to hear your thoughts on this one. Simply leave your comments below.

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Mascherano, 26, is believed to be interested in a move to the European Champions but it remains to be seen if Inter, now managed by Rafael Benitez of course, will cough up the £25 million Liverpool are apparently looking for.

Marco Piccioli, Mascherano’s agent, had this to say earlier today: “There has already been a first contact with (Inter) director Marco Branca. We’re evaluating the move hard and in the next few days we’ll have a new meeting to better establish the details of this transfer deal.”

Personally, I would be shocked to see Mascherano still wearing the red of Liverpool next season. I am a huge fan of his and I know some people won’t like me for saying this, but I believe he is too good for Liverpool.

Mascherano is no doubt one of the best midfielders in the world and it would come as a surprise to me if Inter are the only club looking to sign him this summer. We would like to know what you have to say on this one. Please leave your comments below.

The England midfielder has been strongly linked with moves to several of Europe’s biggest clubs in recent days including Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

With no Champions League football for Liverpool next season, many, including myself, believe it will be hard for Rafa Benitez to keep his captain at the club beyond this summer.

If I had to put my money on where Gerrard will be playing his football next season, I would have to say Real Madrid. With Jose Mourinho now virtually the new manager at the Bernabeu, I reckon the former Chelsea boss will be keen to make the 29-year old his first signing with Los Blancos.

So if Gerrard is to leave Liverpool this summer, there is no doubt that Benitez will need to go out and sign a new midfielder to try and fill the void. There is talk today that Gareth Barry, a player who nearly signed for Liverpool last summer before joining Manchester City, may be back on the club’s shopping list for this summer.

Barry, 29, had a fairly average first season at Eastlands but it is widely expected that Roberto Mancini will add to his midfield options this summer which raises question marks regarding the former Aston Villa man’s long-term future at the club.

With James Milner tipped to arrive at City later this summer, the world’s richest club may well listen to offers for Barry and with Rafa Benitez a known admirer, who knows, maybe Barry will be wearing the red of Liverpool next season.

We want to know what you have to say on this. Feel free to leave your comments below.

Jose Mourinho now leaves the Italian giants on the highest of highs by winning the Champions League for the second time in his managerial career.

Mourinho will take the hot seat at Real Madrid later this week and I for one believe he will be an incredible success with Los Blancos.

We at Football Corner would like you to sum up Mourinho is three words. Whenever we do this feature we always seem to get a great response so I would love if we could get that again. Tell us your three words by leaving a comment below.

I’ll start us off : a class act.

Yes, after nearly 10 months of football, the Champions League of 09/10 will come to a close in Madrid this evening as Bayern Munich and Inter Milan go head-to-head in what promises to be hopefully will be a pulsating encounter.

Back in July of last year, my beloved Bohs were cruelly knocked out of the competition and I maintain that if a certain defender hadn’t made a mess of one particular clearance, I would be in Madrid today along with thousands of Bohs fans. It wasn’t to be though but perhaps next season will be kinder to us.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Bayern v Inter.

As always, the bookies have hundreds of markets on the Champions League final and I have scoured through them all (well a few of them anyway) to find you our ‘Champions League Top Tip’. You may have noticed our ‘World Cup Top Tip’ posts in recent days. Well today I decided to switch our attentions to tonight’s match in the Spanish capital.

If Bayern are to win tonight, the man in picture, Arjen Robben will no doubt need to be on his game. The former Chelsea winger has had a magnificent season for the German giants and we reckon he is value @ 8/1 with Bet365 to score 2 or more goals tonight. With the final being played in Real Madrid’s stunning Bernabeu stadium, Robben will be looking to impress on a stage where many, including myself, feel he wasn’t given enough time on.

So that’s our top tip. Feel free to tell us the bets you will be or have already placed on tonight’s game by leaving a comment below.

While most people have jumped aboard the Jose Mourinho or the Louis van Gaal boat prior to today’s big clash, that wasn’t always the case. I was on the Barça boat myself, and I have to say that it really has amazed me to watch recent European “giants” be cast aside by “underdogs” Inter & Bayern. Now I know that Inter and Bayern are European powerhouses, they have, of course, won both their respective domestic titles and domestic cups. However, neither side have proved to be a real threat on Europe’s biggest stage in quite some time. It’s been refreshing, akin to Bordeaux not allowing Lyon to win Ligue 1 for an 8th year in a row last year. And, in truth, I think we’re set for a cracker.

So before we look inevitably look forward to the madness set to occur in front of an audience of hundreds of millions from around the world, let’s take a step back and see just how the Germans and the Italians have shifted the epicenter of European power.

The Group Stage

Inter had it rough, didn’t they? The Nerazzuri had to deal with European and Spanish champions Barcelona, Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv, and Russian champions Rubin Kazan in Group F as well. This was the only group in the entire Champions League that had all four teams being winners of their respective domestic leagues. So even though Jose couldn’t beat Barcelona at this stage, kudos has to go to Inter for finishing second in the group.

Bayern had Bordeaux, Juventus, and Israel’s Maccabi Haifa. So yeah, what an easy group. Though Bordeaux dominated, the group’s second spot looked to be Juve’s before the Germans came back from 1-0 down in Torino to thrash the Bianconeri 4-1 and go through to the knockout stages. This was the beginning to Juve’s atrocious season. So I suppose Inter, Milan, Roma, and the rest of Serie A owe Bayern for their demoralising victory. Well done lads.

The Round of 16

Chelsea Dagger – By the Fratellis/Samuel Eto’o

Well, this one was full of drama. Jose going home to Chelsea. Mourinho took some swipes at his old club, saying they haven’t won anything legitimate since he’d left. Of course Carlo Ancelotti won the double this year for the Blues, but it’s always nice to hear Jose run his mouth a bit isn’t it? The first leg was won by Inter 2-1 at San Siro thanks to goals from Esteban Cambiasso and Diego Milito. Chelsea were denied a certain penalty, but hey, that’s football. Jose played ultra-defensive, counter-attack football, and didn’t it pay off? Samuel Eto’o took one of Inter’s few chances brilliantly, and Inter took the game 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. Sorry Don Carlo…

If you thought Inter’s first leg was controversial, then wow, Bayern Munich’s Round of 16 first-leg tie with Fiorentina made OJ Simpson’s trial look like a speeding ticket. Bayern grabbed a 2-1 victory thanks to Klose, but he should have been sent off after a daft tackle. But he wasn’t and he went on to score the match winning goal from an apparent offside position. Fiorentina were furious, and though they looked set to perform a bit of vigilante justice with a 2-0 start to the second leg, Bayern came back with three unanswered goals from 3-1 down to actually win the game 4-3. Like Juve, Bayern broke Fiorentina’s heart as well, as they had a relatively poor season. Now that I think about it, this German squad knocked out quite a few Italians. But anyway…

On to the Quarterfinals…

Inter had CSKA Moscow, which everyone said was “going to be harder than it looked.” But come on, Inter were always going to go through. The first leg at San Siro was 1-0 thanks to Milito, then second was 1-0 thanks to Sneijder. I don’t see what all the fuss was about.

Bayern, on the other hand, had to put up with the incredible Wayne Rooney and co. Everyone then said, “Well, Bayern play nice football. It should be a nice game” which means, “Rooney is going to have his way with those Germans.” The first leg initially lived up to the pundits’ expectations, as Rooney gave United a very early lead at the Allianz Arena. But then Franck Ribery had his way with United scored an equalizer, and the rich man’s Paul Dickov, the epically hard-working Ivica Olic scored an injury time winner for Bayern. It was also assisted by Rio Ferdinand’s decision to dribble from the back. So Bayern were feeling pretty good as they went to Old Trafford for the second leg, but so were United, who had a dream start to the match. Rooney was playing on a bad ankle, but still helped the Mancs jump to a 3-nil lead over the Bavarians. And that was that. Or was it? Olic snatch an impossibly-angled goal, and then a Rafael sending off gave Bayern hope once again. Just like his shoe sponsor says, “Impossible is nothing,” Arjen Robben scored an impossible last-minute volley that made the score 3-2, but 4-4 on aggregate. So Bayern heroically progressed on away goals thanks to their bald 25-year-old Dutchman. Fergie wasn’t all that happy with the loss, but the Germans were through!

Semifinals! You surely know about this one, don’t you?

I’ll start with Bayern Munich vs. Lyon. Michel Platini was so happy that one of his French sides made it this far, but all that pride was soon stripped as Bayern won 1-0 at home then 3-0 over at the Stade de Gerland over in France. Embarrassing stuff, but the Germans took that form and used it to snatch a Bundesliga title and a German Cup as well. Good job guys! Unfortunately Franck Ribery will not be able to take part in the final because of his reckless, studs-up challenge in the first leg of the semifinal. It was deemed a straight red, so now Franck has to sit in shame and think about all the stuff he does outside of football until the World Cup comes around.

On to Inter vs. Barcelona! Barcelona were coming off of a 6-3 aggregate win over Arsenal, so surely they could toss Inter aside as well. After all, it was beautiful, perfect football being played in Catalunya compared to, well, not perfect football. Just as Narcissus couldn’t help looking at himself, Barcelona couldn’t help but play predictable, pretty football, which Jose Mourinho jumped on, drowning the threats of Messi and Ibrahimovic. Inter became legends by defeating Barça 3-1 at the San Siro, thanks to goals from Eto’o, Milito, and Maicon. The second leg was just as unpredictable. Carlos Puyol was not able to play, but told Catalans to prepare for this game like it was a war. And didn’t they just do that? Barcelona were dominating, and then the Camp Nou fans can be thanked for helping influence the referee for Thiago Motta’s red card, which infamously prompted Inter fans to create this picture of Sergio Busquets.

So now it was 11 vs. 10 men in Barca’s favour; surely the Blaugrana would toss the Italians aside? But that wasn’t the case. Inter backline of Lucio, Zanetti, Samuel, and Maicon played like Spartans, defending their ground despite being outnumbered. It was, in my opinion, the greatest defensive display since Greece won EURO 2004. Gerard Pique scored a stunner in the dying minutes, and a disallowed Bojan Krkic goal ensured that Jose could celebrate “the best feeling [he's] ever had in his career.” Barcelona were sore losers and turned the sprinklers on Inter. Not exactly something “Beauty” would do to the “Beast” in a Disney film, but I digress…

The Final! We made it!

It was an epic journey to get to Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, and both teams have already cemented legendary status with their loyal fans. That being said, footballing gods are above footballing legends in my book. So who will become gods? Inter Milan or Bayern Munich?

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The 29-year old midfielder is strongly fancied to leave Liverpool this summer after yet another frustrating season on Merseyside which saw the club fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Before today, it was thought that Real Madrid were leading the race to sign Gerrard. However, there are reports this morning that Inter Milan are preparing to make a bid in excess of £30 million for the player once the transfer window opens later this summer.

There has been intense speculation in recent weeks that Inter boss Jose Mourinho will be on his way to Real Madrid this summer but the people behind the scenes at the San Siro believe that signing a player like Gerrard may convince the former Chelsea boss to stay.

Although I would love to see Gerrard leave Liverpool this summer, I’m not sure if I would like to see him go to Inter. I have watched a lot of Italian football this season and at times, it has nearly put me to sleep. A player like Gerrard should be playing for one of the best clubs in the world, in one of the best leagues in the world but I’m not sure if Inter would be the right move for him.

Feel free to have your say on the matter by leaving a comment below.