Liverpool’s co-owner Tom Hicks has advised Rafael Benítez to stop talking about the January transfer window and “concentrate on the games coming up”.
Benítez delivered a bizarre press conference on Thursday in which he repeated the phrase “I am focused on training and coaching my team” 15 times.
The words echoed the instructions that Hicks and George Gillett had previously told the Spaniard, who is seeking funds for a January spending spree.
But Hicks has now told Benítez to forget about transfers and to focus on the players he already has at the club.
“After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer,” said Hicks.
“We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club. We now have some crucial games coming up in the Premier League and the Champions League and we want to see if we can win these games with the players we have.
“This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this. We told him to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else and I guess he didn’t like that.
“But, for the time being, we just need to be focused on what happens on the pitch. George and I will be over in mid-December and that is the time to talk about other issues.
“It is really time for Rafa to quit talking about new players and to coach the players we have.”
