Liverpool's quiet window puts the burden squarely on Daniel Sturridge (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

It was a fairly uneventful deadline day for most Premier League clubs and it was especially dull at Anfield, where Liverpool's transfer activity extended only to sending a few youngsters out on loan and failing to persuade Rickie Lambert to join Aston Villa. Nobody arrived and nobody of any significance departed, either. It was all very predictable and while fans may have been disappointed, few will have been surprised.

Brendan Rodgers has been saying for weeks that it would be a quiet window for the Reds, although that didn't stop the rumour mill from churning on in somewhat ludicrous fashion. Surely nobody was buying into the Karim Benzema/Ezekiel Lavezzi rumours, though? Anyone who was taken in by such fanciful links to superstar players on superstar wages at superstar clubs will have been distinctly underwhelmed when Liverpool did eventually try to make a move for a striker, only to be rebuffed by ... erm ... Burnley.

Rodgers' attempt to secure a deal for Danny Ings did seem to come somewhat out of the blue, but in fairness his interest in the 22-year-old didn't just materialise overnight. Ings was heavily scouted by Liverpool last season when he was lighting up the Championship before suffering a serious knee injury that also caused him to miss the start of this campaign. He's performed well since his return to fitness, and obviously Rodgers felt he could offer more than Lambert, Mario Balotelli or Fabio Borini. It's clear that none of that trio fit well into Liverpool's current setup, although Borini can at least fulfil some of the requirements for the lone striker's role in the new 3-4-2-1 formation. His lack of games tells its own story, however.

Lambert rejecting a last-day move to Aston Villa will have shocked absolutely nobody, except perhaps his namesake Paul, the Villa boss. Rickie's "dream move" may not have worked out as well as he'd have hoped (so far), but he's very rarely been left out of the matchday squad and Liverpool still have a lot to play for this season, so Lambert may yet have a part to play over the coming months. Besides, who in their right mind is going to give up a place at their boyhood club to sign for Aston Villa given the state they are currently in? Lambert has played most of his career outside of the top flight and by signing for Villa he would be running the risk of returning there in a few months. Of course he turned it down; he'd have been crazy not to.

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