EXCLUSIVE
By Hassan Talib Haji

Liverpool have stepped up their pursuit of Schalke youngster Lewis Holtby with a view to securing the 22-year-old on a free transfer next summer.

Goal.com understands that the Reds are keen to talk to Holtby in January after having reignited their interest in the in-form Bundesliga midfielder, whose father is from Merseyside.

Schalke have made clear that they would be willing to keep hold of the former Alemannia Aachen youngster until the end of the season, knowing that they would only be able to yield around €7 million (£5.5m) if they were to sell him in January before he becomes available on a Bosman deal.

The Anfield outfit previously monitored Everton fan Holtby following Brendan Rodgers’ arrival on Merseyside, as was exclusively revealed by Goal.com in July.

Holtby, who has also been linked with Tottenham in recent months, is considered to be a technically-gifted passer of the ball in Germany, and fits Liverpool’s current recruitment model of signing young, cheap players with obvious future resale value.

The 22-year-old has made no secret of his interest in a move to the Premier League, admitting to Goal.com in July that playing for an English side was a goal of his.

Despite Liverpool’s interest in the Schalke star, bolstering their striking options remains a priority ahead of the January transfer window and means they are in no rush to push through a move for Holtby.

“Liverpool only really have their eyes on a goalscorer when it comes to signings in January after missing out on deadline day in summer,” a source close to the club told Goal.com.

The lack of firepower in Rodgers’ squad was highlighted again as the Reds struggled to capitalise on a dominant performance against Reading on Saturday, picking up a 1-0 win thanks to a Raheem Sterling strike.

Darren Bent and Daniel Sturridge have been highlighted as potential targets by Anfield officials in recent weeks, with both players likely to be available within Liverpool’s January budget of approximately £10m-£12m.

Rodgers previously made a desperate attempt to sign Sturridge on loan in the closing hours of the summer transfer window, but the Chelsea man is only interested in a permanent move away from west London with the Stamford Bridge hierarchy reluctant to extend his £65,000-a-week deal.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has expressed his delight after posting his first Premier League win at Anfield with a 1-0 victory over Reading.

Raheem Sterling struck the only goal of the game in the first half, before the Merseyside outfit cruised to three points despite their failure to add gloss to the scoreline.

And Rodgers insisted securing what is just the Reds’ third league win at home in 2012 will provide a sizeable boost for players and supporters alike.

“I’m very pleased for the players and the supporters – it’s been a long time coming to be honest,” he told reporters.

“We should have had three points here long before today but on the back of an international break and players travelling all around the world I thought it was a terrific performance.

“An excellent goal, created many chances – 19 shots at goal – need to improve our finishing which is an ongoing theme but as long as we get the three points and a clean sheet that was the most important thing.

“You don’t want it to keep dragging on but what gave me comfort was the mindset and ability of the players. They’ve kept working, we’ve seen their perseverance and ability to keep going.

“You never want it to run on and today was important because any team that comes up from the Championship – and I know from Swansea last year – players come to grounds like this and always try to make it difficult.

“Reading are a terrific club and last time they were here they won 1-0 but it was nice to get the result and a good performance.”

The Northern Irishman also hailed the performance of 17-year-old Sterling, whose strike made him the second-youngest Premier League goalscorer of all-time, behind former Red Michael Owen.

“I’m very pleased for him because it’s part of the game we’ve been working on,” he added.

“The players on the outside, we’re trying to get them into that half position inside so they can make those runs. He’s got good pace so once he’s on the inside he can break the line of the back four and get in behind.

“All the credit to him because he’s got to identify the moment to go in and he did that and it was a wonderful finish. He’s a terrific talent.”

Rodgers also launched a staunch defence of Luis Suarez, who laid on Sterling’s goal with a sublime assist, but was typically profligate in front of goal.

“He scores a lot of chances. He’s not perfect, he’s not going to score every chance but he’s got a great return when you look at his stats,” he continued.

“There’s no doubt he’d want to be a bit more clinical but we want to get some more players around him that can take the load off him as well.

“He leads the line terrific for us and his movement and creativity is great. He had a nice moment with the supporters when he got brought down for a free kick.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers’ opposite number Brian McDermott felt his side could have got something from the game, and expressed disappointment at the Royals’ start.

He said: “I said to the lads at half-time, ‘They’ve had the possession and we understand that’ but they never really hurt us with their passing moves but they did with a ball over the top.

Second half we were right in the game and I honestly thought we were going to get at least a point out of the game.

“We had a couple of opportunities and we were on the front foot right to the end so there are a lot of pluses to come out of that.

“You don’t want to be saying well done to your players when you’ve lost a game but we move on with a lot of positives.

“We’ve got to start the game at three o’ clock. We’ve got to get going at the start of the game and pass the ball like we can do.”

The Englishman also spoke out in support of his striker Jason Roberts, who controversially refused to wear a ‘Kick it Out’ t-shirt as part of the anti-racism group’s week of action.

“I spoke to Jason about that and he was very clear in his views, so I supported him 100 per cent,” he continued.

“He had his reasons and I support him. What’s gone on this week when you consider what’s happened with Danny Rose… I wrote to Danny Rose because I thought he conducted himself incredibly well and looks like a really good guy.

“Hopefully, we can put these issues to bed because it just doesn’t belong in society and it certainly doesn’t belong in football.

“It’s an emotive subject and rightly so. People feel very, very strongly. I know that I can only speak for my players and I can speak for Jason, who feels very strongly about this. I back Jason 100%.”

Several Premier League players, including Jason Roberts, Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott, have chosen to snub the campaign set up by anti-racism organisation ‘Kick It Out’.

The Reading striker had led calls to not support the T-shirt campaign ahead of this weekend’s fixtures after voicing his opinions that the organisation is not doing enough to stamp racism out of the game.

Ferdinand, whose brother Anton was racially abused by John Terry, resulting in a four-match ban for the Chelsea man, also chose not to wear the shirt and could find himself disciplined as a result after Sir Alex Ferguson had stated that all players would comply before Manchester United’s game against Stoke.

“The four-match ban was, for me, not a heavy enough sanction for what happened,” Roberts said in the week.

“I’m totally committed to kicking racism out of football but when there’s a movement I feel represents the issue in the way that speaks for me and my colleagues, then I will happily support it.

“I think people feel let down by what used to be called ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football.’

“People don’t feel like they have been strong enough.”

Kenwyne Jones was another player at Old Trafford who chose not to wear the shirt, while Roberts’ Reading team-mate Garath McCleary did likewise.

Micah Richards was another to refuse to acknowledge the campaign, although Patrice Evra, who was racially abused by Luis Suarez last season, did wear the shirt, as did the Uruguayan at Anfield.