Liverpool must raid Premier League rivals for £40m defender

Liverpool are currently fifth in the Premier League table.

And, while that may not seem all that bad, Arne Slot was relieved of his duties as the Reds' manager for finishing in fifth place last season.

Fortunately, Liverpool still managed to qualify for the Champions League which is a competition that they seem to be doing fairly well in.

However, it's been made more than clear from their performances against other teams such as Manchester City and Arsenal that some new additions are needed.

Without these, there's no way that they'll be able to get back to the top of the Premier League table which, at the end of the day, is going to be their main goal.

So, now that the opportunity for Liverpool to bolster their defence has emerged, it's an option that they seriously need to take.

Liverpool are interested in signing El Hadji Malick Diouf from Brentford

Recently, left-back has emerged as a big problem for Liverpool.

Both Kostas Tsimikas and Milos Kerkez have failed to meet expectations with both players performing rather poorly.

Before the season properly kicked off, fans believed that midfield was going to be the main issue that the Reds would need to solve in January.

However, thanks to the recent displays put on show by the aforementioned duo, some now believe that a new left-back should be on top of their priority list.

Many different options have emerged but, recently, an update from Senegalese journalist Khadim Diakhate has linked the Reds with Brentford's El Hadji Malick Diouf.

"Transfer Market: Chelsea and Liverpool interested in El Hadji Malick Diouf after his arrival at Brentford," he wrote.

"Chelsea and Liverpool are interested in El Hadji Malick Diouf ahead of the next summer transfer window. According to our information, the two English clubs have already made contact with the agent of the Senegalese left-back.

"Having arrived at Brentford last summer, the Lion of the Teranga is already catching the eye of the Premier League's big clubs."

Liverpool must sign El Hadji Malick Diouf as their new left-back

Although Diouf may not have ended the season all that well with West Ham last term, his performances from earlier in the campaign proved that he had it in him to be an important player.

Obviously, he's still only 21 years old so there's plenty of time for him to improve but, he's already a solid left-back.

His attacking output is also fairly impressive as, whenever he gets the chance, he's always pushing up the pitch and trying to create chances.

For Iraola's system, he's literally the perfect full-back and, even though Kerkez was also seen that way, things just haven't quite clicked for the Hungarian at Liverpool this term.

Tsimikas' contract is going to expire at the end of the current season so, with no renewal yet in sight, he's going to have to be replaced soon anyway.

So, getting someone such as Diouf in during the January transfer window makes a lot of sense as it would allow him to get adjusted to life at Liverpool and to their system.

No price tag was mentioned in the tweet from Diakhate but, since the Bees spent £40 million on him in the summer, they'll at least want that back.