Reds line up Defour

Roy Hodgson is ready to make highly-rated Belgium star Steven Defour a replacement for Javier Mascherano.

The new Liverpool manager was due to watch the Standard Liege midfielder in action last night, as the Belgian League got underway.

And even though a late return from Macedonia following the Reds' Europa League tie with Rabotnicki scuppered those plans, Hodgson still had the much-fancied player watched.

Defour became one of the hottest properties in Europe a year ago, with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton, Juventus and Real Madrid all monitoring his progress.

But a serious foot injury ruled him out for much of the previous campaign, prompting United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to write to him to offer a personal good luck message.

Now he is back in action, and Hodgson is prepared to bid up to £12million to steal a march on his rivals and bring the 22-year-old to Anfield to fill the void that will be left by Mascherano's departure.

The Argentina skipper has been in talks with Inter Milan and has told the club he wants to go.

Hodgson bluntly spelt out to the midfielder that he will leave on Liverpool's terms, which means the Merseyside club lining up a replacement first.

And he sees Defour as filling that role, as a dynamic box-to-box player who can give the Reds a more attacking air.

Hodgson has scoured Europe for a suitable replacement for Mascherano, and has made enquiries with Juventus about Christian Poulsen, with the Italian club's director Giuseppe Marotta yesterday revealing an approach.

The new manager has also shown interest in West Ham's Scott Parker, but with the London club insisting he will not be sold under any circumstances, and with Hodgson ruling out a move for Villa's Stilyan Petrov, Defour tops his list.

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