Liverpool want Real Madrid outcast?

In january the hunt for a new striker will probably be the most important for Roy Hodgson. But today Liverpool is also being linked a couple of midfielders.

Most important is the rumour of Liverpool being associated with a move for Real Madrid outcast Lassana Diarra. He is being tracked by four Premier League clubs after falling out of favour at Real Madrid this season, Talksport reports.

Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira have been manager Jose Mourinho's first-choice midfield partnership since the summer and Diarra has started only three of Madrid's 12 games so far under the Portuguese.

Now Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham and Liverpool are all interested in bringing the France international back to England, according to reports in Spain.

However, it is thought Madrid president Florentino Perez wants to recoup at least half of the £20m fee he shelled out for the tenacious midfielder less than two years ago.

The other significant rumour of the day is that of earlier linked Standard Liege captain Steven Defour.

Todays report brought by Sport.co.uk says that seven clubs are interested in the player with Manchester United still firmly in the hunt for the 22-year-old.

Manchester United were confirmed as one of the seven clubs monitoring the player while Everton and Liverpool are also rumoured to have registered their interest in the player.

- Yes, it is true he is being watched. He is being monitored by seven clubs at the moment from England, France, Spain and Italy, his agent told the site.

Being asked if a January move was a bit too soon to think about leaving Standard Liege. He replied:

- We don’t know. It depends on the club and whether or not there is a big move in the January window that could see other people move. I have received positive phone calls from clubs in the UK, who have said they can do things, so we will wait and see, the agent says. 

Finaly a new name appears. 

Liverpool is today being linked with a Russian striker. Apparently Roy Hodgson has set his sights on Stuttgart targetman Russian Pavel Pogrebnyak.

Despite Stuttart's poor start to the season Pogrebnyak has managed to net five goals in seven games. The rangy 6ft 3in striker could work well as a foil for Fernando Torres and help Liverpool become more of an attacking threat.

A move for the former Zenit St Petersburg man would set Liverpool back around £12m, Caughtoffside reports.