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With less than half a day to go in the January transfer window and Liverpool scrambling to wrap up a £16M deal for Yevhen Konoplyanka, it was inevitable that the focus of Brendan Rodgers' pre-West Brom press conference would be on transfers. The very first question, in fact, went looking for an update on the Ukrainian winger's status.
"There is no update," said a coy Rodgers. "There is an interest in the player. It's a little complicated. It has all happened very quickly and obviously the timeline is tight. We'll see how it evolves, but the staff over there have done brilliant work in terms of giving us the best chance of getting the player."
Rodgers went on to suggest that Konoplyanka is, at the moment, the only signing the club are chasing, which will leave fans hoping for fullback and midfield reinforcements a touch disappointed. Still, unlike in the case of Mohamed Salah, even if Konoplyanka is at a position of relative depth for the club, he at least appears a player ready to walk into the first eleven.
The Liverpool manager further stressed the need to focus on signings that will help the club over the longer term rather than being distracted by short term solutions, and reiterated a recent talking point by saying that whatever happens today, he's confident the current squad is strong enough to secure a return to the Champions League.
"If we improve the group in this window, then great," he said. "If it doesn't work out we've shown over the course of the season that this is a team that can fight all the way."
