The Reds completed the signing of Manchester City midfielder James Milner on a free transfer on Thursday, with Liverpool fans are likely to be hoping the deal is the first of many after a difficult 2014-15 season.
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Liverpool transfer news
How likely are these five to arrive as well…?
5) Danny Ings (Burnley) – Linked by the Daily Mirror
There’s no getting away from the fact that we need a striker this summer and like it or not there are a lot of positives about signing Ings – he’s young (unlike Rickie Lambert), with a decent Premier League record (unlike Fabio Borini) and could be signed on the cheap (unlike Mario Baotelli) – so who says Rodgers hasn’t learned?
The 22-year-old bagged 11 in the Premier League this season, despite Burnley being relegated. He’s out of contract this summer, and while we’d have to pay a compensation fee to sign him due to his age, he’d surely be worth the risk. While he wouldn’t be a regular starter – assuming he is one of two new strikers – he’ll be a very useful option.
4) Adam Bogdan (Bolton Wanderers) – Linked by the Metro
By all accounts, Bogdan is arriving at Anfield to become the new no.2 behind Simon Mignolet with Brad Jones leaving on the end of his contract. He’s 27-years-old, and will arrive on a free as his deal is similarly up with Bolton.
It’s nothing to get too excited about, sadly – but he’s arguably an improvement on Jones, to be fair.
3) Mateo Kovacic (Inter Milan) – Linked by Football Italia
The signing of Milner has really strengthened our midfield but the loss of Steven Gerrard cannot be underestimated. With Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen having also been struggling for form during the back-end of last season we need another quality player to add strength in depth and competition for places.
This 21-year-old Croatian international has all the qualities to be a brilliant young player and sources in Italy seem to believe a deal really could happen. With Inter needing to sell before they can buy and intent on signing Yaya Toure from Manchester City, we’d be foolish not to swoop and set up our potential future midfield pairing between Kovacic and Emre Can.
2) Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) – Linked by Sky Sports
We’ve already talked about our need for a new striker. Daniel Sturridge is going to take time to recover, Origi is inexperienced and the sooner we see the back of Borini, Balotelli and co the better. There’s been a lot of talk about the Aston Villa man – good and bad – but you can’t deny that his record of 49 goals in 100 games is impressive for a side that find getting the ball in the net incredibly difficult.
He’s had three good years to settle into Premier League football and if it were not for a lengthy injury absence his record might be even more impressive. He might be renowned as a target man but he’s good with his feet as well and he’s certainly not slow. He’s a Belgian international and he’s used to playing with top class players. The price-tag is a concern but he’s be a major upgrade on what we have.
1) Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton) – Linked by BBC Sport
We’ve already had one bid knocked back, as the BBC have confirmed, but we find it impossible to believe that we will not return with a second offer. The England international full-back made the second most tackles in the Premier League during the last campaign and at 24 is approaching the very peak of his career.
With Glen Johnson gone, Jon Flanagan out and uncertainty still surrounding the future of youngsters Javier Manquillo and Andre Wisdom – who have only played a handful of games for Liverpool between them – a quality right-back is an absolute must. With great full-backs notoriously hard to come by we’re unlikely to do any better and we should be prepared to throw in another £5m if that’s what is required.
