• Premier League

Liverpool hunting Suarez and Ashley Young

ESPN staff
January 21, 2011
Luis Suarez impressed for Uruguay at the World Cup as they stormed into the semi-finals © Getty Images
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Liverpool transfer supremo Damien Comolli has confirmed the club are interested in signing Luis Suarez and Ashley Young.

Kenny Dalglish has been given the green light to spend in January in the hope of arresting the Reds' slide down the league table, where they reside in 13th. An attacking player will be considered a prority given the exit of Ryan Babel, who is on the verge of a move to Hoffenheim.

Ajax striker Suarez would do much to relieve the scoring burden heaped on Fernando Torres' shoulders, although there is believed to be a disparity between the clubs' valuation of the player, who shot to prominence as Uruguay reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.

"We are looking primarily for an attacking player with pace because the team is short on pace," Comolli told Canal+Sport. "And as far as Suarez is concerned, at the moment there is no dialogue with Ajax. He is one of the players we are interested in. Will he be available in January? This is another story."

Although Comolli concedes that Young is unlikely to leave Villa Park - Gerard Houllier has insisted the player will stay - he is very much on the Anfield club's radar. "For Young, if he is on the market then we will be interested. But I don't believe that is the case," Comolli said.

Turning his attention away from transfers, the director of football strategy said that a lack of confidence, rather than anything deep-rooted, is to blame for the Reds' slump.

"There is no crisis. I can see things from inside and I don't have this feeling. It is all a problem of confidence," he said. "There were quite a few injured players, players who came back from the World Cup worn out, and this was the main cause of our bad results.

"[Fernando] Torres and [Steven] Gerrard are exactly at the same physical level as they were in the year in which they finished second [in the 2008/09 season]."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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