Liverpool ready to offer Masch new deal

Liverpool are reportedly ready to offer Javier Mascherano a new contract to stave off interest from Barcelona in the summer.

Mascherano has long been on Barca coach Pep Guardiola's wanted list, but so far the Reds have been able to hold on to the player.

The 25-year-old, who first came to England at West Ham United along with Carlos Tevez in 2006, is a linchpin of Rafael Benitez's midfield and it would be a blow to lose a second player to La Liga in consecutive years, after Xabi Alonso left for Real Madrid last summer.

Mascherano's current deal runs until the summer of 2012, but Benitez is acutely aware that Barcelona would be prepared to offer the playing improved terms to lure him to the Nou Camp.

Much may still rest on where Liverpool finish this season, as the failure to qualify for the Champions League could yet have a bearing on the player's future. If Benitez's men do not finish in the top four, then it could be that star players such as Mascherano and Fernando Torres have to be sold to balance the books.

Pepe Reina's deal also expires in 2012 and he is another player the club are in talks with.

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