Liverpool Transfer News: Saido Berahino Eyed in Mass January Shake-Up

The sale of Mario Balotelli could trigger a massive shake-up at Liverpool during the January transfer window, as Reds boss Brendan Rodgers looks to get his team’s toiling campaign back on track.

According to Simon Jones of the Daily Mail, the club have isolated Saido Berahino, Diafra Sakho and Jackson Martinez as potential replacements for the Italian, but he admitted that the chances of the former Milan man leaving the club in January are particularly slim.

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Balotelli has failed to impress since his summer transfer from Serie A, with a lack of form on the field and an inability to stay out of the headlines conspiring to make the start to his Anfield career a turbulent one. However, with no club seemingly willing to stump up the cash to take him away from Merseyside, the Reds look consigned to having him until the summer at least.

Berahino and Sakho are players that are proven goalscorers in the Premier League, but neither are of the very top bracket quite yet despite the fact they are both likely to command hefty fees. The latter in particular has been a wonderful find for West Ham United, though, as noted here by OptaJoe:

Here’s how Berahino and Sakho have fared in the Premier League this season:

	Berahino	Sakho
Apps (Sub)	14 (1)	7 (2)
Goals	7	7
Assists	0	1
Shots per Game	2.5	3.4
Key Passes per Game	1	0.7

Jones also claims that FC Porto’s Martinez has been offered to the Reds. Here are the kind of attributes he would bring to Anfield should he join up:

The Colombia forward would provide a burly presence at the sharp end of the pitch, and he would certainly offer a much more refined influence in those areas than the aforementioned pairing.

A fee of circa £28 million has been muted, per Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror. However, for a 28-year-old player unproven in the Premier League, that’s overly substantial.

A player who might cost a little less is Yannick Bolasie. The Crystal Palace man has left his frustrating form behind him this season, dazzling defences up and down the country with tricks and flicks aplenty.

The Reds have long been linked with a move for the 25-year-old, per Ian Winrow of the Daily Express, but Bolasie has insisted he remains happy at Selhurst Park.

"I am happy at Palace," he said, per London24.com. "It is all about progressing. I am improving every week at Palace. I want to make sure I have another good season and keep Palace up."

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Martin Laurence of WhoScored had high praise for the winger after a magical bit of work against Spurs recently:

He would certainly add a different dimension to Liverpool’s play and have the Anfield crowd perpetually on the edge of their seats. However, Bolasie needs to preserve this level of consistency for a while yet if he’s to be considered among the finest wide players in the league, even if recent signs have been encouraging from the Congolese international.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Liverpool have also been linked with a host of defensive players, with Rodgers aiming to stiffen his perennially ropey back line.

One player who has long been linked with a potential move to Anfield is Barcelona full-back Martin Montoya, per Ed Malyon of the Mirror.

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Speaking ahead of the Blaugrana’s 5-1 win over Espanyol in the Derbi Barceloni, Luis Enirque has admitted that he’s finding it very difficult to leave the full-back out, per David Amoyal of GianlucaDiMarzio.com:

"

I know him well and it’s difficult for me to exclude him. I can only praise him, he’s going through a phase that could change at any moment. 

He’s doing the best he can for it to happen, and he does it always with same attitude. I don’t want to talk about the possibility of him leaving.

"

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Currently, Montoya is back-up to Dani Alves at Barcelona. However, with the Brazilian's future somewhat uncertain, the young Spaniard could find himself with an excellent chance to nail down a first-team spot.

After all, it appears the Blaugrana will be unable to sign players until January 2016 because of the transfer sanctions imposed on them by FIFA.

Here are some of Montoya's best moments from a smattering of appearances last year:

Montoya is an astute defender and a player who would be a major improvement on both Javier Manquillo and Glen Johnson. However, with Enrique clearly a fan of the player, the situation surrounding Alves still somewhat unclear and the lack of depth in that position, it looks unlikely that the 23-year-old will be going anywhere for the time being.