Former England Striker Urges Ince to Stay as Liverpool Offer Falls Short

Kevin Phillips has advised Blackpool team mate Thomas Ince to think twice about moving to the Premier League with Liverpool.

The 20 year old left Anfield in 2011, after failing to break into the first team at Anfield. However, the forward has been in superb form in the Championship this season, with 13 goals and nine assists from 21 appearances. And that form has led to talk of a return to Merseyside in January.

"For me, if I was Tom Ince, I would want to stay at the club for the rest of the season, keep learning my trade, keep scoring goals and keep putting in performances. He'll get his move," the former England striker told Sky Sports.

"It's a difficult one because if he goes to a big club he's going to double, treble, quadruple his wages, but he's going to be sitting on the bench most of the time. It's one of those you have to weigh up," Phillips added.

Meanwhile, Blackpool manager Michael Appleton has called Liverpool's initial offer for Ince unsatisfactory.

"I think there's been a conversation between (chairman) Karl Oyston and Liverpool about an offer. But as far as I'm aware, it's way below the type of money we'd expect for someone of Tom's talent," the manager told BBC Sport, adding, "I wouldn't say I'm resigned to losing him just yet though. There's still a lot of work that we feel has to be done before anything like that happens. He'll continue to play as long as we hold his registration."

Ince, who can operate either in the centre or on the left side of midfield, has also been attracting attention from a host of other Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotpsur and Newcastle United.

The Reds have been linked with an £18m double swoop for Ince and Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge in the January transfer window, with £6m being earmarked as the amount for Ince's move.

Reds' Europa League Draw

Liverpool have been drawn to play Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in the first knock-out round of the UEFA Europa League. The draw, which was held on Thursday evening at UEFA's headquarters in Switzerland, sees Brendan Rodgers' side travel to Russia for the first leg (14 February) and host the second leg the following week. Should the Reds win that tie, they will face either Swiss side FC Basel or Ukrainians Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the Round of 16.