The English club are desperate to strengthen their attack, and are willing to part with quite a lot of money to get Karim Benzema from Real Madrid.
Liverpool's strikers are not having the best of times this year. Daniel Sturridge has played just three league matches thanks to injury, and scored just one goal. Mario Balotelli is goalless in 12 league appearances. Rickie Lambert has two in 17 games. Raheem Sterling has done an good job as an emergency striker, scoring three goals in seven matches playing in a central role, but he's not really a striker in the long run.
It comes as little surprise, then, that Liverpool has been linked with seemingly every striker under the sun this month. There's been a long 'will they or won't they' back-and-forth about them bringing Divock Origi back early from his loan at French side Lille. They did recall Jordon Ibe from Derby County, but like Sterling he's really a winger. Among the various rumors attaching Liverpool to other players, there's also been a long flirtation with one that stands out from the crowd: Real Madrid star Karim Benzema.
The Frenchman, who is seems to be eternally linked with moves away from the Bernabeu, will reportedly soon be the subject of a £38 million bid from Liverpool. The idea of such a transfer is actually rather fascinating, albeit one that seems to have long odds for a variety of reasons.
Why it makes sense
On a tactical and technical level, Benzema fits Liverpool like a glove. Not only is he just a very good striker in general, but his ability to hold up the ball, distribute, and play off wingers and attacking midfielders perfectly suits the kind of attacking football Brendan Rodgers pushes his side to play. He's also a better finisher and more consistent form-wise than any other striker Liverpool has, which would be a huge boon for them down the stretch.
For Benzema, Liverpool would also be a new challenge that he could be seeking. As part of a club that's always looking for the latest and greatest thing, he has to wonder how secure his place in the side is as a 27-year old striker. After five and a half seasons in Spain, he's also won everything he possibly can at Real Madrid, so moving to a new country with new challenges could be something he wants. Liverpool would certainly offer him that, and even has a French national teammate of his in the squad in Mamadou Sakho.
Why it doesn't make sense
First of all, the cost. WIth Liverpool already under UEFA investigation for possible Financial Fair Play violations, adding another big-money transfer to their season's tally doesn't seem like the best idea in the world. They'd also have to find a way to offload Balotelli to help make any sense from financial or squad structure standpoints, and good luck with that.
They've also got Sturridge coming back from injury soon (though him staying healthy has been a trick this season), and looking more long term Liverpool have long term deals with Sturridge, Balotelli (for now), and Origi, who is considered one of the brightest striker prospects at his age. Adding Benzema to that mix would give Rodgers a headache when it comes to filling out his lineups, as he typically only uses one striker and that's an awful lot of talent to figure out how to split the minutes between.
Also, why would Real sell Benzema? They don't have a ready-made replacement for him -- though they have so much attacking talent they could probably find a way to make do -- and it's far too late in the window now to find someone to replace him, even with their unreal spending power. Strikers that fit Real's profile just aren't easy to come by in the January window, when most teams would rather add to their squad rather than sell their best players.
Likelihood it happens
This is a fun transfer to think about, since it makes so much sense for Liverpool to at least try to do. There's way too many stumbling blocks to getting it done, though, so we have to give this one a 2 out of 10.
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