Who do Liverpool need to sign to retain the title? Keep up with all the Reds news with our free daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is ready to offer Andy Carroll a way back in at Anfield - as a squad member.

The England striker, currently on a season-long loan at West Ham, must accept he will be used as an impact player from the bench if he wants to re-ignite his career at the Anfield club he joined for £35million in January 2011.

The Mirror understands that talks will take place between manager and player in the coming weeks with a view to thrashing out a compromise if the Hammers confirm they intend to send Carroll back to Merseyside without making an offer for his permanent signature.

Click here to read our Steve Stammers on why buy Carroll should be the Irons' priority this summer.

The big Geordie, who scored twice at the weekend as West Ham beat West Brom but has only five goals in 21 appearances this season, will be told there can be no sulking or disrupting the squad - only a will to work hard and earn a starting place.

If Carroll agrees to such conditions, he will be welcomed back for pre-season training - and special work designed to increase his mobility and adapt him to the demands of Rodgers' high-energy passing game.

(Image: Steve Bardens)

The Reds manager has always insisted that Carroll's traditional-centre-forward style does not suit the system he has introduced, suggesting that he will be sold at the end of his year in east London.

But the 24-year-old has been so dogged by injuries, and the resulting loss of form, during the current campaign that it no longer seems likely interested clubs would be prepared to go anywhere near the original asking price of £18m.

It is a situation that Rodgers has been forced to address in recent weeks, and he is ready to offer Carroll an unlikely Anfield lifeline.