Is this Liverpool's Torres replacements?

It seems inevitable, if Chelsea do table £50m, or possibly a smaller amount with Nicolas Anelka included, Fernando Torres will go to the London club.

But who will Liverpool get to replace him, in a last gasp attempt to strengthen the squad?

A player that has been om the radar for some time is FC Utrechts Ricky van Wolfswinkel, and a report claims Liverpool will use some of the cash from the potential sale of Torres to finance a move for the long-term target.

The FC Utrecht hitman has 11 goals in the Eredivisie this term, outstripping the seven scored by Liverpool's latest recruit Luis Suarez. Standing 6' 1", van Wolfswinkel would provide a different threat to that of the Uruguayan. 

With cash in their pocket and little time to negotiate, Liverpool will have to pay around the £14m mark to make the deal go through before 11pm on Monday.

Another name that is mentioned this weekend, is Senegal international Mamadou Niang, who admits he is flattered by links with Liverpool, amid strong speculation the Reds are preparing to swoop for the Fenerbahce attacker. 

The 31-year-old Senegal international has been in fine form for Fener this season, scoring nine league goals in 15 matches, and various reports in Africa suggest Kenny Dalglish has made him a transfer target, Sky Sports Report.

Niang, formerly of Troyes, Strasbourg and Marseille, says it would be a privilege to play for Liverpool but claims he is still bound to his current club.

Niang, who can play as either a striker, support striker or winger, moved to Fenerbahce for €8million (£6.9m) in August from Marseille.

First Dalglish transfer already done?

Today it was revealed that our new owners have targeted Peter Lawwell as the clubs new chief executive.

According to Scotlands Evening Times a new chief executive is top of John W. Henry's priorities and Celtic supremo Lawwell, who was targeted by Arsenal back in 2008, is said to be on a shortlist.

As earlier reported the owners are set to cisit Liverpool this week, as they are ready to step up transfer pursuits.

And allthough, according to The Mirror, it appears that Dalglish haven't asked to buy anyone and don't know how much I've got to spend, the same paper claims his first signing allready is done...

The Mirror says the Liverpool boss has gone back to old club Blackburn to make 18 year-old Jason Banton the first signing of his second spell at Anfield.

Dalglish has snapped up the former England youth international after Rovers let him go because he was growing unsettled.

Banton joined Rovers from Arsenal - where he also became fed up at his lack of progress through the ranks - two years ago, and he had been pushing for a first-team squad slot at Ewood Park. Liverpool have handed the youngster a deal to the end of the season.

The same paper - The Mirror, also claims Dalglish is ready to make Blackpool's Charlie Adam his first shock signing at Liverpool.

The Reds are ready to trump Birmingham and Aston Villa for the Scotland international midfielder, who hit 19 goals last season and has bagged four so far this term.

Ironically, Adam, out of contract next season, is set to line up against Liverpool at Bloomfield Road tonight in what could be his final appearance for the Tangerines.

Aston Villa have already failed with a £2.5m bid, while rivals Birmingham are understood to have offered Blackpool £2m.

According to The Daily Mail Liverpool lead the race to sign Southampton youngster Alex Oxdale-Chamberlain. The Insider say the odds are 4/5 that Liverpool will win the battle ofr the players signature.

Chelsea and Arsenal have made their interest known but Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s presence at Southampton's win over Oldham on Tuesday was evidence that they will not let a talent slip by without a fight.

Southampton value Chamberlain at £10m but the reality is that they are unlikely to achieve that initially with offers in the region of £5m more realistic over the next couple of days.
 

Elsewhere it seems there might be an open door to the transfer of Luis Suarez.

According to Live4Liverpool new Ajax coach Frank De Boer admitted in a conversation with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that he cannot rule out a move away from the Dutch club for their striker.

The Uruguayan international is reportedly unsettled in Holland after the departure of manager Martin Jol, and De Boer’s failure to rule out a departure has increased speculation about the 23 year old’s future.

Such a statement could suggest that Ajax are encouraging both Liverpool and Tottenham to bid for the striker...

And the Metro report that Ricky van Wolfswinkel's proposed move to Liverpool or Spurs appears to have fallen through after it was revealed he needs surgery to repair a damaged collarbone.

Any move has been scuppered after he broke his collarbone in a Europa League game last month - coincidentally at Anfield.

He was initially expected to recover with basic physio treatment, but the fact he needs an operation and will not play again this season has put an end to any prospects.

World's best left-back to Liverpool?

Today's most important rumours are about a portuguese wing-back, a Dutch forward and Scotland international midfielder.

Today the Liverpool FC Supporter's Club Scandinavian Branch website claims 'big things' are on the agenda this week with John Henry and Tom Werner coming to Merseyside. They might be in Liverpool allready for the Blackpool game on Wednesday, but at least for the Everton derby game this weekend.

The do however not know what the 'big things' are, either it might be appointments of new club staff or player transfers.

Today's biggest rumour however is about a Portugese wing back...

Rumours have spread that the first signing of Dalglish's return to Anfield will be Portuguese wing-back, Fábio Coentrão - by some sources dubbed the 'worlds best left back'. But according to Wikipedia, the 22 year-old has already signed for Liverpool, and is playing with the number 39 on his shirt, Football-talk claims.

Now obviously Wikipedia is not a reliable site in which you can draw solid conclusions as to player transfers, as anyone could have changed his current club information. However, there may be some truth to the rumours that Fábio Coentrão will sign for Liverpool this January.

Liverpool's left back position is currently occupied by Paul Konchesky. He isn't the most popular player at Liverpool at the moment, not least because of his poor form, and the consensus that the player isn't good enough for Liverpool, as well as the fact he was signed by Roy Hodgson.

Coentrão had a brilliant World Cup, being probably the best player in the Portugal side, providing an excellent source of width, pace and the provision of crosses - all things that Liverpool currently lack. Chelsea were reportedly interested immediately after the World Cup last summer, but a deal never materialised - they do have Ashley Cole after all.

Sport.co.uk can confirm that Liverpool are leading the chase for FC Utrecht forward Ricky Van Wolfswinkel who is being closely watched by the reds and Tottenham Hotspur.


The starlet has been monitored closely by the aforementioned Premier League duo, while Arsenal and Newcastle United have also kept a close eye on the striker, however the player’s representative has confirmed Kenny Dalglish and Harry Redknapp are considering bids for the forward, with Liverpool leading the chase for Dutchman dubbed the '.next Marco Van Basten'

- We have not had a formal call from Liverpool yet, player representative Louis Laros told Sport.co.uk.

- I know they are interested in him and they are following him. I think they are looking at him as a signing in the future, but possibly not immediately. Also his injury could be an issue with a move remember. I don’t think that a formal offer will come from Liverpool in this transfer window.

- Liverpool are the main club following Ricky, but he is being followed by some big clubs throughout Europe and of course England, but without doubt, Liverpool is an interesting club for Ricky. But for the moment we keep hisoptions open and we wait and see.

Another rumour says Liverpool could be set for a shock swoop for Celtic's Scott Brown.

According to Sportingo Kenny Dalglish is keen to add some more dynamism to the midfield and is considering a move for the Scotland international. With Lucas Leiva continuing to polarise opinion on Merseyside and Jonjo Shelvey still a work in progress, there is ample room for Brown and his all-action style would be well suited to the Premier League.

Dalglish will hope that his connections to Celtic for whom he starred as a player - and spent an ill-fated spell as Director of Football when John Barnes was manager – will assist in negotiations for the player should they decide to proceed.

Liverpool with official winger enquiry

A few eventful days at Anfield today culminated with the unveiling of new manager Kenny Dalglish and new head coach Steve Clarke .

I wish them both good luck with the task they have before them - it is enormous!



Dalglish under today's press conference hinted that there may be no transfer business in January - with tis window being a 'difficult market'. But anyone who knows this business knows he will keep his cards close to the chest...

Today's big buzz was the rumour regarding the possible transfer of Luis Suarez, with tweets saying things like "Luis Suarez has flown in to JLA and will sign for Liverpool tomorrow - Pending medical". But yet nothing has materialized.

Today's most concrete rumour is about Valencia winger Pablo Hernandez.

Liverpool are reportedly set to make a move for the Spaniard,  who is said to be frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities on offer with Los Che and is now looking elsewhere for more regular football.

According to The Mirror, this has alerted Liverpool to his availability and The Transfer Tavern now reports the Anfield club have made on 'official enquiry'.

Yesterday it was claimed by Goal.com that Liverpool are set to launch a summer swoop for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo.

Now Talksport say Liverpool have been given the green light to make a £17m offer for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo.

Negredo, 25, has been attracting interest from a number of top clubs following his impressive displays in La Liga. Liverpool are keen to bolster their forward line and give some much needed support to Fernando Torres who looks well below his best this season.

Kenny Dalglish has just taken charge of first-team affairs but the club have been working hard to bring new faces into the squad.

Reports in Spain suggest that Sevilla would not block a sizeable bid for their star forward and would consider a £17m offer.

Dalglish is set to seal a move for Benfica left back Fabio Coentrao as his first signing in January, according to reports.

The new Reds boss wants to bring in a replacement for Paul Konchesky, one of Roy Hodgson’s high-profile flops, to improve their defence, GiveMeFootball claims.

Alongside Damian Comolli, Dalglish has amended Liverpool’s January transfer wishlist, which now includes Ryan Shawcross and Ricky van Wolfswinkel at the top.

Coentrao is one of the best full backs around and would be a significant coup for Liverpool and possibly signal signs of better things to come for the remainder of the season.

Rumours coming out of Ipswich Town have suggested that Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool have recently had scouts sniffing around their star striker, Connor Wickham according to the Footballtransfertavern.

Liverpool are said to have had their boys out to watch the 17-year-old starlet in recent matches and a bid of £10million would be enough to secure the striker’s services.

At just 17 he has been tipped to become a real star for the future with interest from Tottenham and Arsenal. However, then manager, Roy Keane, was unwilling to let the youngster go and even announced that should Wickham leave that he would have been ‘lynched’.

Following the termination of Keane’s deal with Ipswich, the door has been left open for the 17-year-old. Offers will now go through the board and a large bid for the player could turn some heads.

Liverpool will face a battle if the club is to win the signature of reported transfer target Johan Elmander.

Corriere dello Sport reports that Italian side Fiorentina are weighing up a January bid for the Sweden international as he continues to stall over new contract with Bolton, GiveMeFootball report.

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

His performances have led to the Trotters launching a surprise assault on the Champions League places and have also reportedly caught the eye of Liverpool director of football strategy Damien Comolli.

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

- 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, he said.

Linked manager 'very interested'

Linked German mananger is 'very interested'. 6ft 8in striker in fresh link. Adebayor for January Liverpool switch? Dutch strikers agent confirms interest. Preston midfielder linked.

Ralf Rangnick.

The rumours regarding who might be the next man in the Liverpool FC hot seat are heating up. The latest man being linked is German coach Ralf Rangnick. He says he is very interested in the Premier League and Liverpool is certainly a very interesting club with a great tradition, according to The Mirror.

Now the speculations also has been taken on by the BBC, which makes it even more credible, with Rangnick's agent talking about the interest.

- He would be interested in Liverpool and it's possible he could manage there, Rangnick's agent, Oliver Mintzlaff, said.

He added:

- There are no negotiations with them, not even a meeting yet, but he is a big fan of the Premier League. If he had to make a decision between the Premier League and staying in the Bundesliga, he would go to England.

Meanwhile Roy Hodgson has underlined his ambition to make changes to the Liverpool squad in the transfer window and 'stamp his philosophy' on the team. Apparently Hodgson would like to add a host of players to his underperforming side.

One of them could be FC Cluj striker Lacina Traore.

Lacina Traore.

According to The Mirror Liverpool are considering a January bid for the player.

The Reds are desperate for another striker to help propel them back up the table after a disappointing first half of the season, and boss Roy Hodgson has now identified 6ft 8in Traore as a possible solution.

The 20-year-old Ivory Coast forward was linked with Arsenal last summer and Fulham and Newcastle are also thought to be interested.

Emmanuel Adebayor.

Liverpool are also understood to have inquired to Manchester City about the availability of striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

The striker has hit the headlines after being involved in another training ground bust-up with team mate Kolo Toure just 24 hours before the pair return to North London to face former club Arsenal.

Adebayor and Toure also squared up in April last year and today's news that City have agreed an agreement with Wolfsburg to sign their £30million-rated striker Edin Dzeko, a former Anfield target, could see the Togo international winging his way to Merseyside, ClickLiverpool report.

City are expected to be willing to accept a reduced price on the £25m they paid for the controversial striker little over 18 months ago.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel.

Another strongly linked player is Ricky van Wolfswinkel. His agent, Louis Laros, has confirmed there is interest from English sides but has urged both Liverpool and Tottenham to make an official approach.

The player looks set to quit Dutch side FC Utrecht and favours a move to the Barclays Premier League, according to Sport.co.uk.

The striker has been in sensational form for his Eredivisie side over the past two seasons, drawing comparisons with Netherlands legend Marco Van Basten, and has attracted a lot of interest.

- At this moment it is unlikely Ricky will move because I have not received an concrete offer from either Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool, his agent said.

I cannot say at the moment if it is serious interest, an enquiry, or just rumours. We are waiting for calls from both clubs, as we need an official offer from Liverpool or Spurs to proceed.

Adam Barton.

The Mirror also report Liverpool are ready to buy Preston’s Northern Ireland international midfield starlet Adam Barton, building a squad for the future.

The Anfield club have been plotting raids on several youngsters in a bid to return to their old philosophy of grooming top young talent. North End have been asking for £5m for the 19-year-old, but Liverpool hope to lower the price with add-ons.

Dutch sensation already a done deal?

The recent rumors and reports has said that there is only one player who seems to be ready for a Liverpool transfer this January window.  

A Daily Mail article stated that a deal for Rennes winger Sylvain Marveaux allready is in place.

But now it seems another young, talented player is on his way to Anfield in January...

The FootballTransferTavern says that a deal for 21-year-old Dutch sensation, Ricky van Wolfswinkel "is apparently already a done-deal". 

He has already hit 11 goals in 17 starts for FC Utrecht this season and according to the report he will cost around £8m.

The site also makes a statement to the official LFC site from Roy Hodgson to be about the player.

- As I’ve said to the supporters many times, it’s important that we don’t just get bodies and numbers. We need people who are going to be very good for the long-term future of the club, or players who are definitely going to make a big difference to us in terms of what we’re going to do in the beginning of 2011, Hodgson said.

It remains to see just how much time Hodgson has left as manager of Liverpool FC, but it might be that NESV is bypassing him. It might be that director of football strategy Damien Comolli be responsible for the transfers, without Hodgson really knowing he has no long term role...
 
The Transfer Tavern also states that Hodgson has got his Fulham cap back on, and is preparing for a bidding war with his old club for Crystal Palace’s 18-year-old forward, Wilfried Zaha.

The scouts have already been deployed, and Kenny Dalglish is rumoured to have a hand in this deal, too. Palace will demand a fee of £2m for their man.

The transfer widow will certainly be a busy time at Anfield, and Hodgson has clearly made signing a striker his top priority, having also been linked with Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge and Bolton’s Johan Elmander recently.

Bid tabled for Dutch striker?

Roy Hodgson does want to strengthen his Liverpool squad in January, and has dropped a hit that he might turn out frustrated in the January market.

- If the players are available that we have targeted and think could make us a better team then it would help us shape the team a lot quicker than maybe will be the case otherwise, Hodgson said.

But it seems at least one transfer target is being followed seriously...

Liverpool have apparently tabled an £8.5 million bid for Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel.

The club are now awaiting a response from the players club, FC Utrecht of the Dutch Eredivisie, TalkSport report.

Liverpool have needed a back-up striker or partner to Fernando Torres for a while, and Roy Hodgson obviously believes that Wolfswinkel will be the answer to his problems.

At the young age of 21, the striker has plenty of time to adjust to life in England and settle at Anfield so he can help the club out of the unfortunate position they currently find themselves in.

He is a versatile player who can also play as an attacking midfielder, but prefers the strikers role – and with good reason too – scoring 10 goals in 11 games in the Eredivisie and 7 goals in 6 Europa League games.

Hodgson was able to watch the player in the Europa League, as Liverpool came up against Utrecht in the Europa League group stages. Wolfswinkel didn’t score in the two games played against Liverpool – no one did, as both games were goalless bore draws, but the Liverpool must have seen something to persuade him to table a bid.

Liverpool are reportedly the only club who have placed a bid, and Utrecht will decide over the weekend,giving Liverpool an answer next week.

Elsewhere it seems Liverpool have stepped up their pursuit of Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik, according to reports in his native Slovakia.

Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was keen on signing the 23-year-old playmaker during his time at the club. But it is thought his summer departure has done nothing to dampen Liverpool's interest.

Damien Comolli, the club's new director of football strategy, has reportedly identified Hamsik - often compared to Czech Republic legend Pavel Nedved - as a key transfer target, Talksport report.

Liverpool are not the only team considering an offer for the £12m-rated star, but Napoli insist no decision will be made on his sale until the end of the season.

Liverpool will also strengthen their defence in the upcoming transfer window with the signing of Stoke City’s Robert Huth, Sportingo claim.

Huth has a wealth of experience despite being just 26 years old and his physical no-nonsense style is reminiscent of Jamie Carragher at a younger age.

The former Chelsea centre back celebrated two Premier League titles while in west London but left in 2006 after finding himself behind John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and William Gallas in the hunt for a starting place in the first team.

Moves to Middlesbrorugh and Stoke have seen the player develop and Reds boss Roy Hodgson has earmarked the German as the ideal defensive reinforcement in January.

A bid of around £5m is likely to be enough to secure his signature.