Liverpool want England Under-21 winger Redmond in winter window

Liverpool, 3/1 chances with Coral for a top four Premier League finish this season, are reportedly ready to pay £10m to sign England Under-21 and Norwich City winger Nathan Redmond in January.

Highly-rated 20-year-old Redmond, who started his career at Birmingham City, has only scored one Premier League goal and that is his half his total Canaries strikes across all competitions, but that lack of end product is backed up by seven assists. He has five goals in 20 Under-21 caps.

Redmond has been in and out at Carrow Road under managerial novice Neil Adams, who has switched between a midfield diamond and the more modern 4-2-3-1 formation during his stint in charge of Norwich so far.

Apparent interest from Reds boss Brendan Rodgers poses a thorny problem for Redmond that faces all young English prospects. Does he remain in the Championship where he is guaranteed regular involvement, even if not starting every match, or step back up into the Premier League and fight for a squad space?

Merseyside outfit Liverpool are not short of wide options, and have their own prodigious youngster Raheem Sterling playing often. Joining him are summer signings Lazar Markovic and Adam Lallana, plus previous Rodgers purchases Philippe Coutinho and Fabio Borini, all are capable of operating on the flanks.

Star striker Daniel Sturridge’s niggling injury may force the Reds into the winter window, however, and Redmond fits the profile of most recent signings. He is young, versatile and talented with bags of potential, thus making a worthy long-term investment for the Anfield outfit.

Italy international and firebrand forward Mario Balotelli has struggled for goals at Liverpool, and fellow summer signing Rickie Lambert only broke his duck for his boyhood club in the 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace. This result has seen the Merseyside outfit’s price on finishing outside the top four move to a strongly odds-on 1/5.

Rodgers is seeking players that can give his side that X-factor, similar to Luis Suarez, in order to revive Liverpool. Losing at Selhurst Park was their fourth straight Premier League defeat, which is their worst run under the Northern Irish manager.