Manchester United were involved in a running battle with Real Madrid throughout the summer, with the Spanish champions eventually being headed off at the pass as far as Cristiano Ronaldo was concerned. However, the Spanish giants have now turned their attention towards Anfield, are are homing in on a defender currently out of favour with Rafael Benitez.

Indeed, it’s very strange that Daniel Agger can’t get a Premier League or Champions League start right now, with the Dane having played practically all of Liverpool’s pre-season friendlies. However, dislodging Martin Skrtel is proving to be a problem, and the Daily Telegraph report that Real are going to try and swoop for the talented defender in January.

“What we need is a defender and a striker, and, at the moment, Daniel Agger is on top of our list,” he said.

“We already had plans about buying Agger this summer, along with some other players, but the Robinho situation took so much attention and demanded so many resources from the club that we had to drop the plans about putting a bid in for Agger and other players that we had in mind.

“He is a world-class player and without doubt he would fit into our plans – it is likely we will bid for him in January,” added Sanchez.

Perhaps Rafael Benitez has been saving his central defender for later in the season, when the games start piling up thick and fast. While Agger is certainly ahead of Sami Hyypia in the pecking order at Anfield, it’s doubtful that he’ll want to be warming the bench every week at this stage in his career. Should the Liverpool manager give him some matches or has Rafa been right not to disrupt the current pairing?

Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!

Watch Liverpool Live Online