Burnley centre-back James Tarkowski has emerged as a shock January transfer target for Premier League leaders Liverpool, claims The Sun.
Liverpool are down to their bare bones at the heart of their defence after Dejan Lovren joined Joe Gomez and Joel Matip on the sidelines on Monday night.
Jurgen Klopp was forced to play a 16-year-old in defence in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup and will have to partner Virgil van Dijk with midfielder Fabinho this weekend.
Liverpool are now interested in signing Tarkowski from Burnley to ensure their Premier League title challenge does not derail during the second half of the season.
However, the Clarets reportedly value Tarkowski at £50m and it remains to be seen whether Liverpool are willing to spend that much on the England international.
Both Gomez and Matip are due back in action before the end of the month and it would represent a significant outlay for someone that is unlikely to be first choice when everyone is available.
Since the start of last season, only Shane Duffy (328) has completed more headed clearances than Tarkowski (214) in the Premier League.
Furthermore, only two players have blocked more shots than the 26-year-old (75) in the Premier League during the same period.
