 RAFAEL BENITEZ has expressed his concern that Salif Diao will be difficult to sell when the transfer window re-opens in January. Diao is facing more than three months out of action following his failure to secure a move to a new club in the summer - something which could drastically reduce his market value. The Senegal midfielder is not in Benitez's first team plans, and the Liverpool manager would rather see a reserve team centred on young players trying to make the grade. Diao is in the final year of his contract and despite there being little prospect of him playing football while he stays at Anfield, he is still in full training and staying in shape. But he is set for more than three months with little or no opportunity to put himself in the shop window for the next round of transfer dealings in January. And Benitez is frustrated that the difficulty in offloading Diao will only increase in the winter - as well as him taking up valuable space on the wage bill. He said: "Sometimes it depends on the people around the players, and if they have good advice or bad advice or bad advisors. "In this case, I think that as a player the most important thing is to play. If you don't play, you cannot show other people what you can do. "He is fit, he is training normally, and it is not a problem. He is a very good professional and is training every day without a problem. "But without games, other teams cannot see this. We will see how we can use Salif, and it's a possibility he can play for the reserves. "But we have young players in the reserves, and if it's a choice between using young players and senior players, I would say to Gary (Ablett) to use the young players." |