Saturday, 27th August, 2011

La Liga side Espanyol are eyeing a double raid on the English Premier League for Liverpool midfielder Christian Poulsen and Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

The Barcelona-based club are desperate to bring in at least two new players before the end of the transfer window, but look set to encounter difficulty meeting the personal terms of their two targets.

Poulsen can leave Anfield on a free transfer after flopping at the club, and has La Liga experience with Sevilla.



The Dane arrived at Anfield last summer from Juventus, bought by former Reds boss Roy Hodgson. However, Poulsen has struggled to get to grips with the pace of the Premier League and quickly became a target for fan frustration over Liverpool’s disappointing campaign.

Poulsen’s agent met with Liverpool officials recently, seeking assurances over the amount of game time the 31-year-old would receive under manager Kenny Dalglish this season. With little guarantee of playing time, Poulsen is being allowed to leave the English giants on a free transfer, though he is weighing his destination carefully.

Russian forward Pavlyuchenko has been offered to Espanyol and the Spanish side are keen on the Tottenham Hotspur player and could pair him with promising Alvaro Vazquez.

Nevertheless, Espanyol have a limit of €2M that could be added to the club’s wage bill and the Spaniards are well aware that the likelihood of being able to bring in both Poulsen and Pavlyuchenko for this amount is slim.

Coach Mauricio Ponchettino wants to add both to his squad and club officials will work overtime to fulfil the Argentine’s wishes.

However, Espanyol may yet find themselves in a bind as, if push comes to shove, Ponchettino would rather Pavlyuchenko join than Poulsen, but the Dane is the more likely arrival.


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