Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has dismissed reports he is ready to sell Robbie Keane and the club have rejected an approach from Ajax to loan Ryan Babel.
Babel's agent Winnie Haatrecht said Ajax had enquired about loaning the out-of-favour winger but Liverpool rejected the proposal out of hand.
"Ryan finds that he sits on the bench too much at Liverpool, he wants to play more and asked me to see if Ajax were interested in a temporary return," he said.
"After we got an enthusiastic reaction from Ajax, we asked Liverpool for their co-operation but the club don't want to see him go.
"Rafael Benitez finds Ryan too important. Hopefully we will see that in more playing time."
The 21-year-old Babel scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win against Manchester United in September, but has seen his playing time reduced as Albert Riera and Dirk Kuyt have emerged as Benitez's preferred pairing on the wings.
Keane's future has come under recent scrutiny after a barren run of form that has seen him score just two Premier League goals - both against West Brom - since his summer move from Tottenham.
The Republic of Ireland international has been linked with a transfer back to White Hart Lane, despite selling him to the Reds for £19 million in July.
However, Benitez claims that the rumours are not true, and that the 28-year-old is going nowhere.
He said: "We don't want to sell Robbie, so I was surprised when I heard about the rumours. We are not even thinking about selling.
"It is always tough at the start when you move. And when it is to a top side, that makes it even more difficult, but Robbie has the quality and is working hard, so it is not a problem.
"The key for me is when the team play well. If they do that, Keane will have more chances and he will score more goals.
"I know he will have been disappointed at not playing on Saturday, because they all want to. He'll have been thinking 'I want to play, I need to play'. But while I think he knows we have confidence in him, he also knows he is not playing to his level.
"You cannot give a player with his experience too many messages. He knows he has to perform well and he will."
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