What Liverpool’s latest striker swoop means for flailing trio

With the final weekend of the January transfer window a whisker away, the rumour mill has spewed out a corker, as Liverpool look to steal a march on Tottenham and Chelsea by signing Burnley’s Danny Ings.

The Daily Express reports a bid has been launched for the 22-year-old striker, with the premise Liverpool would loan him back to the Clarets for the remainder of the season.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche has remained resolute that despite Ings’ impending free-agent status in the summer, he would not be sold during the January window as the Englishman is so integral to his side’s 13/10-rated survival bid.

However, this fresh advance from Liverpool could yet sway the Burnley board, who will be keen to remunerate the club’s coffers on such a valuable asset if at all possible.

Even if the transfer can be pulled off in such a fashion it does raise several questions from a Liverpool perspective as well though.

Not least, there is the squeeze for spaces at Anfield, especially as the Reds welcome Divock Origi from Lille into an oversubscribed squad of strikers at the end of the season.

Brendan Rodgers has a cast of misfit frontmen on the books, with at least one of Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli surely out the door if Ings is captured.

Then there are question marks over the system Rodgers would employ to accommodate Ings, who is used to playing at the apex of the attack, which is a slot reserved for Daniel Sturridge in a 3-4-3 at present.

Finally, although Ings has shown plenty of promise early in his career – especially at England U21 level – Rodgers doesn’t have a fantastic record of signing strikers, and whether or not the Burnley man is at the required level to drastically improve the Reds is up for debate.

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