Liverpool must match West Ham's £12.5m bid

Poignant SG

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has played down stories linking the Reds with a move for Nice striker Loic Remy.

Reports this morning claimed Liverpool and Tottenham had tabled bids for the France international while West Ham were also interested.

Hodgson said: "He's a player who was mentioned to me by the scouting department and a player the club were following before I came.

"He's a player I know very little about. If I am going to be interested in a player I am going to have to watch him playing, study him and make judgments which I have not been able to."

Poignant SG

Nice president Gilbert Stellardo says Liverpool will only jump to the head of the queue for Loic Remy if they match West Ham's £12.5million offer for the 23-year-old.

Despite West Ham's offer, Nice want £7.5m paid up front and Remy would prefer Liverpool.

Nice and easy: Remy would prefer a move to Liverpool over West Ham

Stellardo said: 'If Liverpool make an offer things will be done swiftly. The amount (offered by West Ham) suits me but not the payment method.'

However, Liverpool are struggling to offload players to finance a deal and manager Roy Hodgson says he has yet to make judgement on Remy.