Oct 11, 2012 11:37 PM EDT
Liverpool Transfer News: Suso Reveals He is Close to New Deal; Del Piero Admits to Rejecting Reds Offer

Suso revealed he is close to signing a new deal with Liverpool, while Alessandro Del Piero admitted he rejected an offer from Liverpool before signing for Australian club Sydney FC.

Suso is seen as one of the brightest young talents at Anfield, and has forced his way into the first team under Brendan Rodgers. However, the 18-year-old's current deal is set to expire at the end of the season, prompting suggestions the highly-rates playmaker might leave the club he has been with since 2009.

But the Spaniard quelled all doubts by revealing he was closing in on a new deal. "The fans can relax. Everything's fine," he told Liverpool Echo. "I hope to sign the contract as soon as possible.

"We have been talking about a contract since the start of the season. We're nearly there -- we'll sign soon.

"I'm happy here, very comfortable. This is the ideal club for me in every sense. This is like a dream for me.

"Brendan Rodgers is a coach that if you prove to him that you can perform, if you work hard, he has no problem in putting young players in the team. I have started three times and things are going well."

Meanwhile, Juventus legend Del Piero said he had decided against a move to Liverpool out of respect to the victims of the Heysel disaster. In the 1985 European Cup final in Brussels, 39 Juventus fans were killed and several hundred injured after a section of Liverpool fans broke through a fence, which in turn caused a wall to collapse.

Del Piero spent 19 fruitful years with Juve, and keeping in mind the history of his club, he decided to reject Liverpool's offer. "The negotiations with Sydney were already at an advanced stage and then I thought about what happened at Heysel," Del Piero told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Juve and Liverpool have worked hard to mend their relationship, but for a lot of people it's something that can never be forgotten.

"I wasn't interested in money. I've won everything there is to win so another Champions League campaign would have done nothing for me.

"I came to Australia to experience something new and I want to make the most of this new adventure.

"Above all I just want to play football."

Del Piero also revealed the emotions that ran through him in his final game as a Juve player -- a 3-1 victory over Atalanta in May.

"The fans went above and beyond that day," he said. "No one had actually told me that I would never play for Juve again, but I knew that was the case.

"I saw the board go up with my number on it and asked myself 'Do I really have to say goodbye? Do I have to leave the stadium for the last time?'

"I bowed to all four stands and waved to my family. I wanted to take it all in but I remembered where I was and told myself 'Ale, get off, it's over.'

"But the fans made me come back out onto the pitch. I did two laps of honour and they threw hundreds of scarves at me, and every now and then I paused to savor the moment.

"I saw people crying. I suppose it went well, but goodbyes always leave a bitter taste in the mouth."

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