Paco Alcacer Spain
Liverpool are ready to make a move for Valencia and Spain striker Paco AlcacerReuters

Brendan Rodgers, in his quest to land a striker who can find the back of the net frequently, has identified Paco Alcacer as that perfect candidate with Liverpool ready to match the Valencia man's release clause.

With the Mario Balotelli experiment looking like it has gone bust, Rodgers is keen to add a striker to his ranks in the January transfer window, someone who can give Liverpool that extra cutting edge up front, something they have lacked quite a bit this season.

Daniel Sturridge has pretty much missed the entire campaign so far with injury, and with Luis Suarez now playing his trade with the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar at Barcelona, Liverpool have looked like a tiger without a tooth or 40.

Plenty of strikers have been linked, but the January transfer window is a tricky window to try and sign marquee targets.

Rodgers is doing his best to try and cut short the loan deal for Divock Origi at Lille, but he has also reportedly set his sights on Alcacer, who has been making waves with Valencia over the last season or so.

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Alcacer, who has give goals and four assists in 15 La Liga games this season, has stalled on signing a new contract with Valencia, according to Marca, which has naturally led to suggestions the 21-year-old could leave the La Liga club.

The striker's current contract has a £14 million release clause, which Liverpool should have no problems triggering, if Rodgers is convinced Alcacer is the answer to his goalscoring problems.

It will be interesting to see if Rodgers does see Alcacer as worth taking a punt on, considering the manager recently admitted he needs to sign established stars to take Liverpool forward, especially after Steven Gerrard announced this season would be his last at Anfield.

"The model at this football club is clear, we want to take young players and develop them into world-class ones, but that can be a long and a difficult process," said Rodgers.

"The owners know that, and they also know that not every player can be a developer if you are going to keep progressing.

"A large part of our squad will always be young players, but if you want to take those steps forward at times you have to look to bring in some readymade players."

Alcacer certainly does not fit into the "readymade" player category, but having already won caps for Spain, he certainly has the quality to turn into a star – be that with Valencia, Liverpool or another club.