Barcelona to bid for Mascherano

Barcelona are planning to tempt Liverpool with a £24million offer for Javier Mascherano.

The Catalan giants will hand Roy Hodgson the exact amount they received from Manchester City for Yaya Toure last week, according to reports in Spain.

New boss Hodgson is bracing himself for heavy transfer activity in the coming weeks, with uncertainty over the futures of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

And he knows that £24million, while less than Liverpool would want, still represents a profit on the £18.6million they paid for him in 2008.

It would also give Hodgson some working capital as he seeks to rebuild at ASnfield.