£16 million man: "Manchester United is the club of my dreams"

Despite being an apparent £16 million target for Liverpool, 20 year-old defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila has revealed his love for club rivals, Manchester United. This may be a big blow for Liverpool, who have reportedly been scouting the Rennes player for a while through their Director of Football Strategy, Damien Comolli, and it perhaps shows a sign of the times at Liverpool. The Mersey side club have dropped out of the top four, haven't won a trophy for a couple of years, and have suffered utter turmoil both on and off the pitch in recent times having trouble with both their owners and managers.

The French player M'Villa, who has been described as a player who possesses "excellent defensive abilities" and "impressive physical strength" said:

"Manchester United is the club of my dreams. It's a very prestigious club and I dream to play for them."

Since losing Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid in 2009, Liverpool have never really replaced him with a quality central midfielder to partner Steven Gerrard, who can create for the attack, whilst holding the team together in the middle of the park. They tried with Alberto Aquilani - look where that ended up. Raul Meireles hasn't had an immediate impact on Liverpool, and doesn't look as if he has the authority to command the midfield like Alonso used to. M'Villa would certainly add to the squad at Liverpool.

Manchester United on the other hand, have not been linked to the player as heavily as Liverpool have, but will soon be looking for some midfielders themselves as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will be looking towards retirement in the near future. The problem with transfers at United is mainly about both the price, and the preference of the player. If the player wants to join you, you have a great chance of signing him, but if you are in hundreds of millions of pounds of debt... well there lies the problem.

United have been linked to Belgian central midfielder Steven Defour, as well as German play maker Bastien Schweinsteiger for the central position, while players such as Michel Bastos and Fabio Coentrao have been tipped to replace Giggs - despite both being defenders.

Liverpool have far bigger problems on the pitch than top of the League, unbeaten Manchester United, but both teams can easily be improved. By who, we will have to find out.

Fábio Coentrão a Liverpool Player Already?

Rumours have spread that the first signing of Dalglish's return to Anfield will be Portugese wing-back, Fábio Coentrão. But according to Wikipedia, the 22 year-old has already signed for Liverpool, and is playing with the number 39 on his shirt!

Now obviously Wikipedia is not a reliable site in which you can draw solid conclusions as to player transfers, as anyone could have changed his current club information. However, there may be some truth to the rumours that Fábio Coentrão will sign for Liverpool this January.

Liverpool's left back position is currently occupied by Paul Konchesky. He isn't the most popular player at Liverpool at the moment, not least because of his poor form, and the consensus that the player isn't good enough for Liverpool, as well as the fact he was signed by Roy Hodgson.

Coentrão had a brilliant World Cup, being probably the best player in the Portugal side, providing an excellent source of width, pace and the provision of crosses - all things that Liverpool currently lack.

Chelsea were reportedly interested immediately after the World Cup last summer, but a deal never materialised - they do have Ashley Cole after all. Manchester United were also said to have taken an interest in the Portugese, after there were questions over Patrice Evra's future, but it seems Evra's future is safe at United, and with the emergence of the da Silva twins, this signing would not be needed.

However, Liverpool need another left back, with Aurelio never really showing consistency, as well as being prone to injuries as well as Paul Konchesky looking as if he will be on his way out. A fee of around £16 million is being circulated for the current Benfica man.

Quite a hefty sum for a left back, one that the Liverpool owners would have to dig deep for, but a signing, I would suggest, that would be worth the money.

Liverpool to start Re-building with two new wingers

So far, Liverpool have had an odd season. Their poor performances have seen them drop into the relegation zone, and their top players have been out of sorts - finding it tough to have a good game in a red shirt. Compare this misery with the relief of having new owners, ones that promise not to plunge the club in debt but willing to invest, and Liverpool fans may be unable to decide whether the season so far has been good or bad.

They have plenty of time to decide however, and one person whom will be a catalyst in the answer to that question, is Roy Hodgson. The Liverpool manager has been promised a substantial amount of money to spend in the January, and summer transfer windows. He will have £30 million to spend in each period, and those keen mathematicians will have already worked out that this totals £60 million - a sum that the previous Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez could only have dreamed of under the previous owners.

Hodgson is already reported to have identified a couple of player that could dig Liverpool out of the mess that they currently find themselves in.

Chris Brunt of West Brom is a rather surprising rumour that is circulating. The Irish winger is very versatile and has been a big player for his current club, inspiring his team to a shock win against Arsenal this season, and generally being a source of many goals in the newly promoted team. He is able to play on both wings as well as playing just behind the striker, and it may be this versatility that has caught Hodgsons eye.

Being Albion's best player this season, they will be looking for around £9 million for him, a sum that Liverpool can now easily afford.

The other player that Hodgson is monitoring is the Portugese left wing-back, Fabio Coentrao. He impressed in the World Cup for his native Portugal - delivering excellent crosses for Cristiano Ronaldo, and being a big threat throughout the tournament. He caught the eye of Carlo Ancelotti too, and that summer, Chelsea were reportedly interested, but no deal materialised. The Benfica man will probably cost more than Brunt, but a player of his quality, of which he displayed in the World Cup would be welcomed with open arms at Andield, as the team are in dire need of some pace and creativity.

Hodgson does not have great support from the Liverpool fans, as some are calling for him to be sacked already, so his activity in the transfer market will be heavily scrutinised. Without the excuse of greedy, unwilling owners to hide behind anymore, the Liverpool manager will have to deliver the goods, or risk the wrath of the fans.