ROY HODGSON is lining up a £10m January raid for Bolton’s Gary Cahill after losing Jamie Carragher for three months.
Carragher will undergo surgery at the end of the week on the dislocated shoulder he suffered in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday.
It has left Hodgson with few experienced options in the centre of defence – and severely stretched for the busy Christmas period – as fellow defender Daniel Agger is also a long-term injury victim.
French defender Adil Rami is also on Liverpool’s radar but Hodgson would prefer Cahill, whose performances have helped catapult Bolton into the top five.
The 24-year-old England international has also been tracked by Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham but Hodgson is now ready to make his move.
Bolton rate Cahill at £15m but after recently revealing debts of £93m, they could be tempted by Liverpool’s £10m offer.
Trotters boss Owen Coyle wants to keep Cahill as long as possible but has said he will not stand in his way if Bolton receive a satisfactory offer from a bigger club.
Cahill said: “I am an ambitious lad who wants to play at the top of my game. Who knows what the future holds?â€
Roy Hodgson will plead with Liverpool owner John W Henry for cash to buy a new defender after losing Jamie Carragher for three months.
Hodgson received the hammer blow yesterday that Carragher needs surgery on his dislocated shoulder and will be out until the beginning of March.
The loss of Carra has left a huge hole in the Reds' rearguard and Hodgson is keen to fill it in January.
The Liverpool manager was already eyeing up Lille's French international Adil Rami and Gary Cahill and will ask NESV to bankroll his pursuit of them.
This could be the first big test of Hodgson's relationship with the club's new American owners and NESV had indicated they did not want to spend heavily in the January transfer window when prices are inflated.
Neither Rami nor Cahill would come cheap and the Frenchman is priced at £12.6million while Bolton would demand £17.5million for their England centre-half.
However, faced with the nightmare scenario of Liverpool's season being over by the time Carragher returns, Henry may have little option but to get his chequebook out.
Martin Skrtel and Sotirios Kyrgiakos are Liverpool's only fit senior central defenders and the out-of-favour Daniel Agger is still weeks away from recovering from his calf injury.