Liverpool: Brendan Rodgers confirms search for new striker to improve goal scoring stats

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that he will be on the lookout for a proven goal scorer to either provide backup or challenge Daniel Sturridge for a starting role in the team.

The Reds have struggled to replicate their goal scoring from last season, when Luis Suarez and Sturridge scored 52 Premier League goals between them.

The Northern Irishman failed to replace the Uruguayan with a top quality forward and due to this the Merseyside club are in danger of finishing out of the top four and missing out on a place in next season's Champions League.

The former Swansea City manager brought in Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert as backup for Sturridge, but the duo have struggled in the league and scored just three goals between them so far in the campaign.

This has prompted Rodgers to start looking for a top quality striker, and has been urged by former Liverpool legend Phil Thompson to make a move for Paris Saint-Germain star Edinson Cavani or Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain, who are proven goal scorers at the top of their game.

"We haven't scored enough goals this year. If the sequence goes on we are on course to be around 60 goals down on last year. That's a huge amount. I came in the season before and we had 49 goals, so you're taking nearly a season of goals out of the team," Rodgers is quoted as saying by the Guardian.

"It's simple, we need more of a scoring threat. We missed it immensely this year and obviously that has affected results. I think what the players have done to arrive where we have is credit to them without that."

"So in the summer we have to try and find goals again. We looked last summer and certainly will again this summer. If we do that we have an opportunity again for next season to be like our second year," the Reds manager explained.

"They are not easy to find. But that is our job. We have to find a way to attract them here. However long I am here or not, Liverpool is a huge attraction for any player so that's something we will fight hard to do in the summer."

"It can make a huge difference. If you look at teams who are successful they will have that consistent striker and what that gives the rest of team is crucial. You saw it here with Suárez – the impact that kind of striker can have," Rodgers added.