The transfer season is in full swing and there is a major development emanating out of Anfield and Camp Nou, again. Reportedly, Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola has his eyes on Liverpool's Israeli player Yossi Benayoun, only a week after the Catalan grand tried to land instrumental midfielder Javier Mascherano.

The newly crowned European and Spanish Champions are aware of the repercussions their titanic season has had on arch rivals, Real Madrid. Subsequently, the Queen of Europe is boosting its squad to restore parity for next year and reinstate the Madrid club back to the top, after Barcelona dominated so thoroughly last year's campaign. Camp Nou is not to be left on the transfer market sidelines, however.

According to the Daily Mail, Rafa Benitez and Pep Guardiola are bound to have a massive face off, should the Catalans continue to harass the Reds for their top players.

Benitez claims that speculation in Spanish media regarding Mascherano's switch to Barcelona, which had spread through local media last week, had destabilised the player. Then several days later, the Israeli is targeted in turn.

"At the moment, I am a Liverpool player, and unless something surprising happens, I will remain one. But after such a good season, I have had some offers from England and Spain. You have to give that some consideration, so there will probably be some discussions with Liverpool," Benayoun said, as quoted by the Daily Mail
.
"I have had a great two years at Anfield and enjoyed every minute. I have long since accepted that, with one or two notable exceptions, there is no such thing as an automatic choice at Liverpool."

As of yet, there is no official statement from Anfield regarding the latest saga with Barcelona. Officially, Mascherano and Benayoun remain very much Liverpool players, and, reportedly, Benitez has said that both of them will have key roles in the future at the club.

"Mascherano is not for sale at any price," Benitez said on Liverpool's official website.  "Barcelona could not afford to match his value to Liverpool - they can offer 50 million pounds sterling, we don't want to sell."

"Clubs can forget about bidding for him - he has no price and he's happy here."