West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis is ready to pull the trigger on a bid for Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert after describing the 33-year-old as a new car that just needs some petrol in it.
He could now however face competition from Tottenham who are also considering making a bid for the former Southampton striker.
Spurs Argentinian trainer Mauricio Pochettino rates the Liverpool striker highly from the time they spent together at St Marys, and with Emmanuel Adebayor set to join Aston Villa, and Roberto Soldado probably on his way back to Spain, Lambert could very well prove to be an excellent squad player to use while resting Harry Kane as well as a possible impact substitute.
Liverpool meanwhile will be looking to get back their £4.5 million they paid to Southampton last summer, and with Norwich also said to be interested should come close to recouping their initial investment.
West Brom however appear for the moment at least to be in the driving seat, with Pulis almost resigned to the fact he could lose top striker Saido Berahino to Tottenham, who see the 21-year-old England international as the perfect striker partner for Kane.
‘Rickie is available. Liverpool has made that known,’ said the West Brom head coach. ‘We’d be interested.
‘It’s very important that we get players who will score goals, Rickie’s got a great goal scoring record.
‘From what I can gather from people at Liverpool his fitness levels are very very good, and he is desperate to play football.
‘He didn’t play last year so it’s like bringing a brand new car out of the garage if we did sign him. Just putting a bit of petrol in it and letting it run.
