KOP News # 1121

Hamburg target Liverpool FC forward Dirk Kuyt

• By Ian Doyle
• Apr 18 2012

Dirk Kuyt is mobbed after scoring in the Carling Cup final

HAMBURG have joined the queue of clubs trying to tempt Dirk Kuyt away from Liverpool FC this summer.

Kuyt has been linked with a departure from Anfield after losing his first-team place under Kenny Dalglish this season.

The Dutchman's former club Feyenoord have already expressed an interest in taking back the 31-year-old to his homeland, while Italian side Roma are also tracking the player.

Now German Bundesliga outfit Hamburg, who reached the Europa League quarter-finals this season, are keen on Kuyt, who has scored 71 goals in 279 appearances for Liverpool.

Kuyt will soon enter the final year of his contract, with this summer realistically Liverpool's final chance to gain a fee for the forward they splashed out £9million to sign in August 2006.

The Holland international was an unused substitute in last Saturday's FA Cup semi-final victory over Everton at Wembley.

But Kuyt is hopeful he can repeat his knack of scoring in the big games when it comes to next month's final against Chelsea.

He has scored in both the 2007 Champions League final and February's Carling Cup final triumph over Cardiff City.

"I am proud that, after the Champions League final and the final of the Carling Cup, for the third time I am with Liverpool in a final," said Kuyt.

"I will do everything to ensure that in the third final I prove my worth with a goal."

Despite his lack of regular first-team this season, Kuyt feels he may still have a part to play against Chelsea on May 5.

"It is a disappointment that I did not play (against Everton)," he said. "I expected to come on and you hope to be the first to come on but that was not to be.

"But there have been some important moments for me in the FA Cup, such as my goal against Manchester United (which was the late winner in round four)."

Meanwhile, Dalglish has urged Liverpool supporters to give Roy Hodgson a warm welcome on his first return to Anfield since being replaced by the Scot as manager in January 2011.

Hodgson's West Bromwich Albion visit for a Premier League fixture on Sunday afternoon.

The Englishman was targeted by large sections of the Liverpool support towards the end of his brief unhappy tenure.

But Dalglish said: "It will be good to see Roy Hodgson come back to Anfield. I'm sure he'll get a good reception.

"Things didn't go as well as he or the fans would have liked when he was here, but he still deserves a good welcome."