Liverpool Transfer News: Top Rumours Circling Reds on Christmas Day 2014

The Christmas celebrations have not stopped Liverpool being linked with a host of top talent in the January window, with Brendan Rodgers looking to steer his team back on course in 2015. 

Ahead of his team’s Boxing Day clash with Burnley, the Reds boss has admitted that the club will be looking at options when the midseason slot reopens, per Juliette Ferrington of the BBC:

Truth be told, there are myriad areas of this team that could do with a potential upgrade, such has been the deterioration in performance levels when compared to last season. And one of the most exciting transfer rumours for the Anfield faithful will be links in Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t 101 Great Goals) to AS Roma’s midfield dynamo Radja Nainggolan.

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The player is currently co-owned by Serie A side Cagliari, but the report claims Liverpool could acquire the Belgian’s service for €15 million. But when you consider the performances put in by the 26-year-old throughout this season, that simply won’t be enough to prise him away from the Giallorossi’s grip.

Here’s a look at why Nainggolan is so vital to Roma’s cause:

BT Sport’s Italian football expert James Horncastle rates the player very highly indeed:

Nainggolan would add plenty to this Liverpool midfield that is currently in very short supply. His unrelenting energy and defensive instincts would provide a fine foil for someone like Steven Gerrard, while his ability to surge forward through the lines also makes him a real threat in attacking areas.

He’s been one of the best players in Serie A this season, and subsequently the Reds simply won’t get him for such a meagre fee. But if they were to up their bid and bring him in, then Rodgers would have an excellent midfield enforcer on his hands.

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The Reds also could be busy at both ends of the pitch, with reports linking them to moves for forwards and defenders in January. At the sharp end of the field, Fernando Torres is a name that has been touted as a potential midseason target, and according to Chisanga Malata of the Daily Star, Liverpool are finalising a bid to sign their former no. 9.

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Rodgers was quizzed on the prospect of signing the 30-year-old striker in January but refused to comment, per Alex Richards of The Mirror, and you have to say, it’d be a strange move if a deal was to go through. The Liverpool boss has made it clear that he’s looked to build a burgeoning young squad, and sadly for Torres, he’s currently the antithesis of that mantra.

Indeed, a better option might be someone like West Bromwich Albion's Saido Berahino, a young, athletic striker who the Reds have been linked with over the previous months. But the Baggies’ manager Alan Irvine has insisted that they’ve yet to receive any bids for the 21-year-old forward, per ESPN:

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At the moment it's certainly only speculation. We've had no enquiries whatsoever, so I'm not quite sure where the stories have come from.

January will reveal what's going to happen.

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Berahino is certainly a player that should be targeted at the expense of fading stars like Torres. Admittedly, the Englishman’s bright early-season form has tailed off somewhat, but he remains one of the most exciting young talents in the country, and a player that Rodgers would feel as though he could refine into a classy operator at Anfield.

The youngster still stands up pretty well in comparison to other English forwards, as noted here by Squawka Football:

But with Daniel Sturridge set to come back into the fold soon, perhaps defensive areas of this team will be the order of the day in the January sales. 

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But West Ham United’s Winston Reid—a defender that has been linked with a switch to Anfield, per Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian—is a player that doesn’t look likely to be making a midseason switch, with Hammers co-chairman David Sullivan insisting that no players will be sold in the window, per Darren Lewis of The Mirror.

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We are happy where we are, we don't want to unsettle the team, we are short of numbers with the Africa Cup of Nations and I can't imagine any circumstances where we would sell a player in January.

"

Reid could be an exception to that rule, though. The defender’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and to save him walking away on a free transfer come the end of the campaign, West Ham might be tempted into a sale should the Reds make a reasonable offer for the player to get him on board immediately.

The New Zealand international is one of the most underrated defenders in the Premier League and he’s been central to Sam Allardyce’s team enjoying an unexpectedly profitable start to their domestic campaign.