I declare Silly Season open!

With the arrival of the first Sunday of the transfer window the silly season is now officially open. Expect Liverpool to be linked with a host of players who are as likely to be playing for us in February as Xabi Alonso.

So far we have been linked with Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Rafael Van der Vaart, Maxi Rodriguez, Arda Turan, Milan Jovanovic, Ivan Gonzalez, Victor Moses, Emile Heskey and Vasil Torosidis.

There appears to be substance in the rumours about Rodriguez. The Argentinian winger is a close friend of Torres from their time together at Atletico and with Mascherano, his international teammate and captain. He is out of favour at Atletico and out of contract in the summer so a loan move with the option to sign him in the summer would appear to be an excellent opportunity for Liverpool and the player. At 29 (yesterday), he is not one for the future but could add some much needed quality on the flanks in the remainder of this season and possibly next.

I expect this one to happen and look forward to it.

I understand there is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the Sun’s claims that Liverpool will be signing Ruud Van Nistelrooy on loan. This is typical media bullshit. Van Nistelrooy is 33 years old, would want sky-high wages and plays in a completely different style to Torres. Rafa has even stated he has no interest in the player so this one is not going to happen.

I also consider it highly unlikely that Rafa would bring in an experienced forward who would potentially restrict the progress of Ngog and, if kept beyond this season, of Nemeth. For that reason I would also discount Liverpool’s reported interest in Standard Liege’s 28-year old Serbian forward Milan Jovanovic.

I can’t see Heskey rejoining us. I thought he would have been a good signing in the 2009 January transfer window but he joined Villa instead. A year on, a can’t see Villa selling to us and with the player turning 32 this month, he is a less attractive prospect. He is also a wuss who lacked the bottle to make the most of his talent during his time at Anfield and his goalscoring record is unimpressive.

Van der Vaart is another player linked with us. I can’t see this one happening. Despite falling down the pecking order at Real Madrid, Van der Vaart is a Dutch international who is soon to turn 27 and still has a lot to offer. Therefore, Real would want a decent fee for him. He is a similar type of player to Alberto Aquilani on whom we have recently spent £20m so I really don’t see any truth in this rumour.

Speculation linking us with Greek full-back Vasil Torosidis sounds more credible. Clearly our scouts have been in Greece recently to watch Kyrgiakos. Unlike the latter, Torosidis is just 24 and is a player with his best years ahead of him. We do need cover for Johnson at right-back and players from Greece generally don’t command high fees. Assuming that Liverpool’s interest in the player is genuine, if Olympiakos are prepared to deal for between £1.5-3.5m, this could happen.

We regularly snap up youngsters from the lower divisions so the interest in Victor Moses from Crystal Palace sounds feasible. After we signed Jesus (Joaquin Fernandez) in the summer, it makes sense that Moses should follow.

I know little about Malaga’s Ivan Gonzalez but I’m not keen simply because the last player we signed from Spain called Gonzalez was Mark and the last defender we signed from Malaga was Josemi. Enough said.

Arda Turan’s CV looks promising although, having played exclusively in Turkey, he has never been tested in one of the biggest European Leagues. His International record is pretty good. I wonder how much the current speculation emanates from the player himself after he stated: “I want to play in major leagues and my dream team is Liverpool”. He has been likened to Lionel Messi in terms of his playing style but can also play on the left wing so you would have to wonder where he would play if Rodriguez joined as expected. One to watch.

In terms of exits, the chances of Voronin and Dossena going hinge on whether buyers can be found who will offer them high enough wages. If the club can recoup some cash on either, I’m certain they will be offloaded. For understandable reasons, Rafa gave Voronin a second chance at the club this season but the Ukranian was so bad he was actually allowed to go on holiday during the Christmas period as the manager had no use for him.

Potentially our most saleable out of favour player is Ryan Babel. If we sold him in this transfer window we would certainly take a loss. From a business perspective, it would be better to keep him, try to develop him and sell him at a time when we can optimise his transfer value (for example, if he gave a good showing in this summer’s World Cup). From a practical point of view, if his sale could generate the cash to recruit a player who could add value on the pitch, it would be worth taking a loss on the dickhead.

Fiorentina are said to be interested so we will have to wait and see.

The priorities have not changed massively since the summer. We needed a winger, a right-back and a striker then. Now we need wide midfielders/wingers with pace and quality for both wings and cover for both left and right-back. I can see the logic of not recruiting a striker given the promise Ngog has shown but you have to consider the scenario that if Torres was injured for a big game (as happened in the first half of the season), would Ngog alone be enough? I would rather have another proven striker in reserve.

Insua has shown promise but also vulnerability this season. While he deserves future opportunities at the club, it is not ideal for him to be the first choice left-back. Aurelio has been shocking this campaign and Dossena is a defensive liability. I would like to see us sign a player to be first choice left-back with Insua providing back-up. We also need an Arbeloa-type back-up for Glenn Johnson at right-back. Degen is useless and Kelly would fit the bill if he wasn’t injured.