Comolli's £80m wish list

With Gerard Houllier coming to Anfield monday talent-spotter Damien Comolli seems to have a desire to re-start the Liverpool French revolution.

On top of his wish list for January there are four Frenchmen.

Comolli, the new director of football strategy charged with helping boss Roy Hodgson ­recruit new stars, has been assembling a hit-list of transfer targets for the January window and next summer – with four Frenchmen on the radar.

Related reading: Liverpool pondering big moves? 
Related: Transfer targets video compilation

And heading the wish list of French stars are four of Laurent Blanc’s side who outplayed England in their 2-1 friendly win at Wembley last month.

Yann M’Vila, Rennes’ 20-year-old midfielder, Marseilles striker Loic Remy – 24 next month – Lille centre-back Adil Rami, 25 later this month, and St Etienne attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet, 23, have all been identified by Comolli as viable targets, The People reports.

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And with Lille’s exciting ­£20million Belgian winger Eden Hazard plus Borussia Dortmund’s £15m-rated Serbian central ­defender Neven Subotic also a priority, all of Comolli’s targets would cost a staggering £80m.

That would be an immediate test of Kop owner John Henry’s commitment to Anfield’s future. Comolli has been told by ­Henry to nab players in their early 20s as Liverpool build for a ­brighter ­future.

But he’ll have his work cut out to land them all – especially Hazard, who is being tracked by Real Madrid.

Boss Hodgson has been told he must offload some players to raise additional transfer funds and England defender Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Ryan Babel and Fabio Aurelio will all be made available, the paper reports.

Defenders and forwards on the radar

Following Jamie Carraghers dislocated shoulder a few defenders are being linked with Liverpool for the January transfer window.

Liverpool are being backed to make a move for Bolton defender Gary Cahill in January, according to The Guardian.

The 24-year-old England international - who has been consistently linked with a move away from the Reebok in recent weeks - with a view to making a bid in the New Year.

Arsenal had originally been expected to do battle with Manchester United for the services of Cahill, who is thought to have caught the eye of both Gunners boss Arsene Wenger and United supremo Sir Alex Ferguson with a string of imperious displays for the Trotters.

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But Liverpool are now apparently the frontrunners for his signature as Roy Hodgson looks to bolster his defence following the long-term layoff of Anfield hero Jamie Carragher.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Arsenal will launch a £10 million bid for the Liverpool and Manchester United target, but Bolton manager Owen Coyle has slapped a £25 million price-tag on his prized asset.

An earlier linked defender is Lille's Adil Rami.

He is seen as the ideal candidate to replace the aforementioned club legend, according to Goal.com.

Valued at £12 million, the report claims Hodgson is ready to match the Ligue 1 side’s valuation of  a player the Liverpool manager has been tracking even prior to Carragher’s injury.

Rami impressed during France’s recent friendly against England at Wembley and has in the past attracted interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.

The 24-year-old of Moroccan descent has thrived in the new France setup engineered by the impressive Laurent Blanc, and having made his debut in August of this year, the former Frejus youngster is something of a mainstay in the former Manchester United defender’s squads this season.

A forward that has been heavily linked with Liverpool the last few weeks is out of favour Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano.

Now Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has ruled his side out of the race to sign Sampdoria outcast Antonio Cassano calling it ‘fantasy football’, GiveMeFootball reports.

Cassano has recently had a falling out with Sampdoria and, despite apologising to their president several times, looks set to be released.

The Genovese side are currently trying to annul Cassano’s contract, after the striker refused to attend an awards ceremony with his team mates and then verbally abused president Riccardo Garrone, and are set to find out the outcome on December 3.

That means the 28-year-old could be available on a free transfer, with Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Fiorentina all mooted as potential suitors.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is currently compiling a shortlist of January transfer targets and, if Cassano’s contract is terminated, he would be a fantastic coup for the Anfield club.

Another striker that has come back on the transfer radar is the towering Norwegian John Carew.

The Norway international has had a poor relationship with Villa Park boss Gerard Houllier since his days at Lyon, and a recent spat between the two in back and forth media interviews has not aided their relationship.

Carew’s future at Villa Park now looks bleak, and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, the player will be free to talk to clubs from January.

According to Caughtoffside The 6’5″ Norwegian’s agent Per Arne Flod said:

- Every day I receive calls from clubs all over Europe interested in Carew but there are no concrete offers on the table.

In January there is not likely to be a shortage of offers, and Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is believed to want Carew as a plan B for the club should Fernando Torres be injured, and as an impact player from the bench.

Yesterday Liverpool again was linked with West Ham forward Carlton Cole. But now it seems the Hammers har re-thinking theire options.

Cole impressed as the Hammers won for the second game in succession - a 4-0 demolition of Manchester United in the Carling Cup - and netted twice.

And now the club's bosses are thinking twice about whether to cash in on the England international, who was expected to bring in up to £8million in revenue for the cash-strapped east Londoners, Metro reports.

Their quest to get off the bottom of the table - and then to avoid relegation by the end of the season - is likely to hinge on their firepower.

Cole has been a target for former Fulham manager Roy Hodgson for a few years, and he is now keen to take him to new club Liverpool as an able deputy for star man Fernando Torres.

Carlton Cole back on the radar

Today we have been familiar with the rumour that Italian club Roma want Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt - and are happy to give the Reds Philippe Mexes in return.

Roy Hodgson on the other hand insists he is now keen to keep the current squad intact ahead of the January transfer window. 

The Daily Mail today claims Roma have set their sights on Dirk Kuyt and hope to tempt Liverpool with an exchange for Philippe Mexes.

The paper says reports in Rome claim Kuyt is open to a move to Italy.

Rafa Benitez remains keen to take Kuyt to Inter Milan, but Liverpool put off the European champions by demanding a prohibitive £20m in the summer.

Roma can’t even offer half that and a straight swap for France centre half Mexes looks far from value for money as the 28-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season.

Kuyt is under contract at Anfield till 2012 and Roma fear Liverpool will ask for Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic in exchange.

Vucinic has many admirers in England, including Manchester United, though coach Claudio Ranieri wants him to stay at the Olympic Stadium.

I can never ever understand how Hodgson would want to sell Kuyt to Rome to get Mexes back. Kuyt is a real quality player that brings a lot to the team. Mexes is going to turn 29 next year. The rest you can figure out yourself.

But now on to anther more likely rumour.

Carlton Cole was a reported Liverpool tranfer target this summer. And he will leave West Ham for Liverpool in January, according to Metro.

The Hammers striker was publicly critical of boss Avram Grant after they slumped to 3-0 defeat at Anfield last Saturday and the east London club remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League.

This has led to speculation that the 27-year-old wants out of Upton Park, with Liverpool reportedly the frontrunners for his signature.

Cole said after the Liverpool loss:

- We can come here and talk a good game and say we are going to do this to them and come with a game plan, but we didn’t even turn up for this game.

- In the first 10 minutes we had lost the game, psychologically anyway. I’m lost for words now, I can’t speak too much because I get emotional with these things and it gets on my nerves and I don’t want to talk about certain things, he said.

The £9m rated England forward was linked with a switch to Anfield during the summer and Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has recently admitted he was monitoring Cole.

Hodgson has made no secret of his desire to add more potency to his Anfield attack after admitting that Liverpool rely too heavily on Kop heroes Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

Bolton striker Johan Elmander and Aston Villa winger Ashley Young have both been linked with moves to Anfield as the January transfer window draws closer.

In-form Bolton ace Johan Elmander has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs as his future at the Reebok hangs in the balance.

According to the Mirror, Liverpool, Newcastle and Stoke all have the talented Swede in their sights after it was revealed he could leave Bolton for nothing in the summer when his contract expires.

Elmander is Bolton's record-signing after joining the club from Toulouse for around £10 million in 2008, and the 29-year-old has been in magnificent goalscoring form of late.

His performances have led to Bolton launching a surprise assault on the Champions League places and have also reportedly caught the eye of Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson has made no secret of his desire to add more potency to his Anfield attack after admitting that Liverpool rely too heavily on Kop heroes Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

And, with Torres' chequered injury history, Hodgson is keen to strengthen his striking ranks and is thought to be interested in bringing Elmander to Liverpool.

However, Bolton boss Owen Coyle has attempted to ease fears that the Sweden international would be moving to Anfield, but admitted that Elmander would be crazy not to consider joining a club the size of Liverpool.

- If players are playing well it is only natural bigger clubs will cast an eye on them. That is the nature of football and I am relaxed about it, Cole said.

- Until those bids come in, it is all hypothetical. When they do we will give them respect and make a decision. I do not get caught up in it too much and beat myself up. Johan knows that.

- If it was a club of a similar size to Bolton I believe he would stay here. If an elite club came in Johan would be crazy not to think about it.

- I have no problems with that. Johan is well within his rights to do what is right for himself and his family. What I will do game by game is try to get the best out of him.

Coyle added: - Phil [Gartside] has had talks with Johan's representative and that will be on-going.

- Johan has been terrific from day one and if they decide they want it to run its course into January, then so be it.

Yet another Lille player supposedly is on Liverpools transfer radar.

Liverpool are now being linked with a January transfer move for French international Adil Rami, GiveMeFootball reports

The Lille defender is the latest Ligue 1 player to be targeted by the Anfield club, with Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson thought to have his eye on a string of Les Dogues players.

Rami, Gervinho and Eden Hazard are all thought to be potential transfer targets for the Merseyside outfit.

A towering defender of Moroccan decent, Rami joined Lille from Frejus in 2007, and has gone on to be an integral part of the team at the Stadium Lille-Metropole.

Experience at European club and international level makes the player a viable target, and the Liverpool boss was thought to have been impressed by Rami's performance in the recent 2-1 victory for France over England at Wembley.

The Reds boss is thought to have targeted 'five or six' players for the opening month of 2011, and new owners NESV look set to offer the Liverpool chief a transfer war chest in the region of £35 million.

Whilst a striking foil for Fernando Torres is thought to be the priority, the former Fulham boss is keen to strengthen in the core areas. Central defence is one of those positions, leading to speculation that Liverpool will make a move for Rami at the first opportunity.

Zlatan?

Svensk superspiss linkes til Liverpool. Spiss fra Uruguay aktuell? Fransk erstatter for Hyypia?

Rafa Benitez har i følge Sky Sports sagt at han ønsker seg en ekstra spiss som kan avlaste Torres og Kuyt. Naturlig nok når man spiller opp mot 60 kamper i løpet av en sesong.

Og dagens mest hårreisende spennende spekulasjon er at Zlatan Ibrahimovic skulle kunne innfinne seg på Anfield fra sommeren av. I følge Liverpool Daily Post er både Liverpool og Manchester United interessert i balleleganten. Det spekuleres i en vanvittig bud på €70m fra Real Madrid, men de €12m Inter betalte for ham i 2006, virker langt mer sannsynlig.

Er det flere enn meg som får vann i munnen ved tanken på Zlatan ved siden av Torres?

Men det er flere offensive spillere på radaren; Liverpool-avisa melder det samme som The New Football Pools, nemlig at Merseyside-klubben leder jakten på den offensive Ajax-spilleren Luis Suarez.

22-åringen har vært i Nederland de tre siste sesongene og leder for tiden lista over toppscorere i Æresdivisjonen og har scoret 22 mål på 31 kamper denne sesongen. Dette har han gjort som kantspiller, eller som spiller mellom angrep og midtbane.

Ajax sliter imidlertid med å kvalifisere seg til Champions League, og dette har gjort at Suarez ønsker seg til nye utfordringer.

VIDEO: Louis Suarez

Med Sami Hyypia på vei ut av Liverpool vil det trolig også bli behov for å signere en ekstra forsvarsspiller i sommer. I dag melder FootyLatest at Benitez & Co er interessert i den franske spilleren Adil Rami.

Rami spiller i dag for franske Lille, og både AC Milan og Manchester United skal også være interessert. Han har kun vært i klubbens førstelagstropp de siste to årene, men midtstopperen har nå fått sin første oppkalling til landslaget.