Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is hopeful that the club will be able to deal with the loss of Jamie Carragher by identifying a number of possible replacements for the veteran centre-back.

Swansea City captain Ashley Williams was one of the first names mentioned but it seems interest may have cooled after the Express reported that Liverpool had instead turned their attention to Real Madrid's Raul Albiol.

Raul Albiol
Raul Albiol has been linked with a move away from Real Madrid after struggling to get into the first team in recent months. [Reuters]

The Spain international has started just 11 games this season and has found it increasingly difficult to force his way into the first team since the emergence of French youngster Raphael Varane. With Pepe and Sergio Ramos also ahead of him in the pecking order it is believed that he would be interested in leaving Madrid in order to secure regular first team football.

Albiol regularly featured for Spain during the early stages of his career at Real Madrid but after making just 25 league appearances in the last two seasons he has fallen slightly out of favour with Vicente del Bosque.

In order to make sure of his place in the Spain squad for the 2014 World Cup, it is believed that Albiol would be prepared to leave Spain. The 27 year old would certainly be a suitable replacement for Carragher having won major trophies for both club and country.

However, it seems that Albiol is not the only defensive target with the Liverpool Echo reporting that the Reds are also interested in £5m-rated Toulouse centre-back Aymen Abdennour.

Liverpool scouts were on-hand to watch the 23 year old in action over the weekend and the suggestion is that Rodgers is now keen to try and secure his signature during the summer transfer window.

Abdennour may not be the only Ligue 1 player that Liverpool are interested in with the paper also stating that they are also keen to recruit Lille's highly rated left-back Lucas Digne.

The 19 year old has been a regular for France at various youth levels and this season has established himself as the first choice left-back at Lille.

While Jose Enrique has impressed in the second half of the season, Rodgers has stated his desire to improve the squad in order to create more consistency and Digne is regarded as one of the best young prospects in France.

It is perhaps unlikely that Liverpool would attempt to recruit all three defenders but it seems Rodgers is serious about overhauling his defensive options next season.