Liverpool Transfer Rumors: Players Brendan Rodgers Should Steer Clear of

As Brendan Rodgers prepares for his first transfer window at the helm of Liverpool, he had best ease his way into the process and stay away from some players.

There could be an urge to fix everything at once in Liverpool after a frustrating and turbulent three-year stint for the club. While there is a right way to rebuild and a wrong way, it seems like the new head coach knows the way to do it.

With a team led by declining greats like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, Rodgers is right to inject some youth in the form of Gylfi Sigurdsson. The 22-year-old is a talented midfielder who will improve a stagnant offense in both the short term and the long.

Rodgers ought to stay the course he has set for the offseason, reloading in the present as part of the process of rebuilding for the future. In order to do so, Rodgers should stay away from these five enticing options on the transfer market.

Clint Dempsey

While Clint Dempsey would provide the offensive punch that Liverpool is looking for, his price tag could make his acquisition untenable.

According to the Metro, the Reds are prepared to offer the American midfielder £4 million to come over from Fulham. But if Liverpool decides to chase Dempsey, it must be prepared for the bidding war that could ensue.

Dempsey is one of the hotter commodities on the transfer market, with Arsenal the biggest name interested, among others. With that in mind, the £4 million figure ought to be regarded as a starting bid rather than a closing price, one Liverpool might not be inclined to pay.

Liverpool has already been linked to Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge and Tottenham's Steven Caulker. Rodgers will offer the 22-year-old Sturridge a £15 million fee, according to the Daily Mail, while the South Wales Evening Post reports the promising young center back is worth an £8 million fee for Rodgers.

If the Gunners drive up the price on the 29-year-old Dempsey, it might be wiser for Rodgers to drop his squad out of the running and focus that money on younger talent.

Milos Krasic

Milos Krasic certainly has an enviable track record as a talented midfielder, but his recent history with Juventus is more disconcerting.

The 27-year-old Serbian made just seven appearances in Serie A play last year for Juventus, playing a full 90 minutes only once. Krasic was held off the pitch by coach Antonio Conte due to questions about his commitment to the club; he did not see any action during the final two months of the season.

Now on the transfer market, Krasic commands a £6 million for Juventus, and Rodgers is prepared to make an offer, according to the Daily Mail. While West Ham is also interested in midfielder's services, Liverpool is Juventus' preferred partner in the Krasic sweepstakes.

But while Krasic has expressed interest in playing in the Premier League, he also repeatedly and publicly stated his commitment to Juventus, only to be taken off the pitch for displaying otherwise. Krasic is a fine player, but Rodgers is risking buying into the same commitment quagmire Conte is now escaping.

Mohamed Diame

Liverpool had been in talks with free agent Mohamed Diame while Kenny Dalgish was still in charge. Negotiations were cut off upon Dalgish's departure, but according to Sky Sports, Rodgers has reentered talks with the 25-year-old midfielder.

The Reds' new boss reportedly is a fan of Diame's work on the pitch, and he is not misguided in that line of thinking. Diame enjoyed a successful three-year stay with Wigan Athletic, and Manchester United considered signing him last month. But it is the reason Man U left the table, and why Diame almost didn't go to Wigan to begin with, that makes him a risky signing.

In 2009, Wigan put Diame's transfer to the club on hold after discovering he had a heart condition. Diame joined the club with little incident since, but the condition was enough to scare Man U away, according to the Daily Mail.

Since he is a free agent, the risk of acquiring Diame is not as great as it could be. But such a signing seems more a short-term stopgap than a long-term solution, and that is not where Rodgers should be focusing his finances right now.

Raul Garcia

When the Daily Mail reports that the Reds offered £6.5 million for a player commonly disparaged by his own fans, it has to come off as questionable to the Liverpool faithful.

Perhaps Raul Garcia really has gotten his act together with Osasuna, with whom he scored 11 goals in 33 appearances last season. Or perhaps he simply was never the right fit with Atletico Madrid, where Garcia scored a total of seven times in 120 appearances, including just once in his final two seasons there.

Garcia is no longer the prospect who joined Madrid in 2007, brimming with potential that ultimately went unfulfilled. He is now a 25-year-old who, while showing some promise, may never put it together on the pitch.

This situation smacks of Atletico Madrid selling high on a commodity they themselves do not believe in. Rodgers should not get suckered in on this deal.

Gaston Ramirez

Gaston Ramirez is just the sort of player to revitalize the Liverpool midfield, but sometimes extenuating circumstances interfere.

Liverpool would be lucky to have a player like Ramirez. With eight goals in 33 games with Bologna last season, the 21-year-old from Uruguay has established himself as a rising talent. in Rodgers' ball movement-intensive system, Ramirez could flourish.

However, alarms go off with reports from the Mirror on both the price tag and the competition. £20 million is a hefty price for a prospect, and the specter of competing with Manchester City and its loose pursestrings is a daunting one.

Brendan Rodgers isn't going to revive this team overnight. Whether working for improvement now or progress down the road, he will need to exhibit reason in his risks.

As good as Ramirez could be, this sort of investment at this time is just not prudent.