The Reds, who look set to miss out on European football this season, will face Ajax Cape town in their home city just 48 hours after the last Premier League game of the season

Liverpool have announced they will play a post-season friendly against Ajax Cape Town in South Africa, just two days after their final Premier League match of the season.

The Reds host relegated QPR at Anfield on Sunday May 19 on the last day of the season, before jetting off to play in Cape Town just 48 hours later.

The trip will be the club’s first to the country since 1994 since they played in a four-team tournament with Aston Villa, Cape Town Spurs and the Kaiser Chiefs.

“This visit is part of our off-season activity and shows our commitment to bringing the club closer to our fans all over the globe, no matter how far away from Anfield they may live,” said Liverpool chief commercial officer Billy Hogan.

“It will be fantastic for the club to return to South Africa after almost 20 years.”

Liverpool are currently five points behind Everton in the Premier League table following their goalless draw against the Toffees on Sunday and look set to miss out on qualifying for Europe next season.

The Anfield stalwart is set to hang up his boots at the end of the season, and the England striker says the club won’t be the same without the legendary defender

Daniel Sturridge has praised Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and says his iminent retirement will be a massive loss for the club.

Despite only being at Anfield for four months, the 23-year-old striker says Carragher’s re-emergence in the first team since January has been a huge boost for the club and says he’ll be missed on and off the field.

Liverpool have kept seven clean sheets since the 35-year-old forced his way back into the reckoning and the Anfield legend’s perforrmances have gone some way in ensuring that record happened.

“He’s a very experienced player who’s been at this club for many, many years,” Sturridge told the club’s official website.

“He’ll be missed behind the scenes as well as on the football field. He’s a great man as well as a great player.

“We wish him all the best when he moves onto his new job.”

One of the seven clean sheets took place in Sunday’s Merseyside derby, and Sturridge says that a 0-0 draw was probably a fair result.

“It was a really tight game – they defended well, we defended well,” he said. “There weren’t many great chances. I had a couple, I think Stevie had a couple of shots as well. It was a really close game and it was probably a fair result in the end.

“It was a really high tempo, and a tense game – as expected.”

The Reds boss holds the centre-back in high esteem from his days at Swansea City but the club’s transfer committee disagrees and will have no intention of approving a deal

EXCLUSIVE
By Richard Buxton

Liverpool’s owners are refusing to sanction Brendan Rodgers’s plans to sign Ashley s.

The Swansea City defender had been heavily tipped to succeed Jamie Carragher at the heart of the Anfield club’s back line next season, with the veteran centre-back set to hang up his boots, but Fenway Sports Group has no plans to rubber-stamp any deal.

As revealed by Goal in April, Arsenal have stepped up their pursuit of s, who turns 29 in August, which threatened to see them go head to head in the transfer market with Liverpool to secure the Wales captain’s services.

Rodgers has vowed to “search far and wide” for Carragher’s replacement but, while the 40-year-old continues to hold s in high esteem from his time at the Liberty Stadium, it is not a view shared by the Reds’ transfer committee, which assesses and identifies transfer targets.

FSG’s previous management structure saw them fail to broker a deal for Clint Dempsey last summer, with the attacking midfielder’s move to Tottenham on transfer deadline day forcing Rodgers to rely heavily on Luis Suarez until January as one of Liverpool’s only two recognised senior strikers.

s, who agreed a one-year extension to his current Swansea deal to stay with the Capital One Cup holders until 2015, is valued at £12 million, which the Anfield hierarchy do not believe represents good business sense due to the lack of longevity his capture would provide.

However, Goal.com understands that the Americans’ reluctance to bankroll a move for the boyhood Liverpool fan does not rule out future moves for experienced players, should they become available at a reasonable price.

s’s representatives met with Arsenal in London in April as the Gunners began formalising their plans to strengthen their central defence this season, while Laurent Koscielny has been targeted by Bayern Munich, as Goal.com exclusively revealed on Thursday.