Liverpool must offload flop Mario Balotelli before they line up a double swoop for Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Romero

• Liverpool must offload Mario Balotelli before they buy
• Balotelli could go to Sampdoria, clearing the way for Brendan Rodgers to sign Sergio Romero and Gonzalo Higuain
• Liverpool may also sell Lucas to Inter Milan in January
• Hugo Lloris is set for a £25m switch to Paris Saint-German in the summer
• Arsenal would need to fork out over £25m for William Carvalho 

By Rob Shepherd for MailOnline

Published: 17:57 EST, 10 January 2015 | Updated: 05:14 EST, 11 January 2015

Mario Balotelli is set to become the catalyst in a complicated January transfer window jigsaw for Liverpool.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has to sell the Italian striker or at least trade to buy, and this is how it could work...

Balotelli could be offloaded back to Italy to Sampdoria, and that way Liverpool could then lure goalkeeper Sergio Romero to Anfield.

Mario Balotelli is central to Liverpool's activity in the transfer market this month

Liverpool could splash £30million on Napoli's Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain

Then Liverpool may splash out £30million to sign striker Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli given that Rafael Benitez has just signed Sampdoria striker Manolo Gabbiadini.

Liverpool might also offload Brazilian midfielder Lucas to Napoli, Inter or even Sampdoria.

The Reds know they need a goalscorer, and they toyed with idea of taking Fernando Torres on loan from Chelsea, but the Spain striker preferred to goal back to his boyhood club Atletico Madrid.

Liverpool also wanted Bayern Munich's Xherdan Shaqiri, but the Swiss star chose to join Inter on loan, as did Arsenal's Lukas Podolski.

Brendan Rodgers gives update on Sturridge injury and Balotelli...

Liverpool's Brazilian midfielder Lucas could be on his way to Italy this month with Inter leading the interest

Xherdan Shaqiri snubbed a move to the Premier League to join Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan

Before the window, Rodgers insisted that he would do no business - maybe he was just trying to keep the fees down.

The fact is that Liverpool are desperate to bring two or three players in and reshape their squad. The activity around Anfield could be frenetic in the coming fortnight or so.

Spot Shaqiri! Xherdan gets mobbed as he arrives in Milan from...

Manchester City centre back Matija Nastasic is Schalke bound, but West Ham may yet move in for the Serbian defender if Winston Reid refuses new terms.

Reid is out of contract in the summer and eyeing a move to Arsenal or Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is set to quit White Hart Lane in the summer and move to Paris Saint-Germain in a £25million deal.

Matija Nastasic looks set for a move to Schalke, but West Ham may yet make a late move for the defender

On the other side of north London, Arsenal hope to sign Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder William Carvalho within the next fortnight. The fee for 22-year-old Carvalho would be in excess of£25million.

As first revealed by Football Grapevine months ago, Manchester City's money men are doing the maths to see if they can afford to sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona in the summer.

A massive part of the challenge is to make sure City comply with UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which would also prove a major impediment for Chelsea if they moved for Messi, as has been mooted.

The £500million overall cost of Messi could potentially be sorted by City, not just because of their oil rich Arab backers, as part of an agreement with Nike and, down the line, MLS side New York City.

Manchester City are working out a way to sign Lionel Messi from Barcelona

Barcelona prepare for Atletico test amid rumours of Messi unrest

Dani Osvaldo is likely to be offered back to Southampton this week from his loan spell at Inter Milan, and in turn the Saints could offer the player to other clubs.

Sunderland, among others, would be interested.

Liverpool, meanwhile, may offload Rickie Lambert during this transfer window with West Brom, Crystal Palace and Hull all interested. 

Rickie Lambert could be heading for a Liverpool exit with West Brom, Crystal Palace and Hull interested

I am hearing...

That some delegates at a conference of football administrators in Lisbon this Tuesday to discuss 'third-party ownership' of players will raise the situation of Frank Lampard's confused status with Manchester City.

City have airbrushed previous claims that Lampard was on loan from New York City and now say he signed for them for the whole season.

But those who take time to analyse the chronology of events have noted that according to MLS there is an issue about an initial contractual agreement between Lampard and City Football Group (CFG).

Frank Lampard's contract with New York City has been the subject of much controversy

Lampard in action for Manchester City during their draw at Everton on Saturday

CFG it seems is a company owned by the same Arab owners who control both Manchester City and New York City.

I am hearing there are some at next week's Lisbon summit that might raise the question of whether in actual fact Lampard's status with City is similar to that of Carlos Tevez at West Ham during the 2006-07 season.

West Ham had to pay a fine then massive compensation after it was ruled they had wrongly registered Tevez on the basis that he was actually owned by a third-party company, which is outlawed by the Premier League and FA.

Recent legislation has stated that FIFA no longer recognise third-party ownership of players.

But there remains a big dispute about this issue since such a system is how many clubs in South America and poorer clubs in Europe are able to survive.

Carlos Tevez joined West Ham in 2006, but the club were fined as he was owned by a third-party company

The conference will be heated, with legal and financial representatives arguing against so called global football law.

The complex Lampard case could well be highlighted.

If it is and further investigation of the deal is compelled then there could many outcomes.

Should City, who strangely keep changing their story over the issue, be found to have breached any regulations then the club could possibly face sanctions.

Those sanctions would potentially range from fines to point deductions, and the latter scenario could impact on the title race and Champions League places.

I understand at least one Premier League club is set to ask the Premier League to further investigate.

I am also hearing...

A top level Crystal Palace official rang an estate agent in the Beckenham area (where the club's training base is) to find two short-term rental flats.

Not for new boss Alan Pardew but two new loan signings.

One of them is set to be Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo. 

Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo could be set for a loan move to Crystal Palace

Luis Figo insists Cristiano Ronaldo should lift the Ballon d 'Or at FIFA's Zurich headquarters on Monday.

Ronaldo is favourite with the bookmakers with German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer behind him and Lionel Messi likely to come third. 

Former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Figo, 42, accepts that Ronaldo and Portugal disappointed at the World Cup finals in Brazil last summer.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of three finalists for FIFA's Ballon d'Or award on Monday in Zurich

But Figo, who now heads up a football networking website similar to Linkedin in called Network 90, feels the phenomenal year Ronaldo enjoyed, highlighted by leading Real Madrid to their 10th Champions League victory in May, means the award should be his.

Figo, who twice won the award, said: 'I know Germany won the World Cup and there are those who think Neuer, who is such a great keeper and was a big part of their success, should be recognised while the World Cup wasn't so good for Cristiano.

'But for me it has to be Cristiano. He's had a fantastic year all the way through for Real.'

That leads to the obvious question. Who does Figo think is the better player - Ronaldo or Messi?

Luis Figo believes his Portuguese compatriot should win the award ahead of Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer

'It's the impossible question,' he said. 'They are both so good. It's like comparing caviar and truffle.

'Back when I was playing there were usually 10 strong contenders every year. I think the overall level of top players was stronger. I recent years it has pretty much a question of Ronaldo or Messi.' 

LUIS FIGO'S TEAM OF 2014 

I-Say

I was having a coffee with a senior football administrator the other day and he argued the case for a winter break.

His proposed break would have started last week after the FA Cup third round games and last for at least 12 days. 

To clear the decks in the fixture calendar, the plan would be to scrap FA Cup replays.

Clubs would also have to be contractually obliged not to play any form of matches during the break period.

I tend to agree and don't think the loss of replays would undermine the FA Cup. It could even see a few more shocks and recapture some romanticism.

Certainly players would benefit from a break in the schedule mentally as much as physically.

Raheem Sterling has been given some time off by Brendan Rodgers after a busy first half of the season

And that might have a positive effect in future for the national team when it comes to tournaments.

Liverpool have taken the decision to allow Raheem Sterling a personal break in Jamaica right now.

The 20 year old has had a hectic year or so and it would seem a wise move by the club. Liverpool will hope that when Sterling returns he will have shaken off signs of fatigue and also that his mind will be suitably cleared to sign a new contract.

BTW

One thing is clear about the sordid saga of Ched Evans.

He has been given some awful advice. If he has actually paid PR people to construct a 'campaign' to re-establish himself as a professional footballer then he has been ripped off. His legal counsel would seem questionable too.

After coming out of prison on licence he should have stayed as best he could under the radar, displayed genuine remorse, and sought to rebuild his life and career from the bottom again or sought permission to find a club abroad.

Ched Evans' search for a new club continues after his move to Oldham fell through

He should have gone out of his way to shun the spotlight and eased himself into the game in the manner some other players have managed to in similar circumstances.

But with a website stridently still claiming his innocence and it would seem some 'supporters' with questionable attitudes towards the victim in this case, he has merely courted publicity to such a fever pitch that it's hard to see how he can actually find a professional club wiling to employ him, certainly until the outcome of his appeal against conviction.

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