Liverpool must offer cash, not Borini, for Lazio midfielder

Few Premier League clubs are expected to be as busy as Liverpool this January, as the Reds bid to revive their disastrous campaign with a few well-judged additions.

However, it won’t only be the entrance doors that are swinging regularly at Anfield, as Brendan Rodgers will certainly also be keen to cut some deadwood from his squad.

There’s no shortage of deceased timber on the books at Liverpool, but perhaps the main branch that needs lopping off is Fabio Borini.

Even when left without another striker, Rodgers has opted to play Raheem Sterling upfront rather than use the Italian, a clear message that its time for him to move on.

It is, however, not proving easy to get rid of Borini, who turned down a move to Sunderland in the summer and is seemingly no longer an especially attractive option even in his native country.

Liverpool were apparently keen to use the 23-year-old as a makeweight in a move for Lazio’s Ogenyi Onazi, but the Serie A side are instead after hard cash for the Nigerian.

Rodgers reportedly considered a move for the 22-year-old over the summer, but instead opted for Emre Can, who has been a bit-part player at Anfield so far.

Now hankering for a little more steel and physicality in his midfield, the Liverpool boss is back in the hunt for Onazi, who recently suggested it would be hard for him to turn down a move to Anfield.

Even as they came within a whisker of the Premier League title last term, the Reds’ defensive issues have always been apparent, and that is perhaps as much down to a lack of protection from the midfield as back-four failings.

Onazi would give Rodgers a tenacious option to shield his defence, and perhaps help the Liverpool boss get his struggling side back into the league’s upper echelons.

The Reds face Swansea at Anfield in their last match of 2014, a game the hosts are 3/4 to win.

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