Players who could be ideal targets for Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers.
Dimitri Payet, Lille
Inconsistency on the wings has been a major part of Liverpool’s stop-start season and one man who could go a long way to solving that problem is French international, Dimitri Payet.
The 26-year-old was hotly tipped to become one of Europe’s hottest players whilst he was at Saint Etienne, but he’s seen his star fall slightly due to Lille’s own faltering form.
The 2011 champions have suffered an indifferent campaign this time around, but Payet has managed to win admirers due to his performances in the Champions League. Lille sadly didn’t make it past the group stages but his direct runs and clever delivery have put him at the top of a number of summer wishlists.
Liverpool need somebody more cultured than Stuart Downing and somebody more experienced than their younger options. Payet would fit in perfectly as a ball-playing winger full of boundless energy. He already has ten goals to his name this season so Rodgers can count on him adding an additional goal scoring threat to the side.
He won’t come cheap, though. Lille value the four cap French international at £10.5 million.
Aly Cissokho, Valencia
When Liverpool signed Jose Enrique from Newcastle, they did so off of the back of an impressive campaign for the Spaniard.
And though he has generally played well for Liverpool, there’s a fair case to say that he’s had it too easy. The left-back spot has had his name all over it and there is nobody challenging him to up his game.
Aly Cissoko is highly rated and has stated that he’d be open to a move to Merseyside. The 25-year-old made a name for himself at Porto before joining Lyon for four seasons that saw him collect a Coup De France winners medal last season.
Last summer he made the switch to Valencia and has made 32 appearances for Los Che where he competes for a spot in the side with compatriot Mattieu Jeremy.
A rising star in the world game, Cissoko has already collected one French cap and hopes a move to England will see him pile the pressure on Patrice Evra and Gael Clichy.
Quick, physically dominant and blessed with a good footballing brain, Cissoko could be available for as little as £6 million, representing great value for a side looking to add a young player with an established name.
Ashley Williams, Swansea City
With Jamie Carragher set to retire in May, a replacement is desperately needed, and there are none better than Brendan Rodgers’ former captain at Swansea, Ashley Williams.
Williams has taken the old school approach to get where he is today by learning his trade in the lower leagues with Hendnesford United and Stockport County before joining up with the Swans in 2008 – a move to Liverpool would prove that this route is still relevant, giving hope to any non-league youngster who has dreams of making it to the Premier League.
This season has seen his fine form rewarded with a League Cup winners medal and the captain’s armband for Wales.
Unfortunately for Swansea, though, the team’s success means that larger sides have taken note, and Williams has been one of the key performers in an amazing season for the South Welsh club. A natural leader who isn’t afraid to put his body on the line, he will lead by example and can be seen as the ideal replacement for the outgoing Carragher.
A fee of around £5-6 million could be enough to prize him away.
Michel Vorm, Swansea City
A virtual unknown when he signed from Utrecht two years ago, Vorm has gone on to establish himself as one of the Premier League’s finest stoppers.
Question marks have been raised over Pepe Reiner’s performances this season and Brad Jones has proved that he is only worthy of the title of deputy.
Rodgers first signed Vorm for Swansea for just £1.5 million but he’ll certainly have to be ready to fork out a lot more than that if he hopes to be reunited with the 29-year-old.
It’s understandable that Liverpool fans would rather see someone like Victor Valdes arrive in the summer, but with no Champions League football on offer then they may struggle to bring him on board. Vorm is a much more likely option.
A defensive reshuffle is on the cards for Rodgers’ men over the summer, and Vorm has that much maligned Premier League experience that makes him such a valuable commodity in a project like that.
Vorm has missed more games that he would have liked this season due to injury, but he’s a key man in a small club that has took the country by storm this year.
Henrich Mkhitaryan, Shaktar Donetsk
It’s not often that an Armenian player causes this kind of stir amongst the biggest sides in England. It hasn’t ever happened, actually.
It has been well documented that Rodgers wants someone to play in the number 10 role behind the strikers, and on current evidence, the 24-year-old Mkhitaryan may be the best realistic option.
Currently enjoying a fine season in Ukraine, he’s bagged 23 goals in 39 games as well as creating nine assists in the process, catching the eye of both Liverpool and Chelsea.
Liverpool may be the ones able to offer him more regular football, though, as Chelsea already have a number of players who can play in his position.
Mkhitaryan has already stated that he’d like to move away as the end of the season, and preferably to the Premier League. Shakhtar are thought to be willing to sell the player but he’ll likely cost any club interested in him an excess of £12 million.
His signature is a priority, alongside a new centre back, as the reds look to utilise their attacking talent and become one of the most feared sides in the country again.
Tom Ince, Blackpool
After coming painfully close to signing Ince in January, Rodgers may finally get his man over the summer.
Ince came through the ranks at Liverpool before leaving in search of regular first team football to aide his development, and though he is a completely different player to his father, this is one move where he is likely to follow in his footsteps.
Of course, when your father is your manager at your current club, it is obvious to know that there is someone there with your best interests at heart.
Ince has been sensible about his career so far. He’s stayed at Blackpool, a club that he truly seems to care about, not only because he’s virtually guaranteed a starting spot but the time has come for him to take the step up back to the Premier League.
Rodgers is rebuilding at Anfield, and there will be many comings and goings over the summer. Ince’s move will be beneficial for both as he oozes top-flight quality and the club need someone with a little more potential that Stuart Downing.
Now an established England under-21 international, Ince will need a Premier League platform if he is to push on and become the star for the national side that we’re all hoping he can be.
Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid
Many didn’t want to see Alonso leave in the first place, the midfield partnership he formed with Steven Gerrard was one of the best in the country a few years ago and luckily for Reds fans Brendan Rodgers is just as eager to see them back together as the fans are.
Now 31, the Spanish quarterback will cost just a fraction of the £30 million that the Madrid side paid for him in 2009. And with just under 18 months left to run on his current deal in the capital, Real are thought to only be asking for £8 million for him to return to where he came.
One of Liverpool’s problems has been that they never replaced Alonso when he left. At the time, many believed that Gareth Barry would be taking up his role, but he joined Manchester City instead and that left Steven Gerrard with far too much responsibility. Gerrard may be captain fantastic, but he can’t do it all on his own.
Even though they may be aging now, putting an effective string-puller like Alonso next to Gerrard again would invigorate the rest of the squad, it would also put some more needed star quality back into a side that has been overrun with youngsters this year.
Kevin Gameiro, PSG
The 25-year-old striker was quite the coup for PSG when he arrived at the club in 2011.
Another player to cut his teeth at Lorient like so many prominent French players have before him, Gameiro was expected to take Ligue 1 by storm with the capital club, but that was before the serious money arrived.
He did impress during his first season, netting 14 times in 45 games, he’s found himself behind the likes of Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic and Horau this time around. A problem that has seen him score just seven times in 24 games.
Liverpool already have a fair amount of pace in their squad, but more is always welcome, especially when they have such a lethal goal scoring record to go along with it.
Whilst at Lorient, Gameiro scored 56 times in 126 games, not bad when you consider that the club spent most of that time in the bottom half of the table.
With eight French caps to his name he’ll need to be playing more regularly if he wants to add to that tally. He’s missed out on all of Didier Deschamps’ sides so far this season so a proposed £8.5 million move to Merseyside could benefit him.
Christian Eriksen, Ajax
One of the hottest prospects in Europe, the young Dane is in high demand and Liverpool would do very well indeed if they managed to convince him to join the club.
Having broken into Ajax’s first team in 2010 the 21-year-old has since gone onto make over 150 appearances for the Amsterdam outfit.
What’s more is that he has an incredible rate of creating assists, over the past three seasons he’s clocked up 13-17-17 scoring chances for others, something which will benefit Liverpool’s front line greatly, especially if he has Gerrard and Alonso behind him.
Despite his tender years he’s also managed to wrack up 34 appearances for the Danish national side. Couple that with the Champions League experience he’s gained in Holland, you can expect that he has a mature head on his young shoulders.
A move away at the end of the season does seem likely for Eriksen. He has just under 18 months left to run on his current deal and he has all but said that he wants to test himself on a bigger stage, something that Ajax fans are more than used to by now.
Valued at £16 million, there’s a good chance that he’ll be available for just a fraction of that price.
Wilfried Bony, Vitesse
Another player in a long line that have been dubbed as ‘the next Drogba,’ Bony’s claims to that title may actually be founded as he plays next to big man for the Ivorian national team.
Bony has caught the eye of many a side across Europe this season with his impressive strike rate. He’s scored 34 goals in 34 games so far this season making his average that of a goal a game.
That kind of strike rate is rare, and though it may be naïve to expect him to continue that level of output in the Premier League, it does at least warrant a gamble by a club looking to add some firepower to their side.
Liverpool may face some stiff competition to land him though, as he has already been linked with Arsenal, West Ham and Chelsea as well as the reds.
Vitesse have resigned themselves to losing him over the summer, but as his contract doesn’t run out until 2015 they can find comfort in the fact that anyone who wants to bring him in will have to pay the full £8 million valuation.