Javier Mascherano has told Rafael Benitez he wants to stay ay Liverpool, although it will cost the Anfield club £17m to complete a permanent deal for the Argentinian.
Liverpool have paid £1.5m to loan the 23-year-old from Kia Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investments group for 18 months – a deal broken to bypass third-party ownership problems when the midfielder moved from West Ham in January – and have an option to buy.
“I’m very happy here. I feel settled and would like to play at the new stadium when it opens,” Mascherano said.
“I love playing for Liverpool and if the manager wants to keep me then I’d definitely stay for a long time. In the next four to five years I can see this club getting even bigger.”
The Argentinian added that he had no complaints about the manager’s controversial rotation policy.
“In South America, rotation isn’t such a problem,” he said.
“Big teams play a lot of games and that means it’s necessary to use a squad rather than just 11 players. Rafa’s been here for three full seasons and he’s always used rotation. Why would he stop working that way when it has brought him so much success here and at Valencia?”
