While Liverpool are prepared to let Joe Cole go to Tottenham Hotspur, Kenny Dalglish is looking to bring in two players to Anfield.

The Merseyside club are close to signing Nacional's 6ft 4in centre-half, Sebastián Coates, who excelled in Uruguay's Copa América campaign.

A deal to bring Craig Bellamy back to Anfield also looks likely. The move that would take Bellamy back to Liverpool, where he spent a single season, gained momentum when Manchester City indicated they would be prepared to settle the striker's £90,000-a-week contract to allow him to leave immediately.

Meanwhile, Alberto Aquilani has, as expected, gone to Milan on a season‑long loan with a view to a permanent transfer.