Ben Smith
Stoke City have made a £5m bid for Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam.
Manager Tony Pulis is hopeful a deal can be completed in the next 48 hours after the Scot was made available for transfer by Brendan Rodgers.
Adam, 26, had been keen to stay at Anfield to fight for his place but the Reds want to raise funds to bid for Fulham forward Clint Dempsey.
Jay Spearing is also expected to leave, albeit on loan, with Wolves and Bolton interested in the midfielder.
Adam has only made 37 appearances for the Reds, scoring two goals, since making a £9m move from Blackpool in July 2011.
And it appears he does not feature in the future plans of ex-Swansea boss Rodgers, who replaced Kenny Dalglish at the end of last season.
Rodgers admitted he made a summer enquiry for Dempsey as he looks to reshape his squad and the unsettled United States international has not featured in either of Fulham’s opening two Premier League games.
Dempsey, who scored 23 goals for the Cottagers last season, told Fulham boss Martin Jol that he no longer wanted to play for the west London club.
Speaking at a media conference on Wednesday before Liverpool’s Europa League tie against Hearts, Rodgers was unwilling to comment on the futures of Adam and youth team graduate Spearing.
“We have had a number of enquiries about some of our players,” said the Northern Irishman.
“I have been open and up front with all the players. You can see from Sunday’s game [against Manchester City] our spirit is very strong in the group, but the reality is players want to play.
“Everyone knows where they stand at this moment. One or two of them may have decisions to make as to whether they want to be a squad player or play regularly somewhere else.”
Stoke manager Pulis admitted, after his team’s 0-0 draw against Arsenal, he wanted to freshen up his squad before the end of the transfer window.
