Ajax demand £13m for Reds target Babel
作者: Steven Gerrard | 07/11 2007, 05:21Liverpool will step up their pursuit of Holland Under-21 and Ajax forward Ryan Babel today after the Dutch club revealed their valuation of the rising star to be £13.5million.

The Reds were reported to have made an initial offer of £10million for the 20-year-old and, although the two sides have been in talks, no fee has yet been agreed.
Ajax technical director Martin van Geel has told Liverpool the amount his club wanted for a player who lit up the recent Under-21 European Championships in Holland.
'We have told them what we want, and that's €20million (£13.5m). That is our price,' Van Geel said.
'We would like to see Babel play here next season, it's not for nothing that we have extended his contract until June 2010. But if these kind of clubs want to pay us these figures it says something.
'We will see if we can reach a deal in the coming days.'
Even after spending £20million on club-record signing Fernando Torres, it appears the Liverpool's American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are willing to continue backing manager Rafael Benitez in the transfer market.
And Babel is not likely to be the last arrival at Anfield as Liverpool have finally agreed a fee with West Ham for midfielder Yossi Benayoun - just hours after striker Craig Bellamy moved in the opposite direction - and have also been linked with Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze.
Benayoun's agent Ronen Katzav said: 'It should be completed in the next 48 hours.
'Everybody would be happy to play for Liverpool. West Ham will always be in his heart but he is looking to move up a level.'
The sooner all the close-season deals are done the better for captain Steven Gerrard.
The 27-year-old England midfielder said: 'The manager has gone on record saying he'd like another winger and a defender and I hope more new arrivals are just around the corner. I'm confident they are.
'Previous years have shown how important it is to try to sort everything out early in the pre-season, because it's not easy for new players if they're arriving just before the deadline.
'It's harder for them to settle. It's important we get off to a good start and that's going to be a lot easier if we have everyone here as soon as possible.'
A vastly-improved squad will raise hopes the Merseysiders can finally make a sustained challenge for the title - for the first time since 1990.
However, the captain stressed it was important to concentrate on getting points on the board early in the season rather than looking to far ahead.
'I'm not going to start making any unnecessary predictions about what's going to happen this season, and the last thing any of us need to do is build hopes up too much,' he told the Liverpool Echo.
'But, without doubt, if we all perform to our level week in, week out, we've the players to push United and Chelsea all the way.
'When the American owners took over, they talked about three stages. The first was proceeding with the new stadium, which they're doing.
'Then they wanted to secure the key players on long-term contracts, which they've done.
'Stage three is all about spending money on the players to make us compete for the Premiership, which has now started.
'We're looking in great shape, not only going into this season, but for the next few years.'










