By Dominic King

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Liverpool are closing in on a surprise deal to make Shay Given their No 2 goalkeeper.

Given had been linked with a move to Doncaster earlier this summer but that switch failed to materialise and he has remained at Aston Villa, even though he has been told by Paul Lambert he has no future at the club.

However, Brendan Rodgers is aiming to bring in experienced back-up for Simon Mignolet, whom he brought into replace Pepe Reina in June, and has identified Given as being an ideal. Should talks go smoothly, a deal could be completed before the weekend.

Liverpool bound? Shay Given could arrive to provide back up for Simon Mignolet

Liverpool bound? Shay Given could arrive to provide back up for Simon Mignolet

Liverpool are aiming to be busy before the window closes and bolstering their defence is imperative, after Kolo Toure sustained a groin injury during the League Cup win over Notts County on Tuesday night.

They have resumed discussions with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday over a 7million move for Tiago Ilori, who has been on Liverpool's wanted list all summer.

Mamadou Sakho of Paris St Germain remains a more expensive alternative if terms for Ilori cannot be agreed, even though the French champions want to retain Sakho and Roma are also keen.

Options: Liverpool could move for Mamadou Sakho (right) if they miss out on Tiago Ilori (left)

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I wouldn't mind having Given as a backup and watching him in the cups if it also meant selling Brad Jones and getting his wages off/allowing him to move on somewhere he may play. I like Jones as a guy and he's made some awesome contributions in the last couple seasons, but he's not world class and if Mignolet were to get injured I wouldn't trust him as our number 1. - Taylor Russo== I would trust him a lot more than Given, he is way past it, saying that I doubt there's any truth in this story.

If this is true Liverpool are scraping the barrel.

Liverpool are giving off every signal that they are happy to be a mid table team and so are attracting mid table talent = so sad to see a great club in such decline

Does Liverpool and Given know about this ?

I wouldn't mind having Given as a backup and watching him in the cups if it also meant selling Brad Jones and getting his wages off/allowing him to move on somewhere he may play. I like Jones as a guy and he's made some awesome contributions in the last couple seasons, but he's not world class and if Mignolet were to get injured I wouldn't trust him as our number 1.

Our transfer business started very well with early signings of Kolo Toure, Aspas, Alberto and Mignolet. Then for two months we failed on every other targets with the exception of a loan signing of Cissokho. Getting Given who is 37 and being Villa's 3rd keeper is embarrassing. During the last couple of months we have lost many players with some out on loan. This was after Rodgers saying the squad is good and he was then looking to add some first team players. We got a loan 2nd choice LB and a Villa reject.

Waste of money but whatever. CB is a priority and we should sign both Ilori & Sakho & a winger... Probably just get Ilori and I suspect that'll be it.

Given should have gone to Liverpool instead of Man City....... ever since then his career has hit a downslide, and now, he would make a great back up keeper, with experience, so for free..........its a great option...............And Sakho would be a far better option than Illari, simply for having more experience and pace

Great news, I thought we were going to be stuck with a 3rd choice keeper sitting on 60000 a week for the remaining 3 years of his contract.

So long as we don't give him the 80k wages I heard he was earning at Villa, go for it. I hope we get Sakho as well, if we do our defense will be sorted for the next few seasons

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