The Catalans have reportedly made a £12million offer for the Argentina captain which may also include Alexander Hleb as a makeweight.

However, that falls way short of Liverpool's estimation of what the player, signed from West Ham for £18million three-and-a-half years ago, is worth.

Hodgson was forced to drop the 26-year-old for last night's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City after admitting the player had been affected by the interest from Spain.

But the 62-year-old insists Mascherano will not be allowed to leave for anything other than his full market value, which the Anfield club believe is nearer £24million.

"Unfortunately the fee the club thinks is the correct fee and the fee we are being offered are very far apart," said the Englishman.

"Unless that can be resolved he might be unhappy for a long time to come.

The Argentina captain was omitted from the squad for the 3-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at Eastlands after becoming distracted by a bid, believed to be £12million, from Barcelona.

Hodgson rejected suggestions the 26-year-old had refused to play, instead insisting he chose to drop the combative midfielder for the sake of the team.

"Javier Mascherano is not in the right frame of mind to play the game because his head has obviously been turned by the offer from Barcelona," said the Reds manager.

"This matter has developed over the last couple of days. Unfortunately the fee the club thinks is the correct fee and the fee we are being offered are very far apart.

"Unless that can be resolved he might be unhappy for a long time to come.

"But I don't really want to get involved in it. The discussions between Barcelona and the club are being held at high club level and as a result I don't want to start saying things which may or may not be true.

A goal down in that game, Harry Redknapp's side secured the points at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a brace from Gareth Bale.

In between his efforts Stoke equalised through Ricardo Fuller and thought they had drawn level for the second time in the dying embers of the game. However, Foy allowed play to continue even though a shot from Jon Walters, on his debut, appeared to go over the line.

He ignored all the protests and despite an encouraging second half display Stoke suffered their second successive defeat.

They almost took the lead inside two minutes after good work by Walters following his arrival from Ipswich in midweek.

He made space down the right and delivered the ball into the area. However Michael Dawson made a crucial interception with Fuller ready to pounce.

Tottenham made the breakthrough in the 20th minute with Bale at the heart of things. The Wales full-back cracked in a shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

Peter Crouch was first to react but his effort came back off Ryan Shawcross. However, to the Stoke skipper's horror, his clearance went straight to Bale who headed home.

Stoke drew level in the 25th minute with Tottenham guilty of poor defending. Younes Kaboul directed Matthew Etherington's corner into the area and Fuller clipped a shot beyond Heurelho Gomes.

For the second successive Saturday Chelsea rattled home six, with Nicolas Anelka and substitute Salomon Kalou each bagging a brace, sandwiching one apiece from Florent Malouda and Yossi Benayoun.

It leaves Chelsea sitting pretty at the top of the table and the Latics propping it up, and with the possibility manager Roberto Martinez may now be fearing for his job.

The Blues have now scored a phenomenal 29 goals in just five league games, 14 of those against Wigan as they thumped eight past them on the final day of last season.

As for Martinez's hapless side, they have conceded 25 goals in six league matches, with 10 this season after starting out with a 4-0 home humiliation to Blackpool last weekend.

That had prompted bookmakers into offering staggering odds of 15-1 on a Wigan win, arguably forgetting the Latics had ended Chelsea's six-match winning start to last season with a 3-1 victory.

Certainly for the opening half hour Wigan's performance in contrast to a week ago was as different as night and day.

There was energy, effort and endeavour, and most crucially a lack of errors that was the main reason behind their embarrassing downfall against the Seasiders.

The 21-year-old was a controversial omission from Fabio Capello's ill-fated World Cup squad, only to be welcomed back into the England fold following the dismal display in South Africa.

Walcott produced a stunning display as he tore the Seasiders apart from kick-off, sweeping the Gunners into an 11th-minute lead.

Andrey Arshavin made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after defender Ian Evatt had been sent off for a foul on Marouane Chamakh, which looked to have taken place just outside the box.

Walcott added a third before the break, with Abou Diaby slotting home number four at the start of the second half and the England man - whose only international goals came with a famous hat-trick in Croatia during September 2008 - then securing the match ball with another well-taken finish.

Chamakh headed in a sixth goal on 83 minutes, but it was Walcott who stole the headlines.

"Theo is more electric than he has been," Wenger declared.