Jurgen Klopp addresses Daniel Sturridge speculation and hails 'important' Jordan Henderson return

Jurgen Klopp has remained coy on the future of Daniel Sturridge amid reports that West Bromwich Albion are poised to beat Newcastle United and Inter Milan to a deal that will see the injury-prone striker head to The Hawthorns on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Sturridge has been reduced to a peripheral role at Anfield this term, making just five Premier League starts to date in 2017-18.

A combination of injury and illness, the form of Roberto Firmino and development of Dominic Solanke means the player has not featured at all since a late cameo in the 7-0 Champions League thrashing of Spartak Moscow on 6 December. He was surprisingly omitted from the squad for Saturday's (27 January) hectic FA Cup fourth-round defeat to West Brom at Anfield.

Serie A giants Inter are known to have made a loan offer for Sturridge earlier this month, though speculation suggested that the 28-year-old was holding out for a move to La Liga side Sevilla as he seeks to play more regular first-team football and potentially earn a place in England's 2018 World Cup squad.

The situation escalated rapidly on Monday, with news of Newcastle's approach quickly followed by reports from The Guardian that West Brom have agreed a loan fee of £1.5m ($2.1m) for his services. He is believed to be undergoing a medical the Midlands this afternoon, with The Telegraph claiming that his £120,000-a-week wages will be covered in full.

Quizzed regarding Sturridge's next move before that latter story broke during a press conference held in advance of Tuesday night's trip to Huddersfield Town, Klopp appeared to suggest that the Birmingham native would only be allowed to leave before the 31 January deadline if the deal made sense for all parties.

"A lot will happen in the transfer market in the next few days and we will see what happens here," he said, per The Mirror. "If it was something that didn't help us or Daniel [Sturridge] or another club to make the deal, it makes no sense."

Klopp claimed that Liverpool were dealing with "a few knocks" after a lively cup encounter, but added that "it looks like all the players who were available for the last game are available again". That means Ragnar Klavan and Adam Lallana should both remain sidelined along with long-term absentee Nathaniel Clyne.

The German also described captain Jordan Henderson's return after five weeks out with a hamstring problem as "very important" and insisted there were still "four or five players" who believe they should be taking penalties after Firmino's latest failed spot-kick at the weekend - Liverpool's sixth miss in their last 10 attempts from 12 yards.

"Roberto Firmino was in this group, probably will still be in this group after training," he said. "He'd scored before a fantastic goal and is in a good moment, so it was a logical decision that he was the one to take. In the end it was about two inches from being a fantastic penalty or a missed penalty. It's really not cool, but it's how it is. We can make it bigger or we can accept it like part of the game."