Liverpool insist Rafa Benitez had lost the dressing room after showing him the door last week.

The Sunday Mirror says Kenny Dalglish and chief executive Christian Purslow have been made king-makers by Liverpool's owners.

They will gauge player ­opinions in their ­recruitment drive.

Another Liverpool insider said: "Benitez went ­because they lost 19 games last season, but the deterioration of his relationship with players was another major factor.

"In any business, if you have a number of individuals vital to the strength of your ­business then you do everything you can to keep them.

"If you also have an ­individual who is under performing and who continually sinks to new depths of machiavellianism, then there is only one outcome."