Liverpool Transfer News: Steven Gerrard Confirms January Plans, Top Reds Rumours

Steven Gerrard has confirmed that he will not return to train with former club Liverpool during the MLS offseason.

The LA Galaxy star had been linked with a potential Anfield return, with his season in America having finished early after Seattle Sounders knocked his side out of the MLS play-offs.

However, Gerrard has revealed that he is planning to rest ahead of the start of the next MLS season in 2016, per Eurosport's Tom Adams:

"I’ve retired from the national team so I don’t have to go and prove myself in Europe," Gerrard said. "I need to get some rest because I’ve got a very long season ahead next year, so it’s very important I come back strong, rested and ready to go again."

Gerrard, 35, left Liverpool at the end of the 2014-15 season having spent his entire career at Anfield.

He has admitted to finding it hard to adapt to MLS, and he failed to make any real impact in his first few months, with LA Galaxy not making it past the first knockout round of the play-offs, per Adam Serrano of LAGalaxy.com.

His decision to take time off in the coming weeks is undoubtedly a good one, as he has barely taken a proper break from the game in the last year as he went straight from the Premier League into MLS.

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that he will make moves in the January transfer window if absolutely necessary.

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Since his appointment as Reds boss last month, the Anfield outfit have endured a number of injury problems, and Klopp will address the situation if they are dealt any more major blows, per Soccer Saturday (h/t Sky Sports): 

"

The January transfer window is not the perfect one because you have no time to train. You pick a player, put him on the pitch and say, 'Come on, show your best performance.' But if we need, we will do [transfers]. No problem. I don't know what will happen in January, if we have more injuries it will be important, of course. But at this moment, there's no decision.

"

Consistent issues with strikers Daniel Sturridge and Christian Benteke, and the long-term absence of Danny Ings, suggest the Reds may want to bring in another goalscorer.

Per Colin Harvey in the Daily Star, Sao Paulo forward Alexandre Pato has been heavily linked with a move to Anfield, and the former AC Milan star could well be a decent addition to the squad.

However, he would only be a stopgap measure. While Klopp will bring in players if needs be in the winter, he will surely wait until the summer to make big moves as he attempts to mould his own squad on Merseyside.