When you're racing away to the Premier League title in breath-taking fashion, it's understandable that Liverpool had a rather low-key role during the January transfer window.

Aside from bringing in Takumi Minamino for just £7.25m from RB Salzburg, the Reds kept in the shadows and allowed some of the other sides in the top-flight to take centre-stage.

But one man who Jurgen Klopp's side were linked with, was Real Madrid's Isco. According to Spanish publication El Desmarque, the Liverpool boss wanted to sign the £45m-rated man to boost his team's creativity, and provide a different option.

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Obviously, a transfer failed to materialise before the end of the deadline, and the Reds don't seem to be any worse off because of it - since the beginning of this month, only Atletico Madrid have stopped them from winning.

But in an impressive display even in defeat on Wednesday night, Isco showed what he could have brought to the table had Klopp managed to get the Spain international in.

Lining up on the right-hand side in Madrid's Champions League last 16 clash against Manchester City, the 27-year-old could quite easily have slipped into the shadows - after all, he has predominantly been a play-maker in the number ten role.

Instead, he rose to the challenge superbly, finishing the game with a 7.6 match rating - the joint-highest of any Madrid player on the pitch. He came up with the opening goal for Madrid, and his underlying numbers really point to someone who embraced the defensive side of things too.

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As per Sofascore, aside from making one tackle (the same as Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane combined), he won an impressive six of his seven ground duels. It wasn't the performance of a player who simply wanted to do his best work whilst on the ball, and rather, someone who was quite happy to work hard for the team and give Dani Carvajal some much-needed protection at full-back.

And as El Desmarque claimed, Klopp was keen on bringing him in for his creativity. And he displayed that too, managing an 86% pass accuracy and providing one key pass and accurate long ball too.

Aside from wanting to get on the ball, Isco showed his willingness to fully accept the 'dirty side' of the game. And that is something Klopp would have appreciated, and made him a potentially shrewd addition to his line-up.

Meanwhile, Liverpool's chase for this striker is "in Jurgen Klopp's hands".