JASON McATEER has revealed that Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has already offered to help Tranmere’s new management team.

Rovers only have eight senior players under contract for next season and with limited resources the assistant manager admits they will be looking to bolster the squad with loan signings.

"We’ve got two of the biggest clubs in the world on our doorstep in Liverpool and Manchester United," he said. "Not to use them and the help they could give us would be daft.

"We’re under no illusions – budgets are tight, there’s no money here and we want to bring in some loan players.

"But we don’t just want to bring in any loan player, we want to bring in good quality young loan players who are going to make the team better.

"Rafa Benitez has already said he would love to help us out. My agent has spoken to him at length about things as Liverpool wanted to know what was going on.

"Rafa was really complimentary and when you’ve got that kind of support you’ve got a chance."

The 37-year-old is confident the pulling power of manager John Barnes will ensure Rovers get the players they want.

"When you’ve got the likes of John ringing Arsene Wenger up then Arsene is going to take the call," he said. "I watched the FA Youth Cup final and some of those Arsenal kids are fantastic. When a player realises John wants him then he is going to be enticed by that. They are going to want to be part of that.

"A lot of my generation – people like Phil Brown and Mark Hughes – seem to be managers at the moment. We’re going to need these kind of people. When you’ve got them as friends it helps.

"We’re looking to bring in quite a few over the coming weeks plus there is quality here already. It’s like a sweet shop but it’s just a case of making sure we get the tastiest ones."