Liverpool Transfers: 4 Low-Spend Options for the Reds in the January Window

Liverpool FC are in need of reinforcements as they look to push on for a Champions League place over the second half of the season, and the January transfer window provides the ideal opportunity to beef up the squad a little in terms of both quality and quantity.

While the Reds spent heavily in the summer bringing in seven new players, only five of them have contributed to the majority of the season, while arguably only two—Craig Bellamy and Jose Enrique—have had the desired impact in an acceptable number of matches thus far.

With that in mind, along with the shortcomings the Reds currently have on the field, here are four players who are likely to be available for transfer during this window and who would help improve the overall squad.

The adjective "low spend," of course, is pretty relative. But given the amount splashed out on the likes of Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing in the previous window, all these players should fall into the category of "a reasonable amounts of money."

Thanks for reading and feel free to share your thoughts below.

David "Junior" Hoilett, Blackburn Rovers

Winger/Second forward

16 appearances, three goals and four assists (2011-12 Premier League only)

Starting with a player who plays for the Premier League's bottom side, Blackburn Rovers, might not seem like the best way forward to improve Liverpool's squad. But in Junior Hoilett, or David Hoilett to give his actual name, Rovers have a talented wide player who is fast improving each year.

For an attacking winger with an eye for both goals and assists, Liverpool could do much worse than target Hoilett.

His skill on the ball and pace mark him out as a real danger in the final third, while he can play equally comfortably on both flanks or even as a second forward when needed.

Hoilett has an abundance in confidence in running at his marker, and he is yet to really establish himself in terms of consistency—remember, he is only 21 years old and playing for Blackburn.

In addition, Hoilett is out of contract at the end of this season and boss Steve Kean has already admitted that Rovers will have to consider any serious bids for him as they look to avoid losing him for a reduced amount of compensation at the end of the campaign.

A £7 million fee should be more than ample to prise him away from Rovers—giving Liverpool almost double the amount in any resale fee straight away.

Vagner "Love" Silva de Souza, CSKA Moscow

Striker

25 appearances, nine goals (2011-12 Russian Premier Division only)

While CSKA Moscow's leading frontman Seydou Doumbia might be grabbing the headlines for his goal-getting antics, he is currently preparing for Ivory Coast's African Cup of Nations campaign which gets underway later this month.

Though Liverpool fans might prefer his name at the top of this slide, CSKA have given no particular indication that the striker is available for sale, and he would be sure to cost a great sum if he was.

Vagner Love, on the other hand, is absolutely available.

A little over a month ago, CSKA bosses admitted they would allow the Brazilian to leave at the end of the first half of the season, as the Russian league undergoes a transformation to bring it in line with other major European domestic divisions.

Love has since been the subject of a reported €6 million bid from Flamengo, which was rejected with CSKA holding out for closer to €10 million.

While this wouldn't particularly be a great deal for the Reds for that amount of money, given Love's tendency to fancy another move elsewhere after a year or so, a loan move until the end of the season could benefit all parties.

Love would get the chance to leave Russia as he wants, CSKA would protect their asset by keeping him playing, and Liverpool would get a forward who certainly knows how to finish.

Though he has scored only nine this term, Love has netted 79 goals in 158 league matches for CSKA.

Lucas Barrios, Borussia Dortmund

Striker

Nine appearances, zero goals (2011-12 Bundesliga only)

Despite notching 16 goals en route to the Bundesliga title last season, Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios has been unable to hold down a starting spot for his side Borussia Dortmund this season, with Polish forward Robert Lewandowski preferred instead.

Barrios has amassed just three starts for Dortmund this term and is yet to score in any competition.

He has, however, been a regular goal-getter for his club for the previous couple of seasons and is a hard-working, technically-gifted attacker who is comfortable with either foot.

According to German media outlet Bild, Dortmund would be willing to let him go for around €12 million if he wanted to leave, but Liverpool could perhaps be confident of landing him for even less, given his lack of game time this season.

Ryad Boudebouz, Sochaux

Advanced midfielder

18 appearances, five goals, three assists (2011-12 Ligue 1 only)

Finally, a rumoured long-term Liverpool target in Ryad Boudebouz.

The Sochaux attacker, who plays his international football with Algeria, was said to have been a target of the Reds both last summer and the one previous, and as recently as November was quoted as saying he had spoken with representatives of the club, but he remains happy to play his football in France.

Sochaux finished fifth in the French top flight last season but are languishing in the relegation zone at the turn of the year, which may spark Boudebouz's desire to get back to playing at the top end of a league as quickly as possible.

Boudebouz leads his club's statistics in both goals and assists in the league campaign this season, highlighting his importance to them, which may raise his price somewhat. But as a creative and skillful winger, he would certainly be worth the money if the Reds could prise him away for around the £10-12 million mark.

Capable of playing all the way across the attacking midfield spectrum, Boudebouz would fit in well with Liverpool's preference of changing formations to suit any given game.

Regular readers of Bleacher Report, and specifically the Liverpool section, will know that plenty of names have already been thrown into the mix by other esteemed writers.

Some are fanciful, some are good shouts, some are downright weird or belong in the dream world of FIFA or Pro Evo on your preferred games console.

Here are two who have been mentioned who would, in my humble opinion, improve Liverpool's chances of securing a top four finish and would also fit in the category of being a relatively low-spend:

Xherdan Shaqiri of FC Basle in Switzerland has been on the radar of teams throughout Europe for several seasons now and it is clearly getting to the time when the playmaker will make his move to a bigger club, having outgrown his domestic league.

Julian Draxler has been getting plenty of headlines this season and it is easy to see why. If his price at the moment is around the £12 million mark it would be no surprise to see teams looking to swoop now or in the summer. Should he be available for less than double figures (of millions)...I would imagine plenty of Reds fans would happily join me in wheelbarrowing the young lad from Germany to Anfield.

Feel free to post your other low-spend solutions for Liverpool below and I'll add them into this section.