Jurgen Klopp has admitted he will let new West Ham target Nat Phillips leave Liverpool in January and does not expect injury to block a move.
West Ham are said to be seriously eyeing up a move to sign Liverpool centre-back Phillips early on in the January transfer window according to a report from The Evening Standard.
Having lost Angelo Ogbonna for the season to an ACL injury and Kurt Zouma for between six to 12 weeks to a hamstring tendon blow, it is vital Moyes brings in another defender next month.
Indeed the addition of a quality centre-back will be just as important as bringing in a new centre-forward.
The Evening Standard claim the Hammers will swoop to try and sign the 24-year-old Reds ace who was hugely impressive up against Zlatan Ibrahimovic last week.
Tabloid talk from the likes of The Mirror claimed Liverpool would listen to offers of around £12 million for Phillips.
But now West Ham have received very real encouragement from Liverpool boss Klopp.
That’s after the Reds boss spoke out on Phillips’s future, admitting he will not stand in his way should Liverpool receive a satisfactory offer when asked about interest from the likes of West Ham.
And Klopp does not believe the fractured cheekbone the 6ft 3in defender has picked up will stop a move.
Jurgen Klopp admits he will let new West Ham target Nat Phillips leave in January and injury won’t stop move
“I’m very happy that Nat is here, to be honest, but we will not block anything I think,” Klopp told his pre-match press conference as reported by the likes of 90 Min.
“It’s not the plan at all but who knows what happens until January…
“It’s not the luckiest moment for this (an injury before January) but by the end of January he will be completely fine, definitely. Probably in the middle of January, I don’t know exactly.
“We will see everything will be completely fine. It’s not complicated, it’s just not cool. We will see what it does mean exactly but in the long term it’s no problem because everything will be fine for Nat, definitely.”
West Ham have also been linked with Manchester City defender Nathan Ake.
But it seems seriously unlikely Pep Guardiola would allow one of his four first team centre-backs – and a rare left-footed one at that – leave the club with Man City fighting on all fronts for serious silverware.