• Premier League

Rodgers targets 'hungry' players for title challenge

Brendan Rodgers has already signed Rickie Lambert and Emre Can © PA Photos

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Brendan Rodgers has pledged to bring in "hungry" players who share his belief that Liverpool can win the Premier League next season.

Rodgers has made two signings so far this summer, bringing in Rickie Lambert from Southampton for £4 million and Germany under-21 midfielder Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen for £10m.

The Liverpool manager is also pursuing deals for Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana and Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno as he attempts to strengthen a squad that finished runners-up to Manchester City in last season's Premier League.

On the last two occasions that Liverpool finished second - in 2002 and 2009 - they failed to push on the following season.

Liverpool slipped to fifth in 2003 and seventh in 2010, and Rodgers is aware that making the right signings this summer is key to ensuring the club do not fall away this time as they bid to win a first league title since 1990.

"We want to bring in players who are hungry. They must have the ambition to want to come in and succeed here," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"We need players with whom there can be no doubts about their quality. We're in a position now where we're going straight into the group stage of the Champions League - and we're going into the Premier League next season with an expectation and a belief that we can win the league.

"We need players who have those qualities - that belief, players who are willing to improve and who are hungry to improve themselves.

"If we can get a number of signings with that profile, then we can go on and build on last season."

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