Liverpool Favourite Implores Rodgers To Sign £20m Bundesliga Midfield Star

Jan Molby believes that Brendan Rodgers should make a move to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender in the January transfer window as Liverpool look to bolster their squad and keep up their good form.

Bender was connected with a possible move to the Reds in the lead-up to the summer, with some suggesting that Leverkusen manager Sami Hyypia's relationship with the club would make the deal easier to complete.

Former Liverpool man Molby believes that the Germany international, said to be worth around £20m, would be the perfect addition for Rodgers in January as he looks for more options in the midfield to assist Steven Gerrard.

"My suggestion would be for Liverpool to go after Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender," he told the Liverpool Echo. "There are a lot of top players in Germany and I look at Bender and believe he is the real deal.

"For me, he ticks all the boxes.

"But, as I say, you can never second guess managers these days and my views may be seen as a little old school."

German players are taking the Premier League by storm this season with Arsenal's contingent, including summer signing Mesut Ozil, credited with helping the north London side into first place in both the league and the Champions League so-called 'group of death'.

Meanwhile Liverpool have been having a great deal of success themselves and depending on the outcome of the Gunners' match-up with Southampton next weekend they could find themselves at the top of the table if they can defeat Everton.

While some have been questioning the abilities this season of Gerrard, who is now 33 years of age, Molby argues that Liverpool need more players like him in their squad and suggested Yaya Toure as the perfect type of player that the Reds need to stay challenging for the title.

He explained: "I would like to see Liverpool add a player who is the younger version of Steven Gerrard.

"That style of all-round midfielder.

"Yaya Toure does that great job for Manchester City and is a player who defends when he has to but can also control the pace of a game with the ball. Toure also chips in with goals when he can."