Liverpool willing to sanction Ovie Ejaria loan exit as Sunderland 'lead chase' for Ben Woodburn

Liverpool are ready to sanction the loan exits of young attacking duo Ben Woodburn and Ovie Ejaria for the first time during the current January transfer window, the latest reports claim.

According to The Mail, Championship bottom club Sunderland - in danger of being relegated for the second time in as many seasons - are at the front of the queue for Woodburn, who was handed his first six senior Wales caps by current Black Cats boss Chris Coleman and scored on his international debut against Austria.

The 18-year-old forward started as part of an experimental and youthful team for November's 1-1 draw with surprise World Cup qualifiers Panama - the final match of Coleman's successful near six-year stint.

Woodburn burst onto the senior Liverpool scene in November 2016 by netting in the League Cup quarter-final victory over Leeds United to surpass Michael Owen as the club's youngest-ever goalscorer.

He has made nine further appearances for the first team since then, all of which came last season.

The academy player of the year for 2016-17, who signed a new and improved five-year contract back in October, has featured just once under Jurgen Klopp so far this term as a half-time substitute in the Carabao Cup defeat at Leicester City. He was left as an unused substitute in just two Premier League matches - including the dramatic 2-1 win at Burnley on New Year's Day with top scorer Mohamed Salah sidelined.

He has mostly had to make do with playing for Liverpool's U19 and U23 teams over recent months, earning praise for his professional attitude from Reds icon and current youth coach Steven Gerrard.

Midfielder Ejaria, two years Woodburn's senior, made his debut against Derby Country in September 2016 and featured eight times in total - twice in the league - before suffering a ruptured syndesmosis during a shock FA Cup loss at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers four months later.

After recovering from an untimely setback that reportedly scuppered a potential loan move to Leeds, he played a bit-part role for England during their memorable Under-20 World Cup win in South Korea but has yet to return to the first-team squad despite earning praise for his performances under Neil Critchley in Premier League 2.

Addressing the possibility of allowing the likes of Woodburn and Marko Grujic to leave on loan this month during the festive period, Klopp, who has already secured one major new arrival with the £75m ($101.4m) addition of centre-back Virgil van Dijk from Southampton said: "We will see. These boys are all really close – much closer than you can see when I do the squad.

"We have to decide at one point if it makes sense that they stay. For a lot of them, it makes sense that they stay here because we need them. For a few, maybe it makes a little bit less sense.

"We will see – nothing is decided so far. We will see which clubs are asking and then we have to make a decision whether it is good for the boy or not and all these things. But, really, for most of them there will be no transfer window. They will stay here."

Liverpool currently have Divock Origi, Sheyi Ojo, Jordan Williams, Toni Gomes, Allan Rodrigues,
Pedro Chirivella, Brooks Lennon, Shamal George, Connor Randall and Taiwo Awoniyi all out on loan, while reports suggest that winger Ryan Kent will see his season-long stint with Bundesliga side SC Freiburg ended prematurely.