Borussia Dortmund are ready to bring back Nuri Sahin, as it becomes increasingly clear that Liverpool are trying to offload the on-loan Real Madrid player.
Sahin joined the Reds amid much fanfare, beating out the likes of Arsenal to his signature. However, the Turkish international has failed to adapt to the English Premier League, and with Brendan Rodgers preferring Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen, his chances of proving himself have further diminished.
With Rodgers having plenty of options now in central midfield, Liverpool are keen to let go of Sahin, and reduce their wage bill. Sahin earns around £70,000 a week ($110,000).
Dortmund, aware of the situation, have moved to bring their former player back to Germany, in a loan move until the end of the season, according to the Daily Mail.
Sahin would be open to a return to his old club as he looks to resurrect his career which has stalled alarmingly since making a move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2011.
Meanwhile, Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has termed the criticism endured by Luis Suarez for his handball goal as "laughable."
Suarez has come for much criticism after scoring Liverpool's second goal against Mansfield Town, in the third round of the FA Cup, with the aid of his hand, a goal which eventually proved to be the winner.
Fowler, though, has come to Suarez's defense, saying the striker was not even remotely to blame.
"If he has to tell the referee that he handled, do the defenders have to go and tell the ref every time they foul a striker? It's laughable, it really is," Fowler said.
"Seriously, Suarez did nothing wrong, and I'm amazed at the reaction. I honestly don't even believe he handled deliberately. The ball is smashed right at his hand from very close range, and he'd need some reactions to have calculated that one.
"You can see by the way his arm bounces above his shoulder after the ball hits him that he isn't braced for it. That tells you something. I think the way he then knocked the ball in the net he assumed it would be ruled out, but if there's any criticism, it should be at the referee, not the player."
Several critics cited Fowler's own fairplay incident when he told the referee he had not been fouled, after Liverpool were awarded a spotkick against Arsenal in 1997.
"It's amusing that they use me as an example to criticise Suarez, when I was always getting slaughtered in my career," Fowler added.
"He's the one now, isn't he? Everything he does, he'll get criticised for it when somebody else wouldn't even raise a murmur. I think only (Mario) Balotelli gets the same treatment, but sometimes that's what happens when you play on the edge.
"I think the Mansfield manager and his players summed it up when they said Suarez was just doing his job, and they'd have done exactly the same thing. So would I. It was handball, but instinctive and not deliberate cheating, and you can't criticise him for that."