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Sunderland have already bought two players from Liverpool in Sebastián Coates and Fabio Borini but may be about to add a third player to the squad's ranks. While the two 24-year-olds moved to the North-East permanently, Tiago Ilori could be a loan target as Dick Advocaat tries to bolster his defensive options.
Dave Maddock of the Daily Mirror claims that the experienced Dutch manager has been following the young defender's progress over the past year. In fact, an offer for the player was turned down in June. There's no doubt that Ilori has talent, and the 22-year-old displayed his considerable promise at under-21 European Championships this summer.
However, it appears unlikely that he'll get many minutes with the seniority of the defenders ahead of him. Kolo Touré, Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho, and Martin Škrtel block Ilori's path to the first-team. Then there's the presence of Joe Gomez who is probably further along in the good graces of the manager. Brendan Rodgers might see the player as a prospect worth keeping around the first-team squad to develop and possibly gain rotational minutes, but Ilori requires regular football.
Loan spells at Granada and Bordeaux have been marred by injuries, but Ilori showed that he can produce quality performances at the highest level. Doing it at Liverpool is a different matter, of course, but maybe a loan move to a Premier League club will bring the necessary visibility for Ilori to make the next step.
