interested in acquiring the 25 year old's services, and on Wednesday it was reported that his agent had flown to Catalonia to hold talks with Barcelona.

Although the 48 time capped Argentina international is more than happy to remain at Liverpool, it is thought his family are unsettled in England and are interested in moving to Spain.

However, The Reds manager Rafael Benitez is believed to be extremely eager to hold on to the combative midfielder and wants to hold discussions with the player and his representative, Walter Tamer.

Benitez has no plans to cash in on one of the Merseyside outfit's most prized assets, it is claimed Barcelona will have to make a phenomenal bid to prise him away.

Should €52.8m be the price tag on the former River Plate, Corinthiansand West Ham United star's head, The European Champions may have to concentrate their efforts on other targets as their financial vice president has revealed they have around €35m to spend this year.

An exchange involving Ivory Coast international "Yaya Toure" has also been mentioned as a possibility.