Liverpool keen on £18m Chelsea full-back

Liverpool are reportedly considering a move to sign Chelsea wide man Yuri Zhirkov and would make an offer for the Russian if indeed Carlo Ancelotti wished to offload the former CSKA Moscow man this summer.

Having arrived at Stamford Bridge for a fee of £18m the 27 year old has failed to secure a regular starting spot and has been linked with a Blue exit for some time.

Kenny Dalglish is looking for a new left back and Damien Comolli is apparently an admirer of the attack minded left sided player but the Anfield side will not offer over £10m for the Chelsea man and the success of any deal would depend greatly on whether the West London club is willing to accept substantially less than the fee they paid for Zhirkov.

Liverpool have had to use Glen Johnson as a make shift left back in recent weeks and seem unlikely to keep Emiliano Insua and Paul Konchesky who are both currently out on loan. There is a lack of natural wide players at the Merseyside club who are now actively looking for new additions to resolve the issue.

Ancelotti doesn't appear to rate the player too highly, having handed him just 16 Premier League starts and the player himself has spoken of his desire to play regularly and his intention to leave the club if he didn't begin to see more Chelsea action.

Yuri Zhirkov rose in prominence following his performances at Euro 2008 where he was instrumental in helping Russia to the Semi-Finals which in turn led to his big money move to Chelsea but the excellent crosser has failed to oust Florent Malouda from the left wing spot and was never likely to replace the consistent Ashley Cole in the left back role.

Source: Caught Offside

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