Liverpool are in talks over the possible £16m signing of the Ukraine forward Yevhen Konoplyanka as Brendan Rodgers aims to secure a major transfer before 's deadline.

The Liverpool manager revealed after Tuesday's 4-0 Merseyside derby rout of Everton that he hoped to land a "major signing" following the frustrations of missing out on Mohamed Salah, who went to Chelsea, and no arrivals in this window.

That target is Konoplyanka, the versatile Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk forward who scored against England at Wembley during the World Cup qualifying campaign. Konoplyanka has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Premier League since impressing at Euro 2012, with Manchester United and Arsenal among his suitors. Liverpool hope to conclude negotiations swiftly for the 24-year-old having been gazumped by Chelsea over Salah and as they look to build on the momentum of their emphatic derby victory.

"Hopefully we'll do something over the next few days," said Rodgers after the derby. "Hopefully we can have a major signing before the window shuts and if we can do that, we will be set up for the remaining games."

Konoplyanka's father, Oleg, said on Wednesday he hoped that a deal could be finalised. "I do not want to say specifically but the information about a transfer to the English club is true," he told the Ukrainian media outlet Tribuna. "He can change club later this week. We do not consider offers from Ukraine."

It was felt Liverpool needed greater reinforcements towards the back end of the team with four defenders – Daniel Agger, José Enrique, Mamadou Sakho and Glen Johnson – and the defensive midfielder Lucas Leiva out injured. However, having kept a second successive clean sheet, the centre-back Martin Skrtel believes they are strong enough defensively to cope with their injuries.

"We have been working every single day on the training pitch to try to improve our defence," he said. "It's not only about the keeper or the back four, it's about the whole team defending better. Last night was a big step forward.

"It's always nice to keep a clean sheet but the most important thing is always to win. I would rather we won 6-4 than drew 0-0. With the FA Cup win[against Bournemouth] too, that's two clean sheets in a row and hopefully we can make it three at West Brom on Sunday.

"If we keep performing like that then we can finish in the top four. There is a four-point difference between us and Everton now, and there aren't too many games left to be played before the end of the season."

With Lucas out for probably another six weeks Steven Gerrard has been asked to play as the deep-lying midfielder and he put in a masterclass against Everton, scoring the opening goal.

"His influence in these games has been wonderful but it was equally as good [on Tuesday] albeit from that deeper position," Skrtel said. "You saw his responsibility in the role, organising the team on the field and scoring a goal."