Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is ready to battle with old club Fulham for Crystal Palace’s exciting young striker Wilfried Zaha.
Kop chief Hodgson wants to take the young Eagle as part of the club’s long-term planning - with Kenny Dalglish also involved in the recruitment of top talent for the future.
Zaha has been a hit for Palace since making his breakthrough this season and Liverpool want to snap him up after landing other prospects like Jonjo Shelvey and Raheem Sterling this year.
Hodgson’s spies have been checking on Zaha, who will ironically face his team in the FA Cup, while other calls have been made to register their interest.
However Hodgson’s old employers at Fulham are also on the hunt for Zaha, who may be sold by George Burley’s club if they need to raise funds to bring in new faces to beat the drop.
Palace would want around £2 million for Ivory Coast-born starlet Zaha, who is still just 18. But in their ideal world he would be left with them for the season.
Hodgson will be given cash for new recruits who will stand the test of time at Merseyside - and may be there beyond his period in charge.
And the fact that there is growing interest - with Fulham also prepared to splash out now - means that Zaha may be one of the surprise movers in the window.
Liverpool are monitoring teenage Southampton winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Reds' director of football strategy Damien Comolli was in the stands at St Mary's on Tuesday afternoon to watch the son of former England international Mark Chamberlain find the net in a 4-1 win over Huddersfield in npower League One.
But Saints boss Nigel Adkins insists he will not welcome any bids for the highly-rated 17-year-old when the January transfer window opens.
"I didn't know he (Comolli) was here," said Adkins.
"But we will not start talking about all our players having a price, or putting a price on players' heads, we want to keep this squad together.
"We are not looking to let Alex go."
Liverpool are reported to be considering a move to bring in Hatem Ben Arfa to Anfield at the end of the season. Ben Arfa is currently employed by Newcastle United, but only on a loan basis as the team will have the option of making the player a permanent member of the squad at the end of the season. The twenty three year old, is currently out of action and is looking to recover from his horrific leg break which he suffered earlier this season at the hands of Nigel De Jong. However despite all of that, the Liverpool manager is looking to beat the odds and secure the services of the Marseille man at the end of the season.
On the other hand, the team that Liverpool will be facing some stiff competition from are Newcastle; which comes as no major surprise to anyone. Alan Pardew’s team are currently looking to seal the services of Ben Arfa for as much as five million pounds. However, they are now fearing the thought of a player, who they thought they had in the bag, going to another team in the end. However, if that was to happen, then it would majorly depend on where Liverpool manage to finish at the end of the season.
Almost immediately after moving to the Premier League, Ben Arfa started displaying his talent on the grandest of stages. His progress halted though, when he clashed with De Jong and since then he has been out trying to recover from his injury. Liverpool were also previously linked with a move for the player before he signed for Newcastle.
If history is anything to go by, then it is more than likely to turn down Liverpool for the second time in the span of twelve months. However, what really happens with Ben Arfa and his future in the Premier League will now be decided at the end of the season.
He's brill. Rapid, good positioning pretty good cross on him. Makes some bad decisions every now and again but still VERY young. Takes the piss out of every full back in this shit house league full of donkeys. Very much like Theo when he was a kid. Your D.O.F was at our game yesterday watching us tear uddersfield a new one. Our chairman said after the game NO ONE will be sold in Jan, but we both know that means fuck all
Edin Dzeko is set to break the Bundesliga transfer record by joining Manchester City from Wolfsburg for a fee in the region of 40million euros (£34million), according to reports in Germany.
The Bosnian striker has made no secret of his desire to leave the German side for a bigger club and, while his dream has always been to join AC Milan, the fact the Italians have just signed Antonio Cassano from Sampdoria reduces the chances of that move coming off.
However, City have the ambition to become one of Europe's top clubs and they also have the financial backing, and a transfer of Dzeko next month is looking more likely.
Coach Roberto Mancini has also confirmed that he is a fan of the 24-year-old.
The Wolfsburger Allgemeine newspaper quotes Mancini saying: "We have the chance to win the league this year and the decisive factor could be Edin Dzeko.
"This player can decide titles and that is why we want him."
Wolfsburg's managing director Dieter Hoeness declared last week that his club is preparing to make major changes to the playing personnel after a disappointing first half of the season.
Selling a player of Dzeko's talent may not be his preference, but the player's malaise at the 2009 Bundesliga champions, who currently seem unlikely to provide him with the chance to play in the Champions League next season, may be one of the reasons the team has not been functioning since Steve McClaren took over as coach in the summer.
A fee of 40million euros, which the Wolfsburger Allgemeine reports would be made up of an initial fee of 30million euros with five million to follow in the case of City qualifying for the Champions League, while five million euros would go on signing-on and agent fees, would break the Bundesliga's transfer record.
Bayern Munich currently hold that with their 30million euros outlay on Mario Gomez from Stuttgart in 2009.
Diego's sale from Werder Bremen to Juventus last year is the most expensive foreign sale to date at 27 million euros, while he returned to the Bundesliga last summer, joining Wolfsburg for a cut-price fee of 15.5million.
And the Wolves are set to make a huge profit on a player they signed for just four million from FK Teplice in 2007.
He won the Bundesliga golden boot award last season after coming runner-up to his team mate Grafite in Wolfsburg's championship-winning year.
He has already found the back of the net 10 times this season, taking his overall tally to 66 in 111 games for the Wolves.
Sky Sports News understands that Liverpool have renewed their interest in West Ham striker Carlton Cole.
A representative of the Anfield club is said to have been at the Hammers' Boxing Day victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage, where the 27-year-old scored twice in a 3-1 win.
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson made an attempt to sign England international Cole, who has netted just five times in all competitions this season, in the summer transfer window.
But a deadline day deal was not agreed and West Ham boss Avram Grant remains unwilling to sell his star players, such as Cole, Matthew Upson and Scott Parker, as he battles against Premier League relegation.
No secret
However, it is understood that Hammers co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan would be prepared to listen to offers between £7m and £9m.
Hodgson has made no secret of the fact that he wants to increase his attacking options and find a partner for Fernando Torres to decrease the burden on the Spain international.
The Liverpool boss is desperate to be backed in the transfer window by his club's owners, John Henry's New England Sports Ventures, following their takeover in mid-October and he has also been linked with PSV Eindhoven forward Ola Toivonen.
But, whether or not it is a poker face to misguide rivals, Hodgson has also said that he does not expect to sign any 'first-team material' until the end of January.