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Liverpool fans are eager to see how new manager Jurgen Klopp will fare in the transfer window, after the infamous difficulties which the club and former manager Brendan Rodgers encountered. Since it's now less than two months until the January transfer window, the rumo(u)r mill has begun heating up.
The story with the most legitimacy is about 26-year-old Corinthians striker Alexandre Pato. Liverpool are short on options up front, thanks to an ACL injury that has benched Danny Ings for the remainder of the season, as well as the constantly rotating injuries of main strikers Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge. As it stands, only Benteke, Divock Origi, and Roberto Firmino are available for selection by Klopp. Origi hasn't done much with the chances he's been given and didn't even make the bench for Liverpool's last league game against Chelsea, while Roberto Firmino is still recovering from an injury.
It makes sense, then, that the first player to be linked with Liverpool in any concrete way is a striker. Pato's parent club is Brazilian team Corinthians, but he has been on loan to Sao Paolo since February 2014. Corinthians have been eager to sell the forward, who they bought from AC Milan for £12m in 2013. Corinthians president Roberto de Andrade, in particular, seems to have a lot of feelings on this subject, supposedly admitting that the player had been a "mistake" by the club.
Now several sources, including the usual suspects the Metro, Daily Star and Express, are running with a story from Italian outlet Tutto Mercato Web about Liverpool agreeing in principle with the Brazilian star for an estimated £15m.
"There is an agreement in principle with Liverpool for the transfer in the coming weeks," De Andrade said.
"Pato had long expressed a desire to return to Europe.
"Liverpool await, there are a few missing details, but Klopp will have a new reinforcement and for Pato the Premier League will be a new springboard."
Trying to find the source of these kinds of stories is the internet equivalent of a Penrose staircase that keeps repeating itself, but it appears that they originated on the website of Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla.
And as day turns to night, already there has been backtracking on this sure thing, with reports saying that Liverpool have distanced themselves from this story.
Whether or not this particular story is true, it does seem likely that Liverpool, if they do business in the January transfer window, will have their eyes on another striker to provide them with more options up front. Of course, they also only have two available fullbacks and one defensive midfielder, so there's plenty of places where additions will be welcome.