While the January window will inevitably 'slam shut' for many clubs at 11pm on Monday night, it has only ever really been slightly ajar for Liverpool this month anyway.

The Reds have rarely made a habit of mad-cap dashes to beat the deadline of the player trading periods and Monday night's cut-off point is almost certain to pass without real incident at the AXA Training Centre.

For a club who top the Premier League by a healthy margin, having finished as the winners of the inaugural 36-team Champions League group stage last week - to set up a more advantageous route to the semi-finals - there are few real areas to upgrade at Anfield right now.

READ MORE: Mohamed Salah unleashed thanks to Arne Slot luxury as cruel Liverpool nickname a distant memory

READ MORE: 'Why should we?' - Virgil van Dijk has one simple message for Liverpool team-mates

That's the belief of Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes at least, and the results themselves cannot be argued with. Additional depth in midfield has been a consideration, particularly after the powder was kept dry in the summer months following Martin Zubimendi's decision to stay at boyhood club Real Sociedad.

Left-back had also been an area some believed needed addressing, despite Kostas Tsimikas and Andy Robertson being regularly rotated in the position so far this term by Slot. Scotland captain Robertson has been below the levels generally shown during his decorated Reds career and deputy Tsimikas has never truly convinced the majority.

As a result, Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez is the one who has been most regularly linked with a move to Anfield and it was interesting to hear Slot asked directly about Dominik Szobszlai's Hungary colleague at the Vitality on Saturday evening.

"I don't think I have to talk about players that we are interested in, let alone a player from Bournemouth," was Slot's diplomatic response. "[Kerkez] is over here, he is having a great season as many, many other players are having here as well.

"And that shows you how good of a manager you have over here and what a great sporting director you had (Richard Hughes) over here and maybe still have now, I don't know who it is.

"But he (Hughes) brought in many good players and the manager works with every player to bring them in an incredible way, including the one you just mentioned but I am not talking about an individual, they are all bringing the best out of their game at the moment."

The aggressive 21-year-old caught the eye with his performance on Saturday, even if there was little he could do about Mohamed Salah's stunning second goal and his national coach, Marco Rossi, is someone who has added weight to the idea that Kerkez must now kick on this summer as wider interest in the defender no doubt continues.

"He is playing very well," Rossi told Hungarian outlet CSAKFOCI over the weekend. "No one could have foreseen that Bournemouth would be in this position in the league.

"He is being watched by England's top teams and may even switch at the end of the season, if not now. He is a very important player for us and we hope that he can develop in the national team, as he does at his club."

Interestingly, Kerkez changed his representatives in December to LIAN Sports Group, which is owned by Fali Ramadani, who looks after the interests of Federico Chiesa. Sporting director Hughes, who helped bring Kerkez to Bournemouth from AZ Alkmaar for £15.5m in the summer of 2023, worked closely with Ramadani to engineer Chiesa's £12m switch from Juventus in August.

As the ECHO reported last month, any interest from AC Milan in Darwin Nunez won't formalise until the summer transfer window. Head coach Sergio Conceicao is an admirer of the Uruguay striker and while there are reservations over the output of Tammy Abraham at the San Siro, the Rossoneri won't act on their admiration for Nunez before the deadline on Monday night. Links to Saudi Arabia have also been dismissed by Anfield officials, with their No.9 set to play an important role between now and the end of the season.

Slot was candid enough to concede during an interview with Gary Lineker last week that plans for the summer window are well underway, saying: "I know people sometimes question this because they haven't seen us doing a lot in the transfer market in the summer and now in the winter as well. There's a reason for that - because we're happy with the squad.

"But I do know we're definitely working on strengthening in the summer. That would mean, in my opinion, that we will, for the upcoming years if the players keep working this hard, that we will be able to challenge for every trophy we are playing for."

That will do little for those keen to see arrivals to bolster the squad for the second half of the campaign but there is a wider lens being taken to recruitment for Slot and Hughes it seems and their biggest problem remains the unsigned contracts of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and most pointedly Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Reds rejected an approach from Real Madrid at the end of the December and while the speculation has quietened down since that dismissal, los Blancos retain a keen interest in the England international and have been free to speak to his representatives for over a month about a pre-contract agreement.

Salah and Van Dijk, it is understood, remain keen to sign themselves to new terms with the Reds but the lack of public progress has been alarming in recent months.

A new club for Kaide Gordon will be sought after he returned from a disappointing spell with Norwich City, while the Reds might see their resolve tested over Ben Doak, who is the subject of interest from a handful of Premier League clubs.

Liverpool view the on-loan Middlesbrough youngster as one of the most exciting players in the Championship right now and while they are not agitating to sell the Scot, £30m has been mooted as the price point for clubs looking to do a permanent deal. The Reds are under no pressure to sell and are keen to see how he continues his development in the North East for the rest of the term.

Jayden Danns and James McConnell are two more who Liverpool will be braced for proposals over. Slot said last week that defensive midfielder McConnell will be staying put after his performance at PSV but that is unlikely to deter Championship clubs looking for reinforcements, while striker Danns is also expected to be the subject of interest. Plymouth Argyle were credited with an interest in the summer.

Tyler Morton could leave the club on Monday. The Wirral-born midfielder has only been used in the cup competitions this term and has made it known he is keen to kick-start his senior career. Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig were two interested back in the summer window, while he also had a number of Championship clubs hoping to take him on loan after previously spending time with Blackburn Rovers and Hull City.

Meanwhile the agent of Red Star Belgrade teenager Andrija Maksimovic has claimed Liverpool are one of several clubs chasing his client. The 17-year-old attacking midfielder is establishing a reputation in his homeland with his performances for Red Star and his representative has named the Reds in connection with a deal.

"It's no secret, there are some offers," Zoran Stojadinovic said about his £10m-rated client. "Liverpool are among them, Aston Villa, Leipzig and Atletico Madrid, so all the clubs from the top leagues have shown serious interest."