Italian striker on free transfer?

Liverpool have accepted that unsettled defender Glen Johnson wants to leave Anfield, According to The Daily Mail

There may also be a swap deal where Liverpool gets Brazilian-born Italy marksman Amauri and cash for Johnson.

Another Italian striker may however come to Anfield on a free transfer...

Liverpool striker target Antonio Cassano could become a free agent as soon as Monday, GiveMeFootball reports.

The controversial Sampdoria forward is set to leave the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after a major fallout with the club's president, and Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is thought to be one of the parties interested in signing the player.

A decision over the player's future could not be reached in a court of arbitration last week, and the second hearing is schedule for Monday in Italy. If the club wins, it will see the player's contract terminated immediately, making him a free agent.

There is no shortage of interest in the Italian international in the Premier League or abroad, with Manchester City, Spurs, Juventus and Inter Milan all thought to be challenging Liverpool for the signature.

The Reds boss has money to spend following the arrival of NESV as the new Liverpool owners, but the opportunity to land Cassano on a free would be too good to turn down for the Merseyside outfit.
Liverpool defender target Philippe Mexes appears set to leave Roma, Talksport reports.

The French international centre back has reportedly rejected a new contract offer from the Serie 'A' outfit, opening the door to either a cut-price move in January or free transfer in the summer.

Reds boss Roy Hodgson is thought to be one of the Premier League managers thought to be interested in the player, with Arsenal and Chelsea the competitors to Liverpool in the race to sign the player.

TalkSPORT report that the player's agent is in advanced talks with Premier League clubs, with reports in Italy backing up the claims by stating Mexes will leave the Stadio Olimpico at the end of the season. Liverpool are thought to be one of the clubs in contact.

The player has been valued in the region of £2 million due to the length of time left on his contract, although Liverpool could look to negotiate a pre-contract agreement that would see the player come to Merseyside for free at the end of the season.

And finaly today, a new name:

FC Porto’s leading striker, Falcao, is being tracked by Liverpool in a bid to boost their striking options, according to Footballtransfertavern.

It looks to be an initial 4-month loan deal valued at £1.5m, with the option to buy the player for £14m.

Columbian sensation Falcao is 24-years old and has hit an incredible 51 goals in 63 appearances for FC Porto. He finished last season as the league’s top scorer and he has proved he is a natural born goal-scorer, something David N’Gog and Dirk Kuyt clearly are not.

He will provide the assistance Fernando Torres needs if Hodgson decides on a 4-4-2 formation and he will be a great back-up player at least, should the Spaniard get injured…..again.

Two strikers on the radar

Today has been a slow day for transfer rumours involving Liverpool FC. However it has not been absolutely quiet on the radar...

Yesterday The Daily Mail linked Liverpool with an exchange deal, sendig Dirk Kuyt to Roma with Philippe Mexes in return.

Now it has emerged that Liverpool are keen to keep Kuyt at Anfield and are poised to make a £20m offer for Mirko Vucinic, also being mentioned in the Mail article.

According to TalkSport Liverpool are set to step up their interest in the Roma striker and hope to finalise a deal to bring him to Anfield in January.

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Vucinic (27) has a proven track record in Serie A and is regarded as one of the best forwards in Europe.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is desperate to find a proven partner for Fernando Torres and Vucinic could be just the right man to help Liverpool challenge for major silverware again.

In addition Liverpool is also linked with Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano.

Liverpool are the latest in a long list of clubs seeking the services of fallen Sampdoria ace, Goal.com reports.

The Italian playmaker faces a rescissionary hearing with the Lega Serie A's arbitration panel who will decided whether Sampdoria have legal grounds to terminate his contract after his feud with club president Riccardo Garrone.

28-year-old Cassano has been linked with Genoa, Inter and Juventus, but Tuttomercatoweb.com reports that Liverpool are pushing themselves into the que.

According to reports, Reds manager Roy Hodgson is looking for a top-level partner for Fernando Torres and Cassano fits the bill.

However, reports earlier this week prefigured Cassano had signed an agreement with Inter, his long time admirers.

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.

Four strikers and a defender?

As the Hicks-Gillett-RBS saga rumbles on, we're approaching the next league game, against Blackburn. A game that might just be crucial for the survival of Roy Hodgson as manager of Liverpool FC.

What do you think, will he survive as manager if Liverpool looses to Blackburn? Give your oppinion in the poll to the right.

As reported earlier, one of this weeks hottest rumors is about the 27 years old russian striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Today the story was given a boost as Lucian Spalletti claimed he wouldn’t stand in the way of his striker should he wish to move.

According to The Daily Mail our club have been interested in signing the £6m rated Zenit St Petersburg player in January, as Roy Hodgson looks to bolster the attack.

Spalletti only wants players who are fully committed to the cause and will therefore not stand in the way of the 27-year-old. 

- I think he wants to stay at Zenit. But if a player really wants to leave, I’m not going to stop him. Our team have players who are ready to replace him, in this concrete case it’s Bukharov, the manager told the Daily Mail.

One of this summer's most talked transfer stories was about the french striker Loïc Remy. The saga ended in Marseille, after a summer of interminable flirtation with Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, Stoke and Liverpool.

But it does'nt seem to stop.

- Remy is dreaming of playing in England, and I am convinced he will be a very good player in England," his agent say, according to The Guardian.

Another player who has also been linked with a move til Liverpool several times before, is out of favour Roma defender Philippe Mexes.

If we are to belive a story on the Transfertavern site Roy Hodgson is ready to make a move for the player.

Much of the focus has been on reinforcing the offensive parts of the Liverpool squad, but the clubs inability to keep clean sheets is probably very much a concern for Hodgson.

If Liverpool are to succeed in bringing the 28 year old defender to England, they will have to compete with both AC Milan and Juventus who are both believed to be monitoring the situation regarding the former Auxerre player, ready to make a move should he become available.

A new face in the Liverpool transfer rumor mill is the israeli striker Itay Shechter. The player is apparently attracting interest from England, with Everton, Newcastle, West Ham AND Liverpool checking out the player, reports The Daily Mail.

The Hapoel Tel Aviv player has improved on last season's performances when he was the country's top scorer with 25 goals as Hapoel won a league and cup double.

The asking price is said to be at around £7m.

The next new face coming up this week is of the french striker Guillaume Hoarau.   

Sport.co.uk reports Hodgson may get into a battle with former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier over the Paris St Germaine player. 

The Aston Villa manager is reportedly interested in the player, that recently signed a contract extension with the Ligue 1 side, having declined a move to Lyon during the summer.

But the 26-year-old’s form has alerted Premier League counterparts Roy Hodgson and Gerard Houllier both of whom have had the player watched on numerous occasions this season.

The Daily Mail suggest Aston Villa could move for the towering centre-forward in January, but the French club are angling for a fee believed to be in the region of £14 million. The Mail suggest Hoarau has been earmarked as a potential replacement for John Carew, who is a free agent at the end of the season.