Traore among those set for new Anfield deals

A string of Liverpool's Champions League winners are about to be offered new contracts - with the club confirming they will open talks during next season to give homegrown hero Jamie Carragher a new, improved deal.

Full-back Djimi Traore, German midfielder Dietmar Hamann and skipper Steven Gerrard - who has already stated he will stay at Anfield - are expected to have signed new deals before the squad return for pre-season training on June 27.

A Liverpool source today confirmed the list of contract discussions and added on defender Carragher:  "He has two years left on his current contract but we will hold discussions with him next season.

"There is no great hurry on that one because he has no intention of leaving us, but there will certainly be a new contract for him on the table."

But boss Rafael Benitez has decided not to extend the stay of former Valencia defender Mauricio Pellegrino at the club.

The big Argentinian arrived at Anfield on a six-month deal in the January transfer window, when he was already cup tied in Europe.

His form has always looked shaky and the 33-year-old played just 12 games for the club in which his lack of pace was always a worrying consideration.

Benitez always felt that he needed central defensive cover for the over-worked Carragher and Sami Hyypia, and he will now certainly buy another centre-back to bolster his squad. That is likely to be Real Zaragoza star Gabriel Milito for £6million.

Hamann is on the verge of signing a one-year extension to his contract that ends this summer - despite the continued interest of Hamburg.

But the real surprise in Benitez's early planning for next season is the prospect of Traore being offered a new four-year deal.

Traore has improved considerably under Benitez's guidance and his height and pace have made him a key part of Liverpool's defence, being able to play-full back or central defence.

He played in both roles during the Champions League Final triumph over AC Milan.

Frenchman Traore almost joined Everton last summer, only for Benitez to pull the plug on the deal at the last moment.

The Goodison Park club have again been linked with the 25-year-old, who has one year left on his current Anfield deal.

Vladimir Smicer, meanwhile, is wanted by Birmingham and Charlton, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.

The Czech midfielder claimed in the newspaper that he has been told he can leave Anfield after failing to hold down a regular first team place over the last couple of years.

He is also attracting interest from across the English Channel where he was playing before Gerrard Houllier signed him from Lens for £4.2 million in July 1999.

Benitez aims to have new 'keeper Jose Reina and striker Dirk Kuyt in his squad when pre-season work starts with a two-week stint in a Swiss training camp.

Liverpool are likely to play their first pre-season match against Bayer Leverkusen in Austria on July 16, followed by a game away to Cologne on July 22. Both these games have yet to be fully confirmed.

They then leave for Japan on July 25, where they play Shimizu-S Pulse on the 27th and Koshima Antlers on the 30th before returning to Liverpool the following day.