Liverpool Transfers: 5 Strikers Who Might Fill in for Luis Suarez

What will Liverpool do once Suarez starts serving his sentence?

By now you've heard that Liverpool's Luis Suarez has been banned eight games for the Patrice Evra incident. That means the Reds will have to cope without their Uruguayan playmaker for more than 20 percent of the Premier League season.

With that in mind, you can bet Liverpool will be busy in the upcoming transfer window. We've put together a list of five players Kenny Dalglish and company could pursue in the absence of Suarez.

Lukas Podolski, FC Köln

Most of the attention around a Lukas Podolski-to-England transfer has come in the direction of Arsenal, who have long been linked to the German international striker.

Lately, though, Liverpool have been linked with a £16 million move for Podolski, who plays for FC Köln (or Cologne, depending on how you feel about it) in the Bundesliga.

Podolski is having a strong season in Germany, where he has scored 14 goals in 15 league appearances. At the international level, Podolski has scored 43 goals in 95 appearances.

Fernando Torres, Chelsea

Yeah, I know. It's definitely a long shot.

But it was a rumour last week, and I'm passing it along.

Fernando Torres, who of course played for Liverpool not too long ago, has been linked with a move back to Merseyside. The Spanish striker moved to Chelsea last winter for £50 million and has not had success.

The potential move is looking less and less likely, though. Late last week, Torres lashed out at Liverpool for "lies" over his transfer to Chelsea. Meanwhile he also said he's not going anywhere.

Time will tell, of course. El Niño might just be playing hard to get.

Emmanuel Adebayor, Manchester City

It's easy to forget that Emmanuel Adebayor is actually still on the books at Manchester City. The Togo international went on loan to Real Madrid early in 2011 and is currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur, for whom he's scored nine league goals already.

But a Manchester City player Adebayor still is. And City might be looking to offload him permanently.

Tottenham would be Adebayor's most obvious destination, but Liverpool could make a move as well. They were linked with a move for him back in November.

Shamir Goodwin, Brighton

Who is Shamir Goodwin?

Shamir Goodwin is a 17-year-old striker who plays for Brighton and Hove Albion. The Daily Star says he's being monitored by Liverpool.

Other media outlets have picked up the story, from Yahoo to the Guardian.

Make of that what you will. If you want to know more about Goodwin, here's a Twitter page that purports to be his.

Lucas Ocampos, River Plate

It's hard to know what to believe about Liverpool's alleged pursuit of Argentine teenager Lucas Ocampos.

Here, the Mail Online reports that River Plate will not allow the 17-year-old striker to leave Argentina in January. But a few weeks ago, River Plate reportedly told Liverpool and Chelsea to bid on Ocampos.

So Ocampos might or might not be available in January. And Liverpool might or might not be interested.

Got it?