Liverpool Transfer News: Ilkay Gundogan Latest, Fresh Maximilian Hofmann Rumours

Liverpool's hopes of seeing Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan reunited with former manager Jurgen Klopp have been boosted, while the Reds are also eyeing a move for Rapid Vienna's Maximilian Hofmann.

Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc admitted the club are yet to open contract negotiations with Gundogan when speaking to German newspaper Bild this week (via Turkish outlet Bola, h/t Turkish Football): “Ilkay is one of our key players. We’ll talk with him in due time on the future, but we still have a little time. If it was up to me, I would always insist only on long-term contracts. But then, Ilkay Gundogan would possibly for years no longer play here.”

Boris Streubel/Getty Images

Gundogan will soon enter the final 18 months of his contract, and the Reds will hope that helps their bid to make a January move for the playmaker, who ran his last contract close to its expiration before agreeing an extension.

Klopp's appointment at the Liverpool helm was always bound to bring a raft of links between the German coach and his old charges at Signal Iduna Park, but Gundogan appears to be one of the more realistic options.

However, Bundesliga expert Raphael Honigstein finds it hard to envision Gundogan or club team-mate Mats Hummels moving to Anfield in the winter.

He told Kieran Beckles of The Sport Review:

"

I don’t think that they would mind Subotic going and Gundogan has been flirting with leaving and fans don’t really see him as a real Dortmund player and Hummels is a bit tricky. 

I don’t think he’s the most popular player as far as the fans are concerned.

I don’t see Klopp making a move. I don’t see Klopp buying two or three Dortmund players. 

I think he knows their faults more than anyone and I think the players he has got now really suit the kind of game he wants to play more so than Gundogan and Hummels, who are fairly slow.

"

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson recently strengthened Klopp's midfield ranks with his return to fitness, with vice-captain James Milner and former Bundesliga starlet Emre Can reinforcing the engine room.

However, Gundogan could add another box-to-box presence of elite quality, according to Ross Dunbar of DW Sports, picking out the 25-year-old as a candidate for best midfielder in the world right now:

After a string of back problems in recent years, Gundogan is fully fit and has started in 24 of his 26 appearances for Dortmund this season, reaching for new heights under Thomas Tuchel.

Another foreign talent on Liverpool's radar is Rapid Vienna centre-back Hofmann, who is reported by Italian outlet Calcio Mercato to be a long-term target for Klopp (h/t Daily Star's Rhys Turrell).

The 22-year-old has made 55 appearances for the Austrian outfit and helped lead Rapid Vienna to the top of UEFA Europa League Group E ahead of Villarreal, Viktoria Plzen and Dinamo Minsk.

JOSE JORDAN/Getty Images

Hofmann wouldn't be eligible to represent Liverpool in the European tournament's knockout stages if he did move to Anfield this winter, however, a factor that could work against the Reds.

Klopp has become more settled on a centre-back pairing of Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho at Anfield, but Andy Hunter of the Guardian reported this week that Dejan Lovren could be out for a month with a knee injury.

The ageing Kolo Toure and midfield man Can are the next figures offering cover at centre-back, and so the club may look to invest in a new, young option, with Hofmann reportedly still drawing Klopp's interest.