Jul 10, 2007 - 9:54 AM
0 shoutsBy Edwin Simonis Special to PA SportsTicker
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Ticker) -- Ajax are willing to sell talented winger Ryan Babel to Liverpool - but only if the Merseysiders meet their asking price of over $27 million.
The Amsterdammers' technical director Martin van Geel admitted talks between the clubs had taken place but that a deal had not yet been struck.
"Liverpool is willing to pay a huge sum for Ryan," van Geel said. "We have told them what we want, and that's 20 million euros. That is our price."
"We would like to see Babel play here next season, it's not for nothing that we have extended his contract until June 2010," van Geel added. "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."
The 20-year-old Babel, who starred for Holland in the recent Under-21 European Championships, admitted it was "very nice" that Liverpool had expressed an interest in taking him to Anfield.
"I had heard that there were some stories on the internet but that happens quite often," Babel said. "This (Liverpool's interest) is serious news to me. I haven't thought about a transfer for a minute, I will do that soon though. That such a big club is interested is of course very nice."
Babel's agent Winnie Haatrecht issued a note of caution, however, and stated only a move which would benefit his client from a playing point of view would be considered.
"First Liverpool and Ajax need to get an agreement about a transfer, that's step one," Haatrecht said. "After that we want to know what the technical staff of Liverpool has planned for Ryan."
"The sporting perspective must be totally clear. Only then can Ryan make a good choice," Haatrecht added. "Of course Liverpool is a great club. But it must not be that he needs to fight with eight strikers for two positions. We must also look at the development of Ryan."
