Jamie Carragher urges Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano not to leave

Even as Glen Johnson prepares to join Liverpool, he was greeted yesterday by a warning that the club must not lose any players this summer.

Anfield veteran Jamie Carragher fears that all the good work done over the past season may be undone if his team is ripped apart by scavengers stealing the Reds' best players.

Carragher admitted that he usually spends the summer like any fan, excitedly anticipating who Liverpool's next signing will be.

With Johnson and Liverpool confident they will have the formalities of his deal completed to allow him to sign on Monday, the England full-back will be the first of several big-money Anfield captures.

But Carragher admits that his usual excitement has been replaced by trepidation that key players such as Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano could be sold to raise transfer funds.

And the experienced defender insisted that would be a massive mistake. "We have got a great side at the moment, and we don't want to disrupt that," he said.

"I'm sure the manager will make a couple of additions, but we don't want to lose anyone. I'm like any fan, I get excited about who we might bring in. The players pick up the paper hoping to see we have signed someone. But this summer there has been a bit of speculation about players moving on, so at the moment I'm hoping that doesn't happen rather than people come in."

Alonso looks most likely to leave, with Real Madrid still pursuing the Spain international after a serious break down in his relationship with Anfield boss Rafa Benitez.

While the Liverpool manager has refused point blank to entertain any approach for Mascherano, he has repeatedly indicated that Alonso could be for sale at the right price.

But Carragher argued yesterday that would be a massive mistake. "Xabi and Stevie Gerrard were probably our best two players last season," he said. "If you asked the fans they would maybe say that Alonso was our best player so he is certainly someone we don't want to lose."

Johnson will be the first addition of the summer, after he agreed to join Liverpool in a £17million deal, despite interest from Chelsea. He is back from holiday and travelled to Merseyside for a medical.

But Benitez will not stop his spending there. He wants a wide player and has been chasing Valencia winger David Silva for some time, while he is also in talks over the Spanish club's centrehalf Raul Albiol, with the pair valued at a combined £30m.

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