Brendan Rodgers
Reuters

Liverpool are planning a January bid for Hellas Verona midfielder Jorginho, according to the Metro, as they look to shore up their midfield options to increase their chances of a top four finish.

Captain Steven Gerrard is out with a hamstring injury and Brendan Rodgers is looking to bring in back-up for the England international should he be out for an extended period. The Reds face Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester City in close succession in the coming days and have an injury crisis on their hands which will make it very difficult for Rodgers to come out of the fixture list unscathed. A move for Jorginho will mean that they have better options off the bench.

Manchester United and Arsenal are also believed to be interested in Jorginho, but Rodgers is confident of pulling off a swoop as they have been tracking the midfielder since the beginning of the season. However, a deal for the 21-year-old will cost Liverpool around £15m, a fee the management may be reluctant to spend on an untested talent. The player has been the star of Serie A this season and has been tipped with a call-up to the Italian national squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The report also states that the player will have no qualms about playing in the Premier League, thus making it easier for Rodgers to convince him to engineer a move. The Reds are currently fourth in the table, five points behind league leaders Arsenal.

Meanwhile, midfielder Joe Allen insists that he can fill the void left by Gerrard following his injury.

"I feel it was something that would have affected me in the past but, in all honesty, it didn't really affect me too much," Allen said.

"I understood the significance of it. It was a pivotal moment in a massive game and there is no hiding from that. But I understood it was a miss and it happens in football. The only disappointment I had was whether it would affect my chances of selection and luckily it hasn't.

"I've had an opportunity to get straight back out there soon after, which was important, and it hasn't knocked my confidence in a way people probably expected," he said.