City set to offer Crouch an £8m way out

The Manchester City manager has put Crouch on his list of possibles after learning that he is unhappy at his failure to secure a regular starting place this season and is ready to quit Anfield.

Eriksson needs a centre forward after losing Valeri Bojinov with a serious knee injury and believes 26-year-old Crouch is one of the most proficient strikers in the Premier League.

Crouch cost £7m when he moved to Anfield from Southampton two years ago and City feared that a price tag between £12m-£15m would put them out of the running, but it is understood Liverpool are prepared to take substantially less.

Crouch will only have 18 months left on his contract in January. He has made it clear he will not sign a new deal as long as coach Rafael Benitez prefers Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Andriy Voronin in his rotation policy.

This season Crouch has made just one League start and his only goal came in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier against Toulouse.

Crouch is aware of City's interest and has told friends he would relish the opportunity to join up with Eriksson, who gave him his England chance and took him to the World Cup Finals in Germany.

Eriksson believes that £8m would represent a good price for Crouch — a player he knows and trusts.

He said: "I've spoken to the people upstairs and the news at the moment is good. I'm told that I can operate in January, so that is good."

Despite their impressive start to the season, there is concern among City's coaching staff that the current team may not have enough goals and they are lacking a 20-goal per season striker.

They are relying on Emile Mpenza as a lone striker while Georgios Samaras seeks a return to form and Italian Rolando Bianchi tries to settle in England.

Bianchi was the big hope when he arrived in the summer but he has disappointed after scoring on his debut and there are some at City who are already wondering if he has the physical ability and appetite to prosper in the Premier League.

Eriksson has been told by owner Thaksin Shinawatra that he can go back with a £4m bid for Palermo midfielder Mark Bresciano — who he almost signed in August — and that he can have money for a centre forward.

The former Thai prime minister is not able to bankroll Eriksson to the extent that has been suggested by some and is certainly not able to spend money in the same lavish fashion that Roman Abramovich has at Chelsea.

Indeed, it was because Palermo wanted £4m in one up-front payment that the deal to sign Bresciano failed. England defender Micah Richards has vowed to sign a new contract at City, despite negotiations dragging on.

Richards, 19, said: "I'm in final talks and hopefully we'll have something signed very, very soon, it's just down to the finer details.

"It's certainly not the case that I want to move anywhere. I'm looking for a new house in Manchester, so why would I want to move anywhere now?

"I'm enjoying my football week in, week out and I'm playing for England, so what more could I want at the moment?"