Darren Bent is reportedly close to sealing a loan move to Liverpool in January after falling out of favour with Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert.

The striker, 28, has suffered from an injury hit season but has found first team opportunities hard to come by even when he has been fit to play, with new boss Paul Lambert seeming to prefer other options.

Despite rumours of a fall out, Lambert insists he has no problem with Bent:

“Darren is fine. There's nothing at all. The most important thing is Aston Villa Football Club.”

Strapped for cash and heavily reliant on Luis Suarez for goals, Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool could see the opportunity to bring in a proven Premier League goal scorer on loan as one too good to be missed.

“If we can get in the quality in the final third we need to support what we have, then there will be enough to keep the team moving forward.” Rodgers told The Metro.

A stumbling block for the Reds however may be Villa’s reluctance to allow a player that they spent a club record £22million on two seasons ago to go out on Loan.