Martinez Clocks Up Miles

Martinez Racks Up Airmiles

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Anderson could set Liverpool back as much as £1.5 million if he succeeds at Anfield and his arrival at Swansea causes an increase in optimism again amongst the Liberty faithful.

Speaking at Wrexham yesterday as his side won a pre-season game 3-2 Rafa Benetiz said “We have an agreement with Swansea and it is a good move for Paul. I have talked about the number of players I have here at Liverpool and it is difficult for them all to play. By going to Swansea he will get experience"

Anderson will join his new team mates which include fellow new arrivals Jason Scotland, Ferrie Bodde, "Bussy" Mayol, Angel Rangel, Matty Collins and goalkeeper Dorus De Vries as Roberto Martinez proves that he has spread his net far and wide this summer with the promise of more to come.

With the recent departure of Pawel Abbott then there is every chance when you factor in Hull’s announcement that terms were agreed that Darryl Duffy will arrive and it is also whispered that there may be more to come from both Spain and Liverpool as the reality strikes that Roberto could almost field a completely new XI when the season kicks off at Oldham on August 11.

Roberto himself has worked almost constantly since Blackpool put 6 past us at the Liberty on May 5 with many late night meetings, lots of mileage and plenty of air miles as he scours for the players he hopes can deliver Championship football to the Liberty

"I covered thousands of miles. It has been very busy – but I knew when I took the job this was something that I had to do." said Roberto

"I was flying so much I lost count of all the flights I made but it was more than 50. As a league one club we have to find new markets and watch as many players as we can because it’s expensive to buy from English clubs."

Martinez summer spending on his seven recruits has been under £100,000 to date and with that being more than recouped from the sale of Pawel Abbott then he will also find himself a welcome visitor in the Liberty boardroom after two years where plenty of cash was splashed to little avail.

The capture of Darryl Duffy will increase that spending with a fee of around £200,000 being the agreed terms leading Martinez to add "You can see England is an inflated market by what has happened with Darryl. Spain is a fantastic market. It’s only two hours away and there are a lot of teams and players because it’s a huge country"

Martinez will board a flight again tomorrow as he takes his team out to Sweden on a pre-season camp that will also see them play Ostersund next weekend and with one round of hard work completed the next round starts now.